Proust Said That ©

I am P Segal

Closing the Books, 2025

Closing the Books, 2025 With less than a week left in this challenging year, some American taxpayers are considering how to maximize their deductions with last-minute charitable donations. This is a good thing—everyone, regardless of a modest income, can give up to $300 to a good cause and pay that much less in taxes, and… Continue reading Closing the Books, 2025

Because It’s December

Because It’s December As the calendar year comes to an end, Americans are inclined to think more than usual about money. Depending on one’s circumstances, thinking about money takes many forms. One of them, that includes so many of us, is Christmas spending, which imposes a different form of stress in every part of the… Continue reading Because It’s December

The Dead City

City Hall’s interior, strangely resembling a high-end mausoleum. I regret to say that I’ve given up on convincing San Francisco to save itself. For almost a decade, I’ve tried to restore the arts community that made this place so fascinating for more than a century, by creating co-op housing and venues for the creative people… Continue reading The Dead City

San Francisco: Will You Ever Learn the Lessons of History?

The city of San Francisco has concluded that if they’re going to unwind the doom loop, maybe they need to bring in some art to give Market Street visual appeal. Marco Cochrane’s 40-foot tall metal sculpture of a naked woman, R-Evolution, installed where Market meets the Embarcadero, was an excellent choice, aesthetically and symbolically. Flanked… Continue reading San Francisco: Will You Ever Learn the Lessons of History?

Upzoning and the Death of Aesthetics

At this moment in San Francisco, we’re faced with questions argued by philosophers for centuries: what constitutes beauty, why is it important, and what is the danger of ignoring it? Our politicians, funded by—or in the same social circles as— ultra-rich developers could care less about such trivia. The soulless big boxes they can’t wait… Continue reading Upzoning and the Death of Aesthetics

Why Are Things So Insane?

Looking at the state of the world in 2025, sanity is in short supply. In America, we have a government undoing as much good as possible without unleashing insurrection against their insurrection. Even the president is smart enough to know that cancelling Social Security payments would be the last straw, and his IQ is apparently… Continue reading Why Are Things So Insane?

The Microsoft Doom Loop

Somewhere in storage, 35 years of my writing in Microsoft Word lies dormant on floppy disks, CDs, and other tech improvements that have made access to a career’s worth of work virtually impossible. I’ve forgiven Microsoft for this war on writers because Word was a decent, reliable product I used every day—but this year, Copilot… Continue reading The Microsoft Doom Loop

The Aftermath: Start Planning

Fascist dictatorships never last for very long. Because fascism is essentially sociopathic, sane people get tired of it quickly. People may have bought into a fascists’ campaign propaganda because it appeals on some level that’s not particularly mentally healthy, like a secretly held prejudice or anxiety. They get drawn into the fascist’s rhetoric without ever… Continue reading The Aftermath: Start Planning

Redefining Murder

This mural of “St. Luigi ” was projected onto the side of a building in New York’s Lower Manhattan. We have always had a cut-and-dried definition of murder: a person or persons kills another. It’s a serious crime and a capital offense that can warrant the death penalty, depending on the state. It’s occasionally mitigated… Continue reading Redefining Murder