Exercising is an unwanted chore to the majority of people. It requires a lot of motivation and mental perseverance to even get in the mindset of exercising, especially if it’s been a while. Personally, I stopped exercising at a gym at the start of COVID and have had a difficult time getting back there. I […]
The moment you learn most soft drinks began their lives as medical elixirs is always an enjoyable experience. Yes, Dr. Pepper was invented by a licensed pharmacist. Pepsi gets its name from its medical claim to relieve dyspepsia. And, there is some historically medicinal basis behind your grandma prescribing ginger ale to calm a troubled […]
There is something fascinating about the American suburb. It is an experiment, at its best, in family dynamics; and at its worst, a reflection of capitalist disillusionment. Diane Josefowicz confronts the dual nature of appearance vs. reality in her confrontational, almost uncomfortable novella, L’Air Du Temps (1985). In the pages we find our narrator, thirteenyear-old […]
Current recommendations from the CDC for the updated 2023 – 2024 COVID-19 vaccines are that everyone age five and older needs at least one dose and adults who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may need multiple doses; children age six months through four years need at least one dose and may need multiple doses, depending […]
For the past 70 years, I projected that my golden years were a long way off. But was I wrong? Today, people drive past me yelling stuff like “Move over you old blankety-blank-blank!” And believe me, they’re not saying I look like Brad Pitt. People over 60 face a variety of Herculean challenges. From health […]
Assemblage is art made by assembling disparate elements, often everyday objects. Collage describes both the technique and the resulting work of art in which pieces of paper, photographs, and other ephemera are arranged and adhered to a surface. Automatism refers to creating art without conscious thought, accessing material from the unconscious mind as part of […]
Wikipedia just released its annual list of most visited pages. Number 1 was “ChatGPT.” The term AI is being thrown around with the reckless abandon a two-year-old deploys on their favorite new toy or stuffed bunny. As a freelance writer, I was recently given the assignment to add “AI” to a prospective start-up’s business plan. […]
I first heard about data annotation while scrolling TikTok. A woman wearing a fuzzy beige cardigan appeared on my screen with a clanging Stanley cup in hand to tell me about how she has been on a quest to make $100 each day, before and after her 9 to 5. Naturally, my ears perked. There’s […]
Like a haymaker’s punch, the COVID pandemic completely rocked the restaurant industry, benefiting many – but leaving many others to either shut down entirely or scramble to restructure their business models. In RI, we saw The Grange, Nick’s on Westminster, and El Rancho Grande close in the pandemic. The owners of JP Spoonem’s took the […]
A man sits at a desk with his feet up, surrounded by computer programming and philosophy books. He looks out the window at the bare branches of a tree behind a sheet of winter blue sky. In his reverie, he is haunted by a question that he can’t seem to answer: In the age of […]