Turned off all notifications, minimized my home screen. Going for that Light Phone vibe.
A quiet day outside with my wife and kid.
American Brexit
American Brexit (members only article) from Taegen Goddard’s excellent Political Wire. This has been my main source of political news for the past few months and my mental health is grateful for it. Highly recommend the subscription. And Britain, according to independent estimates, is now 10% poorer than it would have been had it remained in the EU. The public seems to agree. Recent polling shows more than two-thirds of Britons now believe Brexit has gone badly.
Priorities.
I finally feel liberated from my retirement account.
The likelihood of my pre retirement years succumbing to a “lost decade” in the markets has dramatically increased.
Vultures
Yes, we seem to be surrounded by them these days don't we? I'm not referring to those vultures, but instead the John Mayer song from his 2006 album "Continuum". The drummer on the album is the great Steve Jordan along with Pino Palladino (gosh if there were ever a bass player that I wish I could jam with it would be Mr. Palladino). I don't nor have I really paid attention to John Mayer, I have always paused however when I hear a song that have these rhythm juggernauts playing on the track.
✅ Groceries
✅ Food for the week prepped and cooked
✅ Playtime w/ 4 yo
✅ Realization that tomorrow is Monday
☑️ Rest
The Light Phone III is the most interesting phone design I have seen in while. I’m seriously considering it (but that price though 👀). I’m also a sucker for working within constraints. Phone, Text (SMS), Podcast, Calendar, Contacts, Directions, Camera and super clicky buttons.
Per my previous post, you can pretty much validate this at every tech news site.
Joan Westenberg captures a lot of what has been on my mind over the past couple of years in this wonderful piece, The Future is More Stuff:
This, right here, is why labor-saving devices haven't saved labor, why communication technologies haven't created more connection, why abundance hasn't given us a 4 day work week. The gains get captured by the same system that produces the stuff, channeled back into making more stuff rather than improving our mutual - our shared - well-being.
Today I played with my boy. Puzzles, racing, matching games, hide and seek, reading stories. All day, my only focus.
Apparently ssa.gov website is only running during set hours. This is what shows up when I try to log in (to see my social security contribution statement). I decided to check it out after reading about this poor gentleman, whose benefits are suspended for no good reason.
Shutting down the government would have just accelerated Trump’s plans and power grab. It’s a tough pill to swallow, I get it.
The perceived leverage Dems seemed to think they had around the shutdown appears misguided and reactionary as far as I can tell. They don’t have a plan yet, plain and simple
The news ping pong cycle is the definition of insanity, whether the subject is eggs or Trump’s next bit of stupidness.
Playing drums to a Peter Erskine drumless track
Peter Erskine, famous jazz drummer from the likes of Weather Report and other, put out some drumless tracks that are available for purchase on iTunes. I purchased a handful of them and have been enjoying coming up with parts.
The political equivalents of this tragic headline are both of these a). GOP states wondering why the guy they voted in is creating instability in their neck of the woods and b). Dems wondering why people aren’t donating money to their txt campaigns.
Nothing new, the GOP are cruel, full stop.
Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students.: propublica.org
Currently listening:
Deleted: Realized I am falling into the trap of propagating unnecessary negativity.