Author Archives: Alan Pugh

Can somebody loan me a happy pill?

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(Warning:  This blog post is terribly boring and pointless and whiny.  It’s better than watching The Bachelor with the girlfriend, but not by much.  There will be no refunds if you decide to continue reading.)

A friend pointed out on Twitter that today is considered “Blue Monday,” the saddest day of the year.  Of course, there’s no real science behind it, and this was just another gimmick thought up by a business to drum up sales, but it still struck me… I’ve not been myself the last week or two and it shows no signs of improvement.  Is it the weather?  Aftereffects of the multiple times I’ve caught a bug over the past five weeks?  Perhaps it’s simply a self-fulfilling prophecy from spending too much time watching the clouds and counting the days until spring. Continue reading →

Adbusting: An easy way to subvert the brands that invade your life

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There isn’t much of a legitimate “free speech” anymore.  We feel like there is, but let’s take a real step back and think about this for a second.

Where do you practice free speech?  First, we have to rule out pretty much the entire internet, because if you’re posting via social media, you’ve agreed to a Terms of Service that gives the service permission to silence any speech, and since they are a private organization and not part of the government, they are not violating the First Amendment.  Even if you’re posting via your own website, odds are that you’re using some form of blogging software or, at the very least, a commercial hosting service that has its own ToS.  Perhaps they’re not very heavy-handed, but they sure comply with those takedown requests pretty quickly and without question. Continue reading →

Not that anyone else is a fan of being sick, but I’m not either

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So far this year, I’ve been to the gym once.  I’m not quite fulfilling that obligation I made to myself to run three times a week, right?

True story:  Last week, I was healthy on Friday.  I was sick until Friday, and I was sick after Friday, but on that one particular day, I felt pretty good.  I’m not sure what it is about 2013 so far, but today is the tenth and I’m finally getting back to 100%, so I’m guessing tomorrow will be the second day this year that I’ve actually felt like getting out of bed. Continue reading →

American Media and You: How to Stay Informed in the U.S.

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“If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly.”

– Thomas Sowell

For years, politicians and pundits have shouted about the “bias” in American media.  The typical theory is that everyone with a different narrative is hellbent on turning America into the next USSR, despite not really being able to pinpoint why this makes any sense other than the reporting not matching up with their preconceived notion of how the world should work. Continue reading →

2013: Resolving to move forward, part one

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“Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground”

– Ralph Marston

The “New Year’s Resolution” blog is one of the most overdone things in the digital world but there’s truth to the view that humans desire a clean break from the past when they seek self-improvement.  We “go cold turkey” when it’s healthier to make gradual positive progress toward our goals because we fear temptation and lack of motivation.  We don’t just end relationships, we burn pictures and unfriend on Facebook and find a new circle to run in to avoid any reminders of the past. Continue reading →

Elyrian blames school shooting on belief in evolution

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From today’s Chronicle Telegram‘s opinion page and Elyria resident Bill Hine:

Darwinism is the dominant worldview, despite its scant scientific support. It is the soil from which Nazism and communism sprouted, also the nihilism that shows itself today in senseless mass murders.

If Darwinism is true, there is no God and no judgment after death. Traditional morality is a polite fiction, and there really isn’t any right and wrong. Our young people unconsciously absorb this philosophy and instinctively follow it to its logical conclusion. Continue reading →

2012: My year in review, part two

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Part one is here.

I had pretty big plans upon returning home, not the least of which was a night out at some bar on West Sixth in the VIP with bottle service to celebrate the money I was saving by moving back home.  Sadly, time went on while I was away and it seems some of the dynamics of my old “crew” had changed dramatically and friends that I had assumed would always be part of my weekends out were suddenly not getting along or no longer in the picture for various reasons. Continue reading →

2012: My year in review, part one

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Less than forty hours left in 2012.  I can’t help but think that each one of these years passes faster than the last and that I’m racing into old age at an alarming pace.  I think back to the summers on the beach in Vermilion when Kristin was a teenager and I acted like one, and it seems like those years lasted so much longer.  Perhaps it’s because they were stuffed so full of the kind of memories you never want to forget and the past years have been littered with the mortgage and new jobs and living 700 miles apart; perhaps it’s just simple nostalgia playing mind tricks again. Continue reading →