Assisting with a food-drive fundraiser to start, and inviting friends to community events they otherwise wouldn’t attend for now. There’s an aspect to it that’s a little more fulfilling than just hanging out with friends.

Remembered this one’s login. Don’t want to reactivate the other.

Brain’s pretty mush from the last couple years. Never found the exact post through on and off searches, but reminded more of late an article flagamuffin shared where an academic burned out so bad they needed to re-learn the alphabet. Not quite even close to that, yet currently (re-?)learning how enriching one’s life once outside of academia is imperative to not fossilize or worse. With that, shout out to book threads on here. Discovered a particular love of the “first-contact” Sci-Fi sub-genre last year while picking through what seemed of interest in those threads, thanks to everyone.

Diving into volunteering in a familiar community also helps. Started as much before lock-down, but the pandemic took a couple years, then a few years after that finding the current location I happen to still be in may not be a bad home-base for the foreseeable future. At least, climate change and community-wise.

Had a dream of joining the Fed if things went the other way to assist in making the world a little more manageable as extreme weather gets more extreme. Hell, it was the first time I had cash I could contribute to the cause. Even convinced others to contribute for the first time or more than they had prior. Have some misgivings about how November played out, but there’s been more than enough said on that particular detail… and more to be said, no doubt.

Picked up Masha Gessen’s “The Future is History” after November 6th alongside Jon Grinspan’s “The Age of Acrimony”. Taking my time with both (as February is around the corner). Finding parallels in each frightening and amusing, respectively.

Finding myself think about the following a bit.

Forgot how to log out of Hubski for a minute. Can't find it on here either, but turns out I passed the 1000 day mark. Woot!

But though we believe ourselves to be seeking happiness in marriage, it isn’t that simple. What we really seek is familiarity — which may well complicate any plans we might have had for happiness. We are looking to recreate, within our adult relationships, the feelings we knew so well in childhood. The love most of us will have tasted early on was often confused with other, more destructive dynamics: feelings of wanting to help an adult who was out of control, of being deprived of a parent’s warmth or scared of his anger, of not feeling secure enough to communicate our wishes.

Reminds me of a therapy model called Imago....

he person who is best suited to us is not the person who shares our every taste (he or she doesn’t exist), but the person who can negotiate differences in taste intelligently — the person who is good at disagreement. Rather than some notional idea of perfect complementarity, it is the capacity to tolerate differences with generosity that is the true marker of the “not overly wrong” person. Compatibility is an achievement of love; it must not be its precondition.

I can't help but think of what I've heard from older family members who are still together voicing similar ideas. As for the huge spin on pessimism, welp. That's just a mood-killer.

For what it's worth, I can get behind the idea that romanticism is backwards in contemporary views, I guess.

| "I'm going from pianissimo to fortissimo in three measures and make it seamless"

Written so casually, ha!

You're very welcome! :)

Well hot damn. To an uncultured ear, that was phenomenal. I've heard the piece enough to know there are bits here and there, but I'll leave real advice to any pros that stop by.

With regard to overtrained hands:

- Take longer breaks in between performing and/or reduce the amount you do when performing (which doesn't seem to make sense in this case).

- Temperature contrast therapy: the technical way of saying ice baths (for your hands), keeping them in warm or hot water, etc. etc.

- Massage them, DIY or a professional.

- Make sure you have some food to keep you fueled while performing.

I'll say. I haven't had your experience in particular, but the first thing that came to my mind was sleep paralysis - which is mentioned in bfv's link above. From the bit I'm looking at, they seem to be one and the same, if not similar.

Never want to experience that again. Scared the living balls outta me thinking I was going to die. My experience was seeing lightning and (felt like) I was experiencing lockjaw from/while being electrocuted everytime I tried to breathe. Again, not anything I ever hope to experience again.

EDIT: While I can't seem to find where my experience would fit in to the Jungian mold, shadow definitely is on the list and an interesting read.

The analogies were with regard to ease of use with proximity to the user. It's not about the detail, it's not about the exact direction. It's mere orientation for daily use designed to be as inherent as smell. It's simple and alternative. It's not meant to be the end-all-be-all of navigation.

Is it high cost? Of course it is, it's a small pioneering device.

Is it highly practical? Depends who you talk to. In the "First World," probably not.

On the other hand, its implications with regard to cohesion with the brain is the interesting part. It serves as another consistent point of data for encoding interactions around you.

I have always been fascinated by man's use of material culture to extend its bodily [in]capabilities - especially so in our day and age. Using electronics to engineer/further our own evolution per se is how I'd like to envision our short circuiting of our biological evolution. Yes, I know that's not actually possible, but in a sense of what path it'll take us down instead. This looks like a phenomenally simple yet potentially life altering device in the most minute of ways. With so many trinkets out on the market, I'd be surprised to see it flourish, but it's sure as hell something I'd love to try on.

If you liked this, I'd highly suggest:

1. Taking a listen at this episode of NPR's Podcast Invisiblia where they interview the creator of Google Glass. They don't interview him for Google Glass, mind you, but for the device it was inspired from: a computer he created that's been attached to him since high school.

2. Watching Season 1 Episode 3 of Black Mirror. I know it's on Netflix, or you could probably find it on the web somewhere. Black Mirror is described as Twilight Zone-esque in the way it explores Sci-Fi/Futuristic possibilities. The whole series has great commentary on technology, its effects on us and what its capabilities are. This episode in particular focuses on a not-to-distant-future where you can get an implant which records everything you see and hear, and the device allows you to play these recordings back. In short, allows you to remember everything. In some ways I'd like to think it is a part of the commentary on whether Sci-Fi shapes our own modern day tech or vice versa. I'd like to argue to the former. :)

EDIT: 3. A bit more meta or tangential depending on the perspective, the book "The Medium is the Massage" by Marshall McLuhan. Critically Acclaimed.

To put it in context:

What is orientating yourself using the sun's position to a compass?

What is a compass to a GPS in your phone?

What is a GPS in your phone to an integrated sense on your very own self?

Seconded! Throwing in Orlando to the list to!

I was just thinking of bacon-wrapped dates before this. Adding this to my small list of bacon-wrapped treats to make.

So used to seeing his shorts and opens that I never saw the full cut.

Reminds me of Sims City or Roller Coaster Tycoon!

Furthermore, if that's a belief of anyone's, then the internet can just as easily serve as a positive feedback loop rather than a tool to uncover and/or debunk conspiracy theories.