Michael Morgenstern

Can we discourse any more?

I am disheartened right now. The memes mocking people taking Ivermectin for taking "horse medicine" are driving home some of my exhaustion with the discourse in America that I have felt since my return. Briefly: Ivermectin is a powerful anti-parasitic which is used to treat many human infections.

Poetry / Writings

I fight the virus inside me

First time out this week, by a waterfall, wrote this. (I'm pretty much back to full health) I fight the virus inside me With words Go away, unwelcome one You're not a part of me I do not want you As it travels my bloodstream and

Quotes

On Houses

Perhaps my favorite pieces of writing: On Houses by Khalil Gibran from The Prophet Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses.     And he answered and said:     Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls.     For

Growth

Reprogramming the nervous system

Over the past few months, I have come to believe that the nervous system can be reprogrammed: anxiety, addiction to dopamine, fear-based attachment patterns, etc. etc. I feel like I now inhabit a different emotional body and a calmer version of myself. Now that I've seen it'

Poetry / Writings

Crypto Boom, to the tune of Margaritaville

🎵 Tradin' on UNI 🎵 Out in the boonies All these small caps waiting for noise Enterin' my auth codes Spinning up BAO nodes See those tweets Made by my boys Pumpin' away again in the crypto boom Searching for my lost keywords and salt Some people claim that

Translating across Covid bubbles

Have you had successful conversations with people who share different Covid ideas from you? I'd love to hear what they've been like. A friend posted a request for advice and I wrote this. It's one method, but it might not be the best: First,

Talking to a Covid denier

Well I gave a Covid denier a bunch of my time over a chat and it turned out to be a mistake. Sharing in case it helps you learn. I wish I could say anything other than "don't repeat my mistake." It started when I left

Some reflections on trauma and Covid

We have been through a collective trauma. YOU have been through a trauma. It began around a year ago and, though we are starting to see the light of the tunnel, our body and mind store the trauma and the changes in worldview it has brought. As we gain more

From Bali

For many reasons I've been relatively quiet about my time here in Bali. It's uncomfortable to post this and I won't be posting more publicly, but I wanted to share something about where I'm at. I've been on this beautiful

Thoughts on censorship in the digital age

Apple removing Parler from the app store: Terrifying Free code execution is essential to free speech and needs to be protected by law. Nobody should EVER be prohibited from running code they want on a device they own. Period. Full stop. Apple claims it's a security issue \u00e2\

sensemaking

The hospice theory of this era

I've had two grandparents pass in a hospice. It's a weird, slow, disconnected experience, marked by brief moments of recognition of what is happening and looong stretches of distraction, disconnection, and acting as if everything is normal. It's waiting in a moment when waiting

Our job as white people

White folks...our job right now is collective processing. Not only thinking. Not doing nothing. Listening. Reading. Conversing. Educating ourselves and each other. Doing the work. And making changes in ourselves and how we relate and live. The racial injustices that are alive in this world right now are all

Predictions on the next two months

(Who can predict anything in 2020, but here's a try.) When SIP hit, we experienced a dizzying paradigm shift. When the BLM movement took off again, we experienced it as well. We are about to experience new paradigm shifts which will feel even more confusing. There's

My dream collaboration tool

My dream collaboration tool is an amalgam of Slack, Asana, email, Streak, and Google Docs. Start with channels, like Slack. You can add and remove people to channels, they can set notifications. Now comes the fun part. Instead of writing a message to a channel, the UX forces you to

Room for a new political movement

When a third, highly viable, highly supported political orientation arises that is not supported by the polarity of opinions in government, there is room for a new political movement. I used to say that the Democrats and Republicans are incredibly similar. The differences have grown: the Republicans are much more

The big secret

When we were young, I remember getting the sense that there were big secrets, things we didn't know and couldn't comprehend until we were older. In my early 20s, I remember thinking that was nonsense. And in my 30s, as I have lost each grandparent one

PSA: Crying

Crying is healing. When a lot of feelings are stored up they become a weight, and crying is a way to feel them. It lets them out, and almost immediately after you feel better. There is a lot of stigma around crying, especially for men, which is too bad because

Covid

PSA: Exponential Growth II

tl;dr Last month is not the same as this coming month. Cases will rise by a LOT. It is worth being extra careful as small decisions can have big impacts. So — exponential growth is insane. With unchecked exponential growth and a doubling time of half a week, virus growth

A PSA about exponential growth

Exponential growth is WILD. There have been 5 reported Covid deaths in the Bay Area, and I've heard anecdotal stories of at least 2 deaths of people who weren't tested for Covid. In this low-testing environment, let's imagine there are 10-20 deaths. One death

Announcing the Safety Net Fund

Announcing the launch of the Safety Net Fund, a fiscally sponsored non-profit dedicated to helping artists in the Bay Area with direct grants during the COVID-19 crisis. The link to donate and to register your email to receive the grant application is here. This fund will offer grants to artists,

Stop. Just stop.

This is powerful. Amid the chaos and what is coming, we have an opportunity to ground and connect with ourselves and those around us. An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans Stop. Just stop. It is no longer a request. It is a mandate. We will help you. We will

PSA: The Coronavirus picture in the USA

Get ready for things to go bonkers for a little while. Tl;dr * The US is handling this as poorly as a nation could * The government still has the ability to change the way they respond. A change now would make a drastic difference in future outcome. If you have

Coronavirus (Covid19) PSA Time

I am posting this so my loved ones can make a self-quarantine plan. The end has concrete suggestions and a shopping list. Please share with those you love Long read: It's time to talk about COVID-19. I've been in several groups following the progression of the

2019 Year Recap

Wow, 2019... I have lived more in this year than I expected to live in a lifetime. The story of this year is the story of many relationships, most of them creative partnerships. It's also a story of achievement, of pain, and sublime transition. I feel lucky to

Coming out as...

It's National Coming Out Day!!...and I want to tell you all something. When I was 14, I came out as gay. It was incredibly difficult. I am grateful for the support and love I have received along the way, and the integration and self-acceptance I have found.