Been thinking about how while the media tends to cover diversity in politics as good, it covers discord as bad. Not only is this contradictory, it also paints the least diverse party as more organized.
Author:
Coder who dabbles in writing and is currently Austin-based after stints in New York City and Connecticut. You can find my writings at both this microblog as well as on my long form blog found at the totally trustworthy wormsandviruses.com.
I still don’t agree (or maybe don’t understand) the accusation that right-wingers are part of a “death cult”. I’ve called them a “power cult” before, which I still think is apt, but now I am wondering if “hegemony cult” might be a more accurate label.
What was a non-computer technology moment that struck you? I was just remembering seeing the animated classic “Ghost in the Shell” playing off a DVD on a Trinitron display. The colors didn’t shift the way they did on VHS.
I just realized I have worked in some engineering orgs that tried to avoid epics entirely and other engineering orgs that tried to make every story part of some epic.
Four Choices
Imagine you are a millennial who grew up middle class. As a child, you were told to follow your passions. You grew up, went to great schools, and even though you didn’t find or follow your passion, you got a high paying “good job” at a company that cares about the environment, emphasizes culture, promotes inclusion and diversity, and offers a plethora of great programs for work-life balance. It’s a good story with a happy ending, no? The problem is that was over a decade ago and you would like to start the middle class family like the one you grew up in, but despite being highly paid, you can’t afford to buy or rent anything big that is even remotely close to your “good job”. As a millennial, you knew this would happen. You already paid way more for your education, and are still paying way more for a small apartment.
Also because you’re a millennial who grew up middle class, you have been told in various ways that you have nothing to complain about. Complaining is seen as more of a reflection on your weakness and inability to thrive than your circumstance. If anything, society says you are underperforming. To those who don’t deal with ludicrously high costs of living, you are seen as a high earner who somehow squanders all of your money. You must be bad at life somehow. This stench of underperforming is only made worse by older colleagues and mentors who already thrive in that same community, either because they got a windfall or, more likely, because they came into that community before some boom (or both).
In summary, you can’t afford to thrive in the community where you work and are more-or-less told you have no right to complain about your circumstance. So you are left with four choices:
- Don’t start a family and focus on your career.
- Start a family in a tiny space and risk going insane.
- Buy something bigger and never see your family because of a 1-2 hour commute each way.
- Leave your “good job”.
Authors note: For the record, I consider myself a little to old to be a millennial. I was able to come out of state school with a manageable payment plan, but saw many friends get saddled with close to six figures of debt. I found an affordable apartment in Brooklyn only to see rents spike just a few years later. Just a few years ago, I managed to buy my house before this current housing bubble. I am not a millennial, but I am close enough to see how close I was to being truly screwed like so many just a little younger than me.
Not only are most types of fireworks banned for private use in Connecticut, but also in all of its neighboring states. For these reasons, I never heard fireworks from some ya-who down the street while growing up and living in that state.
Sometimes I miss Connecticut.
PSA: Twice now, I have found resetting HomePods has been required to avoid HomeKit/Airplay 2 confusion after changing or moving hardware — once after switching the AppleTV that uses HomePods for home theater audio, and another after moving set of HomePods to another room.
One more note on Celeste. Early on, I switched to the GameCube-style controller for two reasons: First and foremost, its octagonal gate makes aiming much easer, especially when dashing left or right. Second, I still confuse buttons, so different button shapes are a godsend.
I finally got around to completing Celeste after playing it over the last few months. This may sound odd, but for me it was reminiscent of playing Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Both are effectively fast paced and precision puzzle games that require physical skill to beat.
Sometimes I shoot in portrait mode just to see what happens.
Sometimes it turns out alright.
