Thoughts on Marie Kondo from Lileks.
I have too many books, and I’d never have time in this life (barring breakthroughs in life extension) to read or reread them all. I have a twenty-volume encyclopedia of the Illustrated Science And Invention, which may come in handy after the apocalypse, when all knowledge of technology has been lost, and we have to rebuild civilization, so that definitely stays. But I really need to organize all of my books, and papers. My office is a godawful mess.
Columbia was lost on this date in 2003, putting a final stake through the heart of the Space Shuttle program. We were staying at a Residence Inn in San Bruno (Patricia was working in Millbrae), when I was awoken by someone on the east coast with the news. Here were my immediate thoughts, which held up pretty well, I think. And if you go to this page, you’ll find that post at the bottom, but can scroll up to see my further reflections over the next few days (or click on “Next post” from the first blog link). I had only been blogging for a year and a half or so at the time.
Today, Ian Kluft had a thread on Twitter on his recollection of seeing the disaster live, though at the time he didn’t know exactly what was happening:
Thread.
We were staying at a Residence Inn in San Bruno. I was awoken by a call from a friend on the east coast to tell me that Columbia was missing. Drove back down to LA that day. https://t.co/l7nw2rpsYw
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) February 1, 2019
[Early-afternoon update]
Here is the archived version with comments. In that post, and this one, you can see the beginning of formulating my thoughts for the book, though it wouldn’t happen for another eight years or so.
Why Trump superfans admire her.
Like Obama and Trump, she and Trump actually have a lot more similarities than most fans of either realize. They’re both charismatic, they both know how to use social media to get attention and get around the MSM, and facts and reality never get in the way of their message. Now that I think about it, I’ll bet that if Twitter had existed four decades ago, Reagan would have used it.
I’ve posted about this topic before, but they’re not “getting too loud.” They’ve always been too loud. They’re just getting worse.
The National Space Society has come out with a policy paper on it. I haven’t read it yet, but it should be a useful reference for those who continue to confuse it and the Space Corps/Force.
No, like Al Gore, it did not create the Internet. It didn’t even create Facebook.
Not sure I care what the bartender thinks of me, but I’ve never ordered any of these, except a mojito once, when out with friends in Puerto Rico, in a place where they were the specialty. Not sure I understand why craft beer is on the list, though. I’ve certainly never ordered a light beer; what a waste of money.
The impending divorce doesn’t seem to have dampened his vision. Speaking of Blue Origin, apparently this morning’s New Shepard flight was a complete success.
…was a prophet on the EU and Brexit:
De Gaulle—the leader of the Free French resistance in World War II who went on to found the Fifth Republic under which France still lives today—understood the problem best. He thought Britain would never truly be at home in a European union. “England in effect is insular, she is maritime,” he said in his remarks blocking Britain’s entry into what was then called the Common Market in 1963. “She has in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions.” He added that “the nature, the structure, the very situation that are England’s differ profoundly from those of the continentals.”
Sadly, that’s not as much the case. One of the strongest drivers of Leave was to prevent further deterioration and Europeanization.
I haven’t seen it, but it looks like the first season was dreadful, because it had to be woke.