He Does Not Forget
We dropped our cat off at the kennel today and that got me thinking about cats. That led me to J.R.R. Tolkien’s poem ‘Cat’ which beautifully juxtaposes a domesticated cat with it’s wild ancestors. The poem appeared not in one of Tolkien’s most famous novels, but in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet
he does not forget.
Life is Aperiodic
I just came across a concept that was new to me, the concept of being aperiodic. Technically, ‘aperiodic’ describes something that does not repeat at regular intervals. More precisely, it describes a system, pattern, or process is aperiodic if it lacks a fixed cycle—there is no consistent period after which it repeats exactly. A common example that we all learn about in school is the number pi. Another example is the tiling pattern known as the Penrose tiling pattern. Mathamatically, what is cool about this is that an aperiodic thing can still have structure, order, or rules, just not repetition.
Upon reflection, it is clear that life is aperiodic. I think we crave cycles because they feel safe: routines, habits, three-year plans. But our lived experience rarely cycles neatly. Even when days look similar on the surface, our interior weather keeps changing and the details are always a bit different. The same evening stroll hits differently depending on worry, hope, hunger, or sleep. Hearing the same song lands with a new weight. There is pattern, yes; but not repetition.
This makes me realize that it is okay if an open loop doesn’t always close when or how I expected. I want to pay more attention to the variations in the pattern of my day to day. Is that not where some of the wisdom hides, in the differences?
Iranian glazed ceramic tile work, from the ceiling of the Tomb of Hafez in Shiraz, Iran. Province of Fars.
Some Quotes from Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is one of my favorite writers. I can’t recommend his books enough. Here are some great quotes from a few of his books.
Mortality
I had never heard of the poet William Knox until I came across his name in Jon Meacham’s excellent book And There Was Light, which is about Abraham Lincoln and his spiritual beliefs. Apparently, the poem was one of Lincoln’s all time favorites. The poem is called Mortality. I looked it up and consider it a wonderful nod to memento mori; an always welcome reminder.
5 of My Favorite Studio Phish Tunes
With a show on the horizon, I have Phish on the brain. They are all about the jams and the live experience. However, there are a few of their studio versions that I love. Here are a few:
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Devotion to a Dream off Fuego
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Undermind off Undermind
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Petrichor off Big Boat
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Ocelot off Joy
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Twist off Farmhouse
I have not seen Petrichor, so I don’t know first hand what the live experience is like. However, Devotion to a Dream hasn’t translated live for me. The other three never fail to deliver in person.
Exciting News for My School
I found out today that our school is going to be visted by Ketanji Brown Jackson, one our country’s nine Supreme Court Justices. As an AP Government teacher this is thrilling. We just finished learning about the judicial branch last week and all my students know who she is. I’ve had (now retired) congressmen Earl Blumenauer visit my class before, and early in his presidency George W. Bush gave a speech in our gym (I was conveniently out of town for that). The Justice will be visiting in March as part of a book tour to promote her recent memoir Lovely One.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed by President Biden in 2022 and is the newest Justice of the Supreme Court. She’s a fellow Gen Xer who grew up in Miami, Florida and was raised by two teachers. She earned her Bachelor’s and her Master’s degrees from Harvard and served as a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She replaced Justice Stephen Breyer whom she had clerked for previously. She is also the first SCOTUS justice to have been a public defender. She is also the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Since being on the court, she has stood out for being willing to ask a lot of questions during oral arguments. By contrast, longest serving Justice Clarence Thomas went 10 years without asking a single question from the bench (from February 2006 to February 2016). Justice Brown Jackson has also written 8 solo dissents thus far, an unusually high number. Finally, students of the Supreme Court have described her as pushing ‘progressive originalism.’ Conservatives tend to stake a claim to ‘originalism,’ which is a reading of the law that harkens back to the supposed ‘original’ intent of the founders. In Justice Brown Jackson’s case, she has harkened back to America’s ‘second founding’—the Reconstruction Era–and especially the 14th Amendment to argue in favor of ideas such as affirmative action.
Needless to say, I’m stoked to see her speak in person in the spring.
Don't Buy It & Create Your Own
I came across the first quote below by Morris Schwartz in Paul Millerd’s book The Pathless Path. What strikes me about the quote is twofold. First, I agree wholeheartedly that our culture is essentially sick and emphasizes many foolish ideas. The Terrence McKenna quote below (lifted from Tao Lin’s excellent memoir Trip) makes this point even more pointedly.
Secondly, agreeing as I do with both Schwartz and McKenna, I feel challenged to follow Morris’ advice to make my own culture as an antidote to living in such an unwell society. Upon reflection, I feel like I have quite a bit of work to do in this regard. I have managed to cut myself off from social media. I also watch virtually zero traditional TV, unless it is an interesting college football game. I have a subscription to Netflix, but I probably watch one show about every 4 months. I suppose my daily commitment to reading is also an attempt to cultivate my own mental universe.
Indeed, all of these elements of my media diet have helped in many ways. However, I still spend too much time on YouTube and too much time generally following politics. I also don’t vote with my wallet as consistently as I should, which I also see as a means of standing athwart the dominate culture and trying to make a small difference.
As I type this, I realize I am going to have to keep thinking about this particular question. This earlier blog post of mine is a stab at solving this puzzle. However, I simply don’t have many other answers appearing to me about how to follow Schwartz’s injunction. It is a worthy goal though, rejecting the powerful yet vapid parts of American society to carve out one’s own niche, and hopefully, improving the general culture action by action.
Inner and Outer Maps
A cool new feature of Readwise is that is can send you a weekly email that combines four or five quotes from your collection that are related in some way. These four quotes all shed light on both the inner and outer maps of ‘the world’ we inhabit.
Pouring Its Light...
I saw Grateful Dead play 48 times and only once did I see them play Dark Star. It was 32 years ago tonight. The version I saw was nothing to write home about and it was only the first verse (they finished it up a few nights later, but alas, I was not there). Nevertheless, I still remember the feeling the opening notes elicited in my mind. Fans devoted to a jamband will know the feeling.
In honor of my only Dark Star, here is a favorite version from 1971, by the sorely missed YouTuber chasefukuoka61.
Dark star crashes
Pouring its light into ashes
Reason tatters
The forces tear loose from the axis
Searchlight casting
For faults in the clouds of delusion
Shall we go?
You and I while we can
Through
The transitive nightfall of diamonds
Mirror shatters
In formless reflections of matter
Glass hand dissolving
In ice petal flowers revolving
Lady in velvet
Recedes in the nights of goodbye
Shall we go?
You and I while we can
Through
The transitive nightfall of diamonds
Revisiting an Old Foolish Heart
Today the dear leader tried to insult Fed Chair Jerome Powell by noting his affinity for the Dead. My initial thought was ‘you know, if he is insulting you, you’re definitely doing something right.’ But then I started thinking about the Dead. What immediately came to mind was how great it was to see the Dead at Cal Expo in Sacramento (I was lucky to see 9 shows there in the early 90s). Then the June 8, 1990 Foolish Heart came to mind. These links in my mind are inexplicable, but with technology what it is, I was listening to it within minutes. I wasn’t actually at this show, but I know it was a good friends' first show. Good times!
MMT, Ray Dalio, and Gemini 3
The latest book I have started reading is a book called The Deficit Myth by economist Stephanie Kelton. The book argues in favor of what is called the Modern Monetary Theory. I was vaguely aware of the theory and decided to read the book so I could understand it better. Right off the back I thought about Ray Dalio’s ideas, as expressed in his books about the debt cycle, which I’ve read and enjoyed.
Now, I’ve been playing around with Gemini Pro lately, which gives me access to their latest AI model Gemini 3. So I decided to ask Gemini to explain what Kelton and Dalio might say to each other about the national debt. The results were interesting so I thought I’d share them here. As you’ll see, I asked a few follow up questions. I absolutely love that I can share the thread with others like I am doing here.
To read the thread, go here.
Ten Books I Hope My Daughter Reads Someday
I hope my daughter reads tons and tons of books. She is a pretty big reader as a middle schooler, so I think she is well on her way. There are some books of course, that I hope that she one day reads. I decided to come up with a list of 10 that I especially hope she gets to. My guess is this is the type of list that will always be changing, based on where I am at in my life. However, for the record, here are the ten I thought of today. Please note, The Lord of the Rings is not on the list because I had the distinct pleasure of reading the whole thing to her when she was younger.
- Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
2 to 5. Ryan Holiday’s Cardinal Virtues series
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Eknath Easwaren’s translation of The Dhamapadda
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The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
On William Penn
Most of us remember that Pennsylvania was founded and named after William Penn. Many will also recall that Penn was a Quaker and that the Quakers were a Protestant Christian sect that were pacifist and later played an important role in the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad. Oregonians may know that one of our local universities is named after the leading Quaker George Fox.
Penn comes up in my AP US History class when students are learning about the unique attributes of the original British colonies in America. I always talk a little about the Quakers and note that the city of Philadelphia derives its name from the Greek words for ‘dear’ or ‘loving’ and ‘brother.’ Hence, the ‘City of Brotherly Love.’ Very Penn.
I also instruct my students that Penn was relatively warm to the indigenous tribes. His general kindness backfired however, in the sense that migrants to the colonies found Pennsylvania relatively welcoming since the founder was so tolerant. The result was, after Penn’s death, the arrival of many who were not so tolerant, ultimately dooming the Native peoples to similarly frustrating sorry relative to the other parts of British North America.
However, I recently learned through my reading that Penn actually took the time to learn the language of the Lenni-Lenape (Delaware) people in order that he would be able to more fairly deal with them (he already knew five other languages, including English). Penn removed the middle man, hoping for deeper understanding and more fair dealing. I found this to be quite incredible, given what we know about the other colonists and their general greed and avarice. Indeed, Penn’s respect for the natives led to the so-called ‘long peace’ in Pennsylvania which lasted throughout his lifetime.
Where is David Rees When You Need Him?
Back when George W. Bush was the president there was a cartoon published in Rolling Stone called Get Your War On. I absolutely loved it. It was created by a very clever, and funny guy named David Rees. The deeply sardonic cartoon used corny office clip art to sarcastically skewer Bush and his fundamentally stupid policies, including the ‘War on Terror.’ The cartoon ran from October 2001 to the end of Bush’s presidency in early 2009. I thought of it because as I recently finished Ben Burgis' book about Christopher Hitchens, it occurred to me how much we need the wit and wisdom of a guy like Hitch in these times. It then also occurred to me that I wish Mr. Rees was making a Trump era version of Get Your War On. Maybe he could call it Get Your Greed On? Or maybe Get Your Corruption On?
Anyway, here are few of Rees' brilliant cartoons.
My Music Streaming Highlights of 2025
I have never subscribed to Spotify. I’m fully ensconsed in Apple ecosystem, so that means I listen to music through Apple Music. That said, I am grateful that Spotify created their ‘wrapped’ feature, because Apple Music does something simlar and the QS nerd in me loves it.
The most played artist for me in 2025 was Bohren & Der Club of Gore. I love having them on while I am reading in the evening. I got turned on to this unique jazz outfit from my student teacher last year and have written about them before. Apparently, I was one of their 500 top streamers in the world. Despite that, and despite my daughter listening to her favorite music on an iPad where she is signed in as me, rock music was my top genre. Not surprising. Goose was the top rock band that I listened two (after being my top overall artists that previous two years). Indeed, Goose was my top artist for four months this past year and their album Live at the Capitol Theatre was my top album overall. Taylor Swift topped my streaming in both February and October, though that was mostly my daughter. That said, I’ve got to admit that I like some of her music. C’est la vie.
The way things are going I suspect Goose will regain the crown as most listened to artist in 2026. We’ll see.
This Time of Year
This time of year is always challenging. I was born and raised in California and grew used to a certain amount of sun in my life. Ever since moving north to Oregon, I have been challenged by the increasingly darker days in November and December. It is also a challenging time as a high school teacher because kids and their families are also going through it, often with the added stress of finances and holidays thrown in. In my case, the vibes are sometimes made worse because certain habits fall by the wayside as my personal discipline ebbs with the shorter days.
One positive that stems from this reality is my appreciation of the winter solstice. I love hitting the 21st of December (the usual date of the solstice) knowing that from then on, for the rest of the winter, the days will slowly get longer. It is worth celebrating. Indeed, I can see why the Christians co-opted the celebration.
As It Should Be
I recently came across this funny quote in the YouTube comments of a video I watched. Not much else to say.
Rush is My Jam Show #11
The ultimate imaginary Rush tour rambles on. Show #11 drops several of the major hits that would make most people very pleased. Tour rats who hit this show would be rewarded with the first Halo Effect of the tour. Xanadu encore would be epic, as would a Big Money set two opener. That tune always ripped my face off in real life.
Some Coming Challenges
I like to run experiments. Indeed, I’ve written about this before. I had some time on my hands last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday and I decided to run some personal experiments of varying lengths during the next four months. The first month-long experiment is going to be writing in my journal every day in December. I usually write 40% to 50% of the days during a typical month.
During the middle of December, for ten days, I’m going to try and reach out daily to a friend of family member. This will be hard, because after a full day of interfacing with teenagers, I usually want quiet time to myself. However, as I get older I realize more and more that I need to make an effort to keep relationships going strong, or going at all. As the new year begins in January, I’m going to challenge myself to increase my daily meditation time above a certain threshold that will feel like I am stretching myself a bit.
Finally, once school is back in session after the winter break I am going to challenge myself to give a ‘Bronco Gram’ to a different one of my students for ten classes in a row, complimenting them for something very specific that they are doing well in class. That means Monday through Friday, a different student each day, two weeks in a row.
The direct impetus for challenging myself in the coming months came from author and blogger Scott Young’s ‘Foundations’ concept. Basically, Young came up with a list of what considers foundational elements of a good life and is offering classes around developing those foundations. I’m not taking his classes, but I loved the idea. I tweaked his list a bit and came up with 10 of my own that I want to keep top of mind in the coming year. My experiments around journaling and meditation stem from the foundation I am calling Spirit & Reflection. The challenge around contact with friend and family grow out my foundation of Connection. Finally, my challenge to dole out some written compliments to my students is connected to my foundation of Teaching & Work. I’ll occasionally give updates on how things are going.
Help on the Way
I came across this clip from CBS Sunday Morning on Youtube. It was about Metallica’s charity organization All Within My Hands, which donates money for scholarships for young people wanting to earn ‘blue collar’ certificates. As a life-long Metallica fan, it was satisfying to watch because I am proud that this NorCal metal band that I fell in love with when I was 13 was positively impacting many, many people in America. I was also happy about what I was hearing because as a high school teacher, it is clear to me that the push to pressure all students towards college, while well-meaning, is terribly misguided.
Seeing the video recently coincided with Trey Anastastio’s charity run at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The shows marked the five year anniversary since the legendary and top-shelf gigs he put on during the fall of 2020, during the pandemic. At that time, he played in the Beacon to an empty house, actually facing away from the seats. Phans streamed the shows and the musical magic was palpable. Those shows, and the ones this past week, were vehicles for raising money for Trey’s project, the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program in rural Vermont. Trey is in recovery so the project is near and dear to him. Phish’s Waterwheel Foundation is also out in the world (and visible at Phish shows) doing good.
Of course, one of my other favorite bands, Widespread Panic, has been raising food for local food banks for years. Their efforts actually started as a fan organized movement called Panic Fans for Food. According to their website, they have raised over $279k and 43,000 pounds of food. Pretty cool!
The Grateful Dead, the OGs, created the Rex Foundation back in 1983. Since then they have written more than $10 million worth of grants.
All these examples make me proud to be a part of these fanbases. It goes to show the power of music and the power of community.