The debate

I'm quoting here from Infinite Jest. " I believe I appear neutral, maybe even pleasant, though I've been coached to err on the side on the side of neutrality and not attempt what would feel to me like a pleasant expression or smile."

This is a good expression for how I'm feeling watching this debate. I am watching because, well, I don't know, maybe because I can't look away.

This is one of the most unpleasant things I've experienced semi-voluntarily in recent years. I have nothing left to say

The Death of Irony

I wish. Irony became cool in the 80's as a reaction to the post-hippie era, where the sincerity and generosity of Baby Boomers' younger years matured into arrogant, humorless sanctimony. It needed to be punctured, and people like David Letterman did an admirable job of doing that. But that was 30-something years ago, and I don't think it even occurred to anyone that ironic distance would be the new norm. But it kind of is.

Here's the thing though, irony is no better than sanctimony. Being cool and distant is not inherently superior to being holier-than-thou. They're the same thing. Irony is originally a literary device, using that perspective to communicate the author's point. It's a good thing to recognize. But there are other literary devices, like alliteration and metaphor. Why don't we try those out for a while? Wouldn't alliteration be absolutely amusing?

The common ground between irony and sanctimony is insincerity. Holding to a particular perspective for anything, regardless of what it is, necessarily separates you from everything. It's safe and cool and ultimately sterile. It's bad for you; it's the opposite of vulnerability, which is the only way we can let new feelings or perspectives inside ourselves.

I say all of this as someone who enjoys irony as much as anyone. I spent many years in a state of ironic distance. It has its place, which is not everywhere for everything. Those years were miserable for me most of the time. Vulnerability is scary and can be painful, but it's the only way to make deep connections with other people. Which is ultimately the most important thing, isn't it?

I'll finish with a quote (a paraphrase actually, but he was speaking stream-of-consciousness and I added a bit of structure) from Bo Burnham: "Ironic self-awareness isn't enough. It isn't okay to be a self-aware asshole- you need to stop being an asshole."

Here are some unconnected, but all from me and therefore not random, thoughts.

I'm still waiting to see the headline-
"Reality TV Star Alleges Media Conspiracy Against Him."

I always have this thing in my head that says every literate person appreciates a well-placed semicolon.

I used to wonder which I'd end up being when I got old, the wise sage that everyone came to for advice, or the cranky old guy shouting "Get off of my lawn." Based on all evidence to date, it appears I shall be both.

There's a wonderful quote (actually there are a great many) in James Brooks' excellent movie Broadcast News, where Bill, William Hurt's character, asks Aaron, Albert Brooks, "What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?" Aaron, who's jealous, replies "Keep it to yourself." That's a good punch line, but the question itself is more intriguing. It's a societal question and one I'll return to in another note.

Getting your money's worth

I'm never sure if people realize that images like this belong to you. You're free to download them and use them in whatever fashion you'd like. Yes, they're on the NASA site and other places as well, but you, as a taxpayer, own them, because NASA is an organization funded by the US government and therefore by you.

I'm holding back my inner scold here, but your tax dollars at work, ladies and gentlemen.

Space Station Flight Over the Southern Tip of Italy

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/iotd.html
http://www.uahirise.org/katalogos.php

Phun with Philosophy, or Give Me Novocaine

I'm finding it hard to live with myself from time to time these days. And I don't mean it in the soap opera sense of "I couldn't live with myself if I..." It's more existential than that.

Part of it is my physical age- when did stretching equate to excruciating pain? But the real problem is that my brain is never been particularly cooperative. Because that's how brains are. They are independent entities that have to be coerced to cooperate. I understand mindfulness and know it's not like you can't steer your brain one way or another, but technically, it's your brain that's doing the steering. Forget about how to do it; what does that even mean? And that, my friends is why philosophy is so paralyzing.

Maybe the fact that you can't actually know for sure if you're moving or have ever moved is kind of paralyzing too. Figuratively if not literally. I remember doing this stuff in college and knowing that somehow I liked it, even if I had no idea what any of it meant. Metaphysics versus Epistemology. Big words for simple but confounding questions. Do we exist and what do we know? Or is it the other way around? Where's the dividing line between conscious and unconscious thought? I need to sit down. Or am I already sitting?

My best birthday present (aside from the obvious)

As Facebook won't let me or my friends forget, yesterday was my birthday. I'm in Miami now, hanging out on a windy but pleasant morning until the coffee's kicked in enough for me to go for a bike ride.

Yesterday was a fairly typical day here, really. We've been to this place 6 or 8 times before and know the drill. I got up early and rode my bike over to the mainland (we're on Key Biscayne, it's an 8 mile ride to Miami proper) and then had breakfast, sat on the beach until it got windy and they took our umbrella away, then by the pool, where they have less wind and sturdier umbrellas.

For dinner, we went to Zuma, considered by many to be the best restaurant in Miami. We were in no way disappointed. It's what they called Contemporary Japanese, the word "contemporary" in this context meaning that they can do whatever they want and if it's similar to flavors from Japanese food it's good. I don't think that's what the word really means, but no matter.

We got the tasting menu, which was too much food, but just wonderful. It went on for a couple of hours. I think it was a dozen courses plus 2 palate cleansers. Everything was delicious, and the dessert presentation, featuring fresh fruit, sorbet, pudding and chocolate lava cake, was maybe the best dessert I've ever had. Raspberry-wasabi sorbet? Bring it on!

But the bonus was, we missed the debate! I've read about it, of course, but to not have to listen to it was a gift to the senses and a great extra birthday present.

Digressions from the swamp

Before I get started, I just was wondering why we call it "passing gas." Isn't the gas passing us? Unless it's short for "passing gas along to those in close proximity." Yes, long walks with the dog can lead to the mind wandering into strange places.

In the slightest of rebellions again people saying they're "too busy," I have been referring to myself as "swamped." It's not literally true, of course. I'm not even slightly damp, but swamped has evolved from referring to sinking ships to having too much to do and/or too little time available. Saying "too busy" seems to imply "busier than you," which is a needlessly competitive thought. It's actually kind of mathematical, now that I think about it. It's not just too much work or too little time; it's the ratio between them. If the ratio of time required and time available is greater than one, that's when stress starts to creep in.

If you think about it rationally (that's a math joke), there are two ways of dealing with this imbalance ('im' is a variant of 'in.' I'm not sure what's wrong with inbalance, but im is used before the letters b, p and m, while the variant ir goes before r-words and il before l-words. I'm sure you're all thrilled to know this). To cure the imbalance you need to either reduce the amount of stuff to do or increase the amount of time available.

There's no shortage of work that I'd rather not do, but there's more than enough of what I like doing to unbalance (wait, there's unbalance too? English is ridiculous) the ratio. My solution has generally been to try to increase the time available. Because I can't actually stretch a day, this necessarily involves less sleep. Not sure how that will work long-term, and the one time I tried to cut it shorter, (this involved a 5:45 AM CrossFit class on a day I had to be at school until 10 PM for back-to-school night, not such a good idea looking back) I didn't feel so good the next couple of days.

Nonetheless, I am going to push it to the limit because an extra hour awake every day adds up fast.