Author: clmcdermid
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Day Twenty-Three: Introverted
Someone once explained to me that the difference between being introverted and extroverted isn’t really about gregariousness. It’s how you recharge your batteries. After a long, intense, and stressful day at work, are you eager to go out with your friends to decompress? Or do you need to hole up for a while with a…
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Day Twenty-Two: Cheap Thrills
Is anybody else both weirded out and little thrilled to see inside all these famous people’s houses? I know what David Brooks’ home office looks like. It suits him: His colleague Mark Shields is my current hero for daring to have a slightly messy office on show. The stack of papers in front of the…
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Day Twenty-One: Waiting
My siblings are older than I am, and when Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around, I remember spending hours in an agony of anticipation, waiting for my brothers to come over. Now we’re all waiting. Waiting for our suspended economy to restart. Waiting for our stimulus checks. Waiting for businesses to start hiring again. Waiting to…
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Day Twenty: Wonder
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason. — Dag Hammarsköld Here are some small wonders I…
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Day Nineteen: Staying Positive
The human brain is wired to give more weight to negative developments than positive ones. It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. We form vivid memories of bad experiences as an essential part of learning, which gives us a chance to correct actions that could be hazardous to our health. It is worth noting here…
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Day Eighteen: Disorganized
Pandemics are not for the disorganized. In the first place, there are suddenly no excuses. We have to get down to the adulting that we have been avoiding. We can’t weasel out of filing that stack of paper that has been building up on our desks. There’s no reason not to tackle the clutter in…
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Day Seventeen: Calculus
I felt virtuous today. I got a lot of raking done, and I cleaned out the rain gutters in preparation for snow that I am really hoping will melt fast. But as I sat, enjoying the view up on the roof, I had to ask myself if I should feel good about my choice. The…
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Day Sixteen: It’s an Outrage!
I had to alter my run for the second time in a row today. Jefferson County Open Space tells us that their parks are open, but that if the lot is full, you have to move on. As tempting as it is to rationalize, I have to assume this means me, even though I am…
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Day Fifteen: Non-Genetic DNA
I had a professor once who called culture non-genetic DNA. He argued that it is just as determinant as more conventional DNA, regulating our behaviors, thoughts, and ideas. And one of its neat tricks is that it can change much more quickly than standard DNA. When the world changes rapidly and natural selection can’t keep…
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Day Fourteen: Ignore It and Ride Anyway
a) old bikes are heavy. Really heavy. b) the handlebars are duct-taped. c) I’m badly out of shape. d) I have a strong suspicion that low gear has gotten a lot lower in the last twenty-odd years. e) my dust mask means I’m re-breathing my own carbon dioxide. f) no suspension means the bike is…