Hello there! 👋
This morning the grass was white with frost for the first time this year. The sky was a clear pale blue. November has been pretty dark and rainy and I have been inside more than I like. When I could I did take a couple of walks in the forest. Wisdom is everywhere if you look for it.
I went hard all month, launched my new project and have been scrambling to find speakers, sponsors, and participants for my next event in London early next year. On this continent I have been doing many online calls and local community building. “Whirlwind” is a metaphor that never seems to leave my lips.
Walks in the forest help to calm things down and let the mind settle. Incessant rain agitates the mind just like a pool of water. So one has to go deeper, where the raindrops can’t reach. For me this has been connecting with old friends in Kelowna, Colorado, and Korea for “beers” online. I also joined Clear Mountain Monastery’s very active online community where I am finding some excellent resources. It is through them that I discovered Bhante Joe Atulo, a (very) Canadian monk living in Sri Lanka who has amazing (and horrifying!) stories of wandering in the jungle. Listen to his story of walking World’s End. 😅
Anyways, today is a nice one so I will take advantage. This afternoon we will set up the Xmas tree 🎄, the first time in this house and the first time we have had a proper tree in many years. Looking forward to striking up the Charlie Brown soundtrack as is tradition! 🎶
Take care of yourselves and may you have many sunny days for the rest of the year!
/ck
🖋 From the Blog
Nothing on the blog this month. I have been struggling with writing a full length review of Shannon Vallor’s excellent book The AI Mirror which I can’t stop thinking of and went back and re-read a few of the chapters of. It really affected my thinking, not only about AI, but about technosocial critique and society in general. If you want to get a sense of the book and her argument, and can’t wait for my review, this is a good podcast interview with Shannon Vallor nominally about THE AI MIRROR but much broader and even includes her first book TECHNOLOGY AND THE VIRTUES. It gives a good sense of her approach if you haven’t read her stuff before.
🧭 Elsewhere
We had a Meetup of Meetup Organizers Link →
‘Tis the season 🔔🎁 Photo →
Sweet whip Photo →
✊ Librarians, amirite? Photo →
Gallery of laptop stickers Link →
📖 What I’m Reading
Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasāro
(19% Complete)
A sweeping biography of Ajahn Chah, one of the most important figures of the Thai Forest tradition by one of his eminent Western disciples. My teacher, Ajahn Soṇa also trained at Ajahn Chah’s monastery. More than a million people, including the Thai royal family, attended Ajahn Chah's funeral in 1993. This book starts with that episode and goes through all of his adventures and struggles in the forest. Very inspiring so far.
Connect with me on GoodReads → or on Bookwyrm →