Bathroom Door Locks

I've been wrong about something. I love when that happens! In fact, this is Jubilant Blunder week, between this and my recent change of heart on Vision Pro.

Digression: Discovering my wrongness feels like gliding a missing puzzle piece into position with an easy snap, beholding the aesthetically soothing result. Nothing else feels quite so right as uncovering one's own wrongness.

At least for me. Nearly everyone else appears to invest much of their vital energy into hiding from their wrongness. You can be smart, or you can feel smart, but not both! Smart-feelers self-insulate from truth and correction.

Criticism (even friendly, non-condescending criticism) only became anathema because this is a world of smart-feelers, for whom truth is like sunlight to vampires.

Focus Mode is an iOS (and now, MacOS) feature where you pre-configure certain environments where your device tunes out certain people, apps, notifications, and distractions. So if I were to create a Slogging focus mode, it might block out all texts, emails, phone calls, and app notifications, and lock my screen into single-window (I use HazeOver for this). Here's a terrific eleven minute summary of Focus Mode by the delightfully nasal MacSparky (see footer for more on him).

This sort of approach always struck me as feeble and childish. Silly bathroom locks. After all, I can undo any of the restraints. If I want to check my damn mail, I'm gonna check my damn mail. I have been trained over the decades to persist when my computer, for whatever reason, thwarts my will.

But then I remembered something. I slogged about it once, titling it, only semi-ironically, "The Greatest Lesson Ever Taught". So you'd think I'd bear it in mind. But, no! I'm painfully slow, fuzzy, and blurry (all my clarity channels into these postings). Here it is in its entirety:

Earlier this year I bought a cover for my second car, an old Miata, to keep the birds from crapping all over it. It takes just one minute to easily uncover the car, and another minute to easily replace the cover after I get home.

I have not driven the car once since.

The MacSparky video is a hidden link, only for subscribers to MacSparky Labs. I'm revealing it with permission, plus offering a 10% discount to any Labs membership (I get nothing if you sign up) via code FRIENDSOFJIM, good until March 4, 2024).

David Sparks is not the most technically expert or widest ranging of Mac pundits, but he's an unapologetic nerd who takes highly tactical and obsessive immersions into various areas of interest. To learn everything about automation on a Mac, he's the guy. Same for Obsidian (which I wrote about here). These and other topics are exhaustively covered in his various Field Guides, the sine qua non for realms most Mac users barely scratch. This MacSparky Labs thing offers incremental updates on his various quests. Lots of quick videos of David breathlessly exulting in some new shortcut he just found or whatever. Worth a few bucks a month.

Bukowski's Problem with the World

Smart's better than stupid, but, historically, confident smart people have been way more dangerous than confident dumb people.

Confidence is the problem, really.

Related: consider (halfway down the page) Leff's Four Scenarios of Authority

More pontifications on social media memes

Aristotle on Excellence

There's an observation I keep returning to again and again. I've explained it before, but I'll bake fresh (and maybe explain it better this time):

Amateur musicians try to play in tune. So, on bad days, they play out of tune...and, on their best days, they're merely adequately in tune.

Professional musicians try to play super in tune. So, on bad days, they play in tune...and, on their best days, they're super in tune.

This applies absolutely everywhere. Once you watch for it, you'll see it wherever you go and whatever you do. Aspiration doesn't just affect results; it also caps them.

I think this is what Aristotle is leaning towards saying.


More pontifications on social media memes

How I Earned $3500 with the Click of a Button

A few weeks ago I explained why I - normally a super late adopter - planned to order Vision Pro.

And then I did! But I will cancel. Because I can't, after all, use it for the three Big Purposes I explained in that posting:

1. Inability to use a decent-sized monitor away from home (I can't write comfortably on laptop screens)...which makes travel feel austere and pulls me to go home. VisionPro will let me write on a 27" - or 75'! - virtual monitor anywhere (headset weight will limit endurance, but even so).

2. Inability to view movies and shows on a decent-sized TV away from home...which makes travel feel austere and pulls me to go home. VisionPro will seat me in a ginormous panoramic movie theater wherever I am. Even at home!

Three problems with travel: size, weight, and theft (and not the weight issue you think!).

Size I figured I'd throw this into a bag and bring it on the road. No. The thing is huge, and its carrying case may or may not fit in (i.e. totally dominate) a carry-on. This isn't like a laptop you sling over your shoulder. It's more like bringing along a nephew.

Weight I've been taking cheap budget RyanAir and EasyJet flights around Europe, and their weight limits (on both carry-ons and checked) are insanely low; much more so than on American flights. I simply can't transport this thing!

Theft I am more or less ok, albeit leery, traveling with a laptop. This costs double that. Not necessarily a deal-killer, but the OMG nature of a Vision Pro at this particular juncture - with hotel maids, fellow transport passengers, and just random eyes out there - is profound. I'm not interested in this as a status object, but high-status it is, which makes it not just a theft target; it makes me, generally, a far greater theft target. And, per above, it's not like I can hide it.

Bringing this thing on the road would be like transporting a giant movie camera, or several gold bars, or a donated live heart. It wouldn't be about getting myself from point A to point B; it would be about getting the damn headset from point A to point B. And that's ridiculous (and sure to improve in future - i.e. smaller/lighter/cheaper - versions).

3. I'll finally be able to watch my favorite film in 3-D, which is how it must be watched, without investing in some 2005-era 3-D TV setup. I've been flailing for workarounds, and all are crappy/pricey. VisionPro will be like watching it in a theater. Maybe even better!

Media management is still T.B.D., but, regarding 3-D content, specifically, it looks like it needs to download only - as of now, from Apple or from Disney. And neither is likely to carry my obscure artsy flick.

And there's no ability to hook the thing up to a blu-ray player, nor does it seem like I can rip my blu-ray into Vision Pro-ready format. I'm not 100% sure it will be impossible, but it will be far more likely with a later Vision Pro version.

As for the notorious weight of the thing (and, therefore, its short endurance window), I knew this would be the thing everyone harped on, and, sure enough, it is. Meh. I'd have sucked up that negative as an unavoidable v.1 thing. Too big/heavy/expensive is the perennial ante for getting in early on new tech.

Witnessing Other People's Storms

Ok. Cool. But I have a question!

What if someone feels they're "experiencing a storm" when they're just sitting under a drainpipe? What if the Storm isn't really a storm? Is it "mindful" to point it out? Or would that be "judgement", exacerbating the pain and anguish?

I know the response: I have cherry-picked an extreme case of exaggerated foolishness.

But no. It's always exaggerated foolishness. Without exception. There are no storms. Not one. And I may even convince you, if you'll read just a few more paragraphs.

If someone walked into your room right now brandishing a gun, you wouldn't add it to your basket of woes. You would not frame it as a "storm", nor would it soak your spirit. It would not feel like yet another burden to bear. None of that. Zero. Zilch. Nada. You'd attune your senses to the situation and handle it as best you can. You'd dive to the floor, you'd assess escape options, you'd weigh and re-weigh the wisdom of running for it. Maybe you'd handle it well, maybe not so well, but you'd handle it.

Once the gunman leaves, and you find yourself being interviewed by a cop or a doctor, that's when all that other stuff would start. When it's not an immediate problem.

Storms are what we manufacture during peaceful lulls. During actual storms, we're too occupied to frame them as storms. Real problems are handled, period. Manufactured problems are nursed and milked and stoked and widely proclaimed and hung on your chest as a glimmering token of glorious victimhood.

Only people without actual immediate problems have time to contrive drama. People with problems - actual problems - are busy working the problem. No time for drama.

If woeful drama is your bag, god bless you. We're all free to enjoy hobbies and idle pasttimes. But here's the thing. If so, don't involve me, because I'm precisely the hurtful villain you're memeing about, above. I'm your antagonist.

It's that I actually care, as only a fool can. So I will foolishly take you at your word, assuming you'd prefer a better result. Thinking you truly want to relieve your burden, I will inform you - very much from "the shelter of my own perspective"! - that you're sitting under a leaky pipe and there is no storm and your life is beautiful and the envy of all your ancestors. I am Beelzebub. I am The Evil One. I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. And, worst of all, per the quote above, I lack mindfulness. I truly do!

From "Truth is Like House Lights":

If you imagine that the truth really heals, the joke's on you. You’re like the lunatic in the audience who rushes to the stage to protect Caesar from the stabbing knives. There's no denying that falsehood would be thus dispelled, tragedy prevented, and the sham nature of the enterprise entirely illuminated. Good job on that. However, you'll have ruined the experience for all present.

The surprising completion of my line of thought is the blithe recognition that they're ENJOYING it! And it's fine! The meme is (unintentionally) right: don't judge! Let them enjoy starring in a sad movie in which they fraughtly bear the Storms with which they've been unjustly saddled. Don't ruin it! Play along! Politeness is in the pretending, so all this meme is saying is: be polite!

And I wonder why I have 25 readers.....


More pontifications on social media memes

Blind Rebuke

It's been years since anyone asked me to clarify anything, in any context.

The new mode is to charge ahead with counter-argument based on incomplete understanding - often hinging on some random keyword that caught attention.

We have lost, as a society (as a species?) any impulse to seek clear understanding prior to rebuke.

Strength, Wealth, Intelligence, Beauty, Generosity, Wisdom

Be careful in choosing aspects to develop. Repercussions are not always what you'd imagine.

If you become very strong, you'll live in a world of weaklings.

Fine! You're the strong guy! You don't need others to be strong!

If you become wealthy, you'll live in a world of thirst.

Same, but with an inexorable problem: you remain every bit as thirsty as they are. Likely even more so. If wealth slaked the thirst for wealth, wealthy people wouldn't invest. But, no, billionaires are more eager than anyone for a killing. (Of course, you know my explanation: every last one of us, in the First World, is obscenely rich, so even "normal" Americans are titans obscenely thirsting for More.)

If you develop your intelligence, you'll live in a world of dimwits.

Exasperating, but, hey, you're the superior one. If that's an ego thing, you'll cultivate the withering arrogance affected by stupid people, which is hilarious. If not, you'll pitch in with it. Like the strong guy, you'll eagerly step in to lift heavier loads.

Ego divides intelligent people into one of two entirely different worlds.

If you develop your beauty, you'll live in a world of ugliness.

Fantastic! You're The One! You needn't be smart of funny or kind or clever. You are endlessly fascinating and universally admired while merely sitting there (see "The Immense Stature of an Attractive Person Making Idle Small Talk"). Problem: the immense thirst of the thirsty world is directed toward you - existentially! - which is maddeningly creepy, albeit monetizable.

If you develop your generosity, you'll live in a world of selfishness.

This presents a conundrum: Real generosity isn't allowing yourself to be feasted upon by predators. And it's not generous to, say, supply alcoholics with vodka. Generous people find prospective avenues of generosity closed down, one after another, as they try to be legitimately helpful in a selfish world of braying aristocrats wanting for nothing (aside from a bracing shift of perspective). Even a Messiah would be hard-pressed to redeem this world in a way that actually works (much less sticks).

Generosity, alas, is a natural byproduct of the next aspect:

If you develop wisdom, you will live in a world of fools.

The sticky wicket is that no one will recognize you as wise, because it takes wisdom to spot wisdom. In fact, you'll seem the greatest fool of all, because Dunning Kruger is slightly "off". Intelligence shouldn't be their point of distinction. It's wisdom.

Society has mechanisms for ascertaining intelligence and putting smart people to good use. But a fool couldn't spot a wise man if one fell on him from the 35th floor (another fool likely having shoved him out the window). And it's all fools all the way down (none greater than the intelligent who opt into withering arrogance).

Then why meditate, read, study, and ponder if wisdom comes to that? First, you don't expect it to come to that, because, duh, you didn't start out wise! But you keep going even as truth dawns, because curiosity is being sated. And if your curiosity is all-consuming, it will not relent until it's had all the epiphanies.

My mentor, saxophonist Arnie Lawrence, cautioned me, at a very young age, that I shouldn't even consider becoming a jazz musician unless I'm powerless to resist.

It's like that.

Self-Healing: Itches

This is part of a series of postings on self-healing, which you can access via the "Self-Healing" tag which appears in the Slog’s left margin below "Popular Entries". For general tips and background on self-healing, read this.


This cure for itches works like magic for me, but I've only tested it once (on an allergic thingie on my finger which hydrocortisone cream only barely alleviated, and which nearly drove me mad last night). The other entries in this self-healing series, being extensively tested, are offered with greater confidence. But this one's more of a work-in-progress, so please report results in the comments, especially if it doesn't work for you.

1. Concentrate on the itch point (not difficult!)

2. Also concentrate on the same spot on the other side of your body. If the itch is on your left knee, also concentrate on the right knee. If the itch is on the right side of your chest, concentrate, too, on the same spot on the left side of your chest. To be clear: don't concentrate on one or the other, but on both at once.

Yes, this is a strange thing to do, but if there were a non-strange cure for itches, it would have been noticed eons ago. This is surprising and delightful - if it works! - because people are extremely unlikely to bump into it randomly. It's NEW. And new things seem "strange". Get past it!

Optional third step, a bit more touchy-feely: try to feel your heartbeat in both spots. It's not necessary, but it helps.


Simple move, I know. Childishly simple! In my experience, self-healing always turns out to involve simple moves, though it takes years and years to discover and refine them. That's the complicated part!

The answer is never "Travel to Indonesia and hear the mating call of the Javanese lapwing at sunrise while sipping kumquat juice". It's always vanishingly small. If I were selling these fixes, I'd probably add extra steps just to persuade people it's serious. No one wants to fix health problems with solutions seemingly thought up by a seven year-old (Me, I was a helluva clear-eyed seven year-old, and I still make hay with his style of doing things).

Wrong Spaghetti

Crossposted from Facebook

Memorable stewed veal and spaghetti in the same anonymous apartment building snack bar whose chicken and potatoes I wrote about yesterday

This is the only restaurant in Portugal where I'll eat pasta. And I don't eat it as "Pasta," like we think of it, nor do they cook it as such. Just another starchy sponge. Which, come to think of it, is how Italian pasta started, too.

No one involved in the cooking of this spaghetti ever even saw an Italian movie. Ask the chef if it's "al dente" and she'd point curtly at her chipped incisor. This is as Portuguese as all get-out, and yet no Italian village grandma would object. They'd grok it instantly. The common DNA is in the soul, not the tastebuds.

Another way of looking at it: the chef has recreated goulash and noodles. And if it seems odd to swap spaghetti in for noodles, remember that Italy is a stone's throw from Eastern Europe. Pasta *is* noodles. That's not the 20th century marketing, I know. But go to Croatia and order fuzi (bow tie pasta) with veal sauce (basically goulash) and things will begin to clarify

Spudwork

Crossposted from Facebook

I passed Portuguese Food 101 back in the 90s while doing gigs here. And I think I've also finished Portuguese Food 201, for which there is no textbook. Currently I'm immersed in an independent study in potatoes.

See below with baked chicken at a no-nonsense eat-and-get-the-fuck-out little joint that's way below-radar for anyone not living in the apartment building above. I may be their only customer ever to travel over 1/16th of a mile for lunch there. I am viewed with immense curiosity. But me, I'm all about the potatoes. I am a professional.