Journal 2022-05-18

Mid-May and it is now the first day of the year when heating isn’t needed and my study door is open. The trees are in leaf, there is a freshness of cut grass in the air, and there are still spring flowers on green waysides. It’s this time of the year when I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world.

Random Thoughts:

I write something that seems fine at the time. I read it later, groan, and make edits.

Reading to thinking to writing to speaking to writing to thinking to reading.

Cynical and low-quality public discourse in democratic countries has given succour to the autocrats of the world.

The reason that many observers thought Putin was just posturing with 200,000 troops on the Ukrainian border was they didn’t think he would be so stupid as to invade a country of 44 million people. By comparison, 2 million Nazis and Soviets invaded Poland in 1939. The soviets invaded Finland in 1939 with 750,000 troops and lost, suffering horrific casualties.

If a government (e.g. the US) had conclusive proof that aliens were visiting Earth, the information is unlikely to be disseminated for fear of panic and societal collapse. It would be suppressed, with the option to gradually acclimatise the public to that reality.

Journal 2022-05-07

It’s this order at the moment: Writing, Performance (Acting/Singing), Music, Art, Tech. I’m enjoying engaging in all these areas.

Viral videos and images are fun in small doses, but the drug can become addictive and unfulfilling. I prefer to read articles on news aggregator apps or Twitter, wary of the incentives and angles that people take, like a historian might be when viewing secondary sources.

TikTok is like aimlessly switching on the television and flicking channels. Instagram is an extension of reality tv. Facebook is a legacy platform, originally designed for sharing updates with friends and family, though messaging apps are probably better for this now.

YouTube is a great library of videos that should be actively searched rather than passively received, as my feed is now gunked up with spam. Twitter can be interesting to read, after filtering out the crappy posts and comments.

Journal 2022-04-09

Twitter can be an opportunity to read more.

If I write something, I can also read the text on video and include in the tweet. I could use hashtag logic such as #H1C0S1T1 to index the content of Human World - where H = Human World (Novel), C = Chapter, S = Section (Thread), T = Tweet.

Random Thoughts:

Bravery is a smile in extreme adversity. Faith is the understanding that this light will prevail.

If there is advanced alien life out there, they would probably have the technology to hide themselves from us and would probably be watching us. Whether they would want to intervene, I have no idea.

The main utility of social media platforms:

• Twitter: Sharing written thoughts (but corrupted by psyops farms, disinformation, and political tactic mongers).
Instagram: Following a person’s pictures and videos (ideal for celebrity culture and stalkers).
TikTok: Fun videos.
YouTube: All videos.
Facebook: ? Pass.

Journal 2022-03-31

In One Billion Years is Part 3 of Human World.

Choose creative thoughts above the destructive triad of fear, anger, and malice. If you don’t positively direct your thoughts, your thoughts will negatively direct you.

Well directed thinking moves swiftly from problems to solutions.

Journal 2022-03-21

Schedule:

1. Recite my poetry to camera.
2. Perform podcast episodes on camera.
3. Read Human World novel to camera.
4. Perform my music on camera.

Random Thoughts:

I have had good quality sleep when I remember my dreams.

Fool’s gold is a mirage to the senses.

Smaug the Magnificent would covet the tacky gold gaudiness that gangsters and dictators encase themselves within.

It is a choice to see the way.

The past has passed. Now is a new time.

My allegiance is to the flourishing of life.

Journal 2022-01-27

It’s more productive to set myself an achievable target for the day, rather than to work x amount of hours, as it provides me with an incentive to focus and work efficiently. If I really enjoy every bit of the work, then I do it anyway and the structure is unnecessary.

Random Thoughts:

I watched a film in my head as I slept the other night. It was the trope of a lift (elevator) getting stuck, but this lift would get stuck on different floors and let different characters in, before moving on. The lift finally arrives after the characters play out their drama.

If listening to music, I usually dance when getting out of bed in the morning - often also around the house, and sometimes in the street (when no one is looking).

A true superpower is finding joy in most circumstances.

There must be plenty of data now to model outcome probabilities for different political policies, which could then be used as a tool to help make better informed decisions. Instead, stressed-out posturing politicians are supposed to have all the insight based on their current (often negative) incentives and whims.

Journal 2022-01-23

“Smart” seems to my buzzword of choice for this year. It’s very handy to be able to monitor and automate one’s own things and tasks. My concern is just that I don’t want other people to monitor and automate my things and tasks.

Random Thoughts:

Tap-ins count the same as long shots.

Helping others helps yourself feel better. What if nobody needs help? Help the stars by appreciating them. 

The early Christian church was persecuted by the worldly power of the time, only to become the persecutor once it had the power – a theme often repeated in history when the same mentality is merely changing hats. 

The big questions give the same answer: mystery. 

Very creative people play in their work.

Sunday for me is more a day for downloading than uploading.

Brainstorming is data scraping the mind. The best ideas flow from dreams.

Journal 2021-12-11

It is surprising how many times I am stopped in the street and asked for directions. Last night for instance, it was late, dark and raining; all the man had was a bit of paper with a printout of a map - no umbrella or hood - and he was literally miles away from where he needed to be. And today a woman was lost, again a long way away from where she wanted to go, and walking in completely the wrong direction. Am I lucky to have a phone with GPS? Or do many people not know about location maps on phones? Or are they afraid of being tracked?

Random Thoughts:

Turning off app tracking on your phone is a good idea.

The internet amplifies the positive and the negative, so at a personal level, the challenge is in applying a filter in the right place. Negativity, however, is usually the default setting and is therefore the easier option.

Fulfilment doesn’t show-off

I think I have a degree of mixed-handedness because I am stronger on the opposite side of the body to my right hand, that I use for writing, and tend to lead with my left side when lifting or pulling.

My blood tests show that my “good” HDL cholesterol is very high, my “bad” cholesterol and fatty triglycerides are very low. 

My brunch tends to be: soya milk, oats, linseeds, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, dark chocolate – all in a bowl, mixed and microwaved; with an apple/pear and black coffee on the side.

It would indeed be epoch-making if human civilisation becomes self-sufficient on another planet.

Sexy = 2022.

Journal 2021-12-02

Children reveal my ignorance with all the why, why, why questions – with every answer needing a further explanation of something I’ve taken for granted, until I get stuck. It would be much easier to say “because I said so” or “God made it that way”, like in the good old medieval days.

Random Thoughts: 

The first film I can remember watching at the cinema was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I found very exciting and scary! I can remember watching Star Wars for the first time on tv and struggling to read the big disappearing words before they scrolled up and away.

According to a health checkup, I am 196cm wearing shoes, 92kgs with clothes; and have very low risk of heart disease.

I’m a strict vegetarian, but a non-strict vegan.

Fun dystopian fact: It’s possible for a large company to have zero employees and all processes automated. Most CEOs seem to act as talking algorithms, so they should get economically optimised first.

Reading improves writing; writing improves speaking.

Journal 2021-11-25

My story so far is partly one of failing at everything, but doing just about enough at the last moment to scrape over the line. As the years ticked by, I eventually crawled a fair way. I have no regrets or pride, just bemusement.

Random Thoughts:

It is satisfying to warm up in front of a fire after numbing coldness.

Why don’t people read audiobooks on camera with autocue? Listening is great, but it would be nice to have an option to see the complete performance. Reading as a spectacle used to be a thing, e.g. Charles Dickens and his grand tours.

DIY teaches: know thy tools.

I love and hate ambiguity.

[Insert Here] is overrated.

Journal 2021-11-13

To be open with yourself and the world, and not concerned with how that is perceived, is freedom from a prison of mental constructions; however there is a lack of empathy, poetry and charm in being blunt with people, or saying anything that comes to mind. The happier circumstance is to connect beyond words.

Random Thoughts:

AI assistants combined with augmented/virtual reality will transform human experience. Artists could create paintings digitally and 3D print the paintings into the physical world, automating the textured brushstrokes with the help of AI. Exact textured cloning of existing masterpiece paintings would be available as home printouts.

I’ve met some real idiots in my time, most of whom were in the mirror.

Journal 2021-11-12

I’m writing the flow of what comes into the imagination, without constraints or thinking too hard about how its coherence and construction. After a while of doing this each day, it amounts to a body of work I can then review, edit and refine. I’m hoping to finish a first draft by the end of this month.

Random Thoughts:

I like to sit in front of a fire and read/write.

RAW – Read And Write. 

There is always a way, even though you don’t see it at the moment. Turn around and look again.

I’ve noticed that the last few problems I’ve had to deal with have resulted in upgrades to skills, or gaining knowledge I didn’t have before.

Journal 2021-11-04

Experience something.

Initial feeling happens.

Mind overrides and reasons a recommended alternative.

Go back and revisit the feeling.

What is the feeling telling you?

There is probably more evaluation in that feeling than the clumsy thought cogs, which are usually powered by fear.

Random Thoughts:

What is the definition of someone who believes that religious texts were written by fallible men, not God – but who has a belief in a transcendent divinity that inspires the human heart?

Hobbies include: staring at my phone.

Journal 2021-11-03

Wanting to know how everything works can be exhausting, distracting, and fascinating.

Random Thoughts:

Live today before you decay.

If you find meaning in your job then working is living.

10,000 years ago or so, humans had only wooden and stone tools; and were foraging or hunting each day like any other creature on this planet.

Humans first navigated the globe about 1,000 years ago, with the Vikings probably the first to cross the Atlantic in either direction, reaching Newfoundland for certain in 1021 AD.

We are currently experiencing the non-naissance period of the arts.

A painting is not the brushstrokes.

Journal 2021-10-29

To do priority list:

1. Finish the novel.
2. Finish developing the App prototype (MVP).
3. New trading algorithms released.
4. Film the screenplays and other performances.
5. Claim my free pensioner’s bus pass.

All part of a 3 year plan (with the exception of point 5).

Random Thoughts:

I’m now less keen on the phrase “so meta”.

Journal 2021-10-23

Thoughts can cause distortions and distress. Accumulated thoughts can cause a state of mind that seems impossible to escape.

The power that things and situations have over you disappears with the absence of thought.

You can’t think your way out of thinking.

To try is to think. To be is to live.

Journal 2021-10-16

The seven standalone short stories are: The Outer View, Night Fire, All The World’s A Stage, Human World, How I Became Prime Minister, Doomsday 1066, The Viewer. A combined version ties them together as a novel.

Each of the seven short stories have an adapted screen time of about 45 minutes. And they are all connected. The first two could be parts of the same story.

Journal 2021-10-13

I’ve gone through phases of mainly focusing on, in turn: music, songwriting, singing, and artworks. The next up is writing, then performing what I have written. None of the activities are switched-off. It’s just I start to feel pulled more in a different direction.

Random Thoughts:

I’m winning at being slow.

Journal 2021-10-12

Skills and knowledge can now be learnt at any point in life because the resources are openly accessible. What is truly valuable is a learning that inspires the imagination to create rather than repeat.

Random Thoughts:

Artists observe. Intense feelings of empathy are welcome but lead only to misery if overwhelming.

I don’t think life is about the number of points scored, or marks totalled on both sides of a ledger.

Reliving memories of things going wrong can cause worry when presented with a similar situation. It is better to have learned, so the replay isn’t necessary.

Journal 2021-10-11

Why do answerers never say why “that’s a great question” is so great? I also would like to know why other questions aren’t that marvellous, with details of the grade achieved, percentile scored, and marks out of ten for effort ;)