But we want to be the poets of our life—first of all in the smallest, most everyday matters.

About
Sites of Interest

Interlude: Brant Bjork, “Biker No. 2”

August 1, 2021 By Outis Niemand in music

« Unhappy Ever After In the Marketplace» Obiter Scripta, no. 115

I write in my notebook with the intention of stimulating good conversation, hoping that it will also be of use to some fellow traveler. But perhaps my notes are mere drunken chatter, the incoherent babbling of a dreamer. If so, read them as such.

– Basho, The Knapsack Notebook

Currently Reading

A Theory of the Aphorism: From Confucius to Twitter

by Andrew Hui

Against Joie de Vivre: Personal Essays

by Phillip Lopate

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel

by Jerome K. Jerome

Why Liberalism Works: How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All

by Deirdre N. McCloskey

book reviewsbook club

The Past Is Always With Us

November 2026
October 2026
September 2026
August 2026
July 2026
June 2026
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
June 2008
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005

What’s It All About When You Sort It Out?

ai
alan watts
animals
aphorisms
art
atheism
augean stables
battling personal entropy
beards
bonsai minimalism
books
bread and circuses
bricolage
bring me the head of nicholas carr
buried alive
calvin and hobbes
conspicuous crusading
crime and punishment
drugs
editorial vigilantism
education
environment
eric hoffer
extraordinary popular delusions
foolosophy
free speech
fresh hell
gender
george carlin
germans supported their troops too
getting and spending
herbivory
history
humanitarian diet
identity
inscriptions
jests japes jokes jollies
jesus tie-dyed for your sins
language
like cocaine
lin yutang
literature as moral fiber supplement
lucubrations
macho macho men
marriage
media/propaganda
meditation
memento mori
montaigne
moralizing
music
mythology
niemand among the substackers
nietzsche
nihilism
non compos mentis
noteworthies
notorious jbp
nyx
obiter scripta
ohferfucksake
old dixie
omnigatherum
panta rheism
philosophy
poetry
political philosophy
procrusteans
prying eyes
psychology
race
religion
revillaging
samesecks
santutthi
saturday shuffle
science
seasonal
sex-you-all
silent moving pictures
so many books, so little time
socmed
solitude
spiritual-not-religious
technology
thanksralph
the big sleep
the cult of multi
the feeling of absurdity
the geist of the zeit
the great awokening
the madness of crowds
the statusphere
the wire
thursday throwback
tribalism
unintended consequences
verily
waiting for the barbarians
walking
who's žižoomin' who?
work
world football
writing
Ω

Vox Populi

This is disturbing. All of it. God, you are such a good writer.

—Shanna

The prose is immaculate. [You] should be an English teacher…Do keep writing; you should get paid for it, but that’s hard to find.

—Noel

You are such a fantastic writer! I’m with Noel; your mad writing skills could lead to income.

—Sandi

WOW – I’m all ready to yell “FUCK YOU MAN” and I didn’t get through the first paragraph.

—Anonymous

You strike me as being too versatile to confine yourself to a single vein. You have such exceptional talent as a writer. Your style reminds me of Swift in its combination of ferocity and wit, and your metaphors manage to be vivid, accurate and original at the same time, a rare feat. Plus you’re funny as hell. So, my point is that what you actually write about is, in a sense, secondary. It’s the way you write that’s impressive, and never more convincingly than when you don’t even think you’re writing — I mean when you’re relaxed and expressing yourself spontaneously.

—Arthur

Posts like yours would be better if you read the posts you critique more carefully…I’ve yet to see anyone else misread or mischaracterize my post in the manner you have.

—Battochio

You truly have an incredible gift for clear thought expressed in the written word. You write the way people talk.

—Ray

you say it all so well i want to have babies with it…

—Erin

A good person I know from the past.

—Tauriq Moosa

Look what you wrote about a talented man. You’re gum on his shoe. If you haven’t attempted to kill yourself before, maybe it’s time to give it a go. Maybe you’ll be successful at something for once.

—”Fuck Off”

MoFo, I have stumbled in here before and love your stuff.

—Barry Crimmins

It is sad that someone who writes so well should read so poorly.

—Ally

A stunningly well-written blog.

—Chris Clarke

He’s right, of course.

—Mari, echoing Chris

Adjust your lousy attitude dude!

—Old Liberal

↑ Back to top

Interlude: Brant Bjork, “Biker No. 2”

Manners Cost You Everything

Now and Long Ago

The Ghost In the Paragraph

The Wheel In My Mind Keeps On Turning, I Don’t Know What I’ll Think Tomorrow

Don’t Ask Me Why, It’s Just the Nature of My Grooves

Whose Problem Is That?

Three Bouncing Dots