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As a result of watching our local meteorologists forecast the weather, I have an idea that will simplify the way those meteorologists present the forecasts. That idea will also help their viewers unde…
As a result of watch…
As a result of watching our local meteorologists forecast the weather, I have an idea that will simplify the way those meteorologists present the forecasts. That idea will also help their viewers understand their forecasts and be able to explain them to family, friends, and other loved ones who might not have TVs or might have better things to do than to watch local meteorologists forecast the weather. Since we (at least in the West) read from left to right — and since most weather fronts (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) move west to east (which is the same as left to right, depending o…
Mark O'Brien
August 26, 2024 Recently, our son, Quinn, and his wife, Katie, gave us a Nespresso machine. Since I prefer my coffee strong enough to slice it, it was right up my alley. The machine came with a variety pack of coffee…
Recently, our son, Q…
Recently, our son, Quinn, and his wife, Katie, gave us a Nespresso machine. Since I prefer my coffee strong enough to slice it, it was right up my alley. The machine came with a variety pack of coffees, each bearing an Italian name, followed by descriptions, also in Italian. This was the assortment:Il Caffé, described as Diavolitto (devilish), and Altissio (high). After drinking a cup of this, I was so wired, I understood it to mean Hell might be up, not down. Voltesso, described as Inizio (beginning) and Toccanto (touched). The electric effect of this blend was like the initial jolt you ge…
Mark O'Brien
August 20, 2024 COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan police arrested an astrologer after he predicted a planetary change this month will be inauspicious for parliament and the government may not be able to arrest rising livi…
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sr…
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan police arrested an astrologer after he predicted a planetary change this month will be inauspicious for parliament and the government may not be able to arrest rising living costs – a prediction already made by private economists … Sri Lankan politicians take astrology seriously and most have their own personal seers who decide the auspicious times to launch any new program or work.Following Sri Lanka’s lead, I’m pressing charges against my astrologer, Madame Beluga, for unreasonably favorable predictions. My attorney characterized my case as feeble, but …
Mark O'Brien
August 13, 2024 Utopians and their schemes always put me in mind of the comment the late Peter Drucker once made about business schools: “In business school classrooms they construct beautiful models of a non-world…
Utopians and their s…
Utopians and their schemes always put me in mind of the comment the late Peter Drucker once made about business schools: “In business school classrooms they construct beautiful models of a non-world.” I completely understand idealism. But idealism separated from reality and human psychology, like Utopia, will never come to fruition because of … well … reality and human psychology. One of the Utopian ideas that surfaces from time to pie-in-the-sky time is that of the universal basic income or UBI as it’s known in our abbreviation-mad world. According to Investopedia, UBI is:A govern…
Mark O'Brien
August 6, 2024 Author’s Note: I had intended to write a long disclaimer for this post. I was going to write something along these lines: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, an…
Author’s Note: I h…
Author’s Note: I had intended to write a long disclaimer for this post. I was going to write something along these lines: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination, are used in a fictitious manner, or came to the author in a dream (or perhaps a nightmare). Any resemblance to actual persons —living, dead, or imaginary — or actual events is purely coincidental, a damn shame, or all three. But then I just decided to settle for this. I had a dream the other night that I was conducting a weekly…
Mark O'Brien
July 29, 2024 I’ve filed suit against Chatham Village for theft of my fictional identity. Here’s why: The other day, Anne came home from the grocery store with a bag of croutons from Chatham Village. The name o…
I’ve filed suit ag…
I’ve filed suit against Chatham Village for theft of my fictional identity. Here’s why: The other day, Anne came home from the grocery store with a bag of croutons from Chatham Village. The name on the bag was Garden Herb.Garden Herb is the nom de scène I adopted for my stage act, in which I do impressions of a variety of vegetables. I adopted it in 1996 when Bill Clinton was re-elected. I realized then that some majority of the electorate lived in a vegetative state and would likely respond favorably to (and pay handsomely for the opportunity of seeing) a series of characterizations to…
Mark O'Brien
July 22, 2024 On May 8th, Jewish Journal ran an article — ‘Killing America’ and The Evolution of Hate” — that says this, in part:Filmmaker Eli Steele set out to explore why antisemitism exploded in Bay …
On May 8th, Jewish J…
On May 8th, Jewish Journal ran an article — ‘Killing America’ and The Evolution of Hate” — that says this, in part:Filmmaker Eli Steele set out to explore why antisemitism exploded in Bay Area schools, and subsequently why it is prevalent on many campuses across the state. The result is “Killing America,” a captivating 38-minute documentary … The film presents a compelling, alarming, and frustrating narrative. It highlights the prioritization of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (DEI), and ethnic studies over honor classes … When asked what can be done to turn things around,…
Mark O'Brien
July 15, 2024 
Among the many magazines that come to our home for Anne, because she’s a designer and decorator, is one called, Architectural Products. A recent edition ran an article called, “The Smartest Buildi…
Among the many magaz…
Among the many magazines that come to our home for Anne, because she’s a designer and decorator, is one called, Architectural Products. A recent edition ran an article called, “The Smartest Building in Austin” (starting at page 28 in the print edition, page 30 in the digital edition). I don’t remember if Big Brother was identified as the architect of the building. But I do know he’s involved somehow. I know that because the article said this, in part:Sensors — approximately 6,000 of them — are attached to the spine. These connect to an automation system that allow[s] ownership …
Mark O'Brien
May 9, 2024 Author’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I offer this post as a means of sharing my experience, even as I grant I’m more fortunate than many. If you or a loved one struggle with mental…
Author’s Note: May…
Author’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I offer this post as a means of sharing my experience, even as I grant I’m more fortunate than many. If you or a loved one struggle with mental health, call the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text “HelpLine” to 62640, or email helpline@nami.org. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or experiencing a mental health crisis, dial or text 988 to connect with a trained crisis counselor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s more help available in the world than you might think — and more people in the world…
Mark O'Brien
May 6, 2024 When I was growing up, our next-door neighbors had some … uh … peculiar notions about housecleaning. As sons of a Marine, my younger brother, Keith, and I would walk into their living room and be …
When I was growing u…
When I was growing up, our next-door neighbors had some … uh … peculiar notions about housecleaning. As sons of a Marine, my younger brother, Keith, and I would walk into their living room and be astounded at the volume of clutter, the nature of the clutter, and the general lack of order or cleanliness. One day, Keith, who’s always been the smarter and sharper-witted of the two of us, said, “Holy shit. If aliens ever came down and landed in their living room, the aliens would open the door of their spaceship, look around, and say, “What the hell?!” To this day, the idea that extrat…
Mark O'Brien
May 1, 2024 If you’re anything like me, you don’t believe in indecision. In an earlier post, I wrote about self-faith and our inner genius. Consistent with what I wrote, I typically assess the situation requi…
If you’re anything…
If you’re anything like me, you don’t believe in indecision. In an earlier post, I wrote about self-faith and our inner genius. Consistent with what I wrote, I typically assess the situation requiring a decision, trust my senses, apply my intelligence (such as it is), and decide. If my decision turns out to have been wrong — and presuming it wasn’t fatally so — I assess the implications of my first decision and make a different one. Since my stethoscope tells me I’m still among the living, I have to conclude that approach has worked pretty well, so far. Nevertheless, I do understan…
Mark O'Brien
April 29, 2024 Author’s Note: This post isn’t intended to be how-to. Rather, it’s intended to be a why-not. The stunts we can pull — and the trouble we can get into — are limited only by our imaginations. …
Author’s Note: Thi…
Author’s Note: This post isn’t intended to be how-to. Rather, it’s intended to be a why-not. The stunts we can pull — and the trouble we can get into — are limited only by our imaginations. And if you’d known Grandpa O’Brien, none of what you’re about to read would surprise you. To the south of us, between our home and the next one down the street, there are two empty building lots. Across the field behind our home, running east, and on the hill that rises up from the field, there’s a street that runs parallel to ours. Two new houses have been built on that street. The sewer …
Mark O'Brien
April 22, 2024 Author’s Note: I was once asked by a devotee of Simon Sinek if could state my why in five words. Because I’m a writer, I cheated; that is, I hyphenated. My response was, “I write to restore self…
Author’s Note: I w…
Author’s Note: I was once asked by a devotee of Simon Sinek if could state my why in five words. Because I’m a writer, I cheated; that is, I hyphenated. My response was, “I write to restore self-faith.” When I said that, I didn’t mean my self-faith. I meant I write to restore the self-faith of all those who’ve abandoned theirs, surrendered theirs, or had theirs stolen. I seem to be developing a morbid case of FOMO (fear of missing out). It stems from my increasingly empirical sense that I may be one of the very few people on the planet who’s not on a spiritual journey. Please don…
Mark O'Brien
April 15, 2024 The Marshall Tucker Band released its self-titled debut album on Phil Walden’s Capricorn Records in 1973. As soon as my buddies and I heard “Take the Highway” and “Can’t You See”, we were …
The Marshall Tucker …
The Marshall Tucker Band released its self-titled debut album on Phil Walden’s Capricorn Records in 1973. As soon as my buddies and I heard “Take the Highway” and “Can’t You See”, we were instant fans. In 1977, the band released its sixth album, Carolina Dreams, which was certified platinum in the same year and was their most commercially successful album. It contained the track, “Heard it in a Love Song”, that reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts. “Heard it in a Love Song” provoked philosophical debate that endures to this day. The controversy is about the last two lines…
Mark O'Brien
April 8, 2024 On Monday, April 8th, we’ll conduct Byline 360˚ as you’ve come to know and love it. Then, we’re going to take a nap for two months. Starting Monday, May 13th, 2024, we’ll begin meeting twice …
On Monday, April 8th…
On Monday, April 8th, we’ll conduct Byline 360˚ as you’ve come to know and love it. Then, we’re going to take a nap for two months. Starting Monday, May 13th, 2024, we’ll begin meeting twice a month, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, for three months. But this time, Byline 360˚ will be an actual workshop, with actual work to be done between sessions. In short, we’ll talk, draft, share and discuss our drafts, then revise and refine them. Over our six sessions, we’ll figure out why we do the things we do when we write, which of those things we might do better, and which of those things …
Mark O'Brien
April 3, 2024 On April 23rd, I’ll be leading a discussion in Salon 360˚. The title of the session will be the same as the title of this post. Inspired by some of my recent experiences with a longtime friend, the…
On April 23rd, I’l…
On April 23rd, I’ll be leading a discussion in Salon 360˚. The title of the session will be the same as the title of this post. Inspired by some of my recent experiences with a longtime friend, the discussion has ties to the Herman Melville short story, “Bartleby the Scrivener”; to Unsheltered: Voices from the Street, a book being compiled and published by 360˚ Nation and Peggy Willms — and to A Bronx Tale. In short, the session will be about reconciling:The desire to bring about what we believe to be favorable outcomes The illusory and presumptuous nature of control The relinquish…
Mark O'Brien
April 2, 2024 I was recently in a conversation with a client. We’ll call her Petunia (not her real name; although, I wish it were). Petunia happens to work in a very large (as in global), very dysfunctional (as i…
I was recently in a …
I was recently in a conversation with a client. We’ll call her Petunia (not her real name; although, I wish it were). Petunia happens to work in a very large (as in global), very dysfunctional (as in no responsibility or accountability) company that has her beyond frustrated. Part of her frustration is that she’s very responsible and very willing to be accountable. But her responsibility and accountability aren’t acknowledged, rewarded, or reciprocated. During the conversation, I asked a question it had never occurred to me to ask before: Do companies like that breed irresponsibility and…
Mark O'Brien
March 25, 2024 We live in a horse race. Two nags, Gluefoot and Gimpy, are neck-and-neck coming down the stretch, and we have no idea which horse will cross the finish line first. Gluefoot represents the uncertainty …
We live in a horse r…
We live in a horse race. Two nags, Gluefoot and Gimpy, are neck-and-neck coming down the stretch, and we have no idea which horse will cross the finish line first. Gluefoot represents the uncertainty of whether we’ll persist in our belief that we can control (because we’ll be blamed for) everything. Gimpy represents the uncertainty of whether we’ll come to realize we’re insignificant and ineffectual beyond the ability of our imaginations and our egos to comprehend such a thing. Exhibit A is climate change. I came across an article in The New Yorker entitled, “What a Major Solar Storm…
Mark O'Brien
March 18, 2024 
