One reason I can’t make recent episodes go is because I’ve got lots of side comms. Complicated individual correspondence that occupies the same brain space. Which is good, overall, even if it cuts in here a bit. And there’s the maladaptive learning thing I can’t quite write yet, holding on to some of that space too. So I have a fair deal of diverted attention. It makes me feel stuck sometimes, to not be offering distilled revelation. But I shouldn’t imagine this is the only place I need to do that, or that it’s the only reason I work here. I worry sometimes that missing today’s lesson means I lost…

Work was okay today. My SR won’t quite stay down but I think I know how to beat it back for another day or two. I failed to send out my RB because testing was slow but once I get the results back it’s just one click to submit. And I still need to do my MBOs but I think I can knock those out tonight. I did make my noon meeting, for the first time in like two weeks. And I got my phone converted to a compromise email solution that will continue to work with their new MS-only plan without requiring me to give up control of my…

Watched @MMF tell me about The Stupids (1996): https://youtu.be/4VBD62OTfnU She has a long history at Cracked of caring about movies for intensely personal reasons, and this one is on her list. But she also has a strong take on it in more relatable terms. It’s not the same sort of in-depth long-form analysis she did for Sorry to Bother You (2016) but it’s still good. And in the middle she takes a minute just to talk about color, the way this movie decides it’s a thing in a way many movies don’t, and her own engagement with color (including a bunch of shots of her in vivid makeup). I’m glad…

Watched American Gods. Orlando Bloom gives a slavery microwave speech that’s real good. He’s seen my rage. I am not starting a war I am reminding you that we’re in one, and that I need your help to end it. And Crispin Glover is delicious. He looks like he’s dying and speaks like a comic book character. God damn. Went out to lunch and around downtown with Shanda. Medium good time. Lots of schedule nerves and shopping anxiety from Shanda, and a little crowded for me to last long. But I did get a couple good things. And browsed a makeup store to see what sort of things exist. And…

Talked to DerbyK. Or at least got an update from your blog and poked you about it a bit. You’ve been sort of away for a while. Which I can understand, with your recent life. But it’s good to see you back, and hopefully we can find a time for actual talking in the near future. @BPS was in Seattle the same weekend I was in SFO: https://youtu.be/6Kl83AoRro0 They’re sort of all over the place in this episode and it’s great. Simultaneously energized and drained from their in-office work, and grateful that offices aren’t part of their daily life. Amazed by the snow, even in Seattle quantities. Excited by buying…

I have been medium anxious today, with no obvious cause. Work was as good as I expected, and didn’t require me to do anything much before 2 PM. I pointed some anxiety at it before I went just because it was the day’s next event, but as predicted the parts I did in the office went well. I feel like I got all the things done that I wanted done before leaving. I’ve even got a plan I’m happy with for what I’m doing when I get back Thursday. And the gym went well, other than me forgetting to turn on the sauna when I arrived. But I felt fine…

I watched some more ContraPoints “The Darkness”: https://youtu.be/qtj7LDYaufM I appreciate her talking about art and pain in a way that isn’t just a claim that to be a real artist you must suffer. She talks about the chellenge of providing “a spoon full of sugar to help the feminine penis go down” as a prerequisite to being able to share dark things in a way that protects people. It’s great and you should watch her. Watched Brooklyn 99 S06E06 “The Crime Scene”. As a plot element Stephanie Beatriz has like 9 different hair styles, several of which are amazing. Since cop shows are one of the ways media demands we…