Use Microaffection To Help Make The World Suck Less
byI tried counting all the ways someone could contact me the other day, and I stopped at 22 different methods. That includes e-mail, Twitter,…
ESSAYS
Find A Way Around—Or Through
byA few years ago I was at a coffee shop and I started chatting with the guy next to me about what I do…
Happiness Is Your Backyard Trail
byI plodded my way up the Hayden Trail, headed up toward my fifth “summit” of the day as the sun coasted downward. I had…
I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind
by“A lot of the young doctors I hire work for me for a year or so and then they want to get out and…
Wind, You Jerk
byMy friend Jayson and I were out trail running on Saturday, for long stretches exposed to a 50 mph wind. It was the kind…
The Currency Of Friendship
byAt 5:55 a.m. Denver is dark and fairly quiet as Syd and I have an excited conversation about new movies we’ve seen as we…
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide To Being Present
byAbout five years ago, my friend Tommy told me what I thought was an insignificant thing: that he’d taken a ceramic mug to his…
Make 2017 The Year Of Maximum Enthusiasm
byNote: I first wrote and published this post on December 29, 2011, calling it “Make 2012 The Year Of Maximum Enthusiasm.” Every year around…
The Top 10 Semi-Rad Posts From 2016
byNo matter what you think of 2016, from “Wow, I’m glad it’s over soon,” to “It just flew by,” you can agree on one…
Here’s The Thing About Women:
byHere’s the thing about women: It is possible for a woman to be stronger than you. It is possible for a woman to be…
Dear Phone, I Love You
byDear Phone: I love you. I mean, not in that Joaquin Phoenix-falling-in-love-with-his-operating-system way. But maybe in the I’d-probably-hug-you-if-I-hadn’t-seen-you-in-a-few-weeks-and-we-finally-got-together-for-coffee kind of way. I mean, I…
Hate Crowds? You Are Crowds.
byLast Monday, my mom and I stood behind a fence at Arches National Park and took a couple photos of Landscape Arch, the longest…
The Best Pizza Slice In America
byThe Q train clicks and groans across the Manhattan Bridge, half-full of passengers on their way to Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon, everyone’s eyes…
Get Your Autumn On!
byThat’s right, it’s fall, aka autumn, aka your favorite season, that fleeting changing of colors, temperatures, clothing layers, and footwear for northern hemisphere humanoids….
Remembering Kyle Dempster: Alpinist, Barista, Superhero, Regular Guy
byI was sitting at the counter of Higher Ground in Salt Lake City back in 2012, tapping away on my laptop, and I overheard…
Out Of Office AutoReply: I’m In Nature
byThanks for your email. I took the morning/afternoon/day off to ride my bike, or go rock climbing, or go for a jog in the…
On ‘Fear Disguised As Practicality’
byOn all the stops on my book tour this year, I show a slide that’s a list of reasons people don’t do things: bad…
The Subtle Art Of Picking Up The Check
byI sat at the counter of a Mexican restaurant in Pinedale, Wyoming, a couple Saturdays ago, and watched two guys in their 40s approach…
Joe Calls It A Day
byMy dad, Joe, retires today, after 41 years of work at one company and about two years of worrying if he’d have enough money…
Scenes From A Book Tour
byI’m about halfway through my talk in the community room at the REI store when I see the two guys sitting with their eyes…
5 Steps To Ordering A Perfect Coffee—Every Time
by1. Go into a coffee shop. Approach the counter, greet the barista and clearly and concisely state your order. Say please and thank you….
Thanks For The Words, Phife
byI could never get into Shakespeare when I was in high school, or classical poetry. The reading seemed too arcane, or I wasn’t trying…
The Search For The Perfect Turn
byPretty much everybody has a singular moment marking each realization that they’re not getting any younger: You find a few grey hairs one day…
Celebrating 5 Years Of Semi-Rad: 25 Favorite Quotes
byFive years ago this week, I started this blog, hoping a few people might read it and get something out of it: a laugh,…
Love What You Do, Even If You Don’t ‘Do What You Love’
byI was sitting at a coffee shop with my girlfriend last Sunday when she saw a sign hanging on the wall over my shoulder:…
The Top 10 Semi-Rad Posts From 2015
byWell, I’ll be damned if it isn’t almost the end of another year of what I call “my mom’s favorite website” here at Semi-Rad.com….
Tradition: It’s A Tradition
bySometime after dinner on December 24th, my father and I will sit down in front of a television and watch Detective John McClane get…