Matthew's Blog
Mr. Tonka’s Advice
I had an interesting dream last night. (Note: The only thing that I find more boring than someone else’s dream is the person that tells them, so I apologize beforehand). I was at a work event composed of two start-up companies I have worked with recently. This event...
Language-games, Wittgenstein, and Health
During my recent shallow dive into the deep pool called Wittgensteinian Philosophy, I did find some of his ideas regarding language-games interesting. Specifically, although I don't fully accept that all problems of philosophy are problems of language, I do believe...
Doodling
Doodle: An aimless scrawl made by a person while his mind is more or less otherwise applied.Usage: 1956 H. Gardner Limits Lit. Crit. ii. 34 When a writer's first drafts, scraps of memoranda, and ‘doodles’ have been preserved, we may possibly have a limited success in...
The Upside of Tension
We normally think of tension as a bad thing. It certainly can be in the material science world, especially when the tension exceeds the breaking point of a material. It also can be problematic in the biological domain—after all, no one wants to have hyperTENSION. But...
The Amazingness of Learning Live Online
As I write this post, it's 4 a.m. in the morning in Seattle. I'm in between real-time Wittgenstein lectures which I am taking through a live-stream from Oxford, England. (It's 12 noon there, and everyone is probably having a cup of tea and sandwiches.) Content aside...
The Vulnerability of Writing Locations
This Japanese-style tea house is one place I go to write. It's located in the Bellevue Botanical Gardens—always open, well-covered, and dry. But here's one odd thing. I can only write short blog posts here—not poetry, not non-fiction (other than blog posts). and...
Writing Comes First
I am disciplined and I have a consistent morning routine. But this morning I woke up and broke my routine. I sat down at my iMac and I immediately wrote and scheduled 4 blog posts (5 including this one). Why did I do this? Because—apart from my wife and cat (who...
Writing and Doing
Do or do not. There is no try.Yoda Reading about writing is great. Researching for writing is fine. And going to writer's conferences is fun. But we all know is the key to becoming a good, productive writer is to sit down at the keyboard and write. Do.
The Most Beautiful Equation In The World
I have a ratty, gray T-shirt with an equation written on it. It's my favorite t-shirt. It's partly my favorite t-shirt because it has hit the sweet spot of t-shirts: the point when it's broken in to maximum softness and perfect fit, but has yet to develop holes and...