Welcome, please, and thank you.
I'm Dan Jewett the caretaker, night-watchman, what have you.
I once read a bit of SEO wisdom that said you shouldn't waste space on your homepage with a "welcome" message because it's not useful to search engines. What nonsense. Welcome!
If you gain something from being here, let me know.
It will fill me with gratitude and
glee.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
~ H.L. Mencken
What's here...
You can see below how I've grouped The categories on the site.
And
then here's all of it together →
There is also a
journal of all my reading.
Articles / Essays →
Notes coalesce…
Notes →
Some become completed thoughts, others not so much.
Reading in Public
August 24, 2025
My most recent transgression, I've come to realize, is a celebration of...… the rest
Blow By Blow
May 31, 2025
This music, blasting out of a giant, entirely white Plymouth Suburban station wagon … the rest
The Scarlet Letter
May 30, 2025
I’ve done myself a treat by finishing The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.… the rest
Ralph Waldo Emerson
May 28, 2025
In 1851, Ralph Waldo Emerson was writing in his journal regarding the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law.… the rest
Long reads.
April 18, 2025
I’ve decided I’m going to take on a series of longer book reads in my routine and use them as a way to work on improving my concentration.… the rest
Psychedelic Freak Out
April 9, 2025
My seven year old self was of course oblivious to what was happening in the rock world’s Summer of Love.… the rest
Appreciating the Utilitarian Aesthetic
March 6, 2025
I find it interesting that I will get so much satisfaction from executing a task at the command line where I experience only text and a certain amount of invisible magic, and then turn around and be disdainful of a graphical interface that doesn’t appear super-slick or modern.… the rest
Life and Legacy
February 3, 2025
As I'm reading the final chapters of East of Eden by John Steinbeck the question of legacy… the rest
Shadows and Light
February 2, 2025
Joni Mitchell's Shadows and Light has been a favorite of… the rest
It's a Well Considered Process
January 29, 2025
First go through all the links you saved to the temporary folder… the rest
Starving the Billionaires
January 22, 2025
The immediate non-violent way that comes to mind is to stop buying their… the rest
Our Leaders Are Nazis Now
January 21, 2025
I'm about ten years older than my immediate group of friends with one or two exceptions.… the rest
What I've Decided to do About Social Media
January 18, 2025
The big bugaboo. How much social… the rest
What Should Go in Notes Anyway?
January 18, 2025
I've made this site. I should populate it with… the rest
Books →
Books I'm reading, have completed, or …didn't finish 😬.
First Paragraphs →
The Book of Disquiet
In Progress
The Left Hand of Darkness
In Progress
Train Dreams
August 31, 2025
A Pale View of Hills
August 20, 2025
The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
August 19, 2025
Regeneration
August 16, 2025
Slaughterhouse-Five or, The Children’s Crusade: A Duty Dance with Death
August 9, 2025
The Remains of the Day
August 7, 2025
The Day of the Triffids
August 6, 2025
The Great Gatsby
August 6, 2025
One Hundred Years of Solitude
July 31, 2025
Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing
July 21, 2025
Fictions
July 18, 2025
Oedipus the King
July 15, 2025
Walking: One Step at a Time
July 7, 2025
Moby Dick
June 23, 2025
Chocky
June 10, 2025
The Crying of Lot 49
June 8, 2025
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance
May 30, 2025
disremembering
May 11, 2025
All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries 1
April 15, 2025
Changing Planes
February 13, 2025
Death of a Salesman
February 7, 2025
Letters to a Young Poet
January 19, 2025
Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur
October 20, 2024
Git For Humans
September 23, 2024
East of Eden
August 25, 2024
Tao Te Ching: A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way
June 13, 2024
In Pharaoh’s Army: Memories of the Lost War
June 4, 2024
Empire of Silence: The Sun Eater: Book One
June 1, 2024
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
May 25, 2024
The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins
May 3, 2024
Flowers For Algernon
May 1, 2024
Stoner
April 9, 2024
Roadside Picnic
March 9, 2024
Children of Time
March 2, 2024
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
February 11, 2024
Solaris
January 25, 2024
Shadow & Claw: The Book of the New Sun 1-2
January 18, 2024
Red Rising
January 6, 2024
Hyperion
November 25, 2023
Lessons in Chemistry
November 12, 2023
We Who Are About To…
October 29, 2023
Blindsight
January 30, 2023
Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century
February 28, 2022
Bear
February 28, 2022
Blue Horses: Poems
September 25, 2021
Rowing Faster: Serious Training for Serious Rowers
September 20, 2021
Evidence: Poems
September 20, 2021
The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
August 26, 2021
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
July 6, 2021
Harrow the Ninth: Locked Tomb 2
June 18, 2021
Postcolonial Love Poem
June 17, 2021
Gideon the Ninth: Locked Tomb 1
June 5, 2021
How to Take Smart Notes
May 20, 2021
Klara and the Sun
May 19, 2021
The Overstory
April 25, 2021
Something Wicked This Way Comes
April 8, 2021
Dancing at the Rascal Fair
April 7, 2021
The Peace of Wild Things
April 4, 2021
The Cosmic Purr: Poems
April 3, 2021
Gasoline
April 3, 2021
Angle of Repose
March 31, 2021
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
March 19, 2021