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.

"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. "
~ Viktor E. Frankl

What's here...

You can see below how I've grouped The categories on the site.
And then here's all of it together →

Poems 

Ventures in verse…

Moon

Last night I stood in my dark kitchen.… the rest

Soap bubbles float in the air in front of some trees. The sun shines through them.

Maker

One morning the God of our universe...… the rest

A black and white photo viewed as one standing between train rails watching them curve away into the distance.

Rivals

Heartbroken and weary from many battles...… the rest

Articles / Essays 

Notes coalesce…

A silhouetted person walking alone down a long, straight highway leading toward Monument Valley's distinctive rock formations at sunset/dusk.

Big D

This time Big D doesn’t stand for Dan, it stands for the other thing.… the rest

Notes 

Some become completed thoughts, others not so much.

Dastardly

wicked and cruel: pirates and their dastardly deeds… the rest

A crop of the cover of East of Eden. The illustration depicts a man standing below a tree. He appears to be looking at his open palms.

Life and Legacy

As I'm reading the final chapters of East of Eden by John Steinbeck the question of legacy… the rest

A dramatic Baroque painting depicting Daniel in the lions' den. A muscular male figure in minimal white cloth sits praying amid several large lions in a dark cave. The lions, painted in rich golden tones, surround him menacingly, with some showing their teeth. Human bones and skulls lie scattered on the ground. A patch of blue sky is visible through an opening in the cave ceiling.

Daniel

While some conservative scholars hold that Daniel existed and his book was written in the 6th century BCE… the rest

Glee

Great delight: his face lit up with impish glee.… the rest

Books 

Books I'm reading, have completed, or …didn't finish 😬.
First Paragraphs →

Cover of Changing Planes

Changing Planes

Ursula K. Le Guin

February 13, 2025

Cover of Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller

February 7, 2025

Cover of In Ascension

In Ascension

Martin MacInnes

On Deck

Cover of Moby Dick

Moby Dick

Herman Melville

On Deck

Cover of Valis

Valis

Philip K. Dick

On Deck

Cover of The Dispossesd

The Dispossesd

Ursula K. Le Guin

In Progress

Cover of Gravity’s Rainbow

Gravity’s Rainbow

Thomas Pynchon

In Progress

Cover of Letters to a Young Poet

Letters to a Young Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke

January 19, 2025

Cover of Something in the Woods Loves You

Something in the Woods Loves You

Jarod K. Anderson

In Progress

Cover of Hell Yeah or No

Hell Yeah or No

Derek Sivers

In Progress

Cover of Anything You Want

Anything You Want

Derek Sivers

October 20, 2024

Cover of Git For Humans

Git For Humans

David Demaree

September 23, 2024

Cover of East of Eden

East of Eden

John Steinbeck

In Progress

Cover of Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu, Ursula K. Le Guin, trans.

June 13, 2024

Cover of In Pharaoh’s Army

In Pharaoh’s Army

Tobias Wolff

June 4, 2024

Cover of Empire of Silence

Empire of Silence

Christopher Ruocchio

June 1, 2024

Cover of Essentialism

Essentialism

Greg McKeown

May 25, 2024

Cover of The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins

The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins, Sam V. H. Reese, Ed.

May 3, 2024

Cover of Flowers For Algernon

Flowers For Algernon

Daniel Keyes

May 1, 2024

Cover of Stoner

Stoner

John Williams

April 9, 2024

Cover of Roadside Picnic

Roadside Picnic

Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky, Olena Bormashenko

March 9, 2024

Cover of Children of Time

Children of Time

Adrian Tchaikovsky

March 2, 2024

Cover of Frankenstein

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

February 11, 2024

Cover of Solaris

Solaris

Stanislaw Lem

January 25, 2024

Cover of Shadow & Claw

Shadow & Claw

Gene Wolfe

January 18, 2024

Cover of Red Rising

Red Rising

Pierce Brown

January 6, 2024

Cover of Hyperion

Hyperion

Dan Simmons

November 25, 2023

Cover of We Who Are About To…

We Who Are About To…

Joanna Russ

October 29, 2023

Cover of Camera Man

Camera Man

Dana Stevens

February 28, 2022

Cover of Bear

Bear

Staffan Gnosspelius

February 28, 2022

Cover of Blue Horses

Blue Horses

Mary Oliver

September 25, 2021

Cover of Rowing Faster

Rowing Faster

Volker Nolte

September 20, 2021