Mushroom Samba
Exceptionally astute readers and aficionados of the greatest anime ever made might recognize some of my post titles. For no reason other than I felt like it, I’ve decided to use Cowboy Bebop episode titles for my grab-bag posts. So, now you know.
What happens when I run out of episodes? Forethought is the enemy of whimsy. I’ll figure it out when I get there.
Ante Meridiem
I leapt out of bed at the first sounds of the alarm, full of vigor, ready to seize the day.
That’s a lie.
I peeled my eyes open, still a bit stoned and tasting the xiao long bao I decided to make right before bed. Midnight dumplings are my jam. It’s a good thing I lift heavy and often or I’d be looking like a dumpling.
The cat was licking my face, pretending to love me, but really just saying, “I love my morning wet food. Give it to me now.” I have my coffee maker set to start brewing five minutes before my alarm, so the smell was just making its way into my room. Fresh coffee and kitty breath. That’s how I start my mornings.
I checked my work emails. That was a mistake. I should always wait until I’m in the office; save the frustration for working hours. Long story short, someone complained to my boss that I was asking them to do something and they were too busy. They didn’t message me; they just went straight to my boss. And she, in turn, told me to figure out another way to complete my tasks that didn’t include bothering these precious people.
But get this: My task is to get a hold of files that they own. It would take them ten minutes, at most, to simply hand them over. Now, I have to take an unnecessarily circuitous route to obtain these stupid things, all because this nerd cries about everything. To add insult to injury, I see him standing around drinking coffee for most of the day. He is definitely not too busy.
’Tis a silly place.
During my morning news scroll, I saw an Atlantic article in which the author raves about the Xteink X3 (the barebones pocket e-reader). I ended up buying it. Amazon (don’t judge me) will deliver it tonight. Same-day delivery still blows my mind.
I love to read, but I don’t always carry my Kobo around with me. It’s usually in my work bag or in the car, and I’ll escape whenever possible to get some reading done. Having an accessible e-ink display (it attaches via magnet to the back of my iPhone) means I can read more often. I’m hoping it helps me avoid my usual free-time fillers: Reddit and anonymous Lichess.
I’m currently reading a collection of short stories by John Langan. I don’t know what I’ll put on the X3 yet. Something different, for sure. I’m not going to bother trying to figure out syncing. I also have a paperback copy of Terence McKenna’s “Food of the Gods,” which I’ll get to eventually.
Speaking of, I’ve been tempted to explore certain functional fungi again. I used to grow them myself. I’m considering giving microdosing another chance. I don’t know though; I’m still a bit nervous.
Post Meridiem
Now I’m home, finishing my last coffee for the day. The sky is grey and distant sounds of thunder make me think the boy’s soccer practice might be canceled yet again. It’s almost that time when I can turn the ringer off my work phone and safely ignore Teams messages.
No plans for the evening. I’ll hang out with the family, read when I can, and then figure out what’s happening for dinner. That last part has proven to be the dumbest part of adult life, figuring out dinner every night. We draw a blank every time, as if we haven’t been feeding ourselves for decades. It’s the weirdest thing.
I have some things I want to write about soon. They require actual effort though, unlike these random entries. I’m interested in exploring the idea of animal suffering in the context of Abrahamic religious claims. (Spoiler: it doesn’t go well for them.) I also want to dig into the distinctions between atheism, anti-theism, and non-theism. Specifically, how I relate to such terms as a Buddhist and ex-Christian.
I noticed my own visceral reactions to certain Christian blogs here on BearBlog and decided that was worth exploring in more detail. I’m glad there’s a hide feature on the Discovery feed.
I almost want to wade into the AI discussion, but something is holding me back. A lot of it feels performative. I see all this “Not Written by AI” stuff and quite a few posts about how horrible it is. Something feels off there, but I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it yet.
So it goes.