The Comfort Crisis

I kept reading books and articles about solitude and discomfort and boredom. This Michael Easter book covers all of it, succinctly in the frame of a journey to the Alaskan wilderness. Worth a read. Highlights from the book follow … “When our ancestors weren’t searching for food or getting pummeled by mastodons, they had long moments of downtime, lounging around for hours a day. They had to make something out of their boredom. ...

July 14, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza

On Coconut Flowers and Antifragility

This post was first sent to my newsletter on July 4th, 2021. You really ought to subscribe :) Abby calls it Chinese Gulab, while I, in honour of all the hard work Abby puts in (and the natural pot she’s made for it), call it my coconut flower. It’s a Moss Rose, (Portulaca grandiflora.) ...

July 11, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza

White Eyes

This post was first sent to my newsletter on May 2nd, 2021. You really ought to subscribe :) Snow clouds rolling down a mountain peak, near Se La. Click to embiggen I don’t know the name of this bird, I only imagine his glittering beak tucked in a white wing while the clouds— which he has summoned from the north— which he has taught to be mild, and silent— thicken, and begin to fall into the world below like stars, or the feathers of some unimaginable bird ...

June 6, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza

The Overstory

When a book keeps popping up in your radar, from a wide variety of sources, over months, then you just have to go read it. via the amazing Ricardo Siri. click the image to see full size. ...

May 31, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza

On Why Farmers Agitate, The Best Online Classes You Can Take and Love Letters to Trees

This post was first sent to my newsletter on May 2nd, 2021. You really ought to subscribe :) New month, new newsletter! :) Let’s get right into it, shall we? An informed look on the why of the farmers agitation. Vivek Kaul’s post on how Bihar fared when they did away with APMCs in 2006, shows why the farmers are up in arms. Read them here, part 1, part 2, & part 3 ...

May 9, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza

I Can’t Do This Yet … Updated

Updated version of the post. I seem to have somehow, mangled the old one. I’ll just blame it on the gremlins in the cloud. I’ve been “soft” looking for a job, since the end of last year when I learnt the basics of Python. (Want me to come work with you as a junior developer? Here’s my resume!) And I’ve had rejection after rejection after rejection. I apparently am good. I have skills. I could be an asset for companies. But I am not “quite” what folks are looking for, not quite right for them. I am not quite what it is, folks are looking for, to take chance on. I am a square peg … ...

April 17, 2021 · Mario Jason Braganza