Category Archives: Culture

Why Your Skin Is Not a Canvas: What Science Really Says About Tattoos, the Immune System and Long-Term Risk

Posted on 2026-01-14 by The Narrator

A good friend of mine recently announced his intention to get a sleeve tattoo later this year, a full, vibrant mural on his arm. As an admirer of art, I can appreciate the creativity and the impulse, but I’ve always … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Science | Tagged art, biology, body art, cancer, immune system, inflammation, ink, minimalism, science, tattoo | Leave a comment

The Q1 Strategic Dormancy Initiative: My Aggressive Pursuit of Sleep

Posted on 2026-01-09 by The Narrator

Abstract Have you ever felt like you’ve reached the point of Waking Inefficiency Overhead (WIO)? That moment when another 70-hour week proves that being awake is actually reducing your output? 2026 is here and after a year of unsustainable, high-intensity … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Labor, Science | Tagged burnout, corporate, employment, goal setting, neuroplasticity, office life, sleep, SMART goals, work-life balance | Leave a comment

Reckless Predictions for 2026

Posted on 2025-12-31 by The Narrator

Every year serious people make serious predictions about the coming year. Every year, by February, those predictions are quietly retired, rebranded as “signals” or blamed on “unexpected headwinds”. This is not one of those serious efforts. In the spirit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays, Humor | Tagged 2026, ABC, AI, artificial intelligence, bureaucracy, ChatGPT, culture, fortune telling, future, Gemini, Grok, media, medicine, Meta, news, Nightline, predictions, reckoning, science, technology, work | Leave a comment

Santa, Inc.: A Hard Look at the North Pole’s Most Successful (and Most Questionable) Business Model

Posted on 2025-12-24 by The Narrator

For centuries, we’ve been told Santa Claus runs a “magical” operation powered by goodwill, cheer and an alarming number of cookies. That explanation collapses the moment you apply even the lightest pressure from a calculator. Let’s face it, if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays, Money | Tagged Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, cheer, Christmas, data privacy, elves, Facebook, gifts, Goldman Sachs, goodwill, Google, holidays, Jeff Bezos, magic, Meta Platforms, Netflix, North Pole, OmniClaus, Palantir, Salesforce, Santa, surveillance capitalism, Tim Cook, Tristan Harris, Walmart | Leave a comment

Wright Brothers Day: From Sunday Best to Elastic Waistbands

Posted on 2025-12-17 by The Narrator

Every December 17 we pause to honor the Wright Brothers, two bicycle mechanics from Ohio who looked at gravity and said, “We can probably negotiate with that.” On that blustery day in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, Orville and Wilbur Wright … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economy, Technology | Tagged airlines, aviation, capitalism, efficiency, flying, investment, Orville Wright, pajama culture, pajamas, Richard Branson, travel, Warren Buffett, Wilbur Wright, Wright Brothers Day | Leave a comment

National Lost & Found Day: The Other Search and Rescue Mission

Posted on 2025-12-12 by The Narrator

Every December 12, while search and rescue teams across the country gear up for winter missions in the backcountry, a different kind of operation quietly unfolds in households everywhere. No avalanche beacons. No helicopters. No GPS tracks. Just you, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays, Search and Rescue | Tagged chaos, grid search, hasty search, keys, Last Known Position, lost and found, mission, National Lost and Found Day, Point Last Seen, remote, Rest of World, safe place, search and rescue, socks | Leave a comment

Silent Steel Stalks Sudsy Serenity

Posted on 2025-12-05 by The Narrator

Once a year the universe aligns in a way that makes absolutely no sense, placing the pinnacle of martial discipline and the height of soapy self-indulgence side-by-side. December 5 is both International Ninja Day and Bathtub Party Day, a pairing … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays | Tagged bath bomb, Bathtub Party Day, International Ninja Day, loofah, ninja, rubber ducky, self care, stealth | Leave a comment

The Waddle and the Wattle: A Turkey’s Eye View of America

Posted on 2025-11-27 by The Narrator

Thanksgiving: the annual ritual in which Americans express gratitude by overeating and pretending not to notice the kids drinking hard cider in the garage. The one day a year we collectively celebrate as a nation. What exactly are we celebrating? … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays, Humor | Tagged alternate history, America, American History, Benjamin Franklin, Founding Flock, gobble cycle, parallel Earth, politics, Thanksgiving, turkey, Turkey Bomb, wattle | Leave a comment

The Real Value of Your Diploma: Why a Tier 1 Party School Changed My Life

Posted on 2025-10-20 by The Narrator

I’m a big fan of education and I have a confession to make. I went to a Tier 1 Party School. You know the type, a university that regularly makes the Top 10 “Most Fun” lists, where the weekends start … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education, Science | Tagged college, education, Ivy League, student life, university | Leave a comment

Shiver Me Timbers, It Be Talk Like a Pirate Day! And Our Motto? Well…

Posted on 2025-09-19 by The Narrator

Ahoy, ye landlubbers and salty dogs! Today be the one day o’ the year when we cast off the shackles o’ proper English and embrace the glorious tongue o’ the buccaneer! So hoist the Jolly Roger (metaphorically, unless ye got … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Holidays, Humor, Language | Tagged adventure, celebration, high seas, Jack Sparrow, philosophy, pirates, pop culture, satire, swashbuckling, Talk Like a Pirate Day | Leave a comment