- December 31, 2025
How about this contradiction? 1. Writing is a pretentious act: Who am I to say that you should stop what you're doing and listen to me? 2. Writing is a generous act: I have learned something, and it is my obligation to share it — especially if I'm a writer.
Inspired by a Dec. 15, 2025, Calvin Tomkins essay in The New Yorker, I decided to make writing part of my 2026 goals. What follows is my attempt to write 100 words or so every day or so. If you'd be willing to share with me — and the Observer audience — something you learned or observed recently, in 100 words or less, email me at [email protected].
Here are some things I've learned or observed about family, community, fun, faith, work, and/or publishing.
Goals, with numbers
Dec. 31, 2025
For Christmas this year, my wife and I bought for my 7-year-old son, Luke, an arcade-style basketball that tracks how many points the shooter can score in one minute. Of course, the game was partly for me.
It's been a highlight of the holidays to see Luke and his 11-year-old sister, Kennedy, take turns shooting and chasing each other's high scores. Every so often, Luke will run and slide on his socks into the dining room with a simple announcement, like, "71!"
What I observed is that it's comparatively boring to shoot baskets without tracking the score. The same is true of all goals in life: if we put a number on them, we work harder for them and feel a sense of accomplishment when we can say, "I did it!"
A.I., for better or worse
Dec. 30, 2025
Is artificial intelligence to be embraced or feared? Today I was a guest on Jay Scherr’s acclaimed podcast and Flagler Radio show, “Business Minds Coffee Chat,” with guests Kirk Keller, of Flagler Radio, and Kim Fitzgerald, owner of Curley Tail Design.
The attitudes about A.I., which I sometimes like to call “Al” since it looks short for “Albert” in san serif fonts, were strikingly contradictory. On one hand, we all seem to agree that we should embrace A.I. as a productivity and brainstorming tool; on the other hand, it could threaten our livelihoods if others embrace A.I. too much.
My older children are skeptical of A.I. because of the power and water resources it consumes. Other signs of the difficulty of figuring out A.I.: Today, a Wall Street Journal podcast has this headline: “Is the AI Revolution Slowing Down?” And a New Yorker headline: “Why A.I. Didn’t Transform Our Lives in 2025.”
I guess I’m becoming something of a skeptic about how important it will be for my personal gain, but I do worry that A.I. will continue to steal attention from news websites even as it depends on those very websites — including observerlocalnews.com — to be worth anything.
Check out the show in podcast form here.
