- Blog
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Busted Heart
How’s this for an eventful couple of years: I discovered that I was autistic. I lost much of the hearing in my right ear for reasons unknown. I turned 40. And now—let’s go ahead and rip this excruciating band-aid off—my marriage of ten years has ended. (This is not going to be a post about…
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Hearing, Loss
It’s the late autumn of 2017, and I’m in Point Reyes Station, California for a two-week writers’ retreat. I was walking down a remote road, taking one of my regular strolls into town for supplies, a bit of exercise, and to take in the landscape, which was stunningly beautiful. The weather was nearly perfect, and…
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Writing Without a Mask
Clearly, there’s something I’m not doing right. It is my third full day at the writers’ refuge and I am researching my article’s topic, the muscles in my neck and shoulders simultaneously taut and compacted such that I find my range of motion constrained. I am in a veritable paradise, with astounding natural beauty, a…
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A Sore Thumb, a New Face
I’m on a plane to California, about to spend two weeks at a refuge for writers, a retreat for which I was nominated by a colleague who had himself been a resident as part of a fellowship for writers in the freethought community. Being selected for this wasn’t just a surprise. Certainly, I went through…
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Noble Fictions and Sacred Texts
Note: This is my contribution to the book What Do We Do about Inequality?, the first such book from an initiative called The Wicked Problems Collaborative. The book just marked one year since publication, and with the blessing of WPC publisher and editor Chris Oestereich I’m posting it here. It has been very lightly edited…
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HTC U11 Review: The Phone Worth Not Waiting For
With the 10th anniversary iPhone looming, with a second Google Pixel coming soon, with Andy Rubin’s debut of the Essential Phone, and with the release of the Galaxy Note 8, little attention has been given to the HTC U11, other than a few obligatory reviews that range from “hey this is great” to “this is…
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Autistic Alienation: Not as Simple as Intense Introversion
One thing about Asperger’s/autism that I think is hard for neurotypicals to understand, and is also hard for me to come to terms with, is that as an autistic person, my attitude toward socialization isn’t merely binary. The introversion instinct is incredibly strong, and it’s true that I can’t heal, rest, or reengergize without relative…
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Excruciating Information
A fellow autistic blogger whose work I deeply admire pointed me to this short little PSA video from the UK that she said was revelatory in how it reflected her own experience. And so it is for me. Particularly when it comes to the Asperger’s part of the autism “spectrum,” I think people – including…
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On the iPad Pro and “Work Stuff”
In my review of the iPad Pro 10.5″, I didn’t mention much about the tablet’s utility as a productivity device other than how its Smart Keyboard is better than its predecessor’s. But in the tech press, the reviews have largely centered on a theme: can this iPad replace your laptop? Wait, it’s more like, ”Can…
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iPad Pro 10.5″: Wonderfully Unnecessary
I had lost interest in tablets for a while. I hate owning redundant possessions, and as large-screen phones became my norm, owning a tablet as well felt decadent. No one needs a tablet. Eventually I remembered that “need” isn’t the point. As I discussed in my iPad Air review many years ago, the tablet is…
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I Am Dreamcast (A Play)
This is an extremely short “play” I wrote in 1999. I recently rediscovered it in a folder of old projects, and it made me laugh. On the inside, because I don’t laugh out loud all that often. Here it is, with a few tiny things cleaned up after a fresh reading, as I originally wrote it…
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If Trump Goes Down
Before we get too excited about what could befall President Trump as a result of this or that high crime and/or misdemeanor, I thought I’d run down a few things that might be useful to keep in mind. Presumably, what many folks are hoping for is the impeachment of Trump and his removal from office.…
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Books: Too Sexy for Words
I love physical books. I also love my Kindle Paperwhite and I also love my iPad. All of them are wonderful objects, and oh yes, they allow me to read. The reading, you see, is the important part. You wouldn’t know it, though, from the testimonials of some who dismiss ebooks and swear only by…
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