One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.
~ James Russell Lowell
Elsewhere, this is 4a1578. — slipbox
Experience versus warning →
Incompatible things →
Most of our stuck comes form wanting incompatible things at the same time. We want to be at peace with our choices while also wishing we’d chosen differently. We want to accept our mortality while also living as if we’re exempt from it. We want to matter while also wanting the relief of insignificance.
~ Seth Godin
Elsewhere, this is 4a1577. — slipbox
You had me at purple →
Random changes! One of the benefits of having a life partner who is a plant maniac is that you randomly find plants and flowers change. Botanists will assure us that plants are sessile…
Wait, what?! Sessility in animals means they cannot move, but in plants it means something else entirely.
I came here to share a photo and talk about purple, and realized I’ve been misusing a word.
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When distraction is the correct choice →
This morning I’m finally writing this little post about two new-to-me bullets that I’ve been using, which are not yet described in my book Hand-Write. Think Better.. I call them the detour and return bullets.
A detour is bulleted as a tilde ~ (visually, a wandering path). Above is some line about something I was doing or thinking. On the next line is a ~ with something different that I’m actually doing or thinking.
A return to something earlier is bulleted as a capital J with a circumflex — the little hat over it. A J-turn, if you like. Visually, a turn from this line up towards something I wrote earlier.
I can write about one thing, ~ wander to another, even ~ wander further, and still easily J-turn back at any moment. There’s a freedom in not attempting to capture a lot of structure, while letting my thoughts flow.
Because distractions appear in my mind continually:
Should I include a photo of these bullets?
Should I figure out how to type them?
…in what font?
…what font does my blog use?
This distraction starts with a dive into figuring out if I can type a J with a circumflex accent. Such a character exists — it’s an Esperanto letter — but no English layout will let me type it directly. The character even has circumflex-accented siblings, none of which can I type here, in English input.
This is the wrong type of distraction. I actually went on that side quest and I’ve learned something new about Esperanto and characters. This is how knowledge piles up, one small learning at a time. But with these new minutiae, I’m not building towards any larger accomplishment. Fonts and characters are interesting, but a J with a circumflex isn’t generally useful.
This prompt from my blogging tool is confusing.
Why doesn’t it show me breadcrumbs in the prompt?
Why didn’t I make a command to repeat the post analysis?
This distraction starts with waking the Claude cogitant responsible for my various personal tools and explaining — with a screenshot — the tool behavior I want. Next I answer its questions, and while I’m in here, add another screenshot and another change request. And then a third change. And a fourth.
This is probably the right type of distraction. This is tooling I use frequently. If it confuses or frustrates me, it’s a worthwhile opportunity to make it easier for me to write.
Probably.
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All is ephemeral →
Simply a photo of a pretty flower.
I find it interesting that in the time since I snapped it, the vine has already died back and been pruned by the gardener. Today, there’s just an empty iron trellis there.
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We’ll just put a building over it later →
I simply like the way this looks. *snaps photo*
I was standing there imagining the original architects trying to figure out how big to make the museum. I’m sure the size of the grounds, budget, and probably even an existing collection that would go in the museum were all considered. The result of all that discussion was this classically American experience of a museum from that era.
I’m sure that at no point did anyone on the architecture team say: This size is good. If they need more room in one hundred years, they’ll just put a larger building over it and expand.
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Thanks, Apple! →
Thanks, Apple. But I’m sure this isn’t what you intended.
My new iPhone keeps its display on. Always.
True, there are some situations where it’s smart enough to make the screen be completely off. Or maybe it’s just completely black. I’m not sure how these screens work now.
I bet Apple thinks always-on is a great feature. Because, now you can instantly see the time and notifications etc. and it’s all configurable! (You should read that in breathless, marketing-hype voice.)
Instead, what it actually does is remind me constantly that this thing is awake and eagerly awaiting its next opportunity to seize and monopolize my attention. It’s made it even more clear that this thing is hungry for the next opportunity to manipulate me. It sits perfectly still trying to look like calm technology, when in fact it’s a sleeping dragon ready to pounce.
Thanks, Apple, for letting a little wisp of smoke drift out of its nostrils.
…so that I never forget what it really is.
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My Soul Portrait →
Nothing in the portrait matches exactly what I think of as myself, yet somehow everything about it is exactly right.
Fox, I’m sorry that this took me so long to post!!
Months ago, I was contacted out of the blue by someone who asked to have a recorded conversation for something they called a soul portrait. Being a podcasting nerd, I interpreted their request to be about recording a podcast and I’m always up for a good podcast conversation, particularly when I can be the guest (because then I don’t even have to do any of the hard work.)
We had a fun, single-serving-sized conversation over Zoom where I answered a few questions… and then some time passed before Fox emailed me back.
I’ve looked at that soul portrait countless times, and every time it makes me smile, and brightens my day. My line at the top is what I wrote to Fox when I saw it. So many details came out subtly right… I didn’t wear glasses as a kid, but I do now; past me seeing future me. Dogs; you had me at “dogs.” Green, the tentacles, that crazy hair… all little details that came out from our conversation.
Thanks again, Fox
@soulportraitmuseum on Instagram
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One year of Field Notes →
This morning, reviewing my previous years’ journal entries I was surprised to see that my project to write Field Notes from my many podcast conversations (for Open + Curious, Movers Mindset, and Podtalk) is actually just one year old. It seems to me it’s been much longer than that.
Since day one, I’ve worked to improve the team of about a dozen separate LLMs — what I call cogitant personas — to create increasingly better writing.
Why?
Because I want to read these field notes. They are endlessly interesting to me as a way to look back across my conversations. They continuously find interesting moments I’d otherwise never get to revisit.
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Just a flower →
Sometimes great macro shots are found even at Home Depot.
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