Mr. Brown’s Nemesis
@seren1tyseeker.bsky.social
Husband, father. Sober since 8/4/2017. Fond of big ideas, small graces, and the daily practice of trying to be a better man.
I get the logic behind “gratitude is Pollyanna BS when XYZ is happening in the world.” But that view ultimately serves little besides one’s sense of moral superiority over others. Balancing realism with gratitude offers the strength to be a force for love, healing, and change in the world.
November 27, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I get the logic behind “gratitude is Pollyanna BS when XYZ is happening in the world.” But that view ultimately serves little besides one’s sense of moral superiority over others. Balancing realism with gratitude offers the strength to be a force for love, healing, and change in the world.
Dumb yankee question: is there a technical distinction between stuffing and dressing? I always thought they were just two words that both applied to the whole genre of “things you serve with turkey” - cornbread, sage, oyster, etc.
November 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Dumb yankee question: is there a technical distinction between stuffing and dressing? I always thought they were just two words that both applied to the whole genre of “things you serve with turkey” - cornbread, sage, oyster, etc.
I have a few traditional stuffings I like, but my every-year-a-hit go-do stuffing is an andouille, cornbread and sage dressing. Love it. Most years I make that and a second, more traditional stuffing (for my father in law, who’s old school.)
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I have a few traditional stuffings I like, but my every-year-a-hit go-do stuffing is an andouille, cornbread and sage dressing. Love it. Most years I make that and a second, more traditional stuffing (for my father in law, who’s old school.)
Love this. Perfect turkey, if such a thing exists, is HARD. And while it’s traditional, there is no rule.
November 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Love this. Perfect turkey, if such a thing exists, is HARD. And while it’s traditional, there is no rule.
I’m a wet brine devotee, personally. Depending on how you’re cooking it, more leeway for creativity/flavor (e.g. when I smoke a turkey, I like adding oranges and lemons to the brine and think the flavor/acidity improves the final product.)
November 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I’m a wet brine devotee, personally. Depending on how you’re cooking it, more leeway for creativity/flavor (e.g. when I smoke a turkey, I like adding oranges and lemons to the brine and think the flavor/acidity improves the final product.)
Four fried chickens…and a coke! 😎
November 23, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Four fried chickens…and a coke! 😎
Deep dish pizza, Italian beef, Chicago-style dogs, and (outside the Chicagoland area) the Horseshoe sandwich
November 18, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Deep dish pizza, Italian beef, Chicago-style dogs, and (outside the Chicagoland area) the Horseshoe sandwich
Amen. There are a few bits of ridiculousness, but my drinking was mostly a 20-year long slog of slowly growing fear, shame, isolation, and self-hatred. Unless you’re a really dark person, not that entertaining.
November 16, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Amen. There are a few bits of ridiculousness, but my drinking was mostly a 20-year long slog of slowly growing fear, shame, isolation, and self-hatred. Unless you’re a really dark person, not that entertaining.
He’s a Baptist so the Pope had little to do with it, but I imagine if they were to meet they could set aside doctrinal differences and agree on certain core truths.
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
He’s a Baptist so the Pope had little to do with it, but I imagine if they were to meet they could set aside doctrinal differences and agree on certain core truths.
If the forces of democracy and decency win this fight, this will be one of the defining images (think Saigon execution photo);
If trumpism succeeds, it will be erased from history - it’ll too damning to be allowed to stay.
If trumpism succeeds, it will be erased from history - it’ll too damning to be allowed to stay.
November 14, 2025 at 11:51 PM
If the forces of democracy and decency win this fight, this will be one of the defining images (think Saigon execution photo);
If trumpism succeeds, it will be erased from history - it’ll too damning to be allowed to stay.
If trumpism succeeds, it will be erased from history - it’ll too damning to be allowed to stay.
I vote for a more parliamentary-type system (tweaked for America). We should still never have a King or Queen, but as I watch the British system, I can see the value of having a symbolic/ceremonial executive without vesting huge executive powers in a single person.
October 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I vote for a more parliamentary-type system (tweaked for America). We should still never have a King or Queen, but as I watch the British system, I can see the value of having a symbolic/ceremonial executive without vesting huge executive powers in a single person.
They don’t hate their customers. They just don’t care. In 2025, corporations don’t see customers as people to be served, they’re a resource to be mined.
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 AM
They don’t hate their customers. They just don’t care. In 2025, corporations don’t see customers as people to be served, they’re a resource to be mined.
Everything, but also nothing. No matter what he gains, attains, or wins, the insatiable vortex of greed, resentment, fear, and self-obsession will just demand more. There is no fulfillment - only more grievance and dissatisfaction.
September 26, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Everything, but also nothing. No matter what he gains, attains, or wins, the insatiable vortex of greed, resentment, fear, and self-obsession will just demand more. There is no fulfillment - only more grievance and dissatisfaction.
“When the Sea Came Alive” is an historical account of D-Day comprised entirely of quotes from participants on both sides - really compelling.
Anne Garrels’ Naked in Baghdad is a great reporter’s account of the first gulf war.
Anne Garrels’ Naked in Baghdad is a great reporter’s account of the first gulf war.
September 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
“When the Sea Came Alive” is an historical account of D-Day comprised entirely of quotes from participants on both sides - really compelling.
Anne Garrels’ Naked in Baghdad is a great reporter’s account of the first gulf war.
Anne Garrels’ Naked in Baghdad is a great reporter’s account of the first gulf war.
The silver lining is that if we can wind our way from there to here, it’s possible to wind our way out of here to somewhere better. Maybe we’re all so miserable and afraid because we’re nearing that next inflection point.
September 11, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The silver lining is that if we can wind our way from there to here, it’s possible to wind our way out of here to somewhere better. Maybe we’re all so miserable and afraid because we’re nearing that next inflection point.
In shattering our delusion that we were secure and omnipotent, the last quarter century has been a series of decisions where we’ve slowly aided in our own unraveling: wasting trillions, growing fearful of losing what’s “ours”, and then turning on one another in rage and despair.
September 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In shattering our delusion that we were secure and omnipotent, the last quarter century has been a series of decisions where we’ve slowly aided in our own unraveling: wasting trillions, growing fearful of losing what’s “ours”, and then turning on one another in rage and despair.
I still cannot read that without breaking. I knew people who died that day.
With time, I can see the fingerprints of that awful day on our current mess: choosing security over liberty, self-protection over common defense. The seeds of today were planted in the rubble of that day.
With time, I can see the fingerprints of that awful day on our current mess: choosing security over liberty, self-protection over common defense. The seeds of today were planted in the rubble of that day.
September 11, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I still cannot read that without breaking. I knew people who died that day.
With time, I can see the fingerprints of that awful day on our current mess: choosing security over liberty, self-protection over common defense. The seeds of today were planted in the rubble of that day.
With time, I can see the fingerprints of that awful day on our current mess: choosing security over liberty, self-protection over common defense. The seeds of today were planted in the rubble of that day.
See, I didn’t like it when it came out, but over the years it’s become nostalgic for me and I like it more now than then.
September 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
See, I didn’t like it when it came out, but over the years it’s become nostalgic for me and I like it more now than then.
OK. And replace it with what? I mean, philosophically I can get there, but by what mechanism do you ensure the power vacuum isn’t replaced with something even worse?
September 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
OK. And replace it with what? I mean, philosophically I can get there, but by what mechanism do you ensure the power vacuum isn’t replaced with something even worse?