February 28, 2021

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the world's only corn palace in Mitchell, SD. the building is ostentatious and tacky. red brick and thatched corn husk serve as most of the building's face. flanking the entrance are two friezes made of cobs of light and dark corn. atop the building are five metallic minarets. the sky is blue with light clouds stretching end to end.
working

the andon cord

joshby josh

I heard a story years ago about a strange partnership struck between Toyota and GM. In 1984 they came together to create a factory called…

the sun surrounded by evening clouds sets over the Indian ocean. waves lap gently against a beach that's near out of frame. three palm trees in silhouette separate us from the water.
working

welcome to be the future

joshby josh

Hello there. If this is your first time here, welcome to be the future. If you've been here before, I've made a few changes recently.…

working

the four Cs

joshby josh

I recently read an article from Food & Wine magazine. In their January issue, they printed a recipe from two chefs working in Mexico. Norma…

Essay

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a pizza that may or may not look enormous, depending on the scale. the image is cropped close so only glimpses of the pizza box are visible along the edges. the toppings on half of the round pizza are pepperoni and broccoli. the toppings on the other half are pineapple, mushroom, and feta. if you look closely, you'd see that the pizza is cut into squares. it's also dotted with eight or so of the little plastic tables that keep a pizza lid from drooping onto your delicious pizza pie.
essay

palace fucking intrigue

joshby josh

Last week, I was in a meeting to discuss dividing grant funds between two groups. I work with two coalitions that provide social services to…

a photo from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kandy, Sri Lanka. a grove of palm trees line a brown gravel path in two neat, orderly rows. green grass covers the ground wherever there isn't gravel. the sky above is cloudy, with blue skies tinged with yellow from the heat and humidity. a group of five or six people are walking away from the camera, on the path, towards the distance.

well, actually

a photo of a woman ziplining across a canyon outside Salta, Argentina. the woman's sweatshirt is all white, pants are a tan color. she is wearing a yellow helmet that long dark hair is laying out of. her right hand is in a heavy glove, holding a thick metal cable. her left hand is holding the harness and pulley wheel contraption that connects her to the cable. she is hundreds of feet above a placid river, with steep mountains on either side. scrub grass and bushes speckle the brown desert floor below. i know it looks high up. it was! but the scariest moment is when you're the furthest from both sides.

just stay alive

Personal

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a photo of a shelf of pulp fiction titles from the very-worth-it Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago. these novels look like the Penguin Classics of gay erotica. each book's risqué title is written in a bold all-caps black font on a white background. a single block of color runs across the top of each book's spine. identical colors are shelved together but not in a gradient, more like a patchwork rainbow. the first version of this caption contained a lot more accidental innuendo. i decided the books should speak for themselves.
personal

playing favorites 2020

joshby josh

Like most millennials, a lot of my reading these days takes the form of news and pop culture. It was a natural progression for the…

an old photo of the author as a lil baby. my dad is standing away from the camera in jeans and a t-shirt. we're standing along the edge of a creek, california scrub brush standing ten to fifteen feet above our heads. he's holding me in his left arm, at two years old, in a red onesie. he's pointing towards the camera and i'm gazing in that direction.

the stars belong to us

Priyanka, a drag queen on Canada's Drag Race. she describes her heritage as Indo-Caribbean. in this photo, Priyanka is wearing a blue and gold sari with one leg exposed, her black hair is styled big and parted on the side into two perfect asymmetrical swooshes. i cannot describe fashion, unfortunately. but she's gorgeous!!

seeing myself on tv

the world's only corn palace in Mitchell, SD. the building is ostentatious and tacky. red brick and thatched corn husk serve as most of the building's face. flanking the entrance are two friezes made of cobs of light and dark corn. atop the building are five metallic minarets. the sky is blue with light clouds stretching end to end.
working

the andon cord

joshby josh

I heard a story years ago about a strange partnership struck between Toyota and GM. In 1984 they came together to create a factory called NUMMI. This factory ran under the Toyota Production System, whose principles by now are world-famous as Lean Six Sigma. (Emphasis here that I'm suspicious about…

a pizza that may or may not look enormous, depending on the scale. the image is cropped close so only glimpses of the pizza box are visible along the edges. the toppings on half of the round pizza are pepperoni and broccoli. the toppings on the other half are pineapple, mushroom, and feta. if you look closely, you'd see that the pizza is cut into squares. it's also dotted with eight or so of the little plastic tables that keep a pizza lid from drooping onto your delicious pizza pie.
essay

palace fucking intrigue

joshby josh

Last week, I was in a meeting to discuss dividing grant funds between two groups. I work with two coalitions that provide social services to people in need. One coalition receives about a third of the funding that the other group does. Neither coalition is swimming in money. Their funder…

the sun surrounded by evening clouds sets over the Indian ocean. waves lap gently against a beach that's near out of frame. three palm trees in silhouette separate us from the water.
working

welcome to be the future

joshby josh

Hello there. If this is your first time here, welcome to be the future. If you've been here before, I've made a few changes recently. My excellent pal Christina redesigned my website! I can't wait to share more about her process and our work together sometime soon. I had a…

a photo of a farm between seasons. deep tire tracks run up the left side of the image, ending in an even deeper puddle in the distance. the cropland is green with vegetation but nothing is ready for harvest. trees and houses dot the horizon, and the sky is a gradient of blue that fades to light towards the horizon.
start the future

start the future: understanding cooperatives

joshby josh

I’m continuing the series where I try creating a new organization that serves a public good. I can be intentional about my goals and work with people who align with these intentions. I’ll start by researching different organization types in the united states. This is a post about starting a…

working

the four Cs

joshby josh

I recently read an article from Food & Wine magazine. In their January issue, they printed a recipe from two chefs working in Mexico. Norma Listman and Saqib Keval shared their recipe for mole verde. This mole, also known also as pipián, uses ground pepita seeds as its base. It's…

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