Neighborhoods matter. Here’s how to make yours better.

Posted by & filed under Culture, How To, Personal.

Create a mini private social network for your neighborhood at NextDoor.com I almost started this post with “In today’s society…” before I caught myself. But in all seriousness, creating and maintaining strong relationships with your neighbors is a really good idea. But breaking the ice and creating a meaningful network with the people who live… Read more »

Simplifying?

Posted by & filed under Personal.

I’m trying to simplify my life. That should be easier for me than for many others — not because I have any special talent for reducing simplicity, but because my life has become so busy and complicated, there’s really only one direction it can take (“regression to the mean”?) and that is toward simplicity. Three… Read more »

An Unusual Evening (and a general status update)

Posted by & filed under Personal.

So I’m hanging out with 19 homeless people at a shelter in Plymouth, as a volunteer chaperone. It’s a “damp” shelter, meaning they don’t have to be stone cold sober/straight, as long as they are able to behave calmly and don’t drink or do drugs while here. Earlier, Peter (a friend and former neighbor from… Read more »