how a medical polymath predicted charlie kirk, clout chasers, ocean boners, and the importance of handwashing – all in 1858

March 24, 2026

There is a feeling of inadequacy that arises when reading Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.’s resume. Here is a medical radical who published one of the first papers asserting that doctors were killing patients with their unwashed hands; a writer who, at just twenty-one, saved the USS Constitution from the scrapyard with a single poem; the … More how a medical polymath predicted charlie kirk, clout chasers, ocean boners, and the importance of handwashing – all in 1858

am i only getting microneedling because i suck at life?

March 22, 2026

I was eight years old when my mother bustled me halfway across town to a high-end department store, where the cosmetics counter, stocked with mysterious vials and decanters, resembled an alchemist’s workshop. I offered this observation to my mother who, already believing me too fanciful, placed a finger on my lips. Not here, she mouthed. An hour … More am i only getting microneedling because i suck at life?

Jacques Louis David - The Death of Socrates

your world is different. don’t take too much advice.

March 20, 2026

Scrolling through the modern feed can often feel like stumbling into a self-help convention. One writer makes The Case for Ambition; another preaches The Radical Art of Doing Nothing. I am informed that eight hours of sleep is non-negotiable, then told, with equal conviction, that I can conquer the world on four. I stand simultaneously accused of making … More your world is different. don’t take too much advice.