I listed my Monsterpiece Fuzz, which I’ve owned for … 16 or 17 years. I just decided I want to fund other things.

Service Model is further solidifying Adrian Tchaikovsky’s genius at inhabiting different forms of intelligence.

The thing about Donald Trump is if he’s shown to be losing momentum and falling behind, he will indulge all of his worst inner demons.

That’s part what made Biden such a powerful contrast.

Sometimes I eat rice I didn’t make and think, “Wow why is this so good?” and suddenly, my tastebuds fully activate and answer, “that’s right they use butter.”

That’s a post about being Jewish. When you’re Jewish, you don’t just add dairy to things when cooking.

There’s been some talk of sportsmanship declining among athletes at the Olympics. I haven’t watched enough nor do I know enough to comment on that. But I do think the (US) public response to the Olympics have been to largely celebrate the athletes, wherever they come from, and I think that’s great.

Sometimes we get really lucky. There’s a product in the market that exactly meets our needs. It need not be The Perfect Thing, but importantly, it’s the perfect thing for you.

That’s all we are really looking for– great quality products we can afford that solve our problems just right, and maybe, just maybe, offer an extra something delightful into the mix.

But because we’re each individuals, with our own unique problems and preferences, we don’t often get The Perfect Thing. The market for The Perfect Thing may not be big enough to make it worth making, if it’s even possible to make your Perfect Thing. So we often compromise and it’s fine. There are plenty of good things out there.

A lot of pointless fighting on the internet happens between folks who have found or are very close to having The Perfect Thing and by those who are far away. It’s a tired argument. The folks who are happy with what’s out there aren’t defending it because they think it’s right for everyone– they are terrified at losing The Perfect Thing. And the folks who are unhappy are convinced they can’t get what they want because of obstinance instead of accepting that what they want may not be what enough people want.

It’s really nice to not have to think about things. My favorite products are The Perfect Thing, because I stop thinking about them. I don’t think about the TV stand I have. I don’t think about the bar we bought. I don’t think about my office chair. I don’t think about my home theater speakers. I am not sure I love these things the way I love my guitar, which I think about constantly. I just spend hundreds of dollars on my guitar ¹. But in some ways, maybe I love these things even more. They occupy no space and use no energy.

There’s a lot of relentless optimization/maximization out there. It’s exhausting. Don’t make it a hobby unless it’s fun. It’s fun for me to think about guitar equipment. It’s not fun for me to think about email apps.

I asked someone if I was more like Josh or Toby, and they said I was more like Sam. I’m taking that as quite the compliment.

I can’t tell if we’re living in a period of riches or if I’m just not a poor teenager anymore, but the number and variety of high quality tube amp combos that exist right now is pretty incredible. I played a Magnatone Super Fifteen yesterday and good lord does that sound great.

Working from home is great, but I do miss walking to 29th Street Tavern for a late lunch with my boss/friend for our check in and to just talk through shit.

Got up from the couch, pulled a muscle in my back, lying on the floor for the rest of the night.

I’m having one of those days where I just don’t have the energy. No bad feelings, just no juice in the tank.

Still have problems nearly daily with HDCP issues when I try to just… play something on my Apple TV into a modern TV with high quality, modern HDMI cables.

Huge sale on Fender guitars next week on a Thursday at the guitar shop I like 2 hours away from home…

Oof. 18th and Potomac. The shock when I first watched this one.

Omg I did not remember Two Cathedrals was next.

JD Vance says Shapiro wasn’t picked because he’s Jewish and democrats made Shapiro run from who he is.

The most offensive thing in American politics for Jews like me are these nutbag, right wing, Evangelicals who keep presuming to speak for Jews and use us as props.

Remember what I said about democrats nominating role models? Tim Walz shows bullies a way forward.

I took about 12 weeks off from volleyball after a collision on the court took out my shoulder. I’ve had pain just when extending to the edges of my shoulder mobility that just won’t go away.

After a deep massage in London ¹, things have felt better for the last week so I decided to play for 90 minutes last night.

1. Good lord I’ve lost a lot of cardio stamina going from playing 5-6 hours over 3 nights a week to nothing.
2. Fuck me, my shoulder made it through, but it is super sore this morning. More sore than pain, but it’s still not what it was.

I know nothing serious is wrong— I can still lift weights and have full mobility in most planes/alignments, and the pain is specific versus radiating and diffuse. But it’s absolutely insane that getting knocked, and not even that hard, required 12 weeks of rest and still isn’t right. I have a feeling I’ll be rehabbing this for a year. I’m going to try just playing 2x a week and see how I can tolerate it. I have too much fun and really need the cardio.

I will now make this the standard travel plan for red eyes going east to Europe.

The ad is Walz signing bills for free breakfast and lunch for kids in school next to GOP governors signing laws that remove child labor restrictions

I am generally not on the side of folks who are annoyed by various privacy prompts in macOS– mostly, I want to be told an app is accessing some sensitive stuff.

But this is some bullshit.

Apple could probably make a great search engine to compete with Google, it just never was worth it. It might be worth it now, except it may not be legal.

I haven’t fully read about the case, but Google’s search supremacy never seemed like the place I’d go after them for anti-trust– it’s their two-sided advertising market that seemed like the place the real abuse happens.

Here’s something I’m struggling with in the midst of election enthusiasm:

• Barack Obama
• Joe Biden
• Kamala Harris
• Tim Walz

What do these people have in common? Other than being the most recent presidential and vice presidential nominees from the democrats, they are all also genuinely admirable humans. These are role models. Their biographies and accomplishments make that quite clear. The Democrats keep nominating people who should be admired. These are people whose lives read a lot like the people we teach kids about in elementary schools, not because they were consequential, but because of what their stories represent on the way to being consequential.

None of that should be controversial. I don’t think it would have been controversial at all to state from at least 1950-2000, give or take. Yet the GOP points to these people not as admirable, but instead, as almost subhuman. They are characterized as evil.

Evil

Saying these folks are evil is not even hyperbole— it’s just an unserious lie. And the people in power in the GOP and those who are empowered to shape the right wing narrative know that they are lying.

Even if you agree with everything Donald Trump wants to exercise the power of the presidency to accomplish, you cannot say that he is a role model the way these four folks are. You cannot possibly believe that someone who is born incredibly wealthy who is known more for the way he built himself into the brand embodiment of conspicuous wealth, and generally ran failing, highly leveraged businesses is admirable. JD Vance’s story is barely even true, forget about admirable.

I’m just filled with that Gen X/Millennial rage remembering all of the scolding of the 80s and 90s from the right wing about values and character. I look at who the Democrats choose to elevate and I think about their stories, and then I look at who the Republicans elevate and I want to scream about hypocrisy and express my disgust.

I am so tired of the fake virtue and morality of the right. I am so tired of the Evangelical Christian nationalists. I am so tired of the moving goal posts. I am so tired of the lying about who these people are instead of talking about what their ideas are for this country with respectful disagreement.

I am done. Let’s turn a page on this nonsense. We are not going back.

Can’t buy the dip if you can’t log in.

Amazon’s insistence on not using a native share sheet and placing the share button on the “page” versus in the bottom bar is almost as maddening as Instagram’s failure to make an iPad app.