One of the common themes of life today is that it’s getting faster. It’s not that time has actually sped up, rather the rate of change in society has sped up. This is really happening; it’s not just crotchety old men pining for the days of martini lunches. One way to measure this trend is… Continue reading Things Are Getting Faster
Category: Random
We Live In The Future
When I was a kid, there was this elusive thing called The Future. It was this beacon visible just over the horizon where things would be different. Technology would bring knowledge and power to the masses. Poverty would disappear. We’d have lots of leisure time. Or maybe the world would collapse into a dystopian nightmare… Continue reading We Live In The Future
New York Alki
I just finished Ryan Boudinot’s Blueprints of the Afterlife. It’s one of the most original and convoluted stories I’ve read in recent years; like David Mitchell meets William Gibson. There are some beautiful sentences lurking in this story: Like a rivulet of suffering feeding into the tributary, this new source of sad humanity bled from… Continue reading New York Alki
Notes on Healthcare
Our weekend was interrupted by a trip to the local emergency room (don’t worry, everyone’s fine). While it’s still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d write up some thoughts on the experience. 1. When you’re in the trauma room of the emergency department you feel oddly secure. You’re in a space that represents the… Continue reading Notes on Healthcare
Requiem for a city
There’s a fantastic article in Vanity Fair on One Hyde Park. It’s the most expensive residential building on earth and a metaphor for a new London. Here are some great quotes: “Knightsbridge is an un-English activity,” says York. “The former gratin [upper crust], a combination of old toffs, Knightsbridge Americans who wanted to be old… Continue reading Requiem for a city