Creativity and Compromise
We generally think of creativity as something that should never be compromised. There’s a kernel of truth to this, as many good idea have been squashed and perverted by faceless bureaucrats. Likewise, trying to...
Category: Life
Tales of Addison Oktoberfest
Every year, my friends and I go to the Oktoberfest in Addison, Texas. Addison is a suburb north of Dallas that contains a gazillion bars and restaurants. Addison Oktoberfest is big, taking up almost...
Pascal’s Wager and Happiness
Are you familiar you Pascal’s Wager? French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal said that even if you doubt the existence of God, you should be religious just in case He exists. Why? Because if...
The Beer Revolution
Beer drinking sure has changed since I was a kid. No, I didn’t drink beer back then (though I did drink coffee). But beer marketing is very pervasive, and even at a young age,...
The Railroad Crossing From Hell
For a while my family lived in a small town named East Carondelet, Illinois. We lived in a little farmhouse several miles out of town, and we had to drive on a scary levee road...
Dallas: An Improbable City
Dallas is an improbable city. In many ways it seems to have sprung up by accident. No Navigable River Unlike most major cities, Dallas does not have a navigable river. The Trinity River is...
The Peanut Barrel
Like most college students, I spent a lot of time at the bar. There were a bunch of bars all along Grand River Avenue, some better than others. There were frat bars and douchy...
Sprinkler Systems and the West Nile Virus
This summer has had one of the worst droughts on record, yet here in Dallas, we’re dealing with a mosquito-borne epidemic called West Nile Virus. Now mosquitoes thrive in wet areas, laying their eggs...
College Parties and Riots
Back when I was freshman at Michigan State University, the Princeton Review ranked my school as the number three party school in the country. It was all the talk around campus, as people debated...
Muses for the Modern Age
According to ancient mythology, there are Nine Muses that inspire all the forms of art and science. The Ancient Greeks believed that great ideas came down from the heavens. The muses brought these ideas...
