Searching for contentment
In the fragrance of freshly worked wood⩘
The soft glow cast by shoji lamps⩘
The inspiration of good reads⩘
My heart is with the people of Ukraine
My contemplations about Ukraine⩘
Broken heart: Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank, Israel⩘
Abolish ICE!
Living in the Rockies
It does my heart so much good to pause for a moment on my walk to contemplate the beauty of fresh apple blossoms, one of my favorite springtime flowers. The lane I walk along used to have orchards a long time ago. Today, there a few old apple trees remaining along the way, and they still exuberantly flower each spring, even this spring after the exceedingly warm, dry winter we just had. What a gift!
Larger version of this photo⩘
More recent photos⩘
Reading
Steve Rosenbaum with a forward by Maria Ressa, The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality
Well narrated by Chris Ciulla
Update, May 22, 2026: I was incredibly disappointed this morning to learn that it has been discovered that Rosenbaum's The Future of Truth contains improperly attributed or synthetic quotes generated by AI. In my opinion, he has lost his credibility due to his sloppy research and diligence. As a customer who purchased the audiobook and ebook versions of this book so I could carefully listen to and read it, I feel cheated and let down by Rosenbaum. This feels fraudulent to me. I wonder how Maria Ressa, someone I greatly respect, feels about having her name associated with this book. Normally, I would not leave a review of a disgraced book like this on my site, but I'm going to leave this one up with this update preface as a warning that it is not a reliable book. I guess this is the future of truth. Obviously, I need to redouble my skepticism.
Journalist and author Steven Rosenbaum has more reasons than most to distrust AI.
His new book, The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality, is all about "how Truth is being bent, blurred, and synthesized" thanks to the "pressure of fast-moving, profit-driven AI." Yet a New York Times investigation this week found what Rosenbaum now acknowledges are "a handful of improperly attributed or synthetic quotes" linked to his use of AI tools while researching the book.– AI put "synthetic quotes" in his book. But this author wants to keep using it.⩘ by Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, May 22, 2026.
Original review:
A thoughtful dive into what truth is and how our modern society, social media, and AI are reshaping and distorting it.
It reinforces my viewpoint that the best way to navigate today's world is with a very healthy dose of skepticism.
One phrase I particularly appreciated was introduced when discussing algorithmic judgment systems and the related AI truth assessment systems: prejudice engines.
This episode revealed a fundamental Truth about algorithmic judgment systems: They are, at their core, prejudice engines. When an algorithm turns historical data into a predictive model, it operates on the assumption that the future will mirror the past.…
The parallels to today's AI truth assessment systems are striking. Whether judging exam integrity, job applications, or insurance claims, these systems perpetuate existing biases under the guise of objective assessment. As [Timandra] Harkness presciently noted, "Isn't it strange that we are repelled by prejudice in other contexts, but accept it when it's automated?"
Matt Holt Books, 2026; Bookshop.org⩘ ; audiobook: Brilliance Audio, 2026; via Apple Books⩘ .
See also:
- How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future by Maria Ressa⩘
- Why I hate artificial intelligence⩘
More recent reading⩘
Contemplating
On Superpower Suicide and the Recovery of Justice
Photo by Alexandru Taradaciuc⩘ from Pexels
An excellent essay by Timothy Snyder.
Empires have risen and failed before, but to my knowledge no state has ever chosen to kill its own power, and succeeded with such rapidity.
Snyder explores this suicide in thirteen areas:
- Statehood
- National interest
- Succession
- Elites
- Education
- Science
- Energy
- Technology
- Diplomacy
- Alliances
- The international system
- The idea of victory
- Finances
Almost every day when I read the news about the current administration is doing, I think to myself and sometimes exclaim out loud, "This is fucking insane!" Every week, when I protest what is happening, I hold up a sign. The current one: "Restore Sanity!"
Snyder captures a crystal clear snapshot of this current insanity through the thirteen areas he discusses, as well as what it would take to restore or achieve sanity. Finally, he provides a clear and powerful conclusion.
The systems that made the United States a superpower cannot be rebuilt as they were, nor should they be: they involved structural injustices that made the present attempt at self-annihilation possible. From where we stand now there are two ways forward: one is the self-induced downfall of the American republic; the other is to reconsider American ideals and to restructure American politics so as to bring the people greater power over a more just future.
On Superpower Suicide and the Recovery of Justice⩘ by Timothy Snyder, Thinking About, May 9, 2026.
See also: 'My ambition is to change the country,' AOC says when asked about seeking higher office in 2028⩘ by Edward Helmore, The Guardian, May 9, 2026.
"My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go. But single-payer healthcare is forever," she added, in reference to the kind of national healthcare platform she has long supported over the private system entrenched in the US.
Ocasio-Cortez then ran through a litany of her other signature policy positions, saying: "A living wage is forever, workers' rights are forever, women's rights, all of that, and so anyways … to a finer point to your question is that when you aren't attached, when you haven't been like fantasizing about being this or that since the time you were seven years old, it is tremendously liberating."
Later in the exchange, Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to "make decisions from a place of how are we going to change the country".…
She added: "I make decisions by waking up in the morning, looking out the window and observing the conditions of this country. And saying what move or what decision can I make today that is going to get us closer to that future, stronger, faster, better than yesterday."
More recent contemplations⩘
Fighting for American democracy
We must use our time and our space
on this little planet that we call Earth
to make a lasting contribution,
to leave it a little better than we found it,
and now that need is greater than ever before.– John Lewis, 2020
———
"So what do those of us who love American democracy do? Make noise. Take up oxygen…. Defend what is great about this nation: its people, and their willingness to innovate, work, and protect each other. Making America great has never been about hatred or destruction or the aggregation of wealth at the very top; it has always been about building good lives for everyone on the principle of self-determination. While we have never been perfect, our democracy is a far better option than the autocratic oligarchy Trump is imposing on us."…
I write these letters because I love America. I am staunchly committed to the principle of human self-determination for people of all races, genders, abilities, and ethnicities: the idea that we all have the right to work to become whatever we wish. I believe that American democracy has the potential to be the form of government that comes closest to bringing that principle to reality. And I know that achieving that equality depends on a government shaped by fact-based debate rather than by extremist ideology and false narratives.
– Professor Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American⩘ , Sep 15, 2025.
———
Swearing an oath to our constitution
United States Constitution with its preamble "We the People"
Government of the United States of America
Photo⩘ by Joseph Sohm⩘ ; licensed via Shutterstock
I admire the leadership of retired Maj Gen Paul Eaton who is speaking up in defense of our constitution and against the ongoing effort to politicize our armed forces.
Maj Gen Paul Eaton has sounded the alarm, saying in an interview with the Guardian that the effort to bend the higher echelons of the military to the US president's will was unparalleled in recent history and could have long-term dire consequences. He warned that both the reputation and efficiency of the world's most powerful fighting force was in the balance.
"There is an active effort to politicise the armed forces," Eaton said. "Once you infect the body, the cure may be very difficult and painful for presidents downstream."
I'm hoping that many people, both military and civilians, listen to his message.
Trump push to politicize US military 'reminiscent of Stalin', top general warns⩘ by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, Jan 5, 2025.
More recent contemplations⩘
Woodworking
A note about the image at the top of this page
The Windtraveler—a shoji lamp I created in the shape of a deltoidal hexecontahedron—is made of 60 deltoid-shaped faces (like kites) framed in maple. Each five deltoids meeting at the more pointed bottom tips form a pentagon, creating a total of 12 pentagons, which is a dodecahedron. Each three deltoids meeting at the broader top tips form a triangle, creating a total of 20 triangles, which is an icosahedron. Within each deltoid frame are thinner 1/4 inch inner frames made of mahogany, with additional strips that run from the top tip to the bottom tip of each deltoid forming 120 right angle triangles, which reveal a hexakis icosahedron. The inner mahogany frames are backed by washi, a traditional Japanese paper, which creates a gentle shade for the light cast by the light bulbs within to pass through.
More about this project⩘
More woodworking⩘
My journey
Love nature. As a kid, I just wanted to be out playing in the woods that surrounded our small town home. When younger, I lived a few places around the world and visited several others … then found a place in the foothills of the Rockies and my heart was home. When I'm out walking, I snap photos and post the better ones on this site to preserve the opportunity to revisit some of these exquisite experiences. Photos⩘
Love reading. Growing up, I carried armloads of books home each week from the library. Now tend to carry around a virtual stack of audiobooks. I deeply appreciate authors, narrators, and translators. Since 1999, I've been posting reviews on this site, in the more recent years focused on just those books I appreciate the most. I listen to or read a lot of genres, fiction and nonfiction, and particularly appreciate well done speculative fiction. Reading⩘
Love woodworking. A passionate amateur, I revere wood. My main focus has been shoji lamps in the shape of polyhedra. I love the light that glows through washi and deeply appreciate the folks who make these papers. I'm entranced by the dance of polyhedra patterns, and keep notes on my website about the experience of making some of the lamps. I've also made a fair bit of our furniture, and have done some woodworking to fix up our old home. Woodworking⩘
Love our beautiful, fragile planet. I'm deeply concerned about our climate and all the life we are carelessly and rapidly degrading and destroying.
Photo credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
Awed by space and astronomy. Photos of spiral galaxies melt my heart and also inspire me to wonder whether I'm originally from another planet in another galaxy far far away. See also: Our home in this wondrous universe⩘
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Value privacy. I think online privacy should be the default state. Because it's not, I try to protect at least some of my privacy online, especially against greedy corporations. I deeply appreciate the work that folks like Cory Doctorow⩘ and organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)⩘ are doing on our behalf.
See also:
Why I hate artificial intelligence⩘
Privacy Is Power by Carissa Véliz⩘
McLuhan lecture on enshittification by Cory Doctorow⩘
A helpful online privacy tool:
Keystones: Respect, compassion, empathy, acceptance. We're all in this together.
