Hello my friends – here’s the latest episode of “Hard Truth and a Big Hug”. It’s a small part of a book that I haven’t yet got around to publishing – but I thought the big ideas and the final take-away were
It is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and while Catherine is preparing wonders in the kitchen, and I am basking undeservedly in the glow of the fantastic olfactory byproducts, I thought I’d try to meet the day in words. You don’t need me to
There are very few things which are more infuriating than to encounter someone with a truly and profoundly hateful attitude, who makes the smiling assumption that you must automatically share their foul idiocy. I made that point in a far more general
Anyone out there still on the fence about whether feelings are more important than truth-telling? Seriously, I can clear this one up for you with one thought-experiment. Simply consider this: We are living in a moment when there is a very real
Koko (top photo) As I’ve mentioned several times before, I’m a huge fan of out of print books, and especially the out of fashion scientific and cultural insights they so often contain. Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the ‘myth of progress’
Hello my friends! I’m delighted to announce that “Structural Happiness” is now available! This book (and the several volumes which are to follow) is the reason we created Large Ess Small Press in the first place, and we are very proud of
If you’ve ever talked to me when I’ve had too many cups of coffee (after about eleven AM), you’ve probably heard me struggling to triangulate the key fault in the weird paradigm we’ve all been living inside for so long, that we
“Manichaean” may be the most precisely useful word that no one is using anymore. It is useful, because it describes so many of us, perfectly. Seems rather likely to me that it has fallen into disuse, for that same reason. We’d much
I am a man of peace for the same basic reason that many come to this position – because I have, thanks to the circumstances of my life, come to understand hate. As a child, I was forced to become an adult,
I’m pretty sure it was Rumi who said, “I am forever the slave of that student who, after gaining new knowledge, will not then turn and say – that’s enough,” but this is a feeling that all true teachers understand (and the
It is nowadays, famously impossible to have a political discussion. There are several reasons for this – but the simplest one is that we have become a democratically-defective populace. Not only are we too angry and irrational now to compromise to take
Here are a few political heavyweights from that fine recent exhibition of American press images of Canada, shown at the Ryerson image centre. Looking at a whole bunch of Canadian prime ministers from the cold-war era, all grouped together on one wall,
The day after a very painful election result it’s tempting to rant, but rather than dropping multiple tons of science from altitude (as is my usual habit), I think perhaps lowering some very gently and under control is a better idea –
About a hundred years later (top photo) Here’s a poem I wrote a couple of nights ago, that might appeal to my more environmentally and historically interested friends. I’ve seen more and more discussion of late about the question of whether we
I know I may seem overly provocative (or perhaps just foolhardy) for going after both left and right, and also recommending their shared virtues, ahead of the customary vitriol. I am not one of those cynics who thinks there is no difference
Music on the march (top photo) This is an age of pettiness, and I know I’m not the only one heartsick about it. I’m still trying to find a nice rhythm with which to bring you some fine honest (non-delusional) optimism and
Political discussion is so common (and of such low-quality) nowadays, as to seem almost without value. Arguments where both sides already know what the other has to say, and have only their same-answers too. It’s especially crazy-making this century, because most of
Also science (top photo) I’ve mentioned a few key concepts before – how we all perceive things a little bit differently (because none of us have a universal perspective, and we must simplify what we witness, into a coherent finite narrative for
It’s a strange thing for a writer to be irritated by the use of the word “narrative” considering it’s centrality, but I have been bothered about it’s weird new deployments for quite awhile now, and for several different reasons. I first noticed
Stormclaws (top photo) My wife Catherine posted a little video the other day, questioning the concept of self-esteem. Her comment on it was “I don’t think I’m better than anyone else.” Which is a crucial philosophical humility recognizable to every person of
Hello friends, artists, fellow-travellers and various and sundry curious investigators – we are delighted today, to announce the inaugural book-release from Large Ess Small Press. – Yes, the mission-clock is at last, running! The official release-copy follows. Thanks sincerely for contributions, inspirations,