This post might have gone any one of several different ways. Originally I felt compelled to write something about "Little Women" in general. After mentioning the story and characters several times in other recent posts, I realised that me complicated feelings towards Laurie and Amy would make for an interesting examination. As much as I… Continue reading On Little Women: Jo the Ladybird
Category: Personal
Being One Man’s Personal Account on Sex
Sex, being such an obvious component of man-woman relationships, is a topic that occurs broadly when I examine gender inequality: the power dynamics, the social expectations, and so forth. Rarely do I discuss sex itself because the only reliable perspective I have on the subject is my own and that always felt far too personal… Continue reading Being One Man’s Personal Account on Sex
Open Letter on Trust Issues
"We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball... What bothers me isn't that fraud is not nice or that fraud is mean. For fifteen thousand years, fraud and short-sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once. Eventually you get caught, things go… Continue reading Open Letter on Trust Issues
The Pitiless Effect of Passion
Love is a common subject when writing and though this specific idea has not featured in any of my writing it does occur to me often while contemplating love, and I have seen it explored by others. What happens when one person, in a relationship and possibly even in love with that person meets someone… Continue reading The Pitiless Effect of Passion
I Might Be a Terrible Feminist, and I’m Too Afraid of What I Might Find Out
I have danced around this topic several times before, and perhaps this will be but another in a series of failures to fail. Over the course of the last ten to fifteen years, I have been in the OCPD-riddled process of attempting to write a novel. As I learn and develop a process, I scrap… Continue reading I Might Be a Terrible Feminist, and I’m Too Afraid of What I Might Find Out

Who Isn’t Behind the Curtain? (Dunning-Kruger Effect, Impostor Syndrome, and a World of Uncertainty)
I take IQ tests as an antidote to boredom. A score over 130 is routine - sometimes exceeding 140 or 150 depending on the test. No, I am not a genius. The only way I could outperform the general population on an exam by a wider margin is to make the exam about my personal… Continue reading Who Isn’t Behind the Curtain? (Dunning-Kruger Effect, Impostor Syndrome, and a World of Uncertainty)
Free Will and Determinism (in the Digital Age)
**I wanted to provide a specific background and foundation for this piece, hence its length. For those interested in the core of this piece and not wanting to waste time, skip down to the conclusion section.** My wife and I just moved back north to the Keystone State. The reason I have to say moved… Continue reading Free Will and Determinism (in the Digital Age)
The Demisexual Feminist
I learned a new word recently! Hooray! Demisexual. Feel free to Google the term, the top results are safe for work. What one will find is various lists of criteria to the effect of, "You might be demisexual if". The short version is someone who does not experience sexual attraction without a strong emotional connection… Continue reading The Demisexual Feminist
Aesthetics and Human Attraction – a Personal Account
I want to discuss what I consider a riskier topic today - attraction. What better way for a socially anxious, aspiring ally to begin than to derail the entire discussion with qualifiers to assuage my guilt for wanting to discuss it, right? First, this is not common from an academic, psychological perspective, and what I… Continue reading Aesthetics and Human Attraction – a Personal Account
To Ms. Watson on Her Birthday
I had not yet read much of the books because I missed the bandwagon when they first appeared. By the time I got around to "The Sorcerer's Stone", the writing felt much too young for me. A friend urged me to see "Half-Blood Prince" entirely out of context on the strength of one character. "If… Continue reading To Ms. Watson on Her Birthday