As I said earlier today, I finished reading In Limestone Country by Scott Russell Sanders. While I was recording that fact in my reading log (which stretches back to 2005!), I realized that it was the first book I’ve finished since April. To be fair, I’ve been busy and a lot of my reading over the past several months has been articles, etc., aimed at helping Rachel and me with our gardening project.
Nothing makes the commonplace come alive quite like the work of a skilled writer. I’ve lived in limestone country all my life. I’ve heard the stories of how our stone built some of the great public buildings in America and brought prosperity to our area in the early twentieth century. Today, limestone monuments can be seen on buildings and in graveyards throughout Lawrence and Monroe counties. Porches, like mine, made of limestone.
A quiet, snowy afternoon listening to Ella
So Amazon Drive is ending on 12/31/2023 and I discovered I have some mp3s hanging out over there from several years ago. What services do you all recommend for both storing and playing music files on an iphone?
Frank Brown Cloud has posted an excellent essay on the role of belief in our economy—particularly with regard to inflation. (Frank’s feed should really be in your RSS reader.) In the midst of his essay, he has this great aside:
Incidentally, this is why Facebook (& Instagram, & …) is designed to make users unhappy. The users of Facebook are the product that Facebook sells to advertisers, and an unhappy user is more desirable to advertisers than a happy user. By intentionally cultivating unhappiness in emotionally-addictive ways, Facebook can offer advertisers a premium product: the attention of people who are more likely to buy things as they attempt to fill an empty ache inside.
“Don’t obsess over politics”—click through to read a good quote posted by Patrick Rhone. It’s not healthy for people to think about politics as much as they do. And I understand why: too much is at stake. That’s the problem. Too few people hold too much power. Literally world-changing power. That is the province of the gods, not humans. Our governments and corporations have long since abandoned human scale, and our anxieties have increased accordingly.
Walking through my neighborhood, seeing so many people living on small city lots using leaf blowers powered by electricity or gas. Our wiser descendants will reach for hand tools for tasks like this, reserving energy usage for work that is beyond human strength.
Look at that butterfly. I asked him about Twitter and Elon and he just stirred his wings. I asked him what Mastodon instance he was on and he fluttered around the brown eyed Susans. Has he even heard of the internet?
It’s been a busy week—new staff member at work to train which requires time in the office—so I haven’t had a chance to post much this week. Here is a belated picture and video from our house on Halloween. Our neighborhood feels like an 80s movie on Halloween night. Literally hundreds of kids come through for three hours. Decorations everywhere. People (like me below) in front of their porches handing out candy.
This year’s Jack-o’-lantern. Pictures by Darcy.
