PicoBlog

My friend Joanie turned to me as we relaxed in the hot tub the other night under a star-studded, palm tree-fringed Palm Springs twilight sky. “I wanted to tell you that I am proud of you, how well you’re doing. It’s not even been a year since the divorce was final and look at you!,” she told me. What did she see in me? I wondered. If I exuded a calm and centeredness, it was hard won and continuously nurtured.

"You don't look Puerto Rican." I clenched my jaw and forced a smile. "Oh? And what does a Puerto Rican look like?" I cocked my head at the producer and raised my eyebrows. We were on set, and the artificial light made everything look ethereal, saturated. "You don't talk like a Puerto Rican, either." He continued, ignoring my question, oblivious to how ridiculous he sounded. "And I would know." He laughed. "I'm from New York.

Recipe testing for various people and publications has made up a good chunk of my time and income the past several months. As I explain to friends or friends of friends who end up eating the food I make: I’m literally paid to cook and eat, AND the groceries get reimbursed. Sounds great, right? It is — but (you knew there was a but) — it is still very much work.

It’s been a crazy couple of days in LA with the weather. We’ve had rain and hail and even snow! Okay, the snow that fell in front of the house was a tablespoon; even that amount, I’ve exaggerated a little. The scene was a little different, a few blocks from the house. Our local park had some snow; most melted or were washed away by the rain. The hills a…

We’re just around the corner from celebrating all things American and Free. Yet freedom is more than a word to toss around without regard for what it actually means. Is there a one-size-fits-all definition for freedom? How do you define, measure, and experience freedom in your life? ncG1vNJzZmismJbBqMHYoqWhraSYtW%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xop2iala68r7CMrZ%2BeZZKqx7vDzqubrGWnna61ecOonKxllqeyprDOpmacp52isq%2FA0g%3D%3D

Two weeks ago I scribbled “grace” onto a post-it note. I was drafting an article while flicking through some notes and the word popped out at me. In the Christian tradition grace is forgiveness. God gives his grace despite the errors of humans, epitomised in sending his son, Jesus Christ to take on our sins. It is about showing mercy irrespective of whether that is deserved. (Apologies to any practising Christians, I hope I have got that right.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s also the time of the year when people start asking questions about Christmas. Hopefully, this article will help answer some of those questions. The identification of Christmas being celebrated as the date of Jesus’ birth took a long time to develop. In fact, during the first two centuries of Christianity, the celebration of birthdays was strongly opposed as a pagan custom.

I just bought a new laptop after 3 years so it’s time to fiddle with settings. One of the most important questions for a coder like me is what font to use for programming. I’ve been using the Fira Code font for several years and maybe it’s time for a change. There’s a nice website programmingfonts.org that lists fonts designed for writing code, but it’s mostly browsing things for aesthetics, not issues.

This publication has devoted significant space to explicating the ideas of georgism as they apply to the modern world. However, some confusions still exist about the essential nature of the georgist program. In order to provide additional clarity as to what georgism is, we find it imperative to correct several common errors, and state definitively what georgism is not. One common assertion (or objection) is that georgism is simply a form of socialism.