The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'leaf blower.'
This morning, my neighbor was operating a leaf blower under my window, which woke me up too early. Sadly, I couldn't get back to sleep and I've consequently felt scattered all day. Completing my regular work took twice as long as it should've, but at least I got it done. And I did successfully sign for a roommate's package. With these small victories, my participation in the day is minimally sufficient. Sometimes that's good enough.
There are two projects that I want to be working on, but I don't feel like I'm smart enough for either of them. I want to put the news article recommendation generator I made into an interactive webpage so my colleagues can test the recommendations directly. And I want to get my next few Substack pieces outlined. Both tasks should be perfectly manageable. Yet I find myself not doing them.
For the webpage, there are two main problems to solve. The first is figuring out complicated print statements for displaying dataframe data on a webpage. Then there is the matter of building a page around my code using Pyscript, which is brand new and may not have even been tried before for my use case. And even if it has, Pyscript seems to be updating with breaking changes a few times a year, so last year's code would be of limited use.
Realistically, the print statements should only take me half an hour. But they're finicky and wrapped up with a function that user input will be calling. They have to be done just right with particular indexing. It's the kind of thing that requires more of a clear head than I have today.
As consolation for my ineptitude, I've been trying to learn more about Pyscript. I'm reading docs and watching videos, becoming more and more impressed with the project. For my page, it looks like users will be able to input articles directly into an embedded repl, which means they could theoretically also interact with the WantToKnow dataset directly by inputting python commands into this repl. Assuming it works, that'll be a pretty cool way to make data accessible.
The Substack outlines require a different kind of cognitive rigor, which I also cannot muster today. Mainly I'm stuck on the question of what to say first and what to save for later. Part of me wants to begin with Freedom and the Control Regime, but I feel like that might set a different tone for the newsletter than I want to set. The Covid Catastrophe and Public Safety is another possibility. The hollowing out of democracy is another.
The Ukraine war continues to dominate the news and it doesn't interest me at all, though the global financial reorganization connected to the conflict is important. I may use Ronfeldt's Tribes, Institutions, Markets, Networks to frame this reorganization as an evolution of system dynamics. But that might be too boring for my readers.
What would be of more interest? Of course I'll write about ecostsytems and food and BigPharma. The manipulation of media and opposition groups by the powers that be. The degradation of society by corporate profiteers. The promise of emerging tech to free us from same.
Whatever I end up writing about, it won't be until later, as my whole plan for the evening is watching Star Trek and eating fig bars.
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