the day I finished The Rambler
in every man's life, however splendid or modest, there are episodes that mark one's journey as a reader or as a person. Reading Samuel Johnson's essays is both a personal and a reader milestone.
the victim card on Christmas Eve
for what would so soon destroy all the order of society, and deform life with violence and ravage, as a permission to every one to judge his own cause...
beware the ambition of petty accomplishments
the ambition of petty accomplishments, in which we believe we’re advancing, but a wiser perspective offers the opposite diagnosis.
knocked down to the essentials
the environment is driving me, subconsciously, to choose the effective over the fancy.
my favorite pants that some people hate
The hostility is aimed at the second edition of the Stretch Zions because there were changes in the fabric and the button.
the tools were already there
The tools have already been here. The brain connects ideas, not Obsidian.
marketing for the foolish
... for the impressionable, the young, the foolish, for humanity... It’s not the absurdity of the argument that I find strident, but that it comes veiled as a tautology.
the switch to full frame
it is known that all photography hobbyists will inevitably end up purchasing a full frame camera. Digital first and, later perhaps, film.
rained in on easter weekend
i went in the garage and unearthed the Sony A6400 and the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8
how we value the things we value
the assignment of prices by the invisible hand of the market reveals how we value certain things in relation to other things. This unveiling is quite amusing some times, harrowing in other occasions.
an indictment of padel
tennis demands fortitude, intensity, stamina. Not only in terms of physical capabilities, but as (if not more) importantly, in the mental realm. And how about padel?
can't get no satisfaction (on satiety)
”The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.” (The Rambler, No.2, March 1750)
at the foot of Mount Baldy
iPhone 14 Pro. A local expedition to Mount Baldy, about 75 miles (120km) from home base, in search of snow.
the misery of sovereign power
a sword is perpetually suspended over our head. We dread our very guards, we distrust our companions.
Yeti Tundra 35
after many months of indecision, I finally found the one thing that, in and of itself, makes it imperative to buy the Yeti Tundra 35.
daily note template in Obsidian
my daily note is not a fountain of gratitude, affirmations, or reflections. It's just a tool and practice that primes my brain to notice and intelligently use available time.
book list for the new year (2024)
the guiding principle has been, and will continue to be, to seek knowledge and beauty in books that have been tested by time. Exceptions are granted in areas of technical knowledge (e.g., physics, computer science)
sundown at Malibu Creek
iPhone 14 Pro. I don't need anything else to document our local expeditions. The GoPro hasn't seen light for over 20 months, and will only see it when we go back in the water 🏄🏻♂️.
and they like to call themselves agile
Two very different cultures, with two observations: the obvious one is the stark contrast in the quantity and allocation of resources to produce the same thing. A thing that, by the way, does not have serious consequences if it fails to be perfect.
on wittgenstein's ruler
one distinction between what Taleb writes in Fooled by Randomness and what Wittgenstein gets at in Tractatus is that the former deals with the practicalities (and sarcasm) of daily life, whereas Tractatus is onto the ontological, epistemological, and linguistic.
back to the creek
it's been many months, maybe even over a year since the last time I ran grasslands. Late November, 8am, perfect weather for running.
iPhone photo workflow
this sketch workflow is imperfect by design. It has to be practical, not perfect.
malibu lagoon in the morning
my wife wanted to see the sunrise today Sunday. We live in California with plenty of ocean sunsets, but sunrises are a different story.
home buying principle #2
my son is 26 months old, my daughter is 10 months. No imminent home buying for us.