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  • 05:41 audio
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  • 559 words

#1349: The Island Birds Of A Feather

  • poetry
  • birds
  • geese
  • seagulls
  • us-states
  • ohio
  • michigan
  • indiana
  • travel
  • roadtrip

I live on a small island in the Ohio–Indiana‑Michigan area, and while walking around my parking lot I’ve watched geese—tough, almost samurai‑like birds—that seem to travel south each fall. Their movements remind me of childhood memories when I tried to befriend them, only to be hissed at by amused adults. I see geese as strong warriors, distinct from seagulls, and I have a friendly seagull named Bob who “packs up” for the South just like the birds do each year. These observations bring me back to my own travels down to Tennessee, Georgia and Florida in search of summer’s warmth, underscoring that winter is simply a choice—just as the birds choose their southern route.

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  • 15:41 audio
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  • 769 words

#1348: Are Schools Working?

  • schools
  • standardizedtesting
  • creativity
  • non-fiction
  • reading
  • library
  • self-education
  • books

The post argues that our current school system—originally designed for industrial uniformity—has become a largely standardized, politically driven machine that stifles creativity and individual growth; it claims that grades measure only fragments of knowledge, that teachers push students toward a single “mass funnel,” and that the wrong subjects and tools are taught, making real learning feel like an imposed routine. The author then stresses how true education should be self‑directed through extensive reading of non‑fiction by great thinkers—books that capture human wisdom and culture—and urges readers to pursue this personal study as the real path to intellectual heights.

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  • 15:45 audio
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  • 1,111 words
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  • 1 link

#1347: Knowledge, Slides; Or, Real Knowledge Is Connected And Marked By Personal Curiosity

  • personal
  • school
  • memory
  • programming
  • music-tracker
  • lmms
  • audio-workstation
  • creative-writing

Recounting three first‑grade moments—a stick‑figure blunder, a homemade bear mask, and a birthday‑song performance—the author explains how those early creative experiments sparked his lifelong fascination with programming, music tracking, and self‑directed learning.

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  • 06:25 audio
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  • 534 words

#1346: Jogger Wisdom

  • poetry
  • free verse
  • jogging
  • music tempo
  • audacity
  • couch to 5k
  • dumbbells
  • heart rate monitor

I observed two elderly joggers who gradually increased their running speed by adding more jogging time while reducing walking intervals, using heart‑rate monitors or landmarks to keep effort steady. I adapted this method by syncing my jog with music playlists that I accelerated in Audacity, and I also incorporated dumbbells for strength gains, inspired by a shirtless jogger whose muscle growth followed the same incremental pattern. My experiments—including the Couch‑to‑5K program—confirmed that steadily raising pace and endurance, like dancing to an increasingly fast beat, builds both cardio stamina and lean muscle over time.

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  • 07:11 audio
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  • 537 words

#1345: Smartly Bonkers; Or, How To Dress For The Gym And Other Unusual Places

  • fashion
  • style
  • clothing
  • accessories
  • outfit
  • design

The author shares his experience with wearing all‑black outfits and how that style can make strangers wary, then explains how adding bright accents, varied accessories, and practical tools (like “fannypacks” for carrying gadgets) can transform a simple look into something striking and functional—ultimately suggesting that dressing boldly and confidently will draw people in and spark conversation.

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  • 15:27 audio
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  • 1,317 words

#1344: A Letter From Socrates

  • socrates
  • philosophy
  • education
  • culture
  • leadership

The post is a sweeping exhortation to embrace true wisdom through self‑study and continual questioning of life’s mysteries, urging readers to break free from state and religious indoctrination and pursue knowledge with an unquenchable appetite. It contrasts “false” leaders who cling to static culture to preserve power with “true” leaders who welcome change as a means of growth, and narrates the author’s personal struggle in Athens: he chooses to die rather than abandon his teachings so that philosophy may flourish beyond state or religion. The text concludes by inviting listeners to cultivate their intellect, live purposefully, and become architects of their own destiny, thereby ensuring that the quest for wisdom will continue to enlighten humanity.

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  • 06:49 audio
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  • 624 words

#1343: Why, Oh Why, Can’t We Just Work And Die

  • education
  • self-help
  • hiking
  • reading

The post argues that modern schooling often fails because teachers and students merely go through the motions—teachers pretend to teach, students pretend to learn—and rewards are given in grades rather than real experience or money. To become a “great being,” the author insists we must engage with nature (walking the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails) while reading great nonfiction books that give us intellectual inheritance. In this way, we can truly grow, move beyond the fake “high school” system, and leave a legacy of knowledge that lifts others.

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  • 01:57 audio
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  • 183 words

#1342: Joggers Beware: I Dare To Declare You Are Unaware How To Wear Your Underwear

  • tshirt
  • rubberband
  • poetry
  • clothing

At its core, the post reminds readers that proper clothing habits—like wearing underwear correctly and tucking a T‑shirt in during workouts—are essential for comfort and style. It stresses the importance of using rubber bands (or elastic) properly while jogging or exercising to avoid scratches and itching. The author notes that these simple practices were common knowledge in childhood, and that keeping pockets accessible by not covering them with extra layers is also important. In short, the piece encourages readers to adopt neat clothing habits to stay comfortable during physical activity.

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  • 07:57 audio
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  • 664 words

#1341: The Outside Of The World

  • essay
  • philosophy
  • education
  • self-development
  • culture
  • travel

The post argues that our everyday lives are shaped by a brain‑less system of schools, media, and family beliefs that feed corruption—false leaders, overpriced medicine, ineffective education—into the fabric of society. It claims this “friction” between reality and how the world functions creates opportunities for power, profit, and wage slavery, while leaving little room for genuine wisdom. To break out of it, the author insists on a personal quest: understand one’s place in the universe, reject the broken constructs, study respected books by clear thinkers, and gain practical insight through long‑hike adventures (Appalachian, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide). By doing so, an individual can rebuild himself with real education and profound wisdom, thereby escaping exploitation systems and enabling personalized learning for others.

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  • 07:34 audio
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  • 585 words

#1340: The Stopwatch And The Impossible Reward

  • exercise
  • gym
  • endurance
  • routine
  • full-body-exercise
  • muscle-growth

The post explains that building workout endurance works best by starting with very short sessions—just a minute or so—and then slowly extending the duration as your body adapts. It emphasizes that this incremental approach is more effective than trying to lift heavy weights at once, which can cause injury and stall progress. Trainers should measure how long you can hold an exercise, gradually adding seconds and minutes, rather than rushing into high volume. The author stresses full‑body movements over isolated muscle work, arguing that a balanced routine improves overall strength and longevity. In short, the message is: begin tiny, extend steadily, use full‑body moves, and let endurance grow naturally.

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  • 04:07 audio
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  • 320 words

#1339: Reimagination

  • reimagination
  • art
  • creativity
  • education
  • programmer
  • engineer
  • inventor
  • philosophy
  • culture

Reimagining is portrayed as the creative act of discarding old ideas and constructing better ones, a process that fuels artists, programmers, engineers, inventors and philosophers alike; it involves dismissing what cannot be proven or reproduced, letting no one’s interference halt progress, and assuming that the majority often errs because they move in incompatible directions. The text argues for an education system that truly builds knowledge rather than merely awarding grades, noting that grades are meaningless if not accompanied by real learning. It claims cultures, rituals, birthdays, diplomas are merely symbolic, while true maturity comes from imagination—an imaginative worldview that yields new thoughts free from artificial influences and gives insight into human nature, our present state, and where we must go.

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  • 06:57 audio
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  • 594 words

#1338: Turning Generative Art Into A Super Tiny Little Business

  • generative-art
  • text-to-image
  • ai-painting
  • canvas-printing
  • frame-making
  • diy-framing
  • small-business
  • prompt-engineering
  • design

The post explains the strengths and quirks of text‑to‑image AI, then proposes a small business model that creates custom AI‑generated themed canvases, frames them by hand, and sells ready‑to‑hang art for local offices.

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  • 08:51 audio
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  • 645 words

#1337: The Power Of The Third Hour; Or; How To Become Young And Mighty Again

  • poetry
  • exercise
  • gym
  • dumbbells
  • dance
  • endurance
  • fitness

The post is a poetic guide to a continuous workout routine using light dumbbells and dance-like movements, emphasizing that real exercise never stops and rests are minimal. It encourages starting with brief sessions—one minute—and progressively increasing duration through 45 minutes, an hour, and eventually two hours over several days of training each week. The piece compares this steady movement to dancing and describes how it transforms the body from a larger state into youthful strength and flexibility, while improving coordination, endurance, and potentially extending life expectancy.

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  • 02:06 audio
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  • 193 words

#1336: Cat Owners Beware: Hunter’s Moon May Earn You A Scare

  • poetry
  • cats
  • halloween
  • hunters moon

The post poetically describes how house cats behave during Hunter’s Moon—the night before Halloween—when they become playful, mysterious and noisy, producing a “cat phantom” anthem that brings joy to humans. It explains that this nocturnal ritual is part of their charm, giving us comfort and light. The author encourages cat owners to feed their pets extra on this night, hoping the cats’ magical presence will bring comfort and delight.

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  • 02:49 audio
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  • 264 words

#1335: Girl Lions Should Have The Fancy Hair - It Is Unfair

  • cat
  • lion
  • poetry
  • rhymes
  • humor

The post is a playful exploration of cat trivia—ranging from why male lions sport manes and why lions’ female counterparts appear plain, to how cats meow instead of howl—and then leaps into whimsical speculation about feline intellect: that they might be plotting to take over the world by stealing passwords on keyboards, that their lack of tails could explain their cunning, and that perhaps cats originated from the moon. It describes a “hunters moon” as a monthly holiday for cats who sleep all afternoon until dawn when they fully awaken, then muses that if cats ruled nations conflicts would disappear, lady lions could wear wigs in peace, and overall that house cats would make excellent world leaders.

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  • 03:05 audio
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  • 225 words

#1334: Ancient Werewolf Wisdom: If You Got A Tailbone...

  • poetry
  • free‑verse
  • dog
  • wolf
  • tail
  • learning
  • stars

In this whimsical post the speaker urges listeners—humans—to pay close attention, claiming that with tired eyes he has seen everything and gained infinite wisdom. He then muses on the symbolic value of a tailbone: to “be a dog that is your own,” to feel whole and alive, and to be more than a mere cog in a system. The piece weaves imagery of werewolves, stars, long trails, and a once‑beautiful world to evoke nostalgia and a desire to restart learning by listening to narrated books, wearing a tail as a sign of wisdom, and turning the hamster wheel of life anew.

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  • 04:18 audio
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  • 359 words

#1333: A Tiny Look At Generative Art

  • generative art
  • prompting
  • text-to-image
  • ai-generated art
  • digital illustration
  • machine learning
  • image generation
  • art production
  • manual painting

Generative art, fueled by prompt‑based AI, swiftly creates diverse images—from style mimics to hybrid creations—yet still lets traditional artists refine and build upon the machine’s output.

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  • 04:22 audio
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  • 397 words

#1332: It Takes A Backpack To Hear A Book

  • books
  • reading
  • narration
  • stress
  • mind
  • culture
  • learning
  • wisdom

Stress often prevents us from fully listening to narrated books, and the lingering tension can fragment our thoughts for weeks or even months—sometimes a year—to recover; this mental clutter not only hampers comprehension but also forces us back into repetitive thinking that hinders new learning, which is why we must actively engage with books, especially narrated ones, to absorb their wisdom and keep our minds functioning like well‑programmed software, thereby avoiding the cultural reset of starting from zero each generation.

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  • 04:46 audio
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  • 377 words

#1331: The Flight Of The Mocking Birds

  • philosophy
  • self-help
  • education
  • literature
  • leadership
  • culture
  • books

The post urges readers to learn from great philosophers like Socrates, take personal responsibility for discovering life’s true meaning, and rise above humanity’s mistakes to become authentic leaders through universal wisdom.

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  • 09:55 audio
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  • 809 words

#1330: Beginning Generative AI: Two Tiny Tips For Graphics And Text Generation

  • prompting
  • gpt4
  • gpt3.5
  • ai-generated-graphics
  • text-generation
  • poetry
  • step-by-step

The post presents two creative strategies: first, a graphics tip that encourages adding maximum complexity—by starting with simple, oddly shaped subjects such as “naked cats” or “blob fish”—and intentionally making the result ugly to test an artist’s effort; second, a text‑generation tip that suggests building poems by first generating structured lists of steps and details (e.g., five steps toward wisdom, world peace, or personal growth) and then weaving those into a rhyming poem, illustrated with sample prompts and finished verses.

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  • 05:51 audio
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  • 397 words

#1329: Wisdom; Or, All The Right Humanity Has Ever Had

  • poetry
  • verse
  • philosophy
  • socrates
  • wisdom
  • library

The text argues that true wisdom defines humanity, while the many manipulative “control systems” that dominate our lives are merely distractions and ultimately fail to bring real change. Citing Socrates as an exemplar of this transformative power, the author stresses that philosophy’s purpose is to unravel falsehoods and inspire genuine happiness. He then claims that once we grasp wisdom—easily found in authentic philosophical works—we acquire a preventative power over our future: by loving wisdom and befriending philosophers we can steer humanity away from confusion, division, and war, thereby preventing the wrongs that arise when such systems take hold. In sum, the post invites readers to embrace philosophy as an inheritance that empowers them to prevent error and guide humanity toward true greatness.

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  • 05:48 audio
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  • 510 words

#1328: On The Art Apocalypse

  • ai
  • generative-art
  • image-upscaling
  • painting
  • portrait
  • museum
  • wine
  • comic-books
  • graphic-novels

The post reflects on the rise of generative‑AI art, using playful anecdotes—from a novice’s cheap portraits to an imagined collection of Sphinx cats—to illustrate how easily software can produce seemingly “good” images that later appear trivial or meaningless. It contrasts this with a museum curator’s mislabeling of such works and wine connoisseurs fooled by a low‑cost label, both cases underscoring the importance of context and interpretation. The author argues that true art must carry meaning beyond its visual appearance; it should reflect the creator’s personality, intentions, and life, not just be an algorithmic output. Thus, generative art can be meaningful only when the maker’s identity and purpose are embedded in the work, echoing how a wine’s flavor is judged by its maker rather than its taste alone.

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  • 05:20 audio
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  • 368 words

#1327: The Super Simple Power Workout That Delivers Visible Weekly Results

  • workout
  • dance
  • dumbbell
  • endurance
  • exercise

The post outlines an intense, dance‑with‑dumbbells routine that relies on nonstop movement to build endurance: you start with 30 seconds of continuous work and gradually extend the duration over weeks—moving through minutes, hours, even three hours—while keeping rest minimal; it stresses daily workouts (with only a day or two off when injuries accumulate), the idea that a workout is earned by sustained effort, and that the required time varies with body type (roughly 30 minutes for skinny people versus up to three hours for heavier ones)—all aimed at transforming the body through progressive endurance gains.

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  • 09:40 audio
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  • 874 words

#1326: For Growing Up, And Against Fear, And Isolation

  • poetry
  • first-person
  • learning
  • ai
  • personal-growth

A computer‑generated poem in first‑person voice celebrates the freedom of self‑directed learning and the power of ancient wisdom re‑combined with modern insight. The narrator abandons “standardized education” and instead follows a boundless network of knowledge, finding books that sound like celestial music and using them as a lantern to illuminate culture, tradition, and personal ascent. In the same breath, fear is shown as a shadow born of ignorance that dissolves when knowledge becomes a sword; courage, dignity, and nobility emerge from understanding. The poem also frames isolation as a fleeting moment that invites return to human connection, urging the reader to walk “the rugged Appalachian Trail” of ideas, to rise to greatness, and to shine as a star in a constellation of shared wisdom. In sum, it urges us to embrace adventure, knowledge, and the extraordinary in our own lives.