A clarification on what I posted earlier: I am not saying that everyone is right about the object of their anger or anxiety. Obviously there are a lot of crazy ideas out there. But that anger and anxiety has its source in a correct evaluation that too many things are too consequential right now.
The stakes are too high for everything now. This is a direct consequence of centralization, efficiency, economies of scale–all terms describing the same phenomenon. Why are so many people so angry? Is it because they’re irrational and emotional? No. It’s because they rightly perceive the stakes.
Adam Savage’s lathe display (source)
Rachel just harvested this huge pile of lettuce from one end of our raised beds and it didn’t even make a dent. It’s salad season!
It all started with a post from Alan Jacobs about that Apple ad, which pointed me to this post by L.M. Sacasas, which led me to his post on Albert Borgmann, which led me to this pdf chapter from Borgmann’s book. This is a rich vein. I don’t recall why I unsubscribed to Sacasas, but error corrected.
Recently my in-laws asked me to refinish their dining room table and chairs. They’ve brought it over and now the project has begun. I have a plan, which I’m testing on one of the leaves. If you hear nothing further about the project, that means it failed and I’m too embarrassed to admit it. 😄
Starlings…sheesh. Not only are they:
- An invasive species whose introduction can be blamed on Shakespeare fanatics,
- Bullies, and
- Absolute devourers of seed,
their chicks are noisy and needy, despite being as big as the adults. We don’t harm them, but we don’t love them either.
Cory Doctorow: “AIs and self-driving cars are the new jetpacks”
I don’t know if this will prove to be true but it’s an interesting provocation.
Pileated woodpecker at the feeder on our back porch. These are our celebrity sightings.
Last day of high school for Darcy! It’s a bit sad, of course, but honestly we’re all three ready for this phase of her life to be over. She had a tough senior year and she’s ready for the next phase to begin. Now just to figure out what that looks like…