Daniel J Isom

I don't want you to think that I stopped caring. Loss is an incredibly hard thing for all of us, but I especially struggle accepting the end of anything. When we think of loss, our minds immediately go to death because that's loss in its most permanent form but the end of anything can cause similar feelings. It could be the end of some sort of relationship (family, friend, work, romantic, etc.) or even a form of media like a television show or podcast. Obviously the latter examples aren't nearly as serious because they are designed to end, but one could argue that so are nearly all relationships.  We have this idea that once we know somebody and have any sort of connection to them beyond waving at a neighbor whose name you don't know, that there's an obligation to keep that relationship going forever. It's not realistic for this to be true for a long list of reasons. When the thing that brings two people together ends in some fashion, it's natural for that b...

Nearly a decade ago, during a particularly slow day at work, I decided to write down and expand my Bucket List. For those unfamiliar with what that is, it's a list of everything one wants to do, see, or experience before they "kick the bucket" a.k.a. die. It's kind of morbid to think about, but it can help give some direction to the choices you make in life. Often times these lists are filled with traveling to various places or doing extreme experiences like skydiving. My list is no different, but it seems like an fun and interesting thing to finally share as I've grown older and I start crossing things off. Originally when I made this list, I made the decision to pick 50 things. It was an arbitrary number with no real meaning behind it. I added a couple of things here and there but here's the list as of today: Experiences o See the Avalanche play o See the Colts play o Go Parasailing o See a Cirque De Soleil show o Broadway show o Swim with Dolphi...

Cribbage with Grandpas is a Cribbage app you can play on mobile devices. There are plenty of free cribbage apps out there, but I like this implementation a lot more. It's available on both  Android  and  Apple  for just a few dollars and gives you the ability to make custom Grandpa avatars to play against. Besides just the way your grandfather looks, you can also choose personality traits, the setting in which you play, and the snack that he has sitting near him. He'll tell jokes and make comments throughout the game, which makes it just that much more immersive.  Is it necessary to pay to have these things? Absolutely not. Does it add a lot to the experience? Absolutely.  As with other Cribbage apps, there are different difficulty levels so even if you've never played before you can get better and still have a challenge. One thing I really like is that you have to score your cards yourself by selecting them. If you happen to miss something, Grandpa will l...

Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis  David Buckel, a prominent gay rights lawyer and environmental activist burned himself to death on Saturday in NYC. His reasoning for doing so was to bring attention to the destruction and death we're bringing to this planet through the use of fossil fuels. "Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result - my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves." This isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, case of self immolation by fire. I was already familiar with the most famous case of self-immolation where Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Đức , lit himself ablaze in Saigon. The picture at the top of this article is from that day. He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. Rather than losing their way of life, Thích, and other Buddhist monks im...