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July Meditations, Reflections, Travelogue, and Scrapbook
My life, I realize suddenly, is July. Childhood is June, and old age is August, but here it is, July, and my life, this year, is July inside of July. Rick Bass July is very important to me. First and foremost, it is the month I was born. It’s hard to imagine what Mom endured… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Redefining Productivity
Note: The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/07/06/redefining-productivity/ Pip: What does it mean to have a productive day when nobody’s keeping score anymore? That question turns out to be a lot harder than it sounds. Mara: Andrew Prokop takes it on directly in this episode — we’re looking at what productivity actually means once… Continue reading
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Redefining Productivity
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. Marie Curie During… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: The Burden We Call Love
Note: The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/06/29/the-burden-we-call-love/ Pip: There’s a phrase most of us have said at least once — “I don’t want to be a burden” — delivered with the quiet confidence of someone who has never actually thought it through. Mara: Andrew Prokop has been thinking it through. Today we’re covering… Continue reading
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The Burden We Call Love
The burden which is well borne becomes light. Ovid At a recent gathering with a few male friends, our freewheeling conversation turned towards aging and caring for those who are no longer able to look after themselves. As is common, and somewhat expected with a group of white Americans, someone almost immediately said, “I don’t… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Where do the Children Play
Note: The underlying article can be found at Where do the Children Play. Pip: There’s a site called Can You Hear Me Now, which is either a meditation on human connection or a very long complaint about cell service — and today, Andrew Prokop makes the case that it’s definitely the former. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s latest… Continue reading
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Where do the Children Play
It is right that he too should have his little chronicle, his memories, his reason, and be able to recognize the good in the bad, the bad in the worst, and so grow gently old down all the unchanging days, and die one day like any other day, only shorter. Samuel Beckett As a grandfather… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Free Range Retirement
Note: The underlying article can be found at Free Range Retirement. Pip: There’s a quote that opens the post we’re covering today: “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” Which, honestly, sounds less like a warning and more like a sales pitch. Mara: Andrew Prokop is two years into retirement… Continue reading
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Free Range Retirement
The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off. Abe Lemons I love a good coming of age story. It doesn’t matter if it comes in the form of a movie, book, or song. I love thinking about the transition from one way of living to something completely different. In many ways,… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: See and Say the AI Way
Note: The underlying article can be found at See and Say the AI Way. Pip: There’s a certain irony in a podcast about AI podcasts — made by an AI podcast tool — hosted by two virtual hosts who are, in fact, Pip and Mara. We are, for the record, aware of this. Mara: Andrew… Continue reading
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See and Say the AI Way
There’s no reality except the one contained within us. That’s why so many people live an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself. Hermann Hesse Those of you who have been paying attention to my recent blog articles have surely witnessed my experimentation… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Our Profile in Courage
Note: The underlying article can be found at Our Profile in Courage. Pip: One phone per house, one number for the whole family — and somehow, that’s the metaphor Andrew Prokop reaches for when talking about a Kennedy Profile in Courage award. It works, which is the mildly annoying thing about good writing. Mara: This… Continue reading
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Our Profile in Courage
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. Eliot I grew up in a time when there was one telephone per house. People would call our number, Whitney 5-2497, regardless if you wanted to reach Mom, Dad, any of my five siblings, or me.… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Get Off My Lawn — The AI Edition
Note: The underlying article can be found at Get Off My Lawn — The AI Edition. Pip: Can You Hear Me Now, where today’s episode asks the question every developer over forty has been quietly screaming into their IDE: what exactly are we trading away? Mara: Andrew Prokop makes that case directly — covering AI… Continue reading
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Get Off My Lawn — The AI Edition
I often tell my students not to be misled by the name ‘artificial intelligence’ – there is nothing artificial about it. AI is made by humans, intended to behave by humans, and, ultimately, to impact humans’ lives and human society. Fei-Fei Li I recently came upon an article that stated that AI is creating a… Continue reading
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Death Cafe
The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? Edgar Allan Poe Last Wednesday, my church hosted a death cafe. For the uninformed, a death cafe is a gathering of people who want to talk about death. There is… Continue reading
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Uncluttering
Amidst one’s daily clutter, one doesn’t usually reflect on the splendor of being free because – naturally – one has to get on with the business of living. Upamanyu Chatterjee Linda and I moved into our three story Victorian house (or barn as I often call it) in the winter of 1998. I remember it… Continue reading
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Randomness
This wretched brain gave way, and I became a wreck at random driven, without one glimpse of reason or heaven. Thomas Moore Linda and I are up at Lake Sallie for our annual cabin opening extended weekend. This involves cleaning up mouse poop, putting patio furniture back into place, coordinating with plumbers and dock installers,… Continue reading
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Healthy Sexuality
Sexuality is one of the ways that we become enlightened, actually, because it leads us to self-knowledge. Alice Walker Note: I tried to not use the word “sexuality” in the title of this article, but the alternates were either too clunky or sounded as if I was trying too hard to sound clever. “Life is… Continue reading
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My Future Self
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln A little more than a week ago, I attended a retreat for older men. We discussed a number of topics during the course of the day, but the one that stood out the most was developing and maintaining healthy sexuality. Due to… Continue reading
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Can You Hear Me Now 