The Little Rebellion

Web feed now reads straight from the vault — composed from the new archive UI.

Hello from the vault. First post composed through elsewhere-server. (edited)

20 years of continuous sobriety today.

The kindness of others is a hell of a drug.

A true rarity: A shop carrying the world’s two greatest waters (in terms of excellence in bubble texture). These two are incredibly distinct from one another but both are spectacular. Topo’s edge is its bubble longevity, which really seems to defy science. It’s a quality that can only be described as magical.

When you get surprise invited to the Caribbean for Thanksgiving after 2 years of COVID and with two little kids, sometimes you forget some minor details…

I’m very lucky to have a good friend who got us into DC for last-minute baby passports.

Louisa went to a wedding today and wrote a song about it

First concert in… a while. DJ Logic, John Medeski, Vernon Reid, Daru Jones, and MonoNeon, all doing precisely what they want to be doing.

That thing when your office is in the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington, Delaware so you back a Kickstarter for a split-flap train board because it’s perfect and then it arrives 4 years later when your office is no longer inside the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station.

Shore vacation kickoff. Great start!

I wrapped up my daily publishing experiment and began the next one.

On December 22, 2020, I began an experiment. I decided to write and publish a blog post/thread, somewhere between 250-1000 words, every single day for 100 days, and for no particular reason.

I did that, and during some pretty difficult times at work and at home.

It was easy. 👇

This, after a series of 7,000(ish) days during which I wrote a handful of things, all for very important reasons, and never published them. ~20 years, a few dozen unpublished things. 100 days, 100 published things (115 times if you count my PEN, another experiment).

So, apparently, I can write some things down and publish them. They don’t have to be great, or even good. I can do them from a blank page (on hard mode), and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to which ones resonate with people and which ones don’t.

There were several that I spent extra extra time on and never heard anything about. Then there were a few where I was totally phoning it in before bed after a long day and a whole bunch of people reached out to let me know it meant something to them. 🤷‍♂️

But I needed to be sure... Maybe anyone could post for a hundred days straight... Particularly as some kind of short-term goal. So I decided to continue the experiment.

Now 150 days in, I’m ready to call this experiment a success. It can be done. I can write something every day. In 150 days, I’ve written 70,000+ words of “original stuff,” spending about 30 minutes a day.

I find these results promising. Not because that's enough text for a novel and a couple screenplays. That way of thinking puts me in a sick place that I don’t like. It shuts off all valves of curiosity and creativity and enjoyment for me. I’ll admit though: It’s a datapoint.

Let’s take away every good thing that has come from this daily posting habit, which is a lot. Why else does it matter to me? Well, if I can write that much with no reason and no crutch in that small amount of time, I have a number of assumptions about myself that are false.

I can’t forget the conditions for this experiment: I wrote for no particular reason. Putting Reasons and Goals behind creative efforts was an experiment I ran from the age of 19 until... last year. Reasons and Goals don’t work for me. They do the opposite of their claimed effect.

So now, with the intention to carry nothing with me beyond my own natural curiosity, I begin my next experiment, which will not involve compulsory daily publishing.

This experiment is about taking this energy and directing it toward exploring the stories I like making up, and exploring them at least five times a week for at least 25 minutes.

I have no expectation that this will be as easy as daily posting was. So much of my psychology is still tied up in the damage I’ve done around creativity. Each one of these experiments seems to be healing that nonsense, but it may take a while, and that’s okay.

To be clear: Posts/threads may come out of some of these explorations. But they are no longer a requirement of the experiment.

YouTube Timestamps and Looping in RoamJS

David Vargas (@dvargas92495), the creator of RoamJS, has done it again. We can now do more with YouTube inside of @RoamResearch: Timestamps and looping! This thread demonstrates a few ways I’m using these features. Full demo here: https://youtu.be/9RuHGSqT0h0 👇

I’m sure Roamans will enjoy the ability to take notes at specific timestamps in a video or YouTube-uploaded podcast, but to me that’s not the most game-changing part…

Roam/YouTube just became the best music practice notebook ever.

You can collect songs and tutorials, set in- and out-points and then loop them, slowed down if you want.

This makes Roam the best tool in existence zeroing in on the sections that are giving you trouble (practice).

I also love the timestamps for the ability to collect scenes and shots from movies. It could also be a great tool for B-roll collection for documentary.

Language/dialect-learning, any kind of action or skill that would benefit from repetition.

I’m already building some fingerstyle guitar practice sessions in Roam, and it’s amazing to be able to add another part of my life that’s important to me into this system, in a no-compromise way. In fact, there has never been a practice tool this good that is this easy to use.

It is shameful that every member of the Roam community hasn’t thrown hundred dollar bills at David Vargas. He is making life better for all of us every day.

Head over to https://roamjs.com, add the Video plugin (free) to your graph and contribute/buy something there.

I wrote about some gamechanging features that David Vargas at RoamJS has given us.

David Vargas (@dvargas92495), the creator of RoamJS, has done it again. We can now do more with YouTube inside of @RoamResearch: Timestamps and looping! This thread demonstrates a few ways I'm using these features. Full demo here:

I'm sure Roamans will enjoy the ability to take notes at specific timestamps in a video or YouTube-uploaded podcast, but to me that's not the most game-changing part...

Roam/YouTube just became the best music practice notebook ever.

You can collect songs and tutorials, set in- and out-points and then loop them, slowed down if you want.

This makes Roam the best tool in existence zeroing in on the sections that are giving you trouble (practice).

I also love the timestamps for the ability to collect scenes and shots from movies. It could also be a great tool for B-roll collection for documentary.

Language/dialect-learning, any kind of action or skill that would benefit from repetition.

I'm already building some fingerstyle guitar practice sessions in Roam, and it's amazing to be able to add another part of my life that's important to me into this system, in a no-compromise way. In fact, there has never been a practice tool this good that is this easy to use.

It is shameful that every member of the Roam community hasn't thrown hundred dollar bills at David Vargas. He is making life better for all of us every day.

Head over to https://roamjs.com, add the Video plugin (free) to your graph and contribute/buy something there.

Zettelkasten for Fiction

A quick little Zettelkasten fancy… Let us whisper of a dream…

What if bottom-up writing/notetaking/thinking (same thing) works just as well, if not better, for fiction as for non-fiction? 👇

Why do stories need to be conceived top-down? Who says that’s a rule? Stories are more freeform than arguments even. Aren’t they?

What should you do when that moment of inspiration strikes? That character, that single scene, that feeling, that image… What if you just wrote it down for fun, not even knowing if it ever might make its way into a story?

Would you capture more of these moments?

What if your Zettelkasten conversation partner could become your dialogue partner for workshopping scenes?

What if doing this were fun, not “regardless of whether it was for some ultimate purpose,” but for no purpose at all?

What if your high concepts for movies could be captured not just as crude, ill-conceived instructions for how to build a hit movie, but as thematic threads that weave together with other themes you’ve shown interest in over time?

Then they begin to demand supporting characters…

What if there were fleeting notes made up only of images, from which sketches of scenes could be explored just for fun? Why does writing need to be in letters of the alphabet?

Why couldn’t a reference note simply be an argument you overheard between lovers on a street corner?

What are the “Literature Notes” for that? What was the couple really trying say to one another, in my own words…?

If the bottom-up Zettelkasten is, as it appears to be, a perfect invitation to explore more deeply and more playfully without any need to know an end, a goal, a neat little purpose, could it extend the same invitation to story?

Let us whisper of a dream.

Originally on Twitter ↗

I wrote about the ultimate dream I have for my Zettelkasten.

A quick little Zettelkasten fancy... Let us whisper of a dream...

What if bottom-up writing/notetaking/thinking (same thing) works just as well, if not better, for fiction as for non-fiction? 👇

Why do stories need to be conceived top-down? Who says that's a rule? Stories are more freeform than arguments even. Aren't they?

What should you do when that moment of inspiration strikes? That character, that single scene, that feeling, that image... What if you just wrote it down for fun, not even knowing if it ever might make its way into a story?

Would you capture more of these moments?

What if your Zettelkasten conversation partner could become your dialogue partner for workshopping scenes?

What if doing this were fun, not "regardless of whether it was for some ultimate purpose," but for no purpose at all?

What if your high concepts for movies could be captured not just as crude, ill-conceived instructions for how to build a hit movie, but as thematic threads that weave together with other themes you've shown interest in over time?

Then they begin to demand supporting characters…

What if there were fleeting notes made up only of images, from which sketches of scenes could be explored just for fun? Why does writing need to be in letters of the alphabet?

Why couldn't a reference note simply be an argument you overheard between lovers on a street corner?

What are the "Literature Notes" for that? What was the couple really trying say to one another, in my own words...?

If the bottom-up Zettelkasten is, as it appears to be, a perfect invitation to explore more deeply and more playfully without any need to know an end, a goal, a neat little purpose, could it extend the same invitation to story?

Let us whisper of a dream.

The Nervousness/Excitement Trick

I don’t remember where I learned this, but there’s a trick that sometimes works when you’re super nervous/anxious about something you have to do: Change the self-talk from “I’m so nervous/scared/anxious” to “I’m so jazzed/excited/tingly.” 👇

This probably doesn’t work for people with serious anxiety problems, and it only sometimes works for me, but what’s neat about it is that the physical sensations are really quite similar between nervous and excited.

It isn’t a crazy stretch to convince the mind of the switch.

I personally don’t have problems just before or in the moment of a high-stakes, bear-could-eat-me event. Usually the feeling is more like “Geez, why did I compromise my week (or month) dreading this?”

It’s all the days before where I have this anxiety and dread, and often about something I really like and want to do, by the way. https://twitter.com/zachphillips/status/1358586981660377088?s=21

So this is the strategy I’m employing in the days before a stressful thing: “I’m excited for this,” “I’m ready for this,” and maybe with a little splash of “I’m pretty good at this.”

The tingly energy that’s already here might very well be excitement. This may not even be a lie.

Originally on Twitter ↗

I wrote about a trick to deal with anxiety about something looming/impending/coming up.

I don't remember where I learned this, but there's a trick that sometimes works when you're super nervous/anxious about something you have to do: Change the self-talk from "I'm so nervous/scared/anxious" to "I'm so jazzed/excited/tingly." 👇

This probably doesn't work for people with serious anxiety problems, and it only sometimes works for me, but what's neat about it is that the physical sensations are really quite similar between nervous and excited.

It isn't a crazy stretch to convince the mind of the switch.

I personally don't have problems just before or in the moment of a high-stakes, bear-could-eat-me event. Usually the feeling is more like "Geez, why did I compromise my week (or month) dreading this?"

So this is the strategy I'm employing in the days before a stressful thing: "I'm excited for this," "I'm ready for this," and maybe with a little splash of "I'm pretty good at this."

The tingly energy that's already here might very well be excitement. This may not even be a lie.

The Filmomat (@filmomat_official) automatic film processing machine This was from my first process a couple weeks ago. Brief appearance of @negative.supply carriers.

Pop Lullaby List

Wendell (my 1-year-old) has had a 104 fever today, and though it looks like it’s broken (he’s sweating), it took a lot of songs to get him to sleep tonight.

Here are some pop songs I like to sing as lullabies to my kids, with links to every music service, where possible. 👇

“Everyday” by Buddy Holly: https://song.link/us/i/1434889884

“Only You” by Yazoo: https://song.link/us/i/302300885

“Take On Me” by a-ha (the sad version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKM3mGt2pE

“Weak” by SWV: https://song.link/us/i/266800009

“Everything’s Alright” from Jesus Christ Superstar (without the screaming Judas parts): https://song.link/us/i/1440812428

“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper: https://song.link/us/i/795192837

“A Summer Song” by Chad and Jeremy: https://song.link/us/i/211322680

“In My Life” by The Beatles: https://song.link/us/i/1441164829

“God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You” by *NSYNC (fight me): https://song.link/us/i/286006557

“Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Mama Cass: https://song.link/us/i/1425261337

“Rhythm of the Rain” by The Cascades: https://song.link/us/i/68164953

“Wild World” by Cat Stevens: https://song.link/us/i/1444172616

“Moonshadow” by Cat Stevens: https://song.link/us/i/1444172997

“Don’t Be Shy” By Cat Stevens (seems like a lot of Cat Stevens, there’s a reason for that): https://song.link/us/i/1535560204

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys: https://song.link/us/i/725823889

“A Teenager in Love” by Dion & The Belmonts: https://song.link/us/i/724157968

“Happy Together” by The Turtles: https://song.link/us/i/79087150

“The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” by Simon & Garfunkel: https://song.link/us/i/1463652956

“Mr. Wendal” (of course) by Arrested Development (but I also have a version where I sing “Miss Louisaaa-yeah-yeahhhhh”): https://song.link/us/i/716595963

I’d love to know yours. Not recalling many of mine. I guess I can add to the list later. Thanks for happy vibes for the small Wendell.

Originally on Twitter ↗

I wrote about some of the songs I sing to my kids when they're going to sleep.

Wendell (my 1-year-old) has had a 104 fever today, and though it looks like it's broken (he's sweating), it took a lot of songs to get him to sleep tonight.

Here are some pop songs I like to sing as lullabies to my kids, with links to every music service, where possible. 👇

"Everyday" by Buddy Holly: https://song.link/us/i/1434889884

"Only You" by Yazoo: https://song.link/us/i/302300885

"Take On Me" by a-ha (the sad version):

"Weak" by SWV: https://song.link/us/i/266800009

"Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar (without the screaming Judas parts): https://song.link/us/i/1440812428

"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper: https://song.link/us/i/795192837

"A Summer Song" by Chad and Jeremy: https://song.link/us/i/211322680

"In My Life" by The Beatles: https://song.link/us/i/1441164829

"God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You" by *NSYNC (fight me): https://song.link/us/i/286006557

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Mama Cass: https://song.link/us/i/1425261337

"Rhythm of the Rain" by The Cascades: https://song.link/us/i/68164953

"Wild World" by Cat Stevens: https://song.link/us/i/1444172616

"Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens: https://song.link/us/i/1444172997

"Don't Be Shy" By Cat Stevens (seems like a lot of Cat Stevens, there's a reason for that): https://song.link/us/i/1535560204

"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys: https://song.link/us/i/725823889

"A Teenager in Love" by Dion & The Belmonts: https://song.link/us/i/724157968

"Happy Together" by The Turtles: https://song.link/us/i/79087150

"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" by Simon & Garfunkel: https://song.link/us/i/1463652956

"Mr. Wendal" (of course) by Arrested Development (but I also have a version where I sing "Miss Louisaaa-yeah-yeahhhhh"): https://song.link/us/i/716595963

I'd love to know yours. Not recalling many of mine. I guess I can add to the list later. Thanks for happy vibes for the small Wendell.

Louisa took this photo of her mom and brother.

#fujifilmx100v