Category Archives: Commentary

We are more like cheetahs than chimpanzees. That sounds brash, but it’s not far from the truth. Cheetahs today have only about 6,500 breeders, and in the past they dipped far lower — perhaps just a few hundred animals ten … Continue reading →

I keep my spiritual door half-ajar, living the soft economy of being both open and closed. My tongue travels between knives and hammers; it teaches me caution with words. Walking is a miracle — falling forward, repeating the act. My … Continue reading →

Pondering a Public Post Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok—all allow and encourage public posts. Early online spaces required joining groups; there was usually some sort of vetting. Public posting changed the game. I’m thinking there are a number of reasons someone … Continue reading →

The polarization of American politics has caught my eye for several years. I’m old enough to remember a time of great debates between sides, yet maintaining social connections and occasional eating together. There were some people during the 1960s that … Continue reading →

The phrase Convivial Digital Images is deliberate. It sets these works apart from the frictionless churn of “AI art” and from the dismissive category of “filter effects.” The digital is present, but not as a gimmick. It is treated as … Continue reading →

Johannes Gumpp — Triple Self-Portrait (1646) In the Vasari Corridor at the Uffizi hangs what may be Johannes Gumpp’s only painting. At twenty years old, he shows himself from behind, staring into a mirror, painting what he sees. One man, … Continue reading →

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Knowledge can nourish like bread—substantial, necessary, filling. You learn where the letter G came from, who invented it, why Z was exiled, and suddenly the alphabet feels alive again, a meal worth chewing. But then there’s the other side. ‘Knowledge … Continue reading →

The alphabet looks settled, a neat procession from A to Z. But that order hides centuries of invention, exile, improvisation, and craft. Each letter carries its own survival story. Some are dramatic, some subtle, but together they form a lineage … Continue reading →

About twenty years ago, I decided to try my hand at real modeling clay. For decades I’d messed with plasticine—projects that never lasted, always mashed back into new forms, leaving behind only a few bad photos. Some of those pieces … Continue reading →