in search of mastery

i have had many questions from students and friends about grad school. there’s a massive amount of writing about student experiences in doctoral programs (almost all horrendous...

compounding error with literalism

religion is a twitchy topic. it’s easy to judge people who are religious for being stupid but it’s a very dangerous place to go — many religious...

shh. the letters are sleeping.

english (like most languages written with the arcane and outdated latin alphabet) has a serious problem. an abundance of letters. that’s not the worst part, though....

en français, svp!

as you likely know, i’m a teacher. what you may not know, however, is that i am a native french speaker and this means i am sometimes asked...

the case for simple numbers

modern languages are contingent fucked-up messes of historically-motivated arcane idiocy that must be stripped and upgraded to make them functional in a post-religion, post-uneducated world or...

the case against motherhood

(this was written as the answer to a question from a dear friend and i thought it was worth sharing because there’s so much talk about the...

start with finish

perhaps the most confusing set of questions most beginners have when they decide to adopt the woodworking obsession (or craft if you prefer) is about what to do...

thinking with words and images

we think. it’s something humans do. most of us in the modern world think nearly constantly and the vast majority do all they can to avoid...

trim goes unplugged

there are various major moments in modern woodworking tool development, times that have shifted the whole framework of what it means to do woodworking. let’s take a look...

jointmaker pro, tablesaw for idiots

over the last little while, i have seen a raft of glowing reviews of the jointmaker pro by bridge city. i have to admit, when i...

the beauty of the pull-stroke

in japan, as in most of asia, most woodworking is done a little differently from western approaches. it is cultural. in a society based on harmony...

disarming

let's talk a little about the army. the american army in particular because that's the real focus but this applies to most countries, especially in the western world. i am...