D&F 2-21-22
D&F 2/21/22
Saturday was long and beautiful. After a late start, I fed a friend's cats then headed-out towards an adventure across the bay. After a bit of a detour due to a stuck train, I made it over the San Rafael bridge and down to Paradise Loop, which took me to the tip of a awesome road, and then back through Tiburon towards Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge. As I crossed, I realized I'd only had 1.5L of carb drink and a little rice crispy thing, so I took my bike into a bodega for bread, salami, and fresh water which I consumed in a frenzy outside.
I got home (after a BART ride from 16th Mission to West Oakland) around 8pm, and I was beat. Snorri cuddles, some fish oil, and more food were the ticket. I write to you now buoyed by a post-ride beer and watching the last women's Cyclocross race of the season.
I've joked with my therapist that my personality is such that I mostly enjoy "type 2" fun—the kind of fun that you only really appreciate in hindsight. I love to push myself physically and mentally, but also need to remember to slow down and smell good things. Luckily that's not super challenging, but reading about Olga Khazan's attempt to become a nice, friendly person made me worried for her. I'm sure she overplayed many of her negative qualities, but her descriptions of her unceasing push for respect and fights with her boyfriend made me want to relax and never date. While some measures of personality traits are useful, the most common one is utter bullshit. Who knew?
Also utterly goofy is the continued excitement around NFTs, bitcoins, and other scams. As I write this, hundreds of people were hoodwinked of "millions" of dollars on OpenSea or via some other platform. Due to "loss aversion" these advocates must really believe they can somehow still come out on top. Look, if you want to make a lot of money by scamming people newer to the world of "crypto" than you, I think that's bullshit, but whatever—what particularly bothers me is the insistence that this technology is somehow a gamechanger or in any way a solution for anything. The article I linked to at the start of this bit dose a great job explaining more of why this is, and is even composed by someone who was initially excited by and involved in the creation of "proof-of-work" cryptographic signing.
The earth continues to burn and folks in the global south are especially suffering from the US, EU, and Russian incompetence and mismanagement of a planet's ecosystem. Grifts aren't gonna save us. It's possible we can learn to want less, and in doing so, find actual satisfaction. Maybe desiring less is also a scam, but at least it doesn't require us to buy anything. In a quest for joy, you could even write a book, or study how written language works.
Or, if you're feelin' nasty you could do a deep dive into the terrifying world of children's lunch snacks or get really into pulling the wool over KBBQ restaurant's eyes with BYOM (bring your own meat).
Links
- I can't tell if this is a sincere song about gay cowboys, or not, but I am at least glad it disrupts bad protesting from idiots in the north.
- Kid A, but it's just one guy:
Closing
To wrap it all up, wanting? Bad. Bikes? Good. Sun and trees? Great. Lunchables? I can't believe how bad I wanted them as a kid and how they're basically cardboard charcuterie.
It really feels like spring here in the bay, even though I know there are snow flurries in other parts of the States and Canada. I hope whatever your weather, you can breathe some fresh air this week and remember that as bad as work, or other bits of your life get, you have people who love you, and adventures left to enjoy. Stay safe, feel your feelings, and keep fighting for tomorrow, space cowgirls~