IKEA catalogs resemble Old Testament genealogies. Ektorp, Hauga, & Branäs might just be modern Swedish for Ephlal, Hezron, & Boaz. Suddenly I imagine Noah, Shem, Ham & Japheth assembling the ark with Allen wrenches.

Got a text from family wishing a happy St. Patrick's Day. After a brief update, it read, "We know you're so busy so we'll let you go now..." We do have some major life events going on, but we're not too busy for a call. Especially on Sunday. Do you project your own busy-ness

Me: Hey younger Brady, it’s election season. It’s time you led a political discussion of current issues in your social studies class. Younger me: Sounds dicey. What’s the upside? Me: You teach social studies. How will your students learn how to talk about issues, hear opposing

I just finished Anna Karenina. Three months, poured in around family, work, and travel with only a handful of “zero pages” days. Quick thoughts: Reviewing my dozens of notes taken on the back of airline boarding passes (American Airlines cardstock is best & they fit well

“Anna Karenina 📖 is like a jumbo bag of quality candy. And it’s gone!” Thankful to have stumbled across a copy of, and three months later finished—Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. I’m a tad melancholy – the 807 pages were daunting at first, but Tolstoy’s prose quickly won me over. AK

D.C.? London? Moscow? Even fictional 1870s Moscow?Any city with political power... Vronsky's character in Anna Karenina accompanies his friend Oblonsky to Moscow. After a while in town, Aleksey observes of fellow elites, “I don’t know why it is they all seem to be rearing up

I often wondered about the speed of monarch butterfly migrations when reading about their annual treks in an article or watching a documentary. I only imagine what I’ve seen personally—a monarch flitting about the back yard or along a walking trail. Do they have a secret turbo

Plopped into the car. Revved the air conditioner. Glanced at my Waze app. Another jam. I want to be home. Turned right this time, drove around Building 10, and used the signal to butt into traffic. The light granted permission. Physics did not. I inched into the intersection,

AI this, AI that, AI—I put forth a request for AI to help Spotify more judiciously place their auto ads for other podcasts. “Professor, what do you think about the latest bill in the Senate?” “Well,—“ “IN A WORLD WHERE AI SEEMINGLY RUNS MORE OF YOUR ONLINE EXPERIENCE, FIND

Concur 100%. I read Anna Karenina in summer 2024 & consistently think of Tolstoy’s beautiful prose & characters. My wife is reading it now because she was curious at my enthusiasm for it. Same for The Brothers Karamazov earlier this year. Thank you Mr. Bottum for your

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." Henry Miller

I cannot emphasize enough the delight Francisco Ribeiro brings to my timeline.

Mont Saint-Michel is proof that beauty is objective. It is impossible not to be awestruck by it.

Eight o’clock AM on Saturday. Sitting on the back patio. Shorts, bare feet, and T-shirt belie the fact it’s January in the Florida Panhandle. It’s a humid 71° Fahrenheit, the kind where thick droplets drape the furniture, mailbox, and trash bins. It like they’ve been at the gym

Underrated life advice: Stop trying to reason with someone who's operating from emotion. Logic doesn't work on feelings. Wait for them to calm down. Then talk. Or don't talk at all. But arguing with emotion is losing before you start.

I humbly request that all speakers of English root up and throw aside the phrase “Does that make sense?” from all subsequent conversation or presentation. It’s a subconscious repellant against meaningful feedback which reached peak banality some time ago. Thank you.