There’s a cliché that I always find amusing: the image of the old fuddy-duddy who says that the popular music of the day is not as good as it used to be. I confess that, in many ways, I too embody the stereotype of this crotchety old man. In my defense, I do think the …
Author Archives: brenthegwood
Read This Before You Go To College
For as long as I could remember, my strategy when it came to schoolwork was always “aim for the bare minimum required for excellence.” This has always translated as pursuit of good grades over everything else. My parents encouraged this mindset; even though my mother had me join different clubs like the Key Club, they …
The Power of Piano
My mother is, in many ways, the Platonic ideal of the modern suburban housewife. For years, she was the “stay-at-home” mom that participated in PTA meetings and whose life revolved around her children. To call her a “helicopter mom” would only be a slight exaggeration. Like most modern parents, she kept herself busy taking care …
For Love of Nanny
Last weekend, I visited my father’s mother, who I call “Nanny.” Nanny is about the loveliest woman you will ever meet. She’s been a part of my life for a long time, and I really do love her dearly. Visiting her has reminded me of all the reasons why I admire her, so I decided …
Shoe on the Other Foot
I love talking about history and society. The two are so interconnected with each other, and I can’t help but be impressed with how different the morals and morays different societies have and how arbitrary these differences are. Recently, a friend of mine asked me an important question: what would someone who came from another …
“It’s a Social Thing”
This blog was originally created to give people a bit more insight into what someone with autism is like. But somehow, I started mixing in religion and politics into it. I think I should go back to form and start talking about autism again. And I think I will start by sharing a story about …
The Evil of Pharisaism
This week, was talking to my cousin about things like family, religion, and politics, my three favorite topics (sounds like a faux pas, I know, but that’s life). But one of things we talked about was the sort of insanity of this world and about the Catholic Church’s answer to it. In particular, we talked …
You Are Your Body
For the longest time, I’ve been very interested in philosophy. Philosophy is the pursuit of truth in all areas, but in modern times, it has come to encompass primarily the big questions: what is real? And how do we know? For me, these questions are the most important because they are the foundation of what …
Birds of a Feather
I few weeks ago, I wrote a piece about how my mother homeschooled myself and my brother during summer break in order to help prepare us for school. It just so happened that this occurred on Mother’s Day week, of all times! When I found out about this, I knew I had to talk about …
Starving the Truth-Making Beast
Last week, I talked about the George Floyd riots, and since then, things have gotten way worse. A man named Raz Simone has declared himself to be the ruler of Seattle’s new autonomous zone. Pretty much every corporation continues to give money to Black Lives Matter, an organization that has done no positive thing since …