Essays

I started as a writer. Along the way, I’ve pursued a lot of different interests, especially in the digital world. But I missed the writing.

So I’ve started writing again.

– Tom Sakell

A play performed in another way can be so sweet

I just saw a play within a film on a movie screen.…

Can’t get out of my own way

There’s a man in my door; he is me .

Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world

See why these fair-skinned people dress in full-length wet suits to surf…

Commas are like a choo-choo train

When's the right time to use - and not use - a…

Conflicting priorities

I thought this was an interesting paradox: one construction project trumping another…

Falling down, drunk

He falls smack on his back and his feet wiggle in the…

Going through Pop’s drawers

As I’m going through my Dad’s papers, I’m telling myself he deliberately…

Jared Spool in action

Jared Spool makes his living showing the rest of us the “obvious”…

Jo’burg

First, you get a paper cup. Soft-peddle your chatter. Don’t explain, just…

Lyle

“Lyle Lovett is afraid of women and in his songs, he fears…

My baby just wrote me a letter

He’s happy that I’m open with him about my feelings, that I’m…

Present simple messages simply

I doubt the people at Metro are bad people or don’t care…

Punctuation is like a carrot

When do punctuation marks stay inside the quote marks? Always. Imagine you're…

Riding with the talking dead

The Pop I would conjure in my passenger seat is about 47…

Riding with Tommy Bourne

With the confidence of a lone lion, I shift with the stick…

Taking a long way home

Seems like a year ago I went to New York to bury…

The damn eulogy

An American success story. You’d think he was blessed. That he was…

Three (free) writing tools to engage digital readers

Is reading your content the best part of a user's day? Does…

Three ghosts meet a fool in a bar

I’m fever-dreaming; all four of us know it. Can the people at…

Tomorrow and today

Ours is a life of perpetual interruption. We don’t always agree, but…

Trikes

Three days of torrential rain turned the property into a porous sponge.…

Watch your world, like a tide, retreat and slide away

Pop passed in the 9 o’clock hour. In the morning. It was…

Why I’m a Digital ideaist

At work, I’m a coder, project leader, dreamer, realist, pragmatist, strategist. Call…

You can’t slide these dying eyes

Dad was dying and I was ready. I was ready to close…