Miscellaneous Discussions
This is a single place to start discussion threads not related to a post. Note the new link to this page located in the navigation section above.
Jae-Ho
Letters To AnOverseas Friend.
…or things I might have wondered aloud.
Fin.
Letters To An Overseas Friend by Jae-Ho Yoo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://letters.jaehoyoo.com.
What I regret most in life are failures of kindness.
http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/george-saunderss-advice-to-graduates
Everyone loves a good contrarian, so…
“Failures of kindness” here means “failure to be kind.” But, of course, before I read the entire article, I wondered if it meant “kindness that was a failure.”
“…err on the side of kindness.” That’s what I thought too, but…
1. Do not grab a razor blade and carefully and lovingly cut open the cocoon of an emerging butterfly. At least that’s what I have read.
2. Do donate blood. Consider donating a kidney to a loved one in need. Do not donate the liver.
None of this negates the truism that kindness is a merit. (if that’s not a truism, what is?) But arbitrating kindness, something we all must do several times a day, seems like an intractable problem. Acting “…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.” instead of kindly is regrettable. Acting “…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.” instead of imprudently is desirable.
Failures of kindness from my past bother me. But not all of these instances were a failure of effort or belief system. Rather, I find the most regrettable instances of a failure of kindness resulted from a failure of judgement.
So, what to do? Err on the side of kindness sounds good. But how about: always use good judgement, and have kindness always inform your judgement in a leading role.
This is more of a side note, but… acting kindly insulates you from so many problems, so it’s a good idea.
Fair. Had a discussion on the weekend with someone who argued that kindness doesn’t exist because it can only be expressed in an action to another person, and that action has to be interpreted as kind. There was more than that, but you get the general tenor.
(Or do you? Why do we interject things like “You know what I mean” or “But you get the gist”? Are those just rhetorical flourishes, or a kind of pleading for understanding?)
And I think, if I’m honest, that I have to believe kindness exists so that I can aspire to be a kind person because part of my sense of moral fortitude involves kindness. It’s messy as hell when you start looking at yourself.
Not sure about all the intended uses of the phrase “You know what I mean?” I’d think there are several. You mentioned two of these uses and they both sound familiar to me. I think I generally use it this way when I decide that further explanation is not necessary: I’ll say, “you know what I mean?” leaving it the responsibility of the listener to ask for expansion if necessary.
Re: Kindness. Say I am store owner. I have in front of me a regular customer whom I know is down on his luck. I intentionally hand back a little too much change without mentioning it. The customer doesn’t notice that the amount is incorrect and puts the change in his pocket. Does there exist a definition of kindness where what I just did does not qualify as kind?
Are you are wondering these days, “why be kind?” As in, what are the reasons for kindness? Not so much that you should be kind, you’ve already decided you should. But are you pondering the underlying reasons for this mode that you have accepted?
About us. https://callthisablog.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/about-us-for-your-generic-site/
That’s probably better than anything I can write, so I would actually use that template if I ever needed one.
Note: I do believe I could come up with something more informative and true, but it wouldn’t be nearly as good. “Good” meaning “effective.”
The Met has made 400,000 images available for download.
http://metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/news/2014/oasc-access
This.
http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-Minifigures-The-Simpsons-Series-71005
Because these happened after season 8, you have to be suspicious. But Ralph comes with a Valentine that says I choo choo choose you, so then you think they might be alright.
Mostly, I find the Simpsons represented in anything other than 2D, elusively lurid (see Lego episode, the treehouse of horror VI 3d, the Spanish ads), if that’s possible. It’s an interesting discussion topic but to wrap it up, I’ll just say I think the Lego Simpsons are kind of fugly because they lack the aesthetic charm of the cartoon.
For no reason at all:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9g7fr_%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0-%E5%A4%A7%E9%83%BD%E4%BC%9A_music
I should view that video more often than I do.
That positive lifting at the end of the song is key. I don’t know what they are saying, but I know the song is about the big city and that uplift that closes this gritty song says that you’re gonna make it, kiddo.
From the Grantland write up of NBA finals, game 3:
We think of the floater, we think of Tony Parker. The teardrop. But last night it was another Spur who took the art form and ran with it, surprising everyone — maybe, probably, especially himself. Danny Green, like most of the Spurs last night, turned into a Hindu rain god and stomped all over it on his elephant mount.
And he can’t possibly keep playing this horribly. Right? Chalmers is the blind squirrel, and he’s due to find a nut somewhere here.
Me: hey, what kind of phone do you have?
Pop: phone?
Me: yeah. Cell phone
Pop: Motorola Razr
Me: gtfoh
Me: those phones are like 30 years old
Me: why don’t you have a better phone?
Me: I have an iPhone 5.
Me: why is my phone better than gregg popovich’s?
Pop: what does your phone do that mine doesn’t do?
Me: basically everything. It goes on the Internet, it has Flappy Bird
Pop: Can you call people?
Me: yes
Pop: Can you call the bank?
Me: yes
Pop: when you call the bank do they tell you that you’re a millionaire, because that’s what happens when I call the bank on my phone.
Me: :/
Pop: my phone is better
Pop: but at least you have a Flappy Bird
Me: bye pop
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/courses-and-workshops/make-it-knife-carving-workshop
Did you take this course?
I didn’t. I missed it completely which is especially vexing as I was also considering his £120 course.
In summation, I did not and wish I did.
Have you tried just carving stuff?
That was meant to be a nested reply. Oh well.
https://www.facebook.com/SimpsonsQuotesThatNobodyGetsAnymore?fref=photo
I know I keep going on about this guy, but…
http://grantland.com/features/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-netherlands-barclays-premier-league-2014/
Yes. Brian Phillips is gold.
Never heard of Van Gaal. Sure, you say, because it’s soccer. True, but I have heard of Mourinho, who, as far as I can tell, is a much less attention grabbing personality and, there doesn’t seem to be solidly compelling reasons why it should be so that I am aware of his existence but not of the existence of Van Gaal. Recent success? Resemblance to pastry chefs? Resemblance to pastry?
Perhaps Phillips has unearthed and highlighted a worthy character to a certain (read: non-soccer) audience, which seems to be one of the founding tenets of Grantland. And/or his writing of the character is much more interesting than the person. Which would bring us back to… Yes. Brian Phillips is gold.
I don’t know if I’m mis-remembering, but it seems the reply button has disappeared. Was there a reply button? This seems a weird thing to remember improperly, but I have the faint echo of the word reply being at the end of the posts. Or did I always comment by first clicking the post title, and then filling in the reply form?
I don’t think there ever was a reply link on the home page. You probably clicked through to the post first. Which would mean a fantastic failure of presence on your part. Or mine… but I’m pretty sure there never was one.
Since we are on the subject… Should I add that feature? I think it would improve usability, but might it be more work for me for something unnecessary?
If it would help, how should I go about it? Keep it the way it is, with these exceptions?:
If no comments, there’s a link that says “Leave a comment”
Clicking this or the “number of comments link” would open the comment section without leaving the page. Better? A little better? Not better at all?
If no comments, a link that says simply “Comment” would be useful. Going back to the top of a post, clicking it, then scrolling back to the bottom to leave a comment is a bit arduous. Enough for me not to comment? No. At least, not so far.
Can’t have you not commenting. So done and done.
http://devour.com/video/dave-chappelle-returns-to-hartford/
Brian Phillips on Federer.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/roger-federer-zeppelins-monfils-us-open/
Rodger Federer is the Tom Brady of tennis players.
Raphael Nadal (23-10) is bro-brow and The New York Giants (2-0) are flawed. Cool and stylish Platonic ideals they ain’t.
I like Federer but I love a good “greatness under what lens?” analysis.
I know, Brian Phillips doesn’t go anywhere near that angle. He only comments on the irresistible Federer allure. And Mr. Phillips does it again.
http://benschmidt.org/Simpsons/
Very cool, I especially like the explanation, but the graph often doesn’t make sense.
Your boy Genndy is making a Popeye movie.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Popeye-Looks-Way-Sleeker-Way-More-Modern-First-Footage-67290.html
I want to start a website that is just Brian Phillips writing about anything. http://grantland.com/the-triangle/katie-ledecky-athlete-best-swimmer/
Well shit.
http://www.runofplay.com/brian-phillips/
Thoughts on fatherhood?