Well, not exactly blogging. “Updating J’s Notes” is probably a more accurate description. I’ve created an IFTTT applet that pushes through appropriately tagged bookmarks I save in Pocket to J’s Notes. It’s not perfect, but it’s a way of sharing some of the stuff I’ve found interesting with a wider audience. The lack of context may mean I’ll have to update later why I thought it worth sharing (see: Metablogging… – a 2003 writeup on “Writing for the Web” about precisely the kind of blogging I’ve found myself doing more often than not – blogging about blogging) but other times it works alright. Either way, fresh content! You’re welcome.
Month: September 2019
Metablogging…
I’ve been visiting lots of blogs in the past few months, some of them repeatedly. It’s fascinating to see the conventions emerging in the different genres. The major genre might be called the introvert blog–it’s all about the author’s personal life.
Chris Ware It’s pretty simple, I sit down and I draw
Can you talk us a bit through the process of creating and how that itself changed over the duration of the novel?
It’s pretty simple: I sit down and I draw. More often than not, though, I get up and wander around and do anything I can to avoid sitting down and drawing. But once I do, again, the drawings tell me what to do, and I try to listen to them, in the same way that a writer tries to get caught up in the flow of his or her words on a page. Drawing comics is a little less like carpentry and a little more like gardening; it takes patience and a lot of time and self-doubt and trust. I spend about a week drawing two pages, after which I enjoy a brief (+/- 15 minutes) of relief before the anxiety sets in knowing I have to start all over again.
Via WePresent
A very simple rule
I have a very simple rule that serves me well: Don’t think too much about your life after dinnertime. Thinking too much at the end of the day is a recipe for despair. Everything looks better in the light of the morning. Cliché, maybe, but it works.
Most importantly:
Great rule. I met a veteran who lost both legs in Iraq, struggled with depression, and instituted the same rule. Deal with problems in daylight. I apply that lesson at least once a month, for years now. P.S. The guy ended up getting a dual degree from Harvard, is married now
— Joe Ringenberg (@jringenberg) August 26, 2018
“Deal with problems in daylight.” That’s one to remember.
Backing up
I got a “First strike! Three strikes and you’re out!” copyright notice from Tumblr yesterday morning, and my first thought was, “Oh good, maybe I can totally forget about my Tumblr now.
The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write
His complaint offers lessons on how to make a point. Ms. Rosenzweig is the director of the Writing Center at Harvard.
Mishearing as a creative act
“I like turning on two radios at the same time and listening to them. I like hearing things incorrectly. I think that’s how I get a lot of ideas is by mishearing something.
Are we living at the most influential time in history?
I don’t claim originality for any content here; people who’ve been influential on this include Nick Beckstead, Phil Trammell, Toby Ord, Aron Vallinder, Allan Dafoe, Matt Wage, and, especially, Holden Karnofsky and Carl Shulman. Everything tentative; errors all my own.
Static
The 5 y.o.’s latest favorite song is Josh Ritter’s cover of Frightened Rabbit’s “Old Old Fashioned.”
One line created a conversation:
🎵So give me soft, soft static🎵
🎵With a human voice underneath🎵
He asked “what’s static?” which is a good question this day and age with everything digital and streaming.
So I also got to introduce him to AM radio.
Now he’ll randomly ask to listen to “static” — not the “static song” which he’s now figured out the name of, but actual static with a voice in the background.
Kids are weird and awesome, y’all.
Sociologist Charles Derber describes this tendency to insert oneself into a conversation as “conversational narcissism.” It’s the desire to take over a conversation, to do most of the talking and to turn the focus of the exchange to yourself. It is often subtle and unconscious. Derber writes that conversational narcissism “is the key manifestation of the dominant attention-getting psychology in America. It occurs in informal conversations among friends, family and co-workers. The profusion of popular literature about listening and the etiquette of managing those who talk constantly about themselves suggests its pervasiveness in everyday life.” Derber describes two kinds of responses in conversations: a shift response and a support response. The first shifts attention back to yourself, and the second supports the other person’s comment.
Celeste Headlee “The Mistake I Made With My Grieving Friend”
