Notices by Douglas (douglasvb@mastodon.social)

@skinnylatte did it get punted yet again?!

@skinnylatte I was also never good at jam sessions 😅 if it wasn't on a page, I wouldn't be able to play it.

I've thought about taking up the banjo to try and improve my improvisational skills. Maybe someday when I have the brain power available 🫤

@skinnylatte I've still got my cello. I need to have the bows rehaired, the fingerboard height adjusted, and maybe new strings.

It's one of those things I want to do but I haven't had the extra mental cycles to get back into it in a way that I want to pay the $$$ for the work on the cello.

Since we finished #MythicQuest we're more watching the #SideQuest anthology. The episode about the cellist. Oof.

I play (or rather I used to play and now I keep meaning to get back to playing) the #cello myself and I've seen exactly what the woman in that episode went through. So many excellent musicians that I once knew had nervous breakdowns and lost the music.

It was only ever something fun I did, and that got me into my mom's world (she plays the oboe, English horn, and several... 1/n

... other woodwinds plus the piano). From about the time I was born until I finished my PhD, she was in several different symphonies and taught lessons. It was mostly a hobby for her though, too.

I definitely miss the feelings of joy and passion that I got playing in symphonies and smaller ensembles. But I do not miss all of the practicing or the physical pain that lots of playing brought me. And I don't miss all of the very high strung people who were trying to make a career of ... (2/n)

I listened to the #GoldenStateNaturalist episode on listening in nature the other day and that got me to thinking about what Fil Corbitt, the guest on that episode, said about there being a plane overhead at least every 15 minutes and the sound pollution it causes.

After 9/11 I remember the silence. We went backpacking in the Cascades and it was so quiet like I never heard before and have never heard since.

https://www.goldenstatenaturalist.com/listening-in-nature-with-fil-corbitt/

(1/n)

@skinnylatte I wonder how many people will put lanterns out this summer in Pacific Grove. 😬

@skinnylatte it tastes like super sickly sweet dish water and dirt to me. And not in the pleasant way. 🤢

@skinnylatte

Oh
My
God

What is it with the west coast and bad chai?!

It's all that garbage Oregon chai brand stuff basically everywhere even if they say they're making it themselves.

This is a very small hill I'm willing to die on.

@skinnylatte Have you thought about getting big over-the-ear headphones? That's the universal symbol of "don't talk to me" 😅

Around the neighborhood in #Monterey #California

@skinnylatte I love your tortie! 😻

@LisaKalayji what the absolutely F is wrong with them! I would not be mad if people put cones on every robo taxi hood that goes down that street.

@ai6yr I just assume all digital comms (and these days any audio or video via a computer or telephone) is constantly being monitored in any corporate or government space. I remember reading white papers and slick sheets from various companies selling monitoring tech to do this 15+ years ago. I guess the difference now is someone put the AI buzzword into the mix.

@rustoleumlove @ai6yr whoever can build a service that restores privacy could make a killing on the monthly subscription fee.

@rustoleumlove @ai6yr it's pretty quaint thinking about how before about 2000 an average person could actually be anonymous. Now that's impossible. The best chance someone has is to be incredibly boring today. Those who stand out for some reason will come to the attention of the algorithms first.

@rustoleumlove @ai6yr I'm interested in how much other tracking and whatnot beyond the workplace is now being used in workplace monitoring. Like can a corporation buy location data for individual employees from Flock (vehicle tracking) or any of the many data brokers that get data from cell phones? Do they track family members and acquaintances? And what decisions are made with this information?

@rustoleumlove if you're in California or can pretend to be, this is useful: https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa

We have very summer-like weather in #Monterey #california this morning. The morning fog is here. It's currently 52f.

#CaWx

@camless @MsMerope @ai6yr I've been wondering if the fire is already crowning before it gets to your defensible space with the ladder fules removed, does it make much difference? 🤔

I'm thinking about how the Creek Fire blew through the crowns for several miles when it came out of Jose Basin and ran over the top of Pineridge with a multi hundred foot tall wall of flames.

The house of a friend survived in that area because his water storage tank melted and deluged around the house 😬