The British royal family owns a considerable chunk of British land. If you want to preserve that land from commercial development, maintain the monarchy. How’s that for a weird position to be in? (Incidentally, I am the farthest thing from a monarchist.)
Brewed a Belgian tripel from a kit today. Haven’t brewed beer in a few years so I had some re-learning to do. Original gravity was a bit too low because I added too much water to the bucket. Hopefully the only consequence will be that the ABV is lower than planned.
Alan Moore:
I worship a second century human headed snake god called Glycon, who was exposed as a ventriloquist’s dummy nearly 2000 years ago.
I baked a Pennsylvania Dutch funeral pie. Definitely has a mincemeat vibe.
Done!
Unknown/Unknowable
Just as earlier writers would cite scripture to prove their arguments, modern writers cite science. And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Science often makes claims that intersect in intriguing ways with religion. Nevertheless, I am suspicious of supporting religious claims with scientific findings—and not for the usual reasons given by those influenced by the New Atheists, i.e., science is “true” and religion is “false” or, at best, pre-scientific attempts to explain the world.
What do we hold sacred?
Charles Eisenstein: Today I saw a monarch butterfly. It was the only one I have seen this summer, and I am sad. I have been preserving all the milkweed that has been coming up as a weed in my gardens. An insignificant gesture, but for me it is a little prayer. I’ve loved these butterflies ever since I was a boy and my father told me about their migratory journey.
Finished reading The Green Man by Kathleen Basford. Actually, there isn’t a lot of text—mostly great pictures of Green Man and related architectural decoration. These are a few of my favorites.
Having a really good time reading Neil Gaiman again. Right now I’m making my way through his short story collection Fragile Things.
Alan Jacobs makes an excellent suggestion, which I plan to implement:
You can also listen to music, ideally music not served up to you algorithmically. Buy one CD or vinyl record per month and listen to it all the way through, multiple times. Retrain your attention.