It’s been quite a week at work! Oh, that’s right, it’s only Tuesday night. I’m writing this at 9:30 PM Mountain Standard Time. Guess who’s on a conference call.
Ponderings and Musings
Love!
Here you go. 99% of the guest stars ever on “The Love Boat” in a repetitive rendition of the well known theme song.
The things one finds on the Internet.
Knowledge.
While we were up at La Encantada shopping mall yesterday we had some lunch at a place called Italia North. A great place for a Sunday lunch, I enjoyed a soup and salad selection, along with a glass of Prosecco. I’ve been getting into Prosecco and Champagne lately.
One of trends of the 2020s is printing the caloric content of the food choices to be noticed by those perusing the menu. I suppose this is to encourage healthy eating, but if I’m having lunch at a swanky shopping center with a glass of champagne, I’m not sure I want all this knowledge.
Admittedly, seeing the calories listed next to each of the dishes inspired me to go with a soup and salad selection. That’s probably the intent; educate the consumer so they can make an informed choice.
On the other hand, sometimes I want to just enjoy some time out without counting calories in my head. Since this trend started I once considered a piece of cheesecake at the local Cheesecake Factory. Since the calories in a piece of cheesecake could support the hunger needs of a small African village, I decided against the experience and breathed in the fumes of a small piece of water cress I picked up at the local Safeway instead.
I now have a hankering for cheesecake. Don’t show me the details.
Rituals.
While I am not a religious person, I am very intrigued by the idea of rituals. It’s the structure of rituals I find most appealing; as I get older I find comfort in predictability. It helps the world make sense to me.
There’s a lot of chaos in the world, especially evident in social media and the offshoots of the behavior, with the pearl clutching, outrageous adjective use, and desire for clicks and clacks.
I had a revelation this morning. A good chunk of my participation in social media has to do with validation. It’s an exercise in trying get that next trophy. Good job, you’re funny, and all that. And I’m seeing that as wasted energy. There must be better uses for the energy expended into writing short blips of content on the social media sites; things like reading, learning, thinking, reflecting.
I don’t want social media to be part of my daily rituals any longer. At my age I suppose I should no longer need to seek validation, after all, I’ve made it this far and as I enjoy the better half of my life, I should just be content in being me. So many rely on social media for contact with others. That’s always been my excuse for maintaining a presence of Facebook. It’s a way to maintain contact with those that share a common interest, and more importantly, friends and family back east. We all know phone calls and letters and FaceTime and emails excel over social media. For many these methods seem outmoded and outdated. Well, maybe I’m outmoded and outdated.
I’m content with that.
I have always admired the ways of Vulcans in the Star Trek universe. Completely fictional, there are elements from Stoicism that inspired the writers that conceived and continue to expounded upon Vulcans. Is Stoicism for me? Not entirely, but it’s something to read and learn about. And energy once used for social media can easily be redirected to more important things, like reading. I still enjoy reading books, although I have been known to try to make the print larger in a hardcover book by spreading my fingers as if I was trying to zoom in on an iPad.
As I moved my daily rituals from frivolity to a more intentional existence, I can’t help think that I’ll feel more fulfillment in the long run. When my time has passed and folks talk about me I hope they say, “he really grew into his own, and he was very pleasant to be around”.
Perhaps that’s the greatest trophy to earn in life.
55.
Actor Robert Gant turns 55 today. Best known for his role on the original “Queer As Folk”, Mr. Gant is holding up quite well as he reaches his eligibility for AARP.
Robert and I share the same birthday and for the last few years I’ve wished him a happy birthday on the social media and he’s responded in kind.
I really don’t know how I’ve reached 55 so quickly. I was struggling with the double digits earlier this week but I’m good with it now. The family took me out to dinner last night and we had some carrot cake and I opened a couple of very nice gifts.
My husband and I are going out on a date night tonight. I’m looking forward to the birthday celebration continuing through the weekend.
My focus on the number 55 evokes memories of high school when two very old teachers were photographed for the yearbook while exchanging cards proclaiming they were now eligible for 10% off their purchase on Tuesdays at the local Ames Department Store. They had grey hair but were full of smiles.
Kinda like me today.
Yeppers.
With my 55th birthday on the horizon, and 55 being a really big number in my head, I thinking of this moment to be milestone, a stepping stone, a launching point. (I couldn’t think of another stone).
Up until age 50 I did my best to hide my eccentric thoughts and my quirky ways. I’ve probably not been that great at it, but I’ve used a lot of energy trying to subdue my impulses and different ways of thinking. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been told to thinking outside of the box, when I don’t even see a box, I haven’t found a box, and I’m probably not even in the same box as the box. “Look at the big picture” evokes the same response, what picture? What wall? Is it in a house?
As I turned 55 tomorrow (and it’s not official until the time I was born in the Eastern Time Zone back in 1968), I’ll be my more authentic self. That’s the way of 2023, right? Be your authentic self.
Healthy.
We’ve been trying to eat healthier over the past month or so. Having good cooks in the family certainly helps the situation.
Retreat.
Earl, Marshall, and I went camping this weekend at a Men’s Retreat a couple of hours from here. We had a very relaxing time, made some new friends, and a good time was had by all.
Camping is a generous term; we actually stayed in the ranch lodge in a comfortable room. Camping facilities are available. Tents, RVs, and sheds converted to sleeping quarters, all outfitted with air conditioning, are scattered about the property. There were about 40 men in attendance this weekend.
We look forward to going back when the temperature is a little more moderate.
Guests.
Chris and Mike have done a fantastic job sprucing up the guest suite here at the Desert Compound. The room is officially known as the Solarium on the blueprints, and the space offers a private bath, a king sized bed, and wonderful views of the mountains and Saguaro National Park East.
Algorithms.
Curious, I decided to watch a suggested video on YouTube the other. I’m not going to post a link to the video because I don’t want to tempt the algorithms any more than they’ve already been tempted, but the video was from a conservative commentator on why Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law isn’t really that bad.
Now, as a quick sidebar, I did learn that the bill isn’t actually called “Don’t Say Gay” and in no place does it even mention the word gay. The media’s nomenclature appears to be based on the intent of the law, not the actual wording of the law. I’m not here to debate whether this makes a difference and if this entire law is a good thing or a bad thing, I’m just pointing out some things I learned around the law.
So after watching this video YouTube apparently discerned I had completely changed my political stances or something because now the algorithm is pushing conservative viewpoints in my suggested feed. It’s been two days since I looked at that first video and this morning my “suggested” feed looked like this.
I try to use my iPad Pro for media consumption such as videos on YouTube, but because of the way the iPad works, and its app based ecosystem, the best way to watch YouTube videos is to use the YouTube app. Using the YouTube app doesn’t allow for plugins that squash things like suggestions and ads and the like, something I very much enjoy on my laptop when watching YouTube through a browser.
This little discovery points out several things to me.
1. Closed ecosystems forcing you to consume Internet content a certain way is not always the best way, and in fact, is frequently not the best way.
2. Algorithmic services like YouTube and Twitter and Facebook want you, the user, to be outraged. Not only are they relying on scooping up as much information as possible from your device, they’re trying to engage you by apparently getting you incensed. I can’t help but think this is a contributor as to why people out in the real world are always so damn cranky. Algorithms have changed societal behavior in an unfortunate way.
I decided that I will no longer consume YouTube videos without the safeguards of the plugins I have installed on Firefox and Safari, plugins that are only available on laptops. If I feel like I want to watch YouTube and I don’t have a laptop nearby, I’ll read a book or play Solitaire or something.
