Paul Jorgensen

For me the worst philosophical sin is not being wrong, or even making logical errors. It is being dogmatic. Although I try not to be dogmatic about this.

– Ethan Mills

… it was a useful lesson in humility, a reminder that for all our presumption in explaining China to the world, we had little idea what was going on around us — and that any time we were too full of ourselves, too cocky about our analytical triumphs, we were probably about to learn that the world is more complicated than it seems.

– Nicholas Kristof | China Books Review | 14th November 2024](h/t The Broswer)

When the musician Brian Eno spoke to the New Statesman in May, he seemed to be irritated about the art world, its inflated prices and its critical language that so few people understand. When the potter and painter Grayson Perry began giving his Reith Lectures last month he paid tribute to Eno’s 1995 “sabotage” of a Marcel Duchamp urinal in New York (Eno siphoned his own urine into the artwork to explore whether the piece might be more valuable if it had been “worked upon” by two people).

– The New Statesman (h/t The Browser)

This is a time when it is frightening to be alive, when it is hard to think of human beings as rational creatures. Everywhere we look we see brutality, stupidity, until it seems that there is nothing else to be seen but that — a descent into barbarism, everywhere, which we are unable to check. But I think that while it is true there is a general worsening, it is precisely because things are so frightening we become hypnotized, and do not notice — or if we notice, belittle — equally strong forces on the other side, the forces, in short, of reason, sanity and civilization.

– Dorris Lessing (h/t The Marginalian)

"… be an example of what you want this country to be. Lead with courage and compassion, face down injustice and immorality, and speak the truth. But also be willing to listen. People had reasons to vote how they did. Hearing them, and talking to them, and then fighting for solutions that help all of us and uplift all of us, is how we make real fundamental change."

Make the time.

I hate that sentence.

It assumes a lot about agency, not to mention the reader’s mental and physical abilities. The core of it is necessary to hear, though. It would be better stated as, “You must fight for enough time to devote to the things that matter.”

No one will give that time to you. It’s too valuable to them.

Eight years ago today, the day after the 2016 election, I rode a Delta 747 to Tokyo. It was planned well before early voting started, before James Comey’s October surprise. I experienced the first three years of drumpf 45 from the other side of the world.

That won’t work this time.

Dear @manton, I’m trying to get #org2blog in #Emacs working with MB via metaweblog API. I’m not puzzling out how to set up my custom domain based on Using MarsEdit help document. I have a token but not sure what url to use and the username syntax that would apply. TIA

What colour is this blowing autumn wind, that it can stain my body with its touch?

— Izumi Shikibu & Edwin A Cranston, The Izumi Shikibu Diary. (Harvard University Press, 1969); h/t Live & Learn

I kind of wanna marry these two: Not just Douglas Adam’s fans, but Starship Titanic fans; Pink Floyd’s Animals; The Cars and a bunch of my kind of music. 🔗They Were Just What They Needed

Celebrate #Chattanooga’s historic Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium turning 100 with an unforgettable night featuring Charley Crockett. Enter to win tickets from WUTC 88.1, the Tennessee Valley’s NPR station (where I work!). Learn more here.

The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free

– Nathan J. Robinson 🔗

Color Green IG getting ready to go in at Cherry Street Tavern IG #livemusic #Chattanooga

The Pink Stones IG #livemusic #Chattanooga at Cherry Street Tavern IG

The Pink Stones IG on stage in #Chattanooga

I wish the Apple loud sound notification on the Watch had a “I’m wearing ear protection” or “I’m driving with the windows down and my arm out the window” button

Getting ready to see Color Green IG and The Pink Stones IG play Cherry Street Tavern IG in #Chattanooga #Americana #psychedelic #rock Everyone I’ve talked with about this show is excited for it

Finished reading: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle 📚💙

Engaging read. I’m still reflecting on it. The novelette reminded me of Lovecraft Country (could easily have been one of the vignettes in there) and Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shay’s Illuminatus Trilogy.

TIL TWIT is still around. Good for them. I thought they closed up shop years ago. Happy for the fans that it’s a going concern, but there was too much drama there for me to want to reëngage.

This new traffic pattern in #Chattanooga’s North Shore delights me. The right lane should always have been right turn only with the green arrow. If CDOT would ditch right turn on red everywhere, that would make pedestrians safer & please me – and my desires are, of course, their top priority

Foursquare is shutting down their city guide app and website. Sad but I hope this is true: “Foursquare is focused on building even better experiences for you in Swarm.” (I love Swarm and use it every day still.) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

TIL Swarm still exists. Not jazzed about the move but I’ll give it a go.