Scree

noun : an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff.

Status update July 2018

Published July 11, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 11  ·  

This entry is part 65 of 72 in the series My Journey

I’m not quite ready to publish scantily-clad selfies… so I left my socks on. I’ve a target weight in mind which corresponds to 20-year-old-me and a good photo from 1991.

Meanwhile…

This is the least I have weighed in 20 years. About 55 pounds (25kg!) lighter than 2008.

A visiting Finn mowed my lawn for me yesterday, and so I had time for one last run on this continent before I leave for a triple-stop Parkour trip in about twelve hours.

The graph is a little odd because I didn’t stop the tracking immediately, so there’s a huge bar for the last split (not shown.) It’s a lollipop route, so the 11-minute split is up the slight hill which I ran down at ~9-minute pace. The whole run came in about 9:33, which is right on the fastest I’ve ever run this. This time was much more uniform in pace than the last time I ran this.

Why do I post this stuff? Because whomever you are, whereever you are in your physical fitness (or complete lack thereof), you can simply do what I did: Start where you are.

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Dylan Johanson: Gym iterations, community, and self-advice

Published July 10, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 10  ·  

Dylan Johanson: Gym iterations, community, and self-advice

What motivates and sustains a practice that evolves personal fulfillment and builds community?

Dylan Johanson is the owner and founder of Innate Movement Parkour in Kingston, New York. A practitioner for many years, Dylan talks about his origin story and the challenges surrounding building and then re-building his gym. Then he shares some thoughts on what advice he would give his younger self.

Sometimes, I still need to remind myself to not accidentally slip onto the treadmill of traditional success.

~ Dylan Johanson (18:00)

The conversation explores Dylan Johansson’s journey into parkour, from discovering the practice to founding Innate Movement in Kingston, New York. Early topics include Dylan’s initial experiences with parkour, how it resonated with his love for movement, and his shift from solitary training to engaging with a larger community. He describes the transformative effect parkour had on his health, outlook, and life choices, emphasizing the physical and mental benefits it provided.

Later discussions focus on the process of building a parkour community, including the challenges of starting and sustaining a gym. Dylan recounts how he transitioned from hobbyist to professional coach, discussing incremental growth strategies, the importance of partnerships, and lessons learned from different gym setups. The conversation also reflects on broader themes, such as defining success on one’s terms and embracing the evolving nature of personal practice.

Takeaways

Parkour as a transformative discipline — A personal journey from unhealthy habits to a more fulfilled and balanced life.

Starting small and evolving gradually — The value of incremental steps in building a community and opening a gym.

Challenges of traditional success — Balancing personal joy and professional growth while resisting societal pressures.

The importance of a supportive network — How a partner and community can provide stability during transitions.

Parkour as a philosophy — Viewing parkour as a lens to guide life decisions and promote self-improvement.

Lessons from failure — How personal struggles and setbacks can serve as stepping stones for growth and learning.

Joy in movement — Emphasizing the playful and creative aspects of training for sustained passion and engagement.

Organizing principles for life — Using parkour to create a framework for healthier, more intentional choices.

Resources

Innate Movement — The parkour organization founded by Dylan Johansson.

PK Gen — A global organization promoting parkour education and certifications.

ADAPT Certification — A leading qualification program for parkour coaches.

Rich Roll Podcast — A podcast featuring topics on health, fitness, and personal transformation, mentioned as an inspiration in the discussion.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Relationships that don’t scale

Published July 6, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 6  ·  

These people are, effectively, hiding behind a wall. They are passing up more difficult work for the easy work — sharing or “liking” photos, retweeting, commenting on someone’s wall. These are activities which can serve a purpose, but they are poor substitutes for the real thing. It’s like saying Splenda is the same thing as sugar, tofu is the same thing as real meat, or Red Lobster is a good place for…a red lobster. It’s not the same thing. Not even close.

~ Brett McKay from, How to Build Meaningful Relationships | The Art of Manliness

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There is a fine line between using social media (and other technology conveniences) to increase the number of people I can keep up with. Dunbar’s Number is often pegged at about 100 or a bit more. I definitely agree that there’s a trade off between how many people I can maintain relationships with and the quality of each relationship. I find the hardest part is when a relationship gets asymetric — when the other person isn’t able to commit as much time — eventually it’s time for me to stop putting in the effort; Eventually it’s time for me to stop trying, and instead to let another person settle into the social space in my universe.

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Real-time chat

Published July 2, 2018  ·  All posts on Jul 2  ·  

I believe attention is one of your most precious resources. If something else controls my attention, that something else controls what I’m capable of. I also believe your full attention is required to do great work. So when something like a pile of group chats, and the expectations that come along with them, systematically steals that resource from me, I consider it a potential enemy. “Right now” is a resource worth conserving, not wasting.

~ Jason Fried from, «https://m.signalvnoise.com/is-group-chat-making-you-sweat-744659addf7d»

Certainly there are situations where real-time chat is the right tool. But I think real-time chat is the rare case.

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Advice on losing weight

Published June 26, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 26  ·  

Truth be told, if I really wanted to help people lose weight I would increase the price of Eat Stop Eat to 100 dollars per book. Far less people would buy it, but those who did would be invested heavily in making a change in their lives. They wouldn’t just read about fasting and weight training, they’d actually practice it.

~ Brad Pilon from, What Do You Do When A Friend Asks You For Advice On Losing Weight? – Brad Pilon’s ‘Eat Blog Eat’

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Call it wisdom– Call it Imposter Syndrome— whatever. The more I learn about health, the more I’m convinced I know nothing.

For me, the solution to my unhealth was to change my life. Not, “more exercise,” but “rediscover moving.” Not, “eat better,” but “listen honestly to my body.” Not, “lose weight.” — there’s no, “but…” on that last one; The weight loss just happens the more I change my life.

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What is health?

Published June 25, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 25  ·  

But as the saying goes, the darkest hour is just before dawn. At some point during this “dark night of the soul,” I realized that the depression and despair I was feeling was the direct result of comparing my actual experience with an idea of what I thought my experience should be. I saw that I was striving for an ideal of health that was—at least at that point—unattainable, and that this was the cause of most of my suffering.

~ Chris Kresser from, What is Health? | Chris Kresser

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This idea is right at the heart of my experience of the last few years.

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Tulip subsidies

Published June 22, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 22  ·  

But the solution isn’t universal tulip subsidies. Higher education is in a bubble much like the old tulip bubble. In the past forty years, the price of college has dectupled (quadrupled when adjusting for inflation). It used to be easy to pay for college with a summer job; now it is impossible. At the same time, the unemployment rate of people without college degrees is twice that of people who have them. Things are clearly very bad and Senator Sanders is right to be concerned.

~ Scott Alexander from, Against Tulip Subsidies | Slate Star Codex

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Don’t be distracted by the Sanders reference. This article stands just fine three years later.

It raises what I think is a really good idea: What if employers were NOT allowed to ask about post-primary education degrees? So just as an employer cannot judge you based on your skin color, they could not judge you based on some letters and a school name. INSTEAD, they would have to judge you based on your ability. Suddenly, the only value in those letters and the school name [to the potential student] would be the TRUE VALUE AND QUALITY of the education. At the same time, anyone who can match that quality of skill/knowledge — regardless where they got it — would be equally considered.

Make. This. Happen.

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On depression

Published June 21, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 21  ·  

Unfortunately, the “chemical imbalance” theory continues to be the dominant paradigm for understanding depression nearly 30 years after this profound discovery, despite the weak correlation between serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine and depressive symptoms.

~ Chris Kresser from, Is Depression a Disease or a Symptom of Inflammation? | Chris Kresser

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I’m sure I have nothing useful to add on the topic of Depression– being not a doctor, psychologist, etc.

But I can raise my voice because I believe I understand the personal experience of depression. It sucks. Talk to someone.

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Adulting

Published June 20, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 20  ·  

One of the most unfortunate tendencies of an adolescent culture is the impulse to fit everything into black and white narratives. Narratives themselves aren’t the issue; in fact, psychologists say that being able to view your life as a story is a key component to mental health and happiness. And as we’ll come to see, being able to imagine yourself as an actor in that story – a kind of hero’s journey – is one of the most important ways of achieving an awesome adulthood. No, it’s not narratives per se that are problematic, but ones that are overly simplistic and one-dimensional.

~ Brett McKay from, Life Advice From Winston Churchill | The Art of Manliness

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The entire piece is good, and it goes in a certain direction: It’s attempting to provide guidance and direction to young men as they transition (or try to transition… or try to NOT transition…) from childhood to adulthood.

The take-away for me was a meta-lesson that applies from the adult point of view: I should not judge young men-to-be by my adult standards. Adolescents who are trying to create their story– trying to navigate their journey– are going to do things and act certain ways. That’s not a problem, nor is anything wrong. It’s part of a natural and normal story arc. The question and judgement from me should be, can I help? Can I be of guidance? Can I at least be an example, either through my level of adulting, or through my overt efforts at reaching higher levels of adulting?

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Juneteenth

Published June 19, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 19  ·  

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION:

By the President of the United States of America:

A PROCLAMATION

Whereas on the 22nd day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation
was issued by the President of the United States, containing,
among other things, the following, to wit:

“That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as
slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall
be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive
government of the United States, including the military and naval
authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such
persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any
of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

“That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid,
by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any,
in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State
or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith
represented in the Congress of the United States by members
chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified
voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the
absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive
evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then
in rebellion against the United States.”

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-In-Chief
of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed
rebellion against the authority and government of the United States,
and as a fit and necessary war measure for supressing said
rebellion, do, on this 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, and in
accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the
full period of one hundred days from the first day above mentioned,
order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the
people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against
the United States the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard,
Palquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension,
Assumption, Terrebone, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans,
including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the
forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Morthhampton, Elizabeth City, York,
Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left
precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said
designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall
be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States,
including the military and naval authorities thereof, will
recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to
abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and
I recommend to them that, in all case when allowed, they labor
faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons of
suitable condition will be received into the armed service of
the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and
other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor
of Almighty God.

~ Abraham Lincoln from, Juneteenth – Wikipedia

Solar minimum #24

Published June 16, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 16

Fun fact: a similar dearth of sunspots was documented during the 1645-1715 period referred to as the Maunder Minimum. During this time, crops failed and the Thames River in London froze, making “frost fairs” along its frozen shores possible. Ironically, the Maunder Minimum also began just a few decades after the dawn of the age of telescopic astronomy. During this time, the idea of “spots on the Sun” was regulated to a controversial, and almost mythical status in mainstream astronomy.

~ Fraser Cain from, Are We Headed Towards Another Deep Solar Minimum? – Universe Today

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Does anyone else know the meme of the sound of a needle being pulled off of a record? …that “low screeching tearing rrrr r r r r rRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRIP sound”?

Yeah, that’s what my brain did when I realized there was a modern era Dr Who episode about them investigating a mystery during a frost fair ON the frozen Thames.

Wait, that was actually a thing…

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Violins are meant to sing. Literally sing.

Published June 13, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 13

Another finding suggests that Geminiani was onto something. All of the violins included in the study displayed some sonic overlap with the sung vowels. But in the 1570 Amati and the 1560 da Salo, “every violin note appears to carry some degree of human vowel character,” Tai et. al. write in the paper. “This may have been one of the … goals implemented by Amati” when he was inventing and perfecting his design: to make the violin literally sing.

~ Cara Giaimo from, The World’s Best Violins Sing Like Humans – Atlas Obscura

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I don’t know why this struck me as amazing. I mean, sure, violins sound amazing, and playing them is subtly difficult. But the idea that someone sat down — in the 1500 — and said, “How do I make an instrument that sounds like a human voice singing.” Mind blown.

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That royal road to the physical and mental derangement of mankind

Published June 11, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 11  ·  

And here I would like to add a word of warning to those I am trying to help, for a study of the letters in which the writers tell of experiencing difficulty in understanding, show signs of having been written after a quick reading rather than a close and careful study of the subject matter. I read recently an article suggesting that people should practise reading quickly, although the habit of too quick reading in which understanding becomes dominated by speed — that royal road to the physical and mental derangement of mankind — is an only too common failing today. This is only one example of the habit of too quick reaction to stimuli in general, and to its prevalence may be traced most of the misunderstandings, misconception and misdirecrion of effort manifested by the great majority of people today in conducting matters relating to the body politic.

~ F Matthias Alexander, in the 1941 preface to new edition of “The Use of the Self”, The Use of the Self by F.M. Alexander

There is nothing new under the sun.

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We need to remake the Internet

Published June 8, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 8  ·  

I don’t believe our species can survive unless we fix this. We cannot have a society, in which, if two people wish to communicate, the only way that can happen is if it’s financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them.

~ Jaron Lanier from, How we need to remake the internet

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Hear! Hear!

Take control of your use of the Internet — that is to say: Do not let it control you. Choose what apps, sites, etc you use. WHENEVER YOU CAN, PAY FOR SERVICES AND APPS. If something is free, then realize that YOU are product being sold to whomever is paying for the service.

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Sleep smarter

Published June 6, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 6  ·  

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has now classified overnight shift work as a Group 2A carcinogen. This means that staying up late repeatedly, and working overnight, is a strong enough cancer-causing agent to be lumped in with lead exposure and UVA radiation. That might sound crazy, but there s now a ton of scientific data showing exactly how this happens.

~ Shawn Stevenson, pg 43 of Sleep Smarter

Shift work that involves circadian disruption? Carcinogen.

A while back I wrote a piece on Sleep. It turned into three parts and after writing it, I felt I had only scratched the surface. Then I stumbled over this book.

I read the book and it’s really good! I blasted through it agreeing all the way. If you know everything about sleep, you’ll still enjoy seeing it all laid out in an approachable fashion. If you have NOT YET MASTERED SLEEP — wait, what is wrong with you?! Sleep is the single most important thing in your life. It is the activity you spend the most aggregated time doing. Remind me why you have not spent time studying sleep and improving yours?

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Is the world getting better or worse?

Published June 3, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 3  ·  

We will never have a perfect world, and it would be dangerous to seek one. But there’s no limit to the betterments we can obtain if we continue to apply knowledge to enhance human flourishing.

~ Steven Pinker from, Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers

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I feel constantly pushed to take on a myopic and biased view that the sky is falling, that this moment right now it the last chance to avoid catastrophe, that the human race has never been closer to the brink of– blah, blah, blah.

I choose to celebrate progress. I choose to shine light on the people who are making a difference. I choose to point out the positives. I choose to engage with only a tiny few of the myriad of complex issues the world faces because that’s the scale where I can make a difference. That’s the scale where each person makes a difference: Individual reasoned thinking, enlightened discourse, and responsible action.

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Men without chests

Published June 1, 2018  ·  All posts on Jun 1  ·  

If one believes in objective order and value, then the failure to feel the proper sentiment in the face of a particular stimulus cannot be justified on the basis of mere personal preference, casually categorized under the rubric of “to each their own”; rather, it must be frankly countenanced as a deficiency in one’s human make-up. As Lewis confesses, “I myself do not enjoy the society of small children: because I speak from within the Tao I recognize this as a defect in myself — just as a man may have to recognize that he is tone deaf or colour blind.”

~ Brett McKay from, Men Without Chests

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…from C.S. Lewis‘s, 1934 The Abolition of Man.

The more I read, the more I find I want to explore and continue learning.

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Time management

Published May 29, 2018  ·  All posts on May 29  ·  

The caveat is that this quadrant can be mistaken as something that shouldn’t be part of life, but that is not true. It is really important to have a balanced life between work and your personal life. You need downtime to not get burnt out and that is where quadrant four comes into the picture. The challenge is you allocate most of your time to quadrant two, with just enough of time spent in quadrant four to get by.

~ Thanh Pham, from How To Prioritize Todo Lists With A Sheet of Paper

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I disagree.

Everything in the UN-important half (the lower half in the diagrams) of the quadrant is the Bad Lands to be avoided. There’s no such thing as “work life balance.” I spent decades trying to fiddle with that balance. There is only life. I strive to do only important things. I strive to only do NON-urgent things by paying attention to what I should be doing. I strive for a wide variety of activities which are all necessary, important and not urgent. One might even say: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

I have control over only two things: My thoughts and my actions.

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Jesse Danger: Systems thinking, game design, and novelty

Published May 27, 2018  ·  All posts on May 27  ·  

Jesse Danger: Systems thinking, game design, and novelty

What principles can we learn from integrating movement, play, and systems thinking to foster personal growth and collaborative learning?

Jesse Danger takes time out from teaching parkour to share thoughtful insights on topics such as systems thinking through game design, the role of novelty, and how to work with a group toward a single focus while still honoring the individual. Along the way we also discuss life lessons learned through playing chess.

Nothing will ever be the same as it was. Things are constantly changing. So everything is novel all the time.

~ Jesse Danger (14:00)

The conversation centers on Jesse Danger’s journey from being a parkour practitioner to a facilitator and educator. Topics include his personal experiments with consistency in training, the philosophy behind his organization, and how business serves as a tool for sharing his vision. Jesse highlights the transformative power of systems thinking, particularly through game design, as a method for teaching life skills and movement principles.

Jesse and Craig also discuss the role of novelty in personal and group development, emphasizing how new experiences can level the playing field and foster deeper connections. The conversation touches on broader themes like balancing individual needs with group goals, overcoming the constraints of competition and authority, and cultivating an integrated, holistic approach to learning and living.

Takeaways

The transition from practitioner to facilitator — Jesse reflects on how his consistent personal training evolved into a broader leadership role in the parkour community.

The Movement Creative’s philosophy — A focus on creating a business that aligns with personal values rather than conventional success metrics.

Systems thinking through game design — Teaching movement and life skills through intentional, co-created games that adapt to participants’ goals.

The importance of novelty — Novel experiences can equalize skill levels, spark creativity, and deepen interpersonal connections.

Balancing individual and group needs — Strategies for fostering collaboration without alienating individual autonomy.

Unpacking competition and authority — How overcoming personal challenges with competition and authority shaped Jesse’s teaching philosophy.

The role of play in growth — Play as a tool for exploration, skill-building, and connection.

Life lessons from chess — The shift from finite to infinite games and their impact on personal growth and perspective.

The tribe’s responsibility — Supporting individuals’ unique needs while fostering collective growth.

Resilience, adaptability, and delusion — Key principles in Jesse’s personal and professional practice.

Resources

The Movement Creative — Jesse’s organization focused on movement and education.

Quest to Learn — A school where Jesse first explored systems thinking through teaching parkour.

Institute of Play — An organization partnering with Quest to Learn to implement game-based learning strategies.

Brendon Trombley — A game designer who collaborated with Jesse to design educational games.

Minecraft — A platform used creatively by Brendon to teach biology concepts through interactive simulations.

Rafe Kelley — Referenced for insights on play and movement.

CrossFit — Mentioned as a comparison for physical training methodologies.

International Gathering — A community event showcasing parkour practices.

Fight Club (1999) — Referenced metaphorically for its concept of transient connections.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Supply-and-demand is a model

Published May 26, 2018  ·  All posts on May 26  ·  

The reason for the strange behavior of energy prices near limits is because the system is very interconnected. It is a self-organized system that gradually changes over time. New customers are added over time. These customers are often also wage-earners. They decide what to buy based on their own wages, and based on other considerations, such as the prices of competing products and whether inexpensive financing is available.

~ Gail Tverberg from, How the Economy Works as It Reaches Energy Limits — An Introduction for Actuaries and Others

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Supply-and-demand is a model. There’s nothing wrong with the model. Does the model still fit reality as we approach the limits of how much energy our economy can consume? (tl;dr: it does not.)

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