Black Mirror is one of my favorite shows on television. It’s like a modern version of The Twilight Zone, an anthology series exploring the ramifications of technology on life in the present and near-future. “White Christmas,” the seventh overall episode of Black Mirror, touches on some ways in which technology might help people with social anxiety in the future. Continue reading
The NBA draft is one of my favorite nights in sports. The suspense of which team will pick which player, the inevitable trades, and of course the fancy suits. It’s insanely fun. I probably enjoy the draft more than the actual games. But in today’s era, the NBA draft is completely unnecessary, and the league would probably be better as a whole if they got rid of it entirely. Continue reading
I wish I could be like J.D. Salinger or Thomas Pynchon, a famous author who stays completely out of the public eye. No interviews. No social media. No website. Retain an air of mystery about myself. Build a mystique. It’s an alluring idea, but I’m not sure if it’s possible anymore to be both a famous author and a recluse. Continue reading
They say writing is rewriting. Well, I love writing, but I hate rewriting.
The first draft is my favorite part of the process. While it’s often difficult, I enjoy the challenge because it’s pure creativity. Rewriting and editing, on the other hand, feels like drudgery. I know it’s important and makes the work better, but I just want to get it over with and move on to the next project and write something new. Continue reading
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
In honor of Star Wars Day 2017, let’s continue the saga of the Force versus the Dark Side. We found a new hope in Episode IV, the Empire struck back in Episode V, the Jedi returned in Episode VI, and a Phantom Menace rose in Episode I. Now we visit episode two of the prequel trilogy, Attack of the Clones. It is admittedly not a great film, although it does contain one of my favorite action scenes in the entire Star Wars series: the flying car chase through the Coruscant cityscape at night. It also contains some wise insights into the Force (mindfulness) and the Dark Side (social anxiety).
Two of my favorite people on the internet collided this week when Leo Babauta of Zen Habits went on the Rich Roll Podcast. As expected, it was a great episode, full of insight and wisdom, but there was one thing they said that I wanted to expand upon. At one point, Rich asked Leo why he thought mindfulness is becoming more popular and mainstream lately, but neither had a clear answer.
I think the main reason is the internet. Continue reading
How do we know whether something we didn’t witness ourselves actually happened?
In the past, all knowledge and records were passed on orally, then later through books. Meaning facts could have been easily manipulated and fabricated as the storyteller saw fit. Therefore no history pre-photographs/audio/video can be taken at face value as empirically true unless there is archeological evidence or scientific proof. Otherwise, there is no way of knowing whether any account of history happened the way we were told. Continue reading
I briefly talked about Haruki Murakami’s memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, in my “Top Ten Books I Read in 2016” post, but I thought this book was worth expanding on, particularly Murakami’s passages about his introversion. Continue reading
Napoleon Dynamite is the type of movie you either love or hate. Except in my case, I both love and hate it. At first, I wasn’t sure why. I enjoy quirky independent comedies, and Napoleon Dynamite features socially awkward characters (like me), so it should have been right up my alley. But I didn’t love the film wholeheartedly like so many other fans. There were certainly parts of the movie I found funny, but other parts rubbed me the wrong way. After re-watching the movie recently and thinking about it further, I realized part of the reason I “hate” Napoleon Dynamite might be the way it portrays social anxiety. Continue reading
T.Z. Barry 