— Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

By most measures I can’t complain:

• Lucky enough to be born white in an industrialised nation, with nice parents, a decent brain, athletic ability and OK looks
• Travelled the world for many years
• Experienced being very, very poor
• And for a while was quite rich
• Had some levels of fame and infamy and heroism
• Created one of the biggest memes of the modern era
• Worked interesting shit jobs that let me see the nuts and bolts of society
• Was a sports star of sorts
• Published poet
• Have numerous children (best achievement ever)
• And some ex-wives
• Have presented a concept to a major corporate CEO
• And touched David Bowie
• Been drunk 5000 times, and most sans hangover 🙂
• And so stoned I can only crawl
• Done enough drugs and meditation to know there is more to this than the reality we sense
• Have experienced enough to realise that every single one of us is beautiful and just wants love. Even Trump and Hitler
• And I have loved and cared for animals – and plants, that many people forget are living beings too
• I’ve eaten $200 steak in Milwaukee and the greasiest, tastiest fish and chips in rural NZ
• I’ve worked as a dishwasher in loads of dive restaurants, and drank $1000 bottles (plural) of champagne at the Dorchester Hotel
• Been on TV more times I can remember, radio 10x that, cover stories of magazines big (Playboy) and small
• Inspired a fragrance!
• And solved puzzles like the location of Noah’s Ark and why stone circles exist

But right now I just work for the man, and otherwise drink. Part 2 is coming so hold on to your hats ! 😉

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)

Nothing in 2 years. They started out doing things for fun, and then they got political. But I guess it was hard for hackers to find serious missions, because ultimately hackers are loners without belief in collective goals.

I have an idea…

Anonymous, but in the real world, as in protests and ecoterrorism and animal rights.
A clearly defined set of goals and guidelines (as in nobody gets hurt).
A leader who has legally distanced themselves from all actions (as in Julian Assange).
Open discussion board on the Dark Web, with directives.
Private discussion board on the Dark Web, by in person invitation only.
A top level private discussion amongst secret leaders.

All it needs is some well-defined goals, publicity and a leader. Second-coming for Assange?

Here’s an idea: tag shaming. Corporations that have done wrong get their premises graffiti tagged with the logo of Anonymous or similar. All premises, over night. And if they get wind of it, they will suffer the costs and embarrassment of hiring security.

I find it interesting how (American) people with one African American parent and one white parent can have their ethnicity described or celebrated differently, according to the situation.

If Wentworth Miller (Prison Break star) had become US president instead of Obama would he be described as the first black president?

Meghan Markle is being described in the UK as “mixed race”.

If Barack Obama married a British royal, would be called black or African American or mixed race?

Seems to me that both culture and looks/skin tone are factors in how they are described. More common around the world, people of mixed race have had their own racial definition, like mulatto in Latin America or coloured in South Africa. Mulatto was used in the USA until 80 years ago, and was seemingly dropped for racial reasons, as racists thought people needed to be either black or white.

I guess one day race will disappear as races, and racial looks, mix more and more. But until then it will be a label, sometimes for racist reasons, but mainly it’s just an easy way to describe someone’s looks, like pretty/ugly, tall/short, fat/skinny, redhead/blonde or walks with a limp. It’s just a lazy description.

And meanwhile there will be a growth in “racial identity” which can be as different to how you are born as transgender people.

There are actually two types of cooking, and I figure they should have their own names.

The first is something I can do reasonably competently – put a bunch of ingredients in a slow cooker, and turn it on. Or put some meat and veggies in the oven and roast them. This should be called “I slow cooked” or “I roasted”, not “I cooked”.

The second is where you are actually attending and interacting – turning, stirring, flipping. How you act and react will have a major effect on the results. That’s actual cooking.

Meaningful love tends to happen in person. Two people in close proximity for significant periods of time. And in isolation from others in their life.

• Facebook celebrates how long people have been friends, regardless of if they have ever met in real life.
• Google knows who bought what in a physical store, via the GPS in our phones cross-referenced with credit card data. Yes, really (USA).

The technology already exists to determine who we love, based on time spent with them. And, yes, it is easy to exclude family members, housemates, customers, nightclubs, work and sport colleagues by using machine learning or participants just naming people and places.

The downside is that illicit love or secret love could be outed, so some sort of switch is needed (like powering off your phone during your regular Tuesday lunchtime romp).

The upside is we can prove how much we love someone, even someone we wouldn’t love natively.

Facebook/Google:

Rob has spent 40 minutes this week in close proximity, one on one, to complete strangers. He gets a yellow heart badge.

One way of looking at getting older is the things that you no longer care about. And perhaps the secret of staying (at least seeming) young is to do the opposite?

BTW, this isn’t me and just a broad generalisation based on what I see around me… and it isn’t particularly gender-specific

(age) 18 – stop writing poetry
24 – stop trying to impress your boss
27 – the last time you read literature
32 – stop buying your partner flowers
35 – stop going to the gym
42 – the last time you went to the theatre
44 – stop listening to new music, the old stuff is better
45 – stopped noticing ants on the footpath
48 – the last time you tried a new food dish – didn’t like it
51 – danced, actually danced, instead of shuffling
54 – the last time you went on vacation to somewhere new
55 – stopped buying clothing or shoes that are modernly fashionable
58 – the last time you walked upright, with pride
62 – felt you could fall in love with that new person, but it’s too hard
63 – stop caring if what you say upsets or offends others
65 – the last time you licked an ice cream
67 – the current TV set will outlast me
70 – no more pets, you’ve said goodbye to too many
72 – stopped noticing birds
75 – stopped listening to your partner – they haven’t noticed
83 – stop watching your team that rarely wins
88 – stop watching reruns of your favourite shows
93 – stop caring about your latest new-born relatives, or any family except for you own children

Note to self, this could be a collection of existentialist short stories. Think Raymond Carver…