Pete Michaud

Sick and Tired

I’m alive! It was touch and go for a while, but I made it through about a week of being sick. Aside from a persistent cough, I got better yesterday, which was my birthday, so this is the first day I’ve had to catch up on things. I owe people some readings and phone calls, you know who you are,...

How to Draw

The Last Psychiatrist just released an article that beautifully articulates a point I’ve made weakly several times in my writing. The point is essentially that we project so much of our own meaning onto the world that we forget to see what’s actually there. … Edwards calls this the...

Enduring Value

I start working around 8 in the morning, and I’m normally done by 8 at night. Last week I took Sunday off, and built some games. But what am I doing that I call work? How can I look back at the end of the day and know I was “productive”? Hours worked are irrelevant. The real question is:...

Dominoes and the Price of Admission

I really wanted to quit my job. I was too afraid of the domino effect to do it though. Quitting my job meant not being able to pay my mortgage and take care of my family. We get stuck because we start thinking about the domino effect. The fear that the changes we want are going to cause a cascade of changes...

You Suck At Everything

People are born with talents. You better hope you get one that’s impressive or lucrative, because otherwise you’re screwed. Take these two artists for example: Artist #1 Artist #2 I didn’t choose these two artists so I could pick on the first one though. I actually picked these two because...

Sweet Release, Energy Anatomy

Beginning in July I did a 40 day no orgasm trial. When you go from orgasming every day to orgasming never, it may seem that the energy and ecstasy of the orgasms is somehow lost. Like if you don’t use it that day, it’s lost. What I found out is first that that energy ends up being redirected...

Fundamental Needs #2: Hookers & Bombs

The Air Force sent Ed to the AFAFRICA component of Africom after decades of flying C-130 cargo planes all over the world. He retired while operating out of Angola after 24 years in military service. He earned a reputation in the military for being ready, willing, and able to fly over the most dangerous...

Stress is Dirty

Stress seems unavoidable. But it’s a paradox because unavoidable as it may be, it also doesn’t exist. Not exactly. Your child is hit by a car, and totters between life and death. The morphine drip beeps as you hover over your broken son for weeks, hoping against hope that he’ll open his...

Tailgating

On Thursday morning I started driving from Florida to Austin, Texas. My Cadillac was as full as it could be while still being able to make a 1,000 mile journey. I was a little stressed because the lady whose house I had arranged to rent had backed out of the arrangement. I was headed to Texas with nowhere to...

Strong Man and Doer of Deeds

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short...