Five Links make a post

[yendi]

1. I don't think I've ever seen a Kickstarter meltdown like this one.

2. Via rosefox, a great interview with Merlin Mann that touches on frustration and giving up in ways few I've seen really do.

3. theferrett has good things to say about crushes and why not revealing them often makes sense. I tend to crush in much the same way he does; obviously, for things this personal, ymmv.

4. Yet another really good piece on the women of True Detective (I've posted a few more on which have made their way to Pinboard). Missing from that is Willa Paskin's Slate piece.

5. Finally, a guest post at jimhines's LJ by Derek Handley on Representation Without Understanding.

Comments

[rosefox]

That John Campbell thing is... wow. I read the whole thing and I'm not sure why. It's like libertarian anti-capitalism, not a thing I've ever seen before.

[ron_newman]

1) tl;dr. What was it before it melted down?

[yendi]

*nod* I think there's potentially a mental health issue going on there, although the sheer antagonism towards his sponsors makes weeding through it tough.

[yendi]

A webcomic collection, I think.

[rosefox]

Oh, I figured that was so obvious as to not need stating.

[yendi]

Ditto (in my original post, at least), but it occurred to me that my link could be taken (if not by you) as just laughing at him.

[rosefox]

Gotcha. I took it as "Wow" without inflection beyond that.

[phi]

I read the screed twice and I'm still. . .confused? Maybe I'm not as anti-capitalist as I like to pretend I am? I don't know, but wow.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

I am not even sure what I just read over at Kickstarter. So... he's angry that he offered people product for money, and people who gave him money want their product? And... he *had* all the product, but decided to burn it rather than fulfill his obligations?

[vschanoes.livejournal.com]

We like to come up with stories about our lives that are sensible; stories that make us look good, like we’re survivors of adversity.

When we mythologize ourselves, we tend to amplify the things that turned out okay and try to turn the failures or lack of success into something we learned from.

I can't help but feel that these are the words of somebody who probably doesn't suffer from depression, and who definitely doesn't default to feminine self-effacement affect ("OK, so I'm probably wrong, but, well, I think..."). Because I don't know many women who tend to mythologize themselves in that way, and the stories I come up with when I'm unmedicated are definitely not that kind.

When I search for narratives in my life, it's because I'm searching for continuity, which I think is a different thing altogether.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

This reply somewhat sums up my reaction: "i am sure you are aware of this, but this action comes from a position of great privilege. the truly poor people i have been acquainted with in my life--including my current 'partner'--have been aware of these systemic issues you discuss, but options like 'opting out of the system' are not available to them because choosing such an option would (literally) kill not only them but also all of the people who depend on and care about them, making such an option untenable."

I'd go further, it's a classic privileged white dude cop out: blaming everything but oneself and deflecting criticism with aggression and a common rhetorical fallacy of the powerful: "questioning me is proof you are wrong". Also, the concept of having one's needs met without giving anything back can only come from a dude so privileged he can pretend material objects exist without human labor.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's you. Anti-capitalism is not "give me money to live without asking for anything back". That's what people who have the privilege of being able to ignore all the labor required to support them think it is.

[minkrose]

The kickstarter link was FASCINATING. I have many thoughts, but they're all empathetic and sad, so I will not delve into them today.


How familiar are you with Merlin's other work? Maddy & I are huge fans. I think we both learned about him from Alex Jarvis; I asked him, a couple years ago, "If I wanted to change my life, where would I start?" and Jarvis said "the Back to Work podcast" and he was COMPLETELY. RIGHT. I think I only got through the first 30 but they were amazing. Revelatory. Amusingly, Andy can't stand to listen to them; but Andy didn't really need them. I did.

on the Derek Handley post: I am reeeeally curious to see if X-men Days of Future Past deals with this at all. I'd already been thinking about it but now I'm REALLY thinking about it.

"He’s a better representative for premature alopecia than for spinal cord injury."

As someone with a best friend who struggled with alopecia in high school, THIS IS INCREDIBLY TRUE.

[radiumhead.livejournal.com]

Wow. That guy is fucking apeshit insane.

So he ripped off a bunch of people, and he stopped paying his rent. And he thinks people on the internet should support him financially, and expect nothing in return.

[phi]

Yup. It's couched in just enough pseudo-intellectual mouth-noises that it was hard to see clearly that it's all bullshit. Also I read it on my tiny phone screen while pretending to pay attention to a conference call, me holding my bucket under the money faucet or something, I don't know. Anyway, after a third read (jesus christ why am I wasting my time on this) my thoughts now are that if this guy really wants to live a moneyless lifestyle he needs to find himself a plot of land, some seeds, an axe, maybe a cow, and just fucking try producing all the material objects a human needs to stay alive and healthy. It's one thing to say everyone deserves food and shelter just for being human, and I'd even agree with that to an extent, but the food's gotta come from somewhere, you know? There's no magical fucking food and medicine and shelter fairy. Someone harvested that food, drove it across the country, unloaded the truck, and they sure as hell didn't do it so John Campbell could fuck around and not contribute to the common good.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

This response (http://25.media.tumblr.com/ad5ba94633c97c0e528a3d4e02255c51/tumblr_n1pdrvBkHC1qj7q3co1_1280.png) is pretty awesome and far kinder than I am.

[swashbucklr]

On your recommendation I tried the Back to Work podcast, but I couldn't get through one episode. The voice just didn't work for me.

[minkrose]

Yup, Andy can't stand the voice either, or the general rambling nature of their conversations.

It's too bad, though, because a lot of their advice is about staying organized and finding a job. If I have a chance, I'll try and recommend some specific episodes for you... I'll have to find time to listen to them again.

I have to admit, even I do not love ALL of the episodes. They drive me a little nuts, sometimes, too.

[yendi]

I'm actually okay with rambling in general (I mean, my three videogame podcasts of choice are Giant Bombcast, Idle Thumbs, and Video Games Hot Dog, all of which seriously digress), but the shows I tried a couple of years ago rambled so much, I just never felt they got to the point, and the ramblings were just never interesting to me.

I'd love to know a few favorites to check out; I do have my share of podcasts that I listen to selectively, either because of guest/topic (I only listen to Nerdest Writers Panel or JV Club if I care about the guests), or because I just don't need every episode (I like Jillian Michaels's podcast a lot, but in small increments).

[yendi]

Yup. It's privilege and borderline fraud, actually.

[minkrose]

So, I was re-listening to the first episode last night (during a bout of insomnia), and while the first few minutes are tough to get through, by the 20 minute mark, they were definitely talking about useful stuff, and around minute 24 was one of my favorite quotes from the ENTIRE SERIES, which I have written down in a google docs file so I can remind myself of it frequently:

Merlin Mann: "Procrastination is an effect, not a cause, in my opinion.
It's when you temporarily forget who you are, or who you want to be. It's when you forget what you're supposed to be paying attention to, and when you lose confidence about what your options are for doing something about it."

Episode 1, Alligator in the Bathroom
http://5by5.tv/b2w/1

If I find more, I'll add them to this thread. But I think if you can get through the ENTIRE first episode, either you'll feel this show will be useful to you, or you'll know it's not right for you. But even though I don't love ALL of the moments in the show, the parts that resonate with me were huge perspective shifts, and honestly, life changing.

[swashbucklr]

You are really going above and beyond here! I'll give it another try.