Me: I Should Take a Break From Reading Bad News

I Understand There's Also a Negative Side

The Hard Part is Remembering to Let People In

You Don't Have to Monetize The Things You Love

My office is overrun with indie comics. Small press runs, hand-stapled zines, hardbound collections, beautifully risographed art books from creators who might never make another comic again. I buy them at small conventions, from Gumroad pages, from artists’ websites, and through Instagram DMs. Each represents a moment in time, a

Am I a Dumbphone Person?

To Hell With Personal Growth

I deleted my habit-tracking app yesterday. Three years of meticulously logged meditation sessions, workouts, and morning routines—gone.  And I have zero regrets.

Video Essay: Why Online Debates Are Making Us Dumber

Watch on YouTube The Internet promised us enlightened discourse. Instead, we got PhDs arguing with anime avatars about gay frogs. New video essay: how social media’s engagement algorithms, psychological traps, and platform mechanics combine to make us collectively dumber through the trap of online “debate.” From the Dunning-Kruger Death

Not an Original Bone in His Body

...I Wish I Could Just Write

You Will Never Win an Argument On the Internet—Here's Why

The Internet promised us a renaissance of discourse. Armed with instant access to all human knowledge and the ability to connect with brilliant minds worldwide, we imagined our online debates would elevate human understanding to unprecedented heights.  But two decades later, we scroll through our choice of social poison, watching

Westenberg Update: February 2025

I had a post go semi-viral (for me, anyway) last night. It's nice when I get a few extra eyeballs on my work, so - hello, new readers. Welcome to the party, etc. It felt like an important post to write. We are facing a lot of nonsense

How to Make Money as a Writer

Your World Is Burning. Here's What You Can Actually Do About It.

Everything hurts right now. You open your phone. War. Collapse. Crisis. Corruption. Some days, it feels like watching the world burn down to ash in real-time. The weight of powerlessness settles in.  The crush of too much information, too little agency.  The vertigo of trying to find solid ground in

Complexity is a Trap

Mastery isn’t adding layers. It’s peeling them away until only the essential remains.

When Screens Remove Our Better Angels

McDonald’s discovered something unsettling when they rolled out their self-service kiosks. Well, it's unsettling for those of us who don’t own shares in the Golden Arches: men are ordered differently when facing a screen versus a human. One burger became two. The guardrails of social judgment

You Can't "Win" in Tech Unless You Cheat

PayPal started by paying people to sign up. Their viral growth came from essentially bribing users with $10 to join and $10 for each referral. That’s not innovation — it’s buying market share with venture capital. Uber didn’t disrupt transportation — they ignored taxi regulations their competitors had to

Who Am I, While the World Burns?

I inhabit three worlds, each pulling me in different directions. This blog, where I write about technology, culture, and media’s future, is a space where I should be free to explore ideas. Signalvs, my media and marketing startup, where clients depend on me for strategy and growth while the

The Weight of Your Word

Your word creates reality. When you declare “I will,” you forge a contract with the future. What that contract is worth — well, that’s entirely up to you. I’ve met a lot of folks who treat promises like so much confetti. They sprinkle them around carelessly, creating a fog