Putting some thoughts here, while they are on my mind:
Political parties and news organizations love to pretend that an election is an ideological mandate. When the candidate you vote for wins, it’s fun to feel that way.
I think an election is simpler, it’s a snapshot in time, and it’s very much about who is on the ballot. Sometimes a vote is yes to a candidate, to a party or to a platform, but sometimes a vote is against a specific person. I suspect that the 2016 and 2020 elections reflect this in America more than Americans traditionally would admit.
I think the political parties are their own machines, representing their own self-preservation and the agendas of large donors. As such, neither party in the U.S.A. would ever change anything fundamentally.
I don’t think that political parties represent a mandate any more than an election does.
I think political parties aren’t representative of us, of We The People, because the parties generally and the candidates specifically are beholden to money.
I think Ranked Choice Voting is worth a try and might better represent overall preferences, or show where more of us actually agree. We really need to pay attention to what we have in common and fight hard for that.
I think it’s really hard to step outside of a bubble I have willingly been inside of for decades.
I used to wonder why George Carlin seemed so angry toward the end of his career. I’m starting to understand.
Just got news several extended family members are simultaneously ill with the UK Variant of COVID, one very seriously. They believe they were being cautious and don’t know how they got it.
Take care of yourselves, keep others safe. We aren’t out of the woods.
Unspoken Role of Technical Support: Absorb and correct for damage created by other companies
Example: large ticket volume this week created by issues stemming from a large operating system vendor’s critical updates. Some laptops are becoming unbootable and some folks are getting bluescreens simply from printing. This is all fixable, but fixes take time. None of this is a result of any decision made by anyone employed by my company.
So there’s a music project called Lost Horizons—that I didn’t know about 30 minutes ago—that features former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde and Richard Thomas who has drummed with Dif Jus and Jesus and Mary Chain. Their In Quiet Moments album includes a track called Every Beat that Passed which is the most Cocteau-Twins-like music I have heard since… Cocteau Twins. This project is no attempt to return to that sound, but that track is spectacular. The tracks I have heard from the same album have a Saint Etienne vibe, in that the tracks recall the 60s and 70s.
I am very pleasantly surprised with the most current release of the iOS Bullet Journal application. It is in no way designed to take the place of your paper journal. But allows you to photo your pages and assign them to a calendar day and page number inside of a journal. Another nice feature is the ability to assign a page to a Collection.
Most importantly, it backs up to the iOS Files application. I can use my iCloud Drive to store the backup file. No new account is required. No new subscription is needed.
The application fully supports the Bullet Journal methodology, but gives you a way to review your notes even if you are away from the physical copy.
Lastly, in a pinch, there is an ephemeral 72-hour Log for Tasks, Notes and Events. This provides a way to continue to capture until you can return to your paper Journal.
Yesterday morning on the way to work, Led Zepplin’s Tea for One cycled into my playlist and fit my mood wonderfully. I now have the urge to make a new playlist.
Picked up the new Echodrone album Resurgence this morning. Their name describes elements I love from the shoegaze sound. Possibly a signature for them are the vocal harmonies that harken back to groups like The Byrds, or Ride, but of course nothing like either.
