I sometimes feel like Santiago in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, or at least a version of him that hasn’t quite made it to the ending and perhaps never does. That would be the main character (whose name I had to look up), for those who have also forgotten nearly everything about the book. The only bit I did remember was the general story arc of the character traveling around the world and eventually finding what he is looking for where he started, so apologies if I misremember anything beyond that.

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Disclaimer: I did not create the software referenced here, and I link to the original authors of the projects (to whom I am grateful) throughout. Also, this is intended purely for removing the DRM on books that you have purchased for your own personal use, which I do so that I may access my books on a portable device while running.

This is a very succinct guide on converting Audible’s proprietary .aax DRM audiobook format (for books that you have purchased) into .m4b and other standard formats playable on most any device.

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It doesn’t seem easy for some Americans in these times, regardless of where they lie on the political spectrum, to remain confident about the country’s future. At least, not compared to those in the last few generations based on what was always indicated to me growing up.

Here are a few very brief and incomplete notes that I came up with while writing to a friend in defense of my optimism regarding the future of the US, slightly adapted. I’m not actually sure any of it will prove to be significant, or that this optimism is justified (hence the title), but I thought it would be worth formalizing a little into this post.

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I got a little behind on the last few posts, so here’s my chance to catch up. I hope that if I average one post per day the effects of this 100 day experiment will largely be retained. I thought I would at least take this chance to log my experience so far now that it’s been a week of consistent posts (and a few days of less-than-consistent ones). I wasn’t really sure what to expect at the outset, and I likely wouldn’t given that the few people I found online who had tried something similar all seemed to start from different places and varied in their experiences as well. There are a few things I would hope for, however. First, a better sense of how to go about identifying fleeting thoughts that are at least slightly interesting for me to continue thinking about them. Second, an improved ability to pick apart these thoughts and connect them to other ideas or events (often from my life) to arrive at a coherent narrative. Third, fluidity in the mechanics of writing to more accurately convey the thought, including the incorporation of thoughtful vocabulary and sentence structure where appropriate.

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I joined my flatmates for a quick walk in the woods today upon one’s invitation, having sequestered myself in the apartment for days without direct sunlight and only the breeze afforded by my window. I would like to think this situation was only the result of conscious self-quarantining to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, but a part of me knows that I have also adapted, growing comfortable with my life admidst the walls.

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I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a video call last weekend that included much of my increasingly global extended family. Even though I had spoken to everyone within the last few months, largely negating any discomfort, the combination of not having grown up in their vicinity (or even the same country), the consequent countless missed moments in each other’s lives, and the occasional undertone of cultural divides I have only recently realized may not be as alienating as I once assumed, meant that I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

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I started this blog unaware of the range of the topics I would touch on. Within the first week of consistent posts, I have already changed the format a few times to reflect this indecision. However, I knew that over time I would attempt personal topics more often, leaning towards events in my own life that don’t claim relevance to anyone else. I find it inevitable that I explore the freedom of my thoughts uninhibited, particularly as this blog is an exercise in voluntary writing. I also aim to operate it with the expectation of zero readership, so under this assumption I have nothing to lose. In any case, I can’t imagine encumbering myself to avoid the small chance of discomfort or a gaffe is a wise long-term strategy.

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Personal experience

I recently read this book (The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion - Jonathan Haidt - 2012) after a long hiatus from reading non-required material, with rare exceptions. As a result, I had little confidence that I could get through it, or any book for that matter. I decided to forge ahead anyway and try the audiobook edition which I had purchased some time ago. Within ten minutes or so, I realized that this book claimed to answer essential questions about morality, ethics, and their implications on modern-day political ideologies that I actually had dying curiosities about. By the end of the book, I realized that I largely got what I was looking for: a framework of thought by which I could empathize with the strengths (I was largely blind to) and articulate the weaknesses (I was too focused on) of political views wildly different than mine. I’m not sure if this will spark long-term shifts in my own views, but I feel I am now better equipped to view those with well-founded divergent views from a starting point of goodwill and inquisitiveness rather than assuming faulty reasoning, misinformation, or stubbornness. I can’t imagine any of us has all of the answers to a system as complex as modern society, so we would all be well-served by talking to those who have different blind spots from ourselves.

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There’s something rather wonderful about rediscovering a friendship with an old friend or family member that you haven’t talked to in a while. It is the fascination of meeting someone new, requiring the unmasking of facets of yourself and the inquiry into theirs, interlaced with the comfort and kinship typically only found in the midst of closer friends, familiar with many of your quirks and interests. It is the amazement of remembering all that you had forgotten you had in common, the scramble to catch up on whatever you can remember happened in the last few months, and also the occasional feeling of disappointment or angst hearing about an event in another’s life that you weren’t there for.

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As part of better understanding what types of music fit my various mental states and moods, I have been trying to find music when reading or writing material that requires a little less cognitive load. For more intense tasks, I generally prefer non-lyrical electronic music or revert to eschewing sounds altogether. However, for medium load tasks that are typically less technical or layered in complexity, the unused load creates a void that seems to lead my thoughts astray over a period of time. Some types of music, physical activity, or other occupations with a limited burden seem to mitigate this effect. Non-lyrical music proves insufficient, but songs in languages I can partially understand prove too distracting, so for the past year or so I’ve settled on music in languages I don’t understand for these settings.

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