Entry points →

Published March 11, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 11

When I began trying to understand how a Slipbox would work for me, I think I was most stuck on the idea of entry points: Where and how would I find myself going “into” the Slipbox?

Turns out, I’m “in” the Slipbox a lot simply because I’m often adding things to it. So of course I run into other slips and ideas inside the Slipbox.

But I’ve had a lingering concern: What happens when I want to locate something in particular within the Slipbox?

All the instructions and guidance I see caution one to not try to structure the Slipbox from the beginning; cautions against trying to incept the perfect categorization of all the stuff you don’t yet realize you are going to want to add… They are correct; that way madness lies. And so I set off creating top-level slips.

But still that lingering concern: What happens when I want to locate something in particular within the Slipbox?

And so I’m stealing a trick from the even-older-than-Slipboxes/Zettelkastën methods of creating commonplace books: How to create an index on physical media (journals, blank books, or little paper cards going into a Slipbox!)

slip 4c is “Slipbox indices”
slip 4c1 is “people by last name”

Here I’m hacking the Slipbox addressing system. Yes, I’m leaving room for a later 4c2 that could be another index, by topic. But mostly, I’m making sure that the slips under 4c1 can then be letters— 4c1a, 4c1b, 4c1c and so on.

And here’s the hack from commonplace books: To Build an index that doesn’t get out of hand, take the first letter and the next letter which is a vowel.

Constantine > “co”
Washington > “wa”

Easy. But the following are not under “an” …

Anka > “aa”
Antisthenes > “ai”

And…

Armstrong > “ao”
Curie > “cu”
Einstein > “ei”
Epictetus > “ei”
Gracián > “ga”
Irvine > “ii”
Twain > “ta”

And so on.

If you’re wondering, that means there could be 26×6 slips in this index. (a-z gives 26 first characters, times a, e, i, o, u, y gives 6 second characters.) But in reality I’ve reached about 40 slips and I’ve not had to add another for a while now.

What’s on each slip? Just references to other slips in the Slipbox…

4c1wa has
Ward, William A — pj4.28
Wayne, John — 4a7
Ward, Bryan — 4b21
Washington, George — 4a19

It’s not sorted. It’s simply in the order I added those names. If the card overflows, I’ll add an identically addressed 4c1wa since the items on those two 4c1wa cards aren’t in any particular order.

What? Is it worth it? …yes. I’ve already gone in to add a person, only to discover they are already in the Slipbox somewhere completely different and that’s a connection I hadn’t noticed before…

BOOM! There’s the other part of the Slipbox I wondered about: How is this thing going to make new things fall out of my thinking.

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slip:1c1

André Miller: Systema, farming, and philosophy →

Published March 10, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 10  ·  

André Miller: Systema, farming, and philosophy

How can modern individuals reconnect with their environment and integrate practices like farming, movement, and philosophy into their lives for personal and societal benefit?

Farming is André Miller’s way of life, a way that connects him physically to the land that feeds him. He discusses his relationship with athletics and his introduction to Systema. André unpacks how he came to his personal philosophy, and how it led him on the path to farming. He shares his thoughts on modern farming, and recreating connection with the environment.

If you really want good produce, you got to get it direct. And after harping on people with that for a couple of years, I started realizing, I can’t just tell people to go to the farmers market, I have to be the farmers market. When I say you should be eating these greens, I have to be able to put those greens in that person’s hand right then and there, if I’m going to help the person.

~ André Miller (18:44)

Andre Miller is a movement based farmer, personal trainer, and the owner of Roots Movement Farm in Oregon. He has his Masters degree in Physiology, and Bachelors degrees in both Kinesiology and Philosophy. At Roots Movement Farm, Andre combines his knowledge of movement and philosophy to create a farm where movement and nutritional medicine work together.

The conversation explores the intersections between movement, farming, philosophy, and martial arts. Farming is framed as an essential act for environmental and personal health, blending practical and spiritual growth. It is presented as a pathway to reconnect with nature and reimagine sustainable practices.

Systema, a holistic martial art, is highlighted for its focus on relaxation, breath work, and peace, contrasting with competitive martial arts. Philosophy is woven into these discussions, illustrating its influence on the integration of farming and movement practices as a unified approach to life.

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Each existing only briefly →

Published March 10, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 10  ·  ,

Nature takes substance and makes a horse. Like a sculpture with wax. And then melts it down and uses the material for a tree. Then for a person. Then for something else. Each existing only briefly. It does the container no harm to be put together, and none to be taken apart.

~ Marcus Aurelius

slip:4a572.

I am not byslexic →

Published March 9, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 9  ·  

Left/right, port/starboard, red/green, … no problem!

However, I’ve discovered that—at the drop of a hat—my lowercase, printed b and d … for some reason, I have to really think about it. Ask me to lowercase-print brotherhood, bomb, dowry, down, dobson, diffidant … no problem. But when I try to write random strings of characters, like at the top of a slip going into the Slipbox—e.g., “4c1de”, that fourth character? I meant the other one.

I’m not trying to make light of dyslexia. Rather I’m simply pointing out that, once again!, fiddling with this Slipbox has taught me something that was hidden in plain sight.

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Surprising connections →

Published March 8, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 8

In these blog posts I’m trying to capture my initial experiences using a Slipbox. These posts are tedious to write and relatively long reads– just to capture one tiny idea. Sorry about that.

Why am I writing this post about the Slipbox?

When [if?] you start a Slipbox, you quickly wonder: Should I “import” everything [glancing about, books, Evernote, blogs… whatever it is you have]? Woa, that’d be a lot of work. It’s obviously not necessary that one “import” all your previous whatever-you-have in your life into a Slipbox; It’d be your Slipbox so there’s no “necessary.”

But there is some heated discussion about this: should one, or should one not, back import? The consensus is DON’T. The theory is that I have collected too much stuff. (That feeling of having collected much, but yet not accomplished what I want to with it, is part of what I’m trying to wrestle to the ground.) Putting anything into a physical Slipbox is a little more friction. And that’s one of the key points.

On the other hand, I have a curated collection of things here on my web site. And one dear-to-me tag is for specific podcast episodes I’ve heard over the years. That’s why I’ve been working through adding these particular podcasts to the Slipbox.

Today I found a podcast episode that I listened to in 2017. I was adding a slip about this podcast, noting that it is a wonderful introduction to Stoicism. I’m far beyond the contents of this podcast now, having done a lot of reading of original source, and modern analysis. But it’s something I wanted in the Slipbox, for the next time someone asks. (Elsewhere I pointed out that writing URLs is bonkers, so what I do is add a slip to the Slipbox and add a little symbol to remind myself there’s a corresponding blog post.)

So there I was adding that podcast, adding the person-reference (not explained here how/why I do that, sorry) …and OH SNAP! That podcast is with William Irvine. Back then, I had no idea who he is/was.

I’m currently reading a book by W B Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life. It’s an introduction to the ancient art of Stoic joy. (It’s an interesting book, etc but that’s not the point today.)

The point is that this connection was one I had missed. If I had had that podcast in my Slipbox, I would have noticed when I was first looking into this book.

Not sure all that typing is of any help. But there it is none the less. :)

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Express it →

Published March 7, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 7  ·  ,

The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.

~ Mortimer Adler

slip:4a387.

The best interviewer-on-interviewing options? →

Published March 6, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 6  ·  

The best “interviewer on interviewing” options that I’m aware of are when a really good interviewer is interviewed by someone else. Certainly not every time, but sometimes. Here’s one:

Cal Fussman — The Interview Master: Cal Fussman and the Power of Listening (#145)

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slip:4c2co3f3.

The one skill →

Published March 5, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 5  ·  

I owe a large debt to Leo Babauta of Zen Habits for the tremendous number of tremendously useful posts I’ve had the pleasure of noodling over. One way I try to pay back people who’ve been kind enough to create positive things sprinkled around the Internet is simply to point as many people as I can towards said things. If you’d like to try a large dose of—what I lovingly refer to as—Leo-zen, try his free ebook, The One Skill.

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slip:2oe3.

You have the option →

Published March 4, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 4  ·  

Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option:
– to accept this event with humility
– to treat this person as he should be treated
– to approach this thought with care, so that nothing irrational creeps in.

~ Marcus Aurelius

slip:4a533.

Going in dumb →

Published March 4, 2021  ·  All posts on Mar 4  ·  

In the episode with Ray Suarez, about 43 minutes in, they’re talking about the evergreen (for those of us into this stuff) topic of preparation. Should one be [prepared]? How much, or how little? And so on. There aren’t many things I listen to more than once; this is one.

Here’s a link to the area where Suarez starts discussing “going in dumb” versus going in prepared. If you’re really into conversation, you’ll need about 15 minutes as you probably won’t be able to press stop. In any case, nothing I write here is as important as what they’re discussing.

https://overcast.fm/+JU6XxrKbc/43:16

That’s a link to the Overcast podcast player’s web frontend. It will simply play from that time code right in your web browser. You can also try this link to the episode itself.)

Ray Suarez

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slip:4c2co3f2.