It’s deeply odd to me that America is a far less 24/7 hour society today than it was 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. I vividly remember friends from the UK back in 1996 marveling at the fact that in the mid-sized Indiana town where I went college it was possible to buy groceries, clothing, a lawn mower, a snow blower, Lego sets, and bow hunting gear at 3 AM on any given Tuesday of the year. That was peak American Empire, and it’s long gone.
Tom Hanks shares the best advice he’s ever received
“Throw deep. If you’re gonna do it, do it”
“If you have the chance, do it. Don’t pause. If you’ve got an instinct, go at it”
It's amazing to study history and they're like "this guy was a military genius, crushed everybody in his path"
"what did he do?"
"he gave his troops slightly longer spears"
being neurodivergent is having the vision of a CEO, the emotional depth of a poet, and the executive function of a walmart shopping cart with one fucked up wheel that squeaks.
Death should make you more dangerous, not more sentimental. Once you understand how little time is guaranteed, petty conflict begins to look expensive, weak pleasure starts to look childish, and every wasted week becomes an insult from the man you were supposed to become.
A college student with ADHD once explained why their essays end up filled with so many parentheses:
“Neurotypical people think in straight lines. My brain thinks in a giant web where every single concept is physically holding hands with twelve other concepts.”
In other words, their thoughts don’t unfold in a neat, step-by-step sequence. Instead, one idea immediately triggers several related ideas at once. While writing, it can feel impossible to ignore those connections because they all feel relevant and important, even if they branch off from the main point. Parentheses become a way to temporarily “park” those side thoughts without losing them.
So the essay ends up reflecting the actual structure of their thinking: layered, branching, and constantly interlinked. What looks messy on the page is really an attempt to capture a mind that doesn’t move in a straight line, but in a network where everything is connected to everything else.
“when i choose to see the good side of things, i'm not being naive. it is strategic and necessary. it's how I've learned to survive through everything”
am i sure the death star is going down? look at my quant. look at him! you notice anything different about him? look at his eyes. i’ll give you a hint—his name’s a fucking number!! he doesn’t even speak english—it’s all beep-boop shit!! yeah, i’m sure.