Trying to mix the metaphors of inbox zero (or nearly), my condo right after the cleaners are done with it, and my newly detailed (yet still 20 years old) car.
Like in both of the latter cases, it is just that duality of "clean" and "uncluttered". It does feel empowering. And a nearly empty inbox feels the same way.
I want to double down on daily rituals of cleaning both personal and work email out on the regular.
When I was a freshman in high school, some of the upperclassman would do at least the first part of the spin (off the shoulder, behind the back, on to the next shoulder) but I never got the knack. And I assume it's even less likely with my 25-lb+ brass sousaphone. And being 35 years older.
"No reason to die all tensed up." - damn, I have mixed feelings when a blog post I wrote 5 years ago does a better job on themes I mention now, that the idea that fear and anger are only good so far as they are utilitarian, otherwise they should be avoided as much as possible.
So I'm pretty sure we've been in a kind of white collar recession for a while, and now we're are poised to get a new, "big, beautiful" real one with the upcoming Trump Slump from all these dumb ass tariffs
This article points out the main calculation has been on other countries running a trade surplus "Most obviously, the tariffs don't appear to be based on actual trade barriers, which undermines their entire justification. Contrary to White House messaging, the formula for determining the new rates turns out to have been based simply on the dollar value of goods the U.S. imports from a given country relative to how much it exports. The administration took the difference between the two numbers, divided it by each country's total exports, then divided that total in half, and slapped an import tax on countries at that rate. The theoretically reciprocal tariffs are not, in fact, reciprocal."
But that's just the baseline: "Trump imposed 10 percent tariffs even on countries, like Brazil, that import more from America than they export to it. The only thing the White House has made clear is that any decision to remove or raise tariffs will be made by Trump himself."
Which of course is the real point - this whole thing is just "suck up to Trump", who in a kingly way will decide if you're in his graces or not. He will wackamole some tarriffs down based on the amount of sucking up folks in that industry do, or in some cases when the stupidity of a specific one becomes too blatantly obvious.
I'm sure Trump fans will say, oh it will increase American manufacturing and will make jobs. This is delusional. Nearly every manufacturing supply chain you can think of has aspects that are hit by these tariffs, and the retribution tariffs we are going to get are going to make it harder for American companies to sell.
(LOL, so maybe this is some of why Trump suggest Constitution breaking ways for extra terms. International companies are going to batten down the hatches and wait til more sane policies get restored after future elections. There will be no sudden boom of domestic production, just lots of job loss as we "America First" our way out of productive trading relationships)
Heh. sometimes during bad times cause by right wing idiots and jerks I jump over to see how the other side is reporting it, to see the spin (like to see if they have any silver lining I might be able to accept) or the dodge.
Searching "wall street" in the Fox New site- most of the links are years old, but the first match seemed exactly relevant. Especially when the "Market News, Stock Updates and Financial Insights" link leads to a single page telling me "Something has gone wrong..."
Well duh. I knew that.
tuba ready for action boston common right now
Views from the Bandstand at Today's Boston Hands Off Rally
New to me music from last month, including a new 5 Star Song! (of my 4,600 songs, like 160 are 5 stars) And the 4 stars include some really solid R+B 80s/90s covers by Lake Street Dive. Come to think of it "Big Jet Plane" is a cover as well...
5 star:
* Do You Realize?? (Willie Nelson)
Such a beautiful cover of a beautiful song. (The Flaming Lips original is excellent as well, but there's something about Nelson's old and wise vibe.)
4 star:
* Tenderness (Galactic)
* Linger (Lake Street Dive)
* Faith (Lake Street Dive)
* Big Jet Plane (feat. Dabin) (Daniela Andrade)
3 star:
* About Today (The National)
* Time After Time (Iron & Wine)
* ZEN (JENNIE)
* Banana Pancakes (Jack Johnson)
* Experience (BOND)
* Am I the Same Girl? (Swing Out Sister)
NSFW, sorry for the blue language:
Power, power, power! Up here where the world was like a toy beneath me. Where I held the stick like my cock in my hands and there was no one...to say me no!
That passage was quoted in Steven Levy's book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" (about the spirit of God-like control programmer Ken Williams realized he had over the computer.) I've been thinking about this in the context of how Trump is these days. How the economy 8 billion folks depend on is gonna prosper or more likely suffer because of this one octogenarian's hunch about how tariffs work
"Wow, this kink is so *weird* and *extreme*" and then you look inside and it's literally just "what if I never had to Be Responsible or Make Good Life Decisions ever again, and somehow this was a sex thing?"
You better start getting comfortable with the idea of an extremely broad anti-fascist coalition that includes tons of people who you strongly disagree with, because buddy, you're in one
Ten years ago I wrote a blog piece on how if reading a book without pictures was a big milestone for a young kid, it might be joined by the milestone of reading a Kindle book.
But right now - I dunno, it seems optimistic to assume reading books in going to be as important going forward. There are new ways of getting information; twenty years ago wide-ranging video on demand wasn't a thing, thirty years ago hardly any good information source was online. I'm not saying books don't have advantages in thoughtful analysis and promoting concentration over other media, but they don't hold as much of a monopoly on how potentially smart folks get information as they once did.
I guess I'm dealing with some serious book ennui right now; my old science and spirituality reading group disbanded, so there was at least one meaty book a month. And with some other changes in my daily life and schedule, and striving to get this pile of things done online... I've literally only finished three books this year (previous years I'd been reading like 30 over the year, so I'm on track for like a third or quarter of that.)
I don't even know what I'd be longing to read. More non-fiction like in that science+spirituality group? Damn this is jaded to the point of idiocy but I feel like I've hit most of the topics on the philosophical matters that move me most. Light fiction, like sci-fi? I dunno. I've never been interested in grand plot and character, and a good movie is a better "cool idea to time investment ratio" (And Black Mirror, the screen equivalent of the 'twisted scifi shortstory' genre I love, will be having a new season soon) I like novels exploring interpersonal landscapes (like Sally Rooney's stuff) but there seems to much to choose from that it's hard to know what would be worth investing my limited time in.
Heh. This all even has impact on my domestic arrangements. Like, collections of books I've read (and videogames) I've played seem weirdly core to my identity - in a life where my average stay at one address has been south of three years, my collections of books (and toys and games) has been an anchor, as well as a visible sign of who I am or want to be. (Along with the usual 'maybe I'll get a chance to come back to that, or will want to show it to someone else.)
This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
via Jim Murphy's "INNER EXCELLENCE: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life" (was being read by A.J. Brown on the Phildelpha Eagles' sideline) Just read it but tbh aiming a little higher than I usually do.
Happy 160th Anniversary of Confederate Surrender Day
I'm almost 50, and here is the best thing I have learned so far: every strange thing you've ever been into, every failed hobby or forgotten instrument, everything you have ever learned will come back to you, will serve you when you need it. No love, however brief, is wasted.
The nature of being a person is that you feel like today is the last day of human history because it's the last day of the human history you've lived through. It feels like the end of the story. "I started out zero, and then I ended up 47. And that's the story of my life." Right? But of course, that's not the story of my life, hopefully. Hopefully, this isn't the last day. This is not the end of the story. It feels like the end of the story because it's the last bit I've lived through. But it's the middle of the story. And so that's why we have to fight and scrap and continue to be hopeful–because it is the middle of the story.
He goes on to say "And I really believe that the end of the story for tuberculosis is the end of tuberculosis–this disease that has been with us for the whole 300,000 years that we've been here. How amazing would it be to be able to live in a world where that's no longer a public health threat? Well, we can live in that world. And right now we're taking steps away from living in that world, but those aren't the last steps we're ever gonna take."
But it's frustrating now. Trump and Musk are destroying programs that are fighting TB, Malaria, HIV. Frankly, it's a good example of why I think conservatives suck, like in general. From nationalist "well they're not even American!" to dumb ass libertarian "they gotta help themselves" to it being a "anything liberals like is bad" or "well we can't fix EVERY problem" or just plain old "it's my money nyah nyah" .... whatever the "justification" we are allowing the amount of suffering to increase vs the pretty small change amount it would take to keep these programs going.
If our ancestors didn't feel fear, the whole species probably would have been trampled by mammoths a long time ago. But if they never examined their fears -- no delicious mammoth-burgers. And so, success lies in the tension between fear and discovery.
stressed these days. maybe pre-trip anxiety?
at least my time with my financial advisor went ok. still hanging tough despite stock wackiness, and years of being an ok worker bee and doing the whole 401k thing should put in an ok place
"The most daming claim in this statement IMO:
Within 15 minutes of DOGE accounts being created...
Attackers in Russia tried logging in using those new creds.
Correct usernames and passwords.
2 options here. The DOGE device was hacked. And I don't think I need to explain the 2nd."
Two years ago I used the prompt with diffusionBee, "a cat with black and white features and tentacles from a snake's body rising out of water in a photorealistic style"
I asked ChatGPT, using whatever DALL-E 3. I guess it's technically a lot better but damn the old one was so cool. I wonder when (or maybe already) we can ask modern image makers to look like the old weirdness.
I don't disagree that I'm often preoccupied with incredibly stupid shit, but frankly, cultivating the capacity to find joy in incredibly stupid shit has much to recommend it.
Lynette and I had a cool opportunity for a semi-subsidized trip to Disney in Florida... maybe Disney wouldn't be our first choice of cool destination, but hell, it's Disney!
Open Photo Gallery
Lynette has an affiliation with Thumper, so this cupcake topper became a holy wafer.Sunday was a pre-park day but we checked out Disney Springs - "Gideons" is kind of a chibi (cute) goth cookie place...We had a nice dinner at the Boathouse (Lynette loves her some local grouper) - we didn't try the amphicars they had there. (But we got a free t-shirt from the easter egg thing they were doing when we went to buy some of their grouper spice.)Dinner at the Edison.Aurora (Lynette's foreign exchange student from Italy) used the excuse to dress up a bit.
I enjoyed making "The Most Magical ____ on Earth" jokes.
Open Photo Gallery
Two Disney Cuties on the way to the Magic Kingdom.Good lord. The fascist version of the Stars and Stripes melding with the Mouse is just a bit too on point.Space Mountain, all time classic. Lynette noticed the stars weren't up for our first ride so we got to take another later.Paying homage......This is the ~1992 photo I was homaging... I made the mistake of mentioning to Mike that I thought he should be a bit less armpit forward in some earlier photo, so then we all had to lean into it.Always room for Bacon!Country bear jamboreeTuba spotting #1. Wearing a delayed birthday pin to try and get some freebies."offical" shot from Haunted Mansion.It's a Small World, After All.We did a lot of food tourism. Later Aurora found an ice cream named after her and got a free cone.Not an attraction, but damn, when it comes to birds looking for scraps an ibis is so much cooler than say pigeons.The castle!The castle at night!
Disney Hollywood Studios were pretty onpoint, and the "pretend you're there" Star Wars was really cool.
Open Photo Gallery
Stormtroopers didn't like my Kirk shirt.D'awwThe Muppet 3D Movie Feature is going away for some Monsters Inc stuff :-( Bummer. But I love how subversive the film was - there's a hella annoying 3D CGI and the subtext (basically text) prophecy annoying 3D CGI was going to wreck it all was about right.Loved seeing the guts of Robo-Lincoln in the museum,Robo-Lincoln control panel.Tuba Spotting #2, at the muppetsKermie + Lynette!AT-AT!Falcon!Gonk! (Lynette was impressed...well, maybe impressed wasn't the right word... in how in the movies and here I recognized the power droid Gonk)
Mech outside Avatar "Flight of Passage" ride.The Safari was really good... ...like you know the animals aren't ranging free but they are so cool to see."Tumbler Monkeys" at the Lion King show... amazing spectacle.The Lion King show was really good, between the acrobats and the giant puppets.Also the Marabou stork was hella huge and amzing at the bird show.But bird puppets are cute too.The puppetry of the Nemo show was also superb - loved how it retold the whole story.We got stuck at the top of the Expedition Everest ride...From the top you could see the Epcot Ball in the distance, and other Disney features.Lynette loves her some Gibbons.All Star Sports Hotel signage is cool (bad photo of it). Funny being in the cheapest option in the most expensive public places on earth...
1. EPCOT is kinda lagging. In general the rides don't have the Magic Kingdom nostalgia and have proportionately less of the new hotness, plus it's a feels like more walking with less shade than the other parks. (Disney Hollywood was my favorite of the parks - the Role Play-lite of Star Wars, especially on The Rise of the Resistance ride (which is a mindblower) was great.)
2. Lightning passes are totally worth it. If you're investing the time and biggish bucks to travel far anyway, Lightning isn't that much more on top, and 2-5 minutes instead of like 30-60 is a HUGE quality of life boost.
3. Similarly feel free to ask for the front of a ride if you want. It doesn't take that much chutzpah, no one seems annoyed, and often the view is that much better. (Some rides can't really accommodate, but if they can they just have you stand aside, skip one, and get the front of the next.)
4. If a ride has a glitch of any kind, feel free to complain to the Guest Experience people, they'll usually comp you a make good lightning pass.
5. "DisneyBounding" is that thing where Disney fans (who aren't allowed to really cosplay, I guess to prevent confusion) use colors and stuff to represent their favorite characters as they visit the park. Disney is leaning into this by making a big variety of character-theme Mickey Ear headbands. (This trend doesn't help alleviate the kind of cult like vibe Disney can carry, between the veneration of its founder and how it has churned out so many mythologies.)
6. There's a pretty good but somewhat clunky app for navigating the parks (and juggling lightning passes) - I was annoyed that when it's giving you walking directions, you can't pan or zoom to see the path ahead of your immediate next few turns.
7. There's also a "Play" app that gives you games to do, some location specific. I shied away them because I got confused by their multiplayer aspect; but now I'm guessing it's not people head down on their own phones, it's more like pass a single phone around and be social, which would be a much better vibe.
8. Lynette made sandwiches most days and we brought some other snacks, and it took me a minute to realize that it's not just frugality, it's also just nice to have a little something whenever you want, and things more normally nutritious than the other fair-food stuff we were still enjoying.
So like with the Hegseth being called on his blatant security protocol violations and being worried about "leakers" - this administration wants to do lots of vile stuff, but not let anyone hear about it...
Strong Songs (run by the tastefully named Kirk Hamilton) is a great podcast that does semi-deep dives into individual tunes (often he tries to reconstruct high fidelity covers by playing parts himself)
This episode is muppet songs and leading off with Sesame Street, a song my main band JP Honk covers... never noticed the tie-in with Mercy Mercy Mercy, another song we do.
I am really bummed about the "chewing gum is a wonderland of microplastics" news.
Posse Comitatus Act meant there's always been a bright line between military forces and civilian policing. It's how we stop us from living in a military state. This is another line Trump is looking to erase.
How Biz Profs Destroyed Free Markets - we will be beaten by China unless we get back to competitive markets, even if our capitalists don't actually like competition.
aha, letting you know why your stuff costs more is a "hostile and political act."
I used to almost hope that decrying "fake news" was a legitimate if biased call for facts and simple truth, but no, it is just 'want republicans want to pretend is true'
Trump: Why don't you just say yes, he does, and go on to something else?
LOLOLOL*SOB*
The video
