Mid-winter 2023 tiny letter
Radiooooo!
The premise of this site is simple, it highlights songs from around the globe across the last 100 years or so. It's a great way to discover new artists or dig into obscure little corners of music. Radiooooo.com.
Toyota Prius humor
I am not someone who gets very excited about cars, but my Toyota Prius is the best one I have over owned. It has its quirks, and I found this routine brilliant and on point. Prius bit starts at 3:50.
Some of Sondre Lerche’s latest
I haven't kept up with this artist's more recent material, this song is lovely, with great string arrangements that echo his earlier work. I especially appreciate Lerche’s songwriting because it is both accessible and less predictable than a lot of popular music. He also changes up his sound regularly, from the vocal jazz of his early Duper Sessions album to the frenetic rock of Phantom Punch.
High Maintenance
This show began as a web series, 5-10 long minute episodes offered on Vimeo, until HBO picked it up. You can watch its entirety on HBO Max. High Maintenance features a weed delivery guy simply known as “the guy” to explore a wide range of New York City slice-of-life dramas. The show is broadly diverse without being the least bit preachy, at times funny and sad, and presents its characters in what I can only describe as very naturally. Set before cannabis became legal in the state of New York, it still holds up well, because the show is not about cannabis, but about the little challenges, disappointments, and triumphs of its characters.
In recent years, I’ve become less interested in watching shows with a lot of violence or super depressing themes, even when it’s integral to the plot. (That’s why I haven’t started “The Wire” or continued with “Handmaid’s Tale.” They’re great shows, but they take a bit of emotional capacity to get through.) High Maintenance is easier to watch because mostly, nothing truly terrible happens to its characters.
Portland report, 9 months in
After a very enjoyable summer and fall, I've settled into winter. Similarly to the snowy Midwest, people here seem to hibernate in winter. There is still plenty of nightlife, plenty of events, but I think people are less inclined to go out. Covid has of course altered our social habits. One friend said, “people have gotten very used to spending a lot of time nestled indoors.”
Honeymoon phase waning?
To be clear, I love Portland and am happy with my choice to move. But now, having lived here for a spell, the city's challenges are very apparent, as is its failure to deal with many of them constructively.
There is an interesting contrast between the city's draw of new people (for many of the same reasons I have cited: culture, climate and geography, 15-minute city concept), and the dysfunction of that same environment (income inequality, homelessness, crime).
People getting away with sh*t
My experience while cycling downtown is emblematic of the city's dysfunction. As I have noted before, it is legal, proper, and expected for cyclists to be “embedded” in downtown traffic. And for the most part, the motorists I interact with seem accustomed to this—folks don’t freak out. One afternoon I'm waiting at a stoplight, and a driver pulls up next to me, looks both ways for oncoming traffic, sees none, and just drives right through the light. She does this two more times, then pulls over to park. After profiling the driver (i.e., is this person likely to freak out), I knock on the passenger side window. She rolls it down and I ask, “you know you just drove through three red lights?” She answers with a blasé “I'm running late for something,” and rolls up the window, then ignores me, exiting her car and walking to her appointment.
I snap a photo of the car and the license plate, then go online to see if I can report this. This specific infraction cannot be reported online, so I call a nonemergency number and wait 20 minutes on hold, convey the information to the operator, asking “is this likely to receive a follow-up?” She says only, “the information will be shared with the officer for this district.” There was never any follow-up. I wasn't too optimistic about it anyway.
It is well known that Portland is short on police officers and 911 dispatchers. These are simple facts, but at least as police go, the problem is far more complex than “we don't have enough cops.” The Portland Police Department has a long and troubled history of nasty racist behavior and even white supremacist associations. So a lot of people, quite justifiably, simply don't trust them. I understand the city is working to remedy this, and a friend who works for the city tells me that progress is being made, but that proper training of police officers and 911 dispatchers takes a long time, so there is a substantial lag between hiring someone and their starting actual work.
From the citizen's perspective, however the TL;DR is “you call the cops and they don't come.” Or alternately, “we don't call the cops because we don't trust them.” I have heard the former refrain numerous times, and it is not qualified by the politics of the speaker. Everyone wants accountable police to show up, whether it's to address a minor crime, like the theft of an old bicycle, or more serious matters.
I am new to the city's politics, so I certainly lack a complete picture, but from the reading I've done so far, it appears the city is saddled with bureaucratic dysfunction, lack of communication between departments, lack of accountability, and failure of imagination in dealing with ongoing challenges.
On the other hand…
In an earlier newsletter, I think I included a blurb about “15 minute cities,” cities where residents can get to almost everything they need within a 15 or 20 minutes bike ride or walk. My neighborhood certainly qualifies. When I explore a mental map of the places I frequent, and what is nearby, I recognize that the grocery store, pharmacy, coffee shop, library, health clinic, mechanic, are all within a very reasonable distance. I chose this “lifestyle” intentionally, and I think it's great. I also think that people who haven't experienced the convenience of popping on their bike for 10 minutes to check out some library books, or riding for 20 minutes to load up on groceries, are missing out. Of course, in some parts of the world, this is normal, but in most parts of United States it is decidedly abnormal.
I've also noticed this phenomenon of recognizing something intuitively, and then seeing someone has written a book, lengthy essay, or academic treatise on the very same thing. This is why “TL;DR” was invented. For example: I have just two friends in my immediate neighborhood—one who lives in my building, and a co-habiting couple who live up the block. In an era when you can outsource almost anything, have anything picked up and delivered, I see more value than ever in the small kindnesses we show each other—babysitting someone's plants or grabbing their mail while they are out of town, lending a ladder, giving someone a ride. None of these things take much effort, but they are a strong contributor to a feeling of community and connection. These folks are not close friends, but they are supportive and reliable, and that goes a long way.
Postscript: This city has many wonderful things going for it, it has enormous potential, and I am cautiously optimistic that new leadership and increased citizen participation will make a dent in the problems it faces, and make it a better place for all Portlanders. If you've never been here before, you might spend a few days exploring both 15 minute neighborhoods and the vast acreage of public parks, and come away with the same sense.
Jay-Z's 99 Problems, Verse 2: A Close Reading with Fourth Amendment Guidance for Cops and Perps
Exactly what it says on the tin. This is an amusing but serious exploration of the topics raised in this classic hip-hop tune. And for years I had tagged Jay-Z as a misogynist because of the song's title, but I believe in this context, “bitch” refers to a drug-sniffing dog. Anyone with better hip-hop knowledge, please correct me if I am off base.
https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1376&context=ljA definition of intuition, and so much more
Tim Ferriss interviews Professor John Vervaeke — On Cultivating Wisdom, Finding Flow States, The Power and Perils of Intuition, The Four Ways of Knowing, Learning to Fall in Love with Reality, and More.
I’m still in the middle of this interview, but it’s fascinating. My favorite part so far is his definition of intuition. Vervaeke says intuition is unconscious recognition of complex patterns. He gives the example: how do you know how close to stand to someone at a funeral? The answer depends on so many factors: what is your relationship to them, what is their religious tradition, what part of the funeral it is, and so many others. Somehow, you just know what to do. He also cautions that intuition can be wrong, just like an overly logical response to a challenge can also be wrong. Also:
Knowledge is about overcoming ignorance. Wisdom is about overcoming foolishness. So you understand wisdom by understanding foolishness, and you understand foolishness as not identical to ignorance.
Well worth listening. This interview makes me regret not studying Plato.
Professor John Vervaeke — How to Build a Life of Wisdom, Flow, and Contemplation (#657) - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
Interview with John Vervaeke on The Tim Ferriss Show podcast
Good news on Covid
Information and guidance shifts regularly, but this is a piece of good news. In short, it confirms that the bivalent vaccine booster does in fact provide more protection than the original vaccine. Can you imagine what I'm going to say next? Yeah, go get your booster.
And note: this writer presents information very clearly, without being overly technical. Amidst the sh*tstorm of disinformation and confusion, even still, around this topic, it's nice to read thoughtful summaries from a sensible, credentialed professional.
Australian researchers find protein in lung that blocks COVID infection
This is more good news, as it opens avenues to creating drugs to prevent or treat the coronavirus. It's also great because I got to make a meme.
https://www.axios.com/2023/02/10/australian-study-receptor-blocks-covid-infectionObligatory Portland bumper sticker
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Closing quote
“The most amazing gift about Matt's physical appearance is that he can walk into the hair-and-makeup trailer looking like someone who slept directly on his face for seven hours and emerge a bona fide movie star. He has a great makeup artist.”
— Judd Apatow, referring to Matt Damon