questions hard what does it mean for something to be hard to do? is doing hard things valuable? if so, why? intention what does it mean to do something with intention? what does it look like to live life with intention? is it possible? is it important? self-knowledge can i ever fully know my true reasons for doing something? can anyone else ever really know me? loneliness is being alive fundamentally lonely? Read more...

[draft] I think part of what makes jazz so captivating is its improvisational nature. No two performances of a track sound the same. I was recently thinking, though — what if jazz were composed? Would we be as impressed with it? Would we enjoy it as much? My guess is no, which begs the question: What are we consuming when we listen to music? Clearly not just the music itself, but also the idea of the music. Read more...

He sits there. Deep in the groove of it, his leather chair cradles him tight. No need to get up, for all that is needed lies within reach: Device in hand, water on side table. If it weren’t for waste management reasons, he might remain cradled for a long time. The Device is games, email, messages. It’s also news, drama, tragedy, and a strange window into the world. In the distance, a faded to-do list reads: Read more...

I recently went to a Sam Fender concert. I’d never heard of the guy before going to the show and knew nothing about his music. I was played a few of his songs on the way to the venue and thought they might make for a good show, but I was mistaken. It was quite boring. It was one of those overproduced shows where there are too many people on stage and no individual instrument seems to make a distinct, discernable sound besides the drums. Read more...

To read: Masscult and Midcult by Dwight Macdonald Mythologies by Roland Barthes Elements of Semilogy by Roland Barthes Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky The Global Cold War by Odd Arne Westad Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom Sense and Sensability by Jane Austen Emily Dickinson Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman maybe some Freidrich Nietzsche Subculture: The Meaning of Style by Dick Hebidge Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan Read more...

Page 3 - Year of Glad Hal, C.T., tennis, genius, a mushroom Hal Incandenza is at a college admission interview at the University of Arizona with three Deans (Admissions, Academic Affairs, Athletic Affairs) Also present are: Director of Composition, tennis coach, Mr. deLint, and his uncle Charles Tavis (C.T.) They’re discussing Hal’s application which shows: High athletic ranking in tennis Very low standardized test scores Exceptional academic essays Outstanding grades from ETA (Enfield Tennis Academy) The Deans are concerned about the discrepancy between his test scores and academic performance, suggesting possible academic fraud Read more...

Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/user/project/main.py", line 45, in <module> start_application() File "/home/user/project/app/entry.py", line 112, in start_application initialize_services(config) File "/home/user/project/app/core/init.py", line 27, in initialize_services db.connect() File "/home/user/project/app/db/connector.py", line 88, in connect self.\_connection = self.\_engine.connect() File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sqlalchemy/engine/base.py", line 2280, in connect return self.\_connection_cls(self, self.\_wrap_pool_connect(self.pool.connect, None), close_with_result=False) File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sqlalchemy/engine/base.py", line 2309, in \_wrap_pool_connect return fn() File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sqlalchemy/pool/base.py", line 364, in connect return \_ConnectionFairy.\_checkout(self) File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sqlalchemy/pool/base.py", line 778, in \_checkout fairy = \_ConnectionRecord. Read more...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States Brief history of inception End of the 18th, Continental Army established with George Washington as commander. Revolutionary war begins in 1775. Declaration of Independence is signed in July 1776 by delegates of the Second Continental Congress. Revolutionary war ends in 1783 and US is established as independent nation. In 1789 US Constitution is ratified and based on federalism, republicanism, and democracy. Federalism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIjmUxT9FWI JD Vance is concerned about free speech in Europe. The most worrisome threat to Europe isn’t from Russia or China. It is “the threat from within.” References Romanian court canceling an election and boasting about it. “We must do more than talk about democractic values, we must live them” Soviets did not respect free speech, and thankfully they lost the Cold War. References multiple examples of European governments cracking down on free speech. Read more...

Preface This book will perhaps only be understood by those who have already thought these thoughts. This book deals with the problems of philosophy Not any particular problem (like fatalism), but rather all philosophical problems. The problem of philosophy is how we formulate our problems, which we do because we fundamentally misunderstand the logic of our language. “Its whole meaning could be summed up somewhat as follows: What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent” Read more...