about

We knew it before we were quizzed

water droplets on a brown leaf

That truth remains valuable. We existed. We went to school and forgot ourselves for a while. Then we remembered who we are. We had this knowledge with us the whole time.

The wake doesn’t drive the boat

Boat wake showing New York City in the distance

Deciding where to go next. When we don’t like our direction, we blame it on our wake. Much of my behavior is nothing but wake. But I keep hearing the wake can’t do this.

The Oracle answers tough questions

glass marbles with swirling colors

Standing there and meeting people where they are. All in a day’s work. The Oracle can speak at length for which the questioner doesn’t want to stand. Or at brevity upon which the Questioner realizes they could’ve written it.

AI is trolling us

Non-realist art of piranha-like creatures showing enormous teeth. Words in red: IT CAME FROM THE COMMENT BOX

Are we prepared to tell it to go away? It’ll spread out the tarot cards, ask you to turn some over, read them for you. You picked the cards. It wants to blame you for the options it spread out.

High school debate judges have their own opinions

Clip art of short-haired person on left, long-haired person in middle, finger pointing on right. They're holding papers.

They want an inclusive, non-hostile environment. Oppression can be systemic. We know our own experiences. These are obvious facts. How can we pretend not to know them when we make any judgment whatsoever?

A hostile critic isn’t impartial

two cartoon guys argue face-to-face, hands overlapping, against a backdrop of a city in flames

They complain about our greatest strengths. In real life, when our enemies point out our ‘faults,’ we don’t always need to take it to heart. They don’t have our best interests in mind.

We mortals must combat hate speech

candle flame seen blurred in triplicate

Starboard buys Parler, and it looks like strange fire. This is all kinds of strange fire, except for the queer kind that we like. It is instead made of strange fires that deserve to be scrutinized and judged.

Atheist-theist encounters

two grebes swimming and touching bills

If you’re pretty sure there’s no god, when may you tell theists they’re wrong? Sometimes knowledge is best cultivated through personal encounters rather than intellectual demands. We see each other, and we’ll also know the world.