Big Talk

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I found this post, by Steve Randy Waldman, to be interesting:

https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/09/17/abundance-is-overcapacity/index.html 

Specifically, it introduced me to a phrase, "capital discipline", that I was not really aware of.

My favorite explanation for why his party lost the election comes from an old Indian politician: "When the body has had too much sweet, it craves for pickle."

For reasons I don't really understand, we currently have a politics filled with salty tears, and the bitter tang of half-remembered sins.

https://honoriaplum.wordpress.com/2016/10/02/i-have-dyspepsia/

But we have it in our power to choose a better politics, a politics with more solidarity and more joy, a politics with fewer spoilt brats, and more ballpark brats. Let's get to it.

Every so often I feel the need to read one of my favorite posts, by William Kaminsky, on listening to Johnny Cash sing Beat the Devil, a song written by Kris Kristofferson:

https://williamkaminsky.wordpress.com/2004/10/04/i-aint-sayin-i-beat-the-devil-but-i-drank-his-beer-for-nothing-then-i-stole-his-song/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3JTDo4Kzp0

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Little Talk

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How Much Sleeping In Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

If you feel the need to sleep in, sleep in one or two days a week:

1. Sunday

2. A day-er to be named later (DTBNL)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_to_be_named_later

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Next post: July 29, 2025

Big Talk

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https://jabberwocking.com/health-update-100/ 

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I am afraid my opinion is that the Democrats should say things they think are true, and do things they think are important. Things that I think are true / important:

1. An ethic of solidarity

2. An ethic of joy

3. An ethic of excellence

4. An ethic of moral and material progress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHDwRECFL8M

I believe one of the lasting legacies of the Harris-Walz campaign will be its emphasis on the importance of joy. I also believe that one of the lasting legacies of the Corbyn campaign will be its emphasis on the importance of allotments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening)

With the caveat that there are any number of good slogans, one slogan I believe in is "jobs, joy & justice". We should reject the stuffed-shirt mindset that we need to give up on justice, the hair-shirt mindset that we need to give up on joy, and the lose-your-shirt mindset that we need to give up on jobs.

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Little Talk

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How Much Tabloid Reading / Web-Surfing Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

2-4 quick peeks, 1-2 slow pokes.

quick peek: 5-15 minutes or 15-25 minutes

slow poke: 15-25 minutes or 30-50 minutes

1. 9:30 pm - 9:30 am: no restrictions

Probably not the best idea to check the tabloids first thing in the morning. But they who can log off, let them cast the first stone.

2. 9:30 am - 1:30 pm: quick peek or slow poke

3. 1:30 pm - 5:30 pm: quick peek or slow poke

4. 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm: quick peek or slow poke

5. 9:30 pm - 9:30 am: no restrictions

Probably not the best idea to check the tabloids last thing at night. But they who can log off, let them cast the first stone.

The time restrictions are not a hard limit, perhaps more of a soft budget constraint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_constraint#Soft_budget_constraint

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How Much Broadsheet Reading / Web-Surfing Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

Not sure!

1. Reading or skimming the paper (or the web) while eating or drinking seems to me a pretty good pattern

2. An occasional close read of a newspaper or magazine (or the web), taking notes and making clippings, also seems to me a pretty good pattern.

Open questions:

1. "An occasional close read". How occasional?

2. How much time to spend reading or skimming the paper, when not eating or drinking?

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Next post: June 29, 2025

Big Talk

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One comment on "distraction":

When a troll is taunting you, and miming the igniting of a match in a sensuous, suggestive manner, paying attention to the troll is a arguably a distraction from more productive activities.

But when the troll has graduated from threatening damage, to doing damage, dealing with the damage is not a distraction!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081573/quotes/?item=qt0335467

Some of the actions of the groypers in government seem to me to be fundamentally acts of vandalism. And one appropriate response to vandalism seems to me to be cleaning, maintenance, repair and reconstruction.

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Little Talk

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How Much Web-Surfing Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

2-4 quick peeks, 1-2 slow pokes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEEK_and_POKE

"Slow poke" seemed to me too precious a phrase. Now, it seems to me acceptably precious.

1. A pretty quick, pretty unhurried look at the web towards the beginning of the day (phone, then laptop)

2. Quick peeks at the web throughout the day (phone or laptop)

3. An unhurried look at the web at some point during the day or night (laptop, then phone)

https://www.thewoodeneffect.com/be-quick-but-dont-hurry/

Perhaps a pattern of web-surfing:

1. a pretty quick, pretty unhurried look at the phone after waking up

2. 5-15 minutes of audio after checking the phone

3. 15-25 minutes checking the laptop after turning it on

4. quick peeks at the phone or laptop throughout the day

5. an unhurried look at the laptop at some point during the day or night

6. an unhurried look at the phone at some point before falling asleep

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How Much Waking Up Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

 

1. wake up

2. stare out the window a bit

3. un-tether the phone, and check whether the sky has fallen

4. set a timer for 10 minutes

5. stare out the window some more

6. get up, stand up, people get ready

7. ???

8. profit!

I decided on a timer of 10 minutes, because I wanted enough time to play a long single / short EP. And the longest single I could think of was the REM "Time After Time Etc. (Live)" one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzljwtEt3k

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How Many Times Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

pre-dawn, morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night

My personal definitions:

pre-dawn: 3:30 - 7:30

morning: 5:30 - 11:30

midday: 11:30 - 1:30

afternoon: 1:30 - 5:30

evening: 5:30 - 11:30

night: 11:30 - 5:30

Not sure why midday seems necessary to me, but midnight doesn't.

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Next post: May 29, 2025

Big Talk

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What I am looking for from politicians and political figures at this time:

1. Politicians willing to reach out

2. Politicians unwilling to bend the knee

3. Politicians unwilling to stand idly by when people and communities are being targeted and attacked

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/why-i-write/ 

I happened to know, what very few people in England had been allowed to know, that innocent men were being falsely accused. If I had not been angry about that I should never have written the book.

JB Pritzker seems to me to be providing political leadership at this time:

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/state/2024/11/08/pritzker-warns-trump-you-come-for-my-people-you-come-through-me/76119550007/

 “To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people, you come through me.”

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Little Talk

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How Much Dull Routine Of Existence Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

0. waking up

1. early morning session

2. morning session

3. afternoon session

4. evening session

5. night session

6. late night session

7. winding down

8. falling asleep

All sessions are optional, of course, and the early and late sessions are perhaps especially optional.

in terms of labels (maybe):

early morning session: before breakfast

morning session: between breakfast and lunch

afternoon session: between lunch and tea

evening session: between tea and dinner

night session: after dinner

late night session: after nightfall; before and after midnight

in terms of times (maybe):

early morning session: 7:30 - 10:30

morning session: 10:30 - 1:30

afternoon session: 1:30 - 4:30

evening session: 4:30 - 7:30

night session: 7:30 - 10:30

late night session: 10:30 - 1:30

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Next post: April 29, 2025