Glen Green - Your humble host.
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Glen Green
Author's posts
Feb 28
The Invisible Metropolis
Most of us spend our days feeling like a single, solid unit—a person sitting in a chair, walking to the car, or staring at a screen. But beneath the surface of that perceived stillness is a logistical feat that rivals the busiest cities on Earth. Right now, in nearly every cell of your body, trillions …
Feb 28
January 2026 – Quote of the Month
“It is very hard to explain to people who have never known serious depression or anxiety the sheer continuous intensity of it. There is no off switch.” ~ Matt Haig
Jan 29
Bringing a Syllogism to a Sword Fight
The current state of America has many of us, I daresay most of us fighting moods from sadness, anger, futility and frustration. And I’d say everyone I know also has some Trump supporter who is delighted with the deconstruction of the country, although they, of course view the erosion as an improvement. For those of …
Dec 30
Silicon Sermons: The Performative Contradiction in Your Palm
“Science is not just another belief system. It is a process of testing beliefs against reality. If a belief cannot survive the test of reality, it must be discarded, no matter how ancient or comforting it may be.” ~ Victor J. Stenger In the palm of your hand you can hold a device that captures …
Dec 30
November 2025 – Quote of the Month
“I am not afraid of any god in the universe who would send me or any other man or woman to hell. If there were such a being, he would not be a god; he would be a devil.” ~Clarence Darrow
Nov 30
Textbook Crazy: Psycho Analysis
I love Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece, Psycho. I wouldn’t even say that it ‘holds up’ to modern movies; I’d say that it exceeds most of them. And I resent spoilers enough to say, on the off chance that you’ve either not read the book or seen the movie, stop reading this post now because there are …
Nov 25
October 2025 – Quote of the Month
“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” ~ John Barrymore
Oct 21
The Digital Downgrade and the Diet of Distraction
I had hope for Social Media when it first started to roll out. I thought it could be a chance for people to share their voices (the democratization of voices!) and to connect with far-flung friends and loved ones. But I’d not guessed at the Great Media algorithms driving people towards conflict for the sake …
Oct 20
September 2025 – Quote of the Month
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” ~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Sep 28
The Cosmos Is All That Is or Was or Ever Will Be
The groundbreaking series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, first aired 45 years ago today: September 28, 1980. To my mind, Cosmos is one of the most beautiful and important works set to film. If I believed in mandatory media, it would certainly make the top of my list. As it is, the series has been seen …
Sep 28
August 2025 – Quote of the Month
“If, as a culture, we don’t bear witness to grief, the burden of loss is placed entirely upon the bereaved, while the rest of us avert our eyes and wait for those in mourning to stop being sad, to let go, to move on, to cheer up. And if they don’t — if they have …
Aug 26
The Vandal Dilemma
Drove into downtown Pittsburgh Saturday to see Louis C.K.. We went across the Roberto Clemente Bridge where I spotted this graffiti which reads, “Please Don’t Litter”. I felt conflicted. I hate litter and agree with the sentiment but I also think that (by and large) graffiti is also stupid and obnoxious. I’m curious if the …
Aug 22
July 2025 – Quote of the Month
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
Jul 30
Holy Hate Memes
I spotted this on Facebook, shared with the heading, ‘THE BIBLE SAID IT ALL’. and then the post includes a snapshot of a quote from one of the many bibles. The quote is red-underlined and then further highlighted with a great purple border that was added digitally. The image and post don’t include a source …
Jul 30
June 2025 – Quote of the Month
“It hurts to live after someone has died. It just does. It can hurt to walk down a hallway or open the fridge. It hurts to put on a pair of socks, to brush your teeth. Food tastes like nothing. Colors go flat. Music hurts, and so do memories. You look at something you’d otherwise …
Jun 30
The Shave, The Stain, The Shame
Spotted at a local Goodwill store. I wish I’d bought them. A few observations: the exhibitionist woman shaves and that was somebody’s artistic choice. I think she’d be fun to hang out with. The maniacal devil bunny with soulless eyes still has stains of blood splattered around its mouth from its last victim. What appears …
Jun 27
May 2025 – Quote of the Month
“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can’t prove that there aren’t any, so shouldn’t we be agnostic with respect to fairies?” ~ Richard Dawkins
May 30
Bouncy Ball Bureaucracy
I was at a family picnic a few weeks ago and encountered this H2O Go! bouncy ball. The Merriam-Webster dictionary includes as part of its definition of ‘Supervision’, the following: ‘the action, process, or occupation of supervising especially : a critical watching and directing (as of activities or a course of action)’, I particularly enjoy the subtlety in …
May 24
April 2025 – Quote of the Month
“Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer.” ~ Madalyn Murray O’Hair
Apr 29
Brandolini’s Law
My recent post addressing the straw man religious arguments against atheism took a remarkably long time to write. I don’t have that kind of energy this month, so instead I’ll share this meta post about Brandolini’s Law. (Credit for the illustration goes to The Unbiased Science Podcast. ) “A lie can travel halfway around the …
Apr 28
March 2025 – Quote of the Month
“Perfection is a stick with which to beat the possible.” ~ Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power
Mar 27
God Gaps and Meme Traps
I saw this meme on a rare visit to Facebook. (Reminding me once again why I’m avoiding Facebook for the most part.) Let’s examine it… Atheism Defined The first miss occurs on the opening line, ‘to be an atheist, I would have to believe…’ But atheism is not a unified belief system. Atheism is the …
Mar 24
February 2025 – Quote of the Month
“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.” ~ John Holt
Feb 24
A Crack in Everything
The world feels cold and bitter. Spring is 23 days away. I took this photo Aug. 6, 2011. We’re all looking for some life behind the splinters, rot and rusted nails. … The birds they sangAt the break of dayStart againI heard them sayDon’t dwell on what has passed awayOr what is yet to be … Ah, …
Feb 20
January 2025 – Quote of the Month
“Chronic anxiety is a state more undesirable than any other, and we will try almost any maneuver to eliminate it. Modern man is living in anxious anticipation of destruction. Such anxiety can be easily eliminated by self-destruction. As a German saying puts it: ‘Better an end with terror than a terror without end.” ~ Robert …
Jan 15
December 2024 – Quote of the Month
“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.” ~ Hector Berlioz
Dec 25
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
The song, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas‘ always sounded a little plaintive to me. Judy Garland, sang it first for a scene in, “Meet Me in St Louis” (1944) in which her character comforts her younger sister, Margaret. Have yourself a merry little ChristmasLet your heart be lightNext year all our troubles will be …
Dec 18
November 2024 – Quote of the Month
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a …
Nov 18
October 2024 – Quote of the Month
“Some days you think you can’t go on because the only thing waiting for you is more despair. Some days you don’t want to go on because it’s easier to give up than to get hurt again.” ~ Marieke Nijkamp; This Is Where It Ends
Nov 06
It’s Like Incredible
Ever wonder how the fascist took control of Germany in the 1930s? Ever wonder which side you’d have been on if you’d lived in that country? Now, if you live in America: you know both. – It isn’t simply a matter of stupidity. It is more a matter of disinformation and fear. “I could stand …
Nov 04
Trump vs Democracy
Sitting here on the eve of the 2024 election, we don’t know who will be the next president. Trump may win or Harris may win. I could provide a slew of links to all that is heinous about Trump but I’d run out of energy well before I ran out of sources. And at this …
Oct 30
Reflections of Halloween Past
This is the least Halloweeny year I’ve had in recent memories: having attended only one party that featured pumpkin carving but having not visited a single ‘haunted’ house and having only watched very few horror movies. Still, my affection for Halloween runs deep and so I’m posting this a day early in celebration of the …
Oct 29
September 2024 – Quote of the Month
“What words are these have falle’n from me?Can calm despair and wild unrestBe tenants of a single breast,Or sorrow such a changeling be?” ~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson; In Memoriam A. H. H.
Sep 29
Oppressed for Oppressors
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” ~ Donald Trump
Sep 19
August 2024 – Quote of the Month
“Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.” ~ Herodotus, The Histories
Aug 31
A Serenade of Darkness
Today’s trolling of my photos surfaced this image of Bear Cave in Derry Township Pennsylvania taken on July 2, 2016. Bear Cave is a, ‘wild cave’ which is to say: it is wholly natural with no human development such as paved walk ways, railings or lighting. The photo was taken near the entrance of the …
Aug 26
July 2024 – Quote of the Month
“The colors live a remarkable life of their own after they have been applied to the canvas.” ~Edvard Munch
Jul 27
Winnr
Combing through photos and I came across this, from a July 3rd, 2010 fair game. The strangest things amuse me.
Jul 17
June 2024 – Quote of the Month
“I do not see as well without her. I do not hear as well without her. I do not feel as well without her. I would be better off without a hand or a leg than without my sister.” ~Erin Morgenstern
Jun 29
Missed Time
People tell each other, ‘You did a so much.’ But we know all the things that we didn’t do that we could have. That we should have.
Jun 27
May 2024 – Quote of the Month
“Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.” ~Edmund Burke
May 31
Nyota wa Kilimanjaro
The last couple of years, life has had some sad hardships which I will not recount here. Travel has not been a priority. In fact: I’ve struggled to find the usual enthusiasm for something that is normally such a passion. I’m confident I’ll find heart for it again. But for now, I have my photos …
May 27
April 2024 – Quote of the Month
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~Anatole France
Apr 30
Booptart Dreams
The other day, I took a nap and had a very vivid dream. Upon waking up, I used my phone’s voice to text to write down what I’d just been dreaming. Here-in follows that transcription with minor clean-up for clarity and ease of understanding: Thursday, April 25. I just woke up. I’m using voice to …
Apr 27
March 2024 – Quote of the Month
“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.” ~ Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Mar 31
Walkie Talkie Kwai
The 15th episode, ‘Kung Fu’ from season 3 entitled, ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ first aired January 18, 1975. The episode is a prequel of sorts, showing the Shaolin priest Kwai Chang Caine’s efforts to escape from China as the Emperor’s troops persue him in revenge for the killing of the Emperor’s nephew. Although this is ostensibly …
Mar 31
February 2024 – Quote of the Month
“There should have been a better farewell. But in the end, there never is. And we take what meagre scraps we can find.” ~ Richard K. Morgan
Feb 28
Artificial Glen
I debated about how to present this, but in the end opted against trying to be cute or tricky. I’ve already seen so many newscasts, articles, vlogs and whatnot present an essay only to say at the end that it was written by A.I. Since that seems more than played out, I’m revealing here at …
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