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. Maybe you’ve heard of it: Macbeth?

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 an an ocean that’s always in winter.

Commas are like a choo-choo train

When's the right time to use - and not use - a comma in a series in a sentence?

Conflicting priorities

I thought this was an interesting paradox: one construction project trumping another construction project. Though both projects yield a permanent…

Falling down, drunk

He falls smack on his back and his feet wiggle in the air. How did he not whack his head?…

Going through Pop’s drawers

As I’m going through my Dad’s papers, I’m telling myself he deliberately left what he left.

Jared Spool in action

Jared Spool makes his living showing the rest of us the “obvious” paths, providing the rest of us the a-ha…

Jo’burg

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

Lyle

“Lyle Lovett is afraid of women and in his songs, he fears them," I say. "They surprise him, steal his…

My baby just wrote me a letter

He’s happy that I’m open with him about my feelings, that I’m less angry. That I tell him about my…

Present simple messages simply

I doubt the people at Metro are bad people or don’t care about making good learning aids. They should let…

Punctuation is like a carrot

When do punctuation marks stay inside the quote marks? Always. Imagine you're planting a vegetable garden.

Riding with the talking dead

The Pop I would conjure in my passenger seat is about 47 years old: Confounded by lingering misery. He was…

Riding with Tommy Bourne

With the confidence of a lone lion, I shift with the stick in my wrong hand whilst sitting in the…

Taking a long way home

Seems like a year ago I went to New York to bury Pop. It’s been 2 weeks.

The damn eulogy

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

Three (free) writing tools to engage digital readers

Is reading your content the best part of a user's day? Does it make you smile?

Three ghosts meet a fool in a bar

I’m fever-dreaming; all four of us know it. Can the people at the bar hear us? I don’t care. Our…

Tomorrow and today

Ours is a life of perpetual interruption. We don’t always agree, but we are aligned; we are together.

Trikes

Three days of torrential rain turned the property into a porous sponge. My kids were wearing other kids’ clothes. My…

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

Pop passed in the 9 o’clock hour. In the morning. It was a Friday. And he left half past the…

Why I’m a Digital ideaist

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

You can’t slide these dying eyes

Dad was dying and I was ready. I was ready to close his eyes. It was my turn to get…