PicoBlog

I had a sweatshirt that said “eschew obfuscation” when I was a kid. I was very cool. “Eschew Obfuscation” means “avoid making things unclear.” The phrase is a little funny. But it’s also good advice. I was on a call with a client recently where a key employee from the team was new to the conversation with a potential partner. And the employee said so right at the top: “Forgive me, I’m new to this conversation, and I don’t actually know the context.

Happy (almost) weekend my friends! I’m sure you’ve got holiday shopping, holiday parties, and assorted other holiday-related madness on your agenda for the weekend, but today’s Weekend Buzz has some fun ideas to add on if you have the time (plus a cool event happening Tuesday)! Cheers! ncG1vNJzZmiZnpm%2Fpq3SramoppdjwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89onKyooprAtLuMppirrJmjtrR5x6ijopyRrnqku8Kkq5qhnKg%3D

Almost every English teacher has their own go-to stories about grading essays. Mine? In my early years teaching in rural Arkansas, I’d sneak off to the local diner Reds many a Saturday morning with my stack of essays and order a greasy breakfast and unlimited-refill coffee—and then watch as the chatty diner filled around me speculating about how the Razorbacks would do that afternoon while I sat there quietly trying to make a dent in the seemingly-un-dentable pile of student writing that needed feedback.

A cassette player goes click, a recorded drum beat fills the silence, someone is strumming a guitar, a monotone voice comes across the airwaves: ‘Can’t seem to face up to the facts, I’m tense and nervous, can’t relax.’ Lying in bed, listening through headphones to late-night radio, I’m transfixed. ‘Can’t sleep, head’s on fire, don’t touch me, I’m a real live wire.’ It’s as if this man is singing directly to me, as if he has the power to cross the space-time continuum and see into my soul.

Imagine being the proud Chinese immigrant parents of a child for whom you make all the usual sacrifices to raise in a big, comfortable home in a leafy suburb of Rochester in upstate New York. He excels in his studies, gets a perfect score on his math SAT and graduates high school with honors and admission to an Ivy League University. Your child’s senior yearbook quote is taken from the silly SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon character named Patrick Star who rightly says: “Knowledge can never replace friendship.

Robert Pirsig, perhaps the most widely read philosopher alive (and yet institutionally ignored!), died a few years ago at the age of 88. There are books that stick with you, and then there are Robert Pirsig’s books: Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Lila. I’ve had trouble explaining why they stuck with me, but I know they’ve shaped me in a number of ways. I have read them over a dozen times in the last decade, and yet when people ask me to explain the appeal, I’ve struggled to synthesize.

Hey, it’s been quite a while since I made a new post. I have been furiously working on finishing my fourth book and it’s going to be great if I can push it across the finish line. Stay tuned and thanks for your patience. I’ve also been incredibly busy with Friends of the Brothers, and having a blast playing the music of the Allman Brothers Band with this great group. Last week we played the Peach Music Festival and the great Maplewoodstock, the two festivals that mean the most to me.

Two cents By Esther Krakue Here is my newsletter and podcast about all things politics, pop culture, and society. Most of you know me from my work in TV broadcasting and writing, but here you can find my interesting and unfiltered takes on issues that you won't find anywhere else! ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjaa%2F06Gcq6Oilri2sQ%3D%3D

I've spent my life more or less cloistered among religious Jews, which messes with my sense of what counts as common knowledge. Today, for instance, is Purim, and on Purim the Jewish people read Megillat Esther, the Book of Esther. Apparently, most people don’t know the story. Now, frankly, I don't really give a shit what people do or don’t know. People … ncG1vNJzZmismJqurrHRopqappKuwLWtzZ2cq2ajqq%2B0wMCcomebn6J8sXvErKuhnaJitaK5wKdkpqeimbKktMCiZJqmlGKurbiMrZ%2Be