On this day

January 9th

What’s your best self-introduction?

January 9

Introductions are not hard— …we’re just not prepared.

Whenever I’m on a podcast, I dread one inevitable question: “I know who you are, but tell everyone listening who you are!”

This is a moment when I feel painfully insecure, first-day-of-sixth-grade only-kid-with-braces level.

The things I like about myself don’t matter in this scenario; my task is to answer, essentially, “What is interesting, valuable, or remarkable about me to strangers?”

~ Mari Andrew, from It doesn’t have to make sense

slip:4usupi4.

This is doubly related to people around here. Mari goes on to talk about David Nebinski and it’s worth a read.

But also, just yesterday I was in a little session presented by Andrea Wojnicki where she gave (among much more) a tidy little framework for introducing yourself. She pointed out that her framework is a place to begin. Once you get comfy introducing yourself you can expand and modify and do what you like.

So, what’s your current self-introduction?

…then read Andrea’s ideas, and then what’s your new, better self-introduction?

ɕ

PS: Technically, it’s triply related since that’s a photo of some of Steve Heatherington‘s alpacas ;)

Ruh-roh… that’s me

January 9, 2023

The ways in which we are all susceptible to drowning ourselves into drama, and what it takes to float free, is what Iris Murdoch (July 15, 1919–February 8, 1999) explores in her subtle, splendid 1978 novel The Sea, the Sea — the story of a talented but complacent playwright approaching the overlook of life, who is ultimately overcome by his tragic flaw: Despite his obsessive self-reflection (or perhaps precisely because of it), his egotism ultimately eclipses his creative spirit — that brightest and most generous part of us, the part rightly called our gift, the part that extends the outstretched hand of sympathy and wonder we call art and invites, in Iris Murdoch’s lovely phrase, “an occasion for unselfing.”

~ Maria Popova from Iris Murdoch on the Myth of Closure and the Beautiful, Maddening Blind Spots of Our Self-Knowledge

slip:4uteii1.

I’m not a playwright—but the rest of that character seems too like me. “Drowning ourselves in drama…” “…obsessive self-reflection…” “…egotism ultimately eclipses his creative spirit…” Methinks The Sea The Sea would be a good cautionary tale for me to consume forthwith.

ɕ

Only one week?

January 9, 2022

*sigh* It’s been one week of 2022 and despite my best efforts, I’ve already got far to much on my to-should pile. Sometimes it’s fun to grab a biggish goal and just hard-charge up that hill. Sometimes though it’s wiser to just move something to the to-don’t list. But there is an immense disconnect between what I can get done in a day, and where I feel I’ve gotten enough done at the end of the day. It’s as if I’m running from something… or desperately towards something. memento mori

ɕ

Reflection: Day 9

January 9, 2021

LOOK INWARD — “Everybody is too busy with their own lives to give a damn about your book, painting, screenplay, etc., especially if you haven’t sold it yet. And the ones that aren’t [too busy], you don’t want in your life anyway.” ~ Jason Korman

Have you considered adding some physical ritual to your reflection? Perhaps taking three deep, slow breaths before the reading, or … If you decide to try something, don’t go crazy; just something very small and easy. Or not. That’s fine too.

ɕ

Arrived in the middle? Visit the first post, Where to begin?
(The entire series is available to download as a PDF ebook.)

Why, on balance, I don’t use Slack

January 9, 2020

Someone asked me if I knew where the Slack was for such-and-so project. I said I didn’t know, but that I knew one did exist. I felt compelled to explain that I walked away from Slack entirely, but I couldn’t explain why succinctly. Next time this happens I can just link here. :)

What’s wrong with real-time chat?

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, Is group chat making you sweat?

slip:4usiio2.

Slack is a stream of real-time communication. I don’t work that way. Yes, one can tune and configure just how/when/how-much the Stream from Slack interrupts and notifies you. But I prefer zero unexpected interruptions.

Here are three articles against Slack:

Productivity is best achieved through focus and flow, and anything that takes you away from your focus goes against productivity. So, Slack — which is built as an internal, real-time, “always on,” multi-channel system with notifications — is distracting by design.

~ Dvir Ben-Aroya from, An open letter to Stewart Butterfield

slip:4umesy1.

…in your 20’s you work by brute force, in your 30’s you find ways to work more efficiently, in your 40’s you see the horizon and think on more of a magnitude scale.

~ Kiki Jewell from, Why slack sucks…

slip:4umeki1.

With Slack I can either be there, being pinged regularly with company wide updates, updates for a channel that was relevant three hours ago but not now, questions from other users they could otherwise figure out but decide are easier to ask me; or select Do Not Disturb mode.

~ Christopher Batts from, Actually, Slack really sucks

slip:4umeci1.

…and to be fair, one talking about some situations where it might be useful:

At one extreme are interruptions where your attention is demanded on the spot. These sorts of interruptions include a phone call or someone walking into your office. At the other extreme are interruptions that occur only on your time, email for example. Ideally all communication would occur over email (and not just to limit interruptions), but we do not live in an ideal world.

Slack and other similar tools fill the space between someone standing in your office and email.

~ Michael Atwood from, Slack Does Not Suck

slip:4umema1.

ɕ

Pascal Lecurieux | Parkour Pentagon

January 9, 2019

On Castbox.fm — Pascal Lecurieux | Parkour Pentagon

What are the key elements of the Parkour Specialization Pentagon System, and how can they help individuals identify and develop their strengths in Parkour?

Identifying strengths and weaknesses through the Pentagon System transforms how practitioners approach Parkour.

I gave them an exercise where they had to pinpoint their own specialization and see where they are right now and where they want to go.

~ Pascal Lecurieux (6:28)

The conversation focuses on the Parkour Specialization Pentagon System developed by Pascal, which organizes Parkour into five key aspects: strength, adaptation, speed, fluidity, and freestyle. Each dimension provides a lens for practitioners to evaluate their current abilities and identify areas for improvement. Pascal explains the unique qualities and objectives of each aspect, illustrating how they connect to both traditional and modern interpretations of Parkour.

Additionally, the discussion highlights the practical applications of the system in coaching and personal development. Pascal shares anecdotes, such as a young student discovering her niche in fluidity, showcasing the system’s capacity to unlock individual potential. The system also fosters community bonding by encouraging practitioners to collaborate and share their unique styles.

Takeaways

Strength — Emphasizes foundational physical capabilities like power moves and scaling higher walls.

Adaptation — Highlights the importance of applying techniques effectively in diverse environments.

Speed — Focuses on refining techniques for real-time execution under dynamic conditions.

Fluidity — Encourages emotional connection to movement, chaining moves seamlessly, and reducing impact.

Freestyle — Celebrates creativity by adding personalized elements like flips or rotations to standard techniques.

Analytical coaching — Provides tools to assess and guide students based on their strengths and goals.

Community-building — Promotes collaboration by connecting individuals with similar specializations.

Practical exercises — Engages participants with activities to assess and explore their personal Parkour styles.

Resources

ParkourBits.com — Pascal’s blog where he shares insights and experiences in Parkour.

The Spot Montreal — The Parkour facility where Pascal coaches and implements his system.

Art of Retreat

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

ɕ

Mistakes in thinking about the future

January 9, 2019

One of the most liberating discoveries I ever had was that thinking has an insidious snowball effect. Thoughts trigger other thoughts, and if your initial thought carries even a hint of insecurity or worry, subsequent thoughts can explore it and magnify it until you’re profoundly agitated. You can end up pulling your hair out and dreading the rest of your life, just from idle thinking.

~ David Cain from, Three Typical Mistakes in Thinking About the Future

slip:4urate5.

The snowball effect is probably my biggest problem. Small things—now that I think about it, it’s always small set-backs—kick off these long trains of thinking.

Have you ever heard a freight train start to move? It’s called “stretching out” because every rail car adds a few inches of slop… space in the couplers, etc. If you’re at the front, you hear the engine throttle up, and this crashing sound starts at the engine and moves away along the train.

If you’re not at the front, if you’re just somewhere randomly along the train, what you hear is this eerie, rolling-crashing invisible monster that comes tearing along at high speed and goes past you, but nothing is moving. Yet.

This reminds me of my trains of thought. They start with the first nudge of negative thought which sets this terrible monster running along the train. At first, nothing appears to be moving. But slowly that nightmare train begins to move, and if it gets up to speed it can take me days to recover from the ensuing disaster.

ɕ

Music in human evolution? Aposematism?!

January 9, 2018

… the goal of aposematism is to advertise that, as a piece of prey, you are decidedly unprofitable for the predator. If a predator can easily recognize you (and other members of your species), and remembers getting burned during past encounters, it will quickly learn to stop attacking you in the first place.

~ Kevin Simler from, Music in Human Evolution

slip:4umemu1.

Long [long!] ago humans stood up (makes us easy to see),
moved into the open grasslands (makes us really easy to see),
lost our claws/protective-thick-skin/fangs (makes us soft and easy to kill),
did NOT have tools other than rocks we could pick up (makes us unable to defend ourselves),
started singing ON THE GROUND (makes us easy to hear and find, NO OTHER ANIMAL DOES THIS),

… and then we took over the planet.

AND we are the only animal that uses RHYTHM,
ALSO, all humans dance (ever have the urge to tap your foot or more your head to music?)…
Wait, also, why do we always — every society, every religion, every military — ALWAYS retrieve/prepare/handle/bury our dead?

APOSEMATISM !

Intrigued? Click that link… I’m a simple person, with a small brain, and I’m easily amused. This article. BLEW. MY. MIND.

ɕ

On Aikido grading

January 9, 2014

For several years, I’ve been on the verge of writing something about grading within Kinokawa. Stefan Stenudd has, hit all the high points, and saved me a lot of effort:

Therefore, though with some reluctance, I have kyu and dan gradings in our dojo, trying to make sure that everyone advances in grades in accordance with his or her advancement in aikido. That’s not rocket science, but it’s not a piece of cake either.

~ Stefan Stenudd from, The Gordian Knot of Grading

slip:4uaifo1.

If you’ve been studying with Sensei Wirth for some time, you’ll notice a few obvious differences – things like our having changed to colored belts for kyu ranks ~2001/2002, hakama for dan ranks, etc. He also dives deeper into the details of performing higher level dan gradings – which is something that I don’t have to worry about.

ɕ

NSA geekery

January 9, 2013

Let’s fix that shit and go get beers!

This. Yea verily this!

Here’s what I do know. There are plenty of frustrated system administrators, developers, engineers, “devops” and everything under the sun who don’t want much. All they really want is for shit to work. When shit breaks, they want to be notified. They want pretty graphs. They want to see business metrics along side operational ones. They want to have a 52-inch monitor in the office that everyone can look at and say: See that red dot? That’s bad. Here’s what was going on when we got that red dot. Let’s fix that shit and go get beers.

~ From, Why Monitoring Sucks

slip:4ucowy3.

Hat tip to John E. Vincent. …and what’s network and systems administration (NSA)?

ɕ