I have been crueler to myself than I have ever been to anyone else, and far crueler than anyone else has ever been to me.

Lisa Blair,  Zen and Pi No. 15 (via zenandpi)

The fact that the author of one of my favorite blogs, a truly remarkable person, wrote this (it’s a worthy read, and you should follow her, too), makes me think how self hatred is far more common than I ever thought. She offers a way to deal with it that hasn’t occurred to me – it’s hard but worth a try.

Last night went to see two of my friends, first time since at least August, despite living in the same city.

It was good to hear about Nairobi, where he just went to for vacation to see his friend, and what disrespectful mainland Chinese tourists do in Kenya now. I forget how unbearable to talk to him could be now, having to tell him how in fact, Japanese internment was a crappy thing to do, even under the circumstances, even if others were doing it too, and even if it was the British who invented concentration camps. Also, Boer war, how peaceful generally the late 19th century was, how American Civil war veterans fanned out around the world to teach the world in ways of industrial warfare, now we are all doomed, and that apparently Jennifer Lopez sat at a table next to us with some dude, and I had no idea what she looked like. Also, I still don’t agree that it’s okay to live the way they do in Kenya, with high barbed-wire-topped walls around each house and armed guards, and I would not want to get used to it.

Saying farewell to bikes I built, and the folding kayak, this weekend – driving them to R’s friend’s basement for permanent storage.
They’ve been under a disintegrating tarp on the balcony for exactly a year now, and I’m afraid to even look at what’s become of them after a year spent outside.

The rational thing to do would be to sell them, since it is unlikely I’d ride my bike again in any foreseeable future – but they have too much sentimental value – hence, into storage they go.

the-future-now:

Tech billionaires are trying to develop a way to break us out of ‘The Matrix’

It seems some leaders in Silicon Valley are taking the possibility of ‘The Matrix’ seriously. At least two tech billionaires are recruiting scientists and funding research on a way to break us out of it. But are we actually living in a computer simulation? Philosopher Nick Bostrom writes that there are three possible answers.

Follow @the-future-now

Fun and cheerful read for later