The Barbershop

The AI Invasion: For Humans, It’s Becoming Harder to Write

No question about it: For writers like me, who would like nothing more than to do our own writing and thinking with dignity and intellectual honesty, it’s becoming harder to write—at least on a computer.

Harr’ today, gone tomorrow

However, the widespread association of these events with the closing of the Hotel Harrington has overshadowed the preceding history of the hotel

The Hope of the American Republic: Local Coffee Shops

Because of coffee’s popularity, coffee shops can draw people together like very few other modern institutions.

There’s No Place Like Home

We are desperately in need of a collective vision of what it means to love our homes.

College Radio

We can gain something from the Ike Carters and the student DJs of our communities: a human connection, a community connection—not to mention great music.

Confessions of a Caffeine Addict

My addiction, rather, is of a more respectable variety.

A Defense of College Football Rivalries as Local Culture

College football is a local endeavor that should be enacted by those with a connection to that place.

Do-able Simplicities: On Letter Writing and Fountain Pens

Holding the letters was a delicate experience, noting the brittle nature of the paper, being careful not to let them tear at the aged folds, and yet the blue ink, obviously done with a fountain pen, was as clear as if it had been written yesterday.

Shopping Local in a Storm

I mourn the storm. It’s far from over. But I also do not mourn without hope.

Two Cheers for E-Bikes

Automobiles shield you from the outside world, its sounds, its colors. But on my bike, I encounter my environment directly.