And tanjit, why didn’t somebody tell me there’s a gorgeous,
2:48 p.m.
Brennen writes that he asked himself a simple question several months ago: “justify yourself.”
I’m going to take this as a general discussion point, making clear at the outset that I’m not talking about Brennen.
I find that the idea of justifying onesself often comes from a pernicious devaluation of the human in our culture. Heck, my favorite book of all time, Dune, suggests that there are many homo sapiens who are not truly human, who do not match the standards we have set up for what makes a human. There is a certain truth to this, though I accept it in the sense that we have created very high standards for humanity in general, and few humans can actually achieve them.
But I think that generally, nobody has to justify themselves. What, exactly, are we justifying ourselves against? I think people are worthwhile simply by being who they are.
No, spammers, I do not want a Rolex watch.
It’s been a long week. I was out every evening last week for a group meeting of some sort—writing group or book club or some such—with a “break” on Thursday to paint my townhouse. On Saturday, I helped my parents move my grandmother’s stuff into her assisted living apartment. On Sunday, I spent six hours with my animators, working on Matrix Experiments Lain.
I even forgot to post more of the VR story last week, for which I feel bad. It’s at a fun place, too.
But fortunately, this week should be relatively quiet, so I can finish some of my projects and generally relax. I need a lot of relaxation time.