December 2022
Look at me! I’m suddenly satirical! Read my hot-takes on death and personal information and brilliant ideas.
After my cynicism dwindles, I tend to spend hours watching minutes slip by. Time is scrounged and squandered. Time is shorter than you expect and longer than you think.
You become what you do. You can multitask and monotask. You can make living impossible or inevitable.
Smartphones are antithetical to action. Give your phone a home and leave your phone at home. Also avoid leaving your home in general.
To see Outside simply, learn Toki Pona! It’s can be used as a delightful baby sign-language. Check out my manifesto, guide, and flash cards.
Next month, I’ll dedicate Between Time to demolishing tech-debt at work. I fully intend to embark on “strategic” YOLO rewrites.
Open Questions
If you have questions or answers, send me an e-mail.
- Would it be annoying if I switched from monthly to weekly newsletters?
- Is there anything you’d like me to think and/or write about?
- I’ve got plenty of free business ideas! Is anybody looking for side-projects to work on?
- Do you know of any good interior design or industrial design or architecutre blogs/newsletters?
- Have any struggles or annoyances or friction? I’m in a problem-solving mood right now.
- Does anybody have resources for deeply understanding jazz and classical music? I deeply enjoy the genres, but sometimes feel like I’m missing some large pieces of the puzzle.
- Should I add comments to taylor.town? If so, how should I moderate them?
New Writings
- Toki Pona Sign-Language Flash Cards
- Leave Your Phone at Home
- Decline Invitations
- Busy Brain, Busy Body
- Five Hundred Hours
- How to Scrounge for Between Time
- Your Brilliant App Idea
- Find a Phone-Home
- How to Thwart Waiting Mode
- Make Important Things Inevitable
- The Joy of Monotasking
- Nothing Fulfills
- Please Sell My Personal Information
- take everything to your grave
- Refrigerate Reusable Water Bottles
- Pick Practical Principles
- zeroes
- Toki Pona Baby Sign-Language Guide
- Toki Pona Baby Sign-Language Manifesto
Project Updates
- finished preparing for home repairs
- built a website for my 2023 tech conference
- adapted toki pona sign-language for babies
- outlined chapters of The Robot Who Flunked Wizard School
- clarified vision for secret VR game design
- plotted career stunts
Recommendations
You may skip to video games, apps, books, purchases, images, videos, podcast episodes, or music.
Video Games
- Everything: an Alan-Watts-inspired game that lets you experience the universe from new perspectives.
Apps
- Draw Things: offline stable diffusion on your iOS devices
- F5Bot: free keyword notification system for Reddit, HackerNews, and Lobsters.
Books
- ★★★★★ The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: Much of The Handmaid’s Tale is surely beyond my comprehension, but it provided a sobering glimpse into some of the unfairnesses of nature and society. Atwood’s general take on United States fundamentalism is outstanding. The book is riveting throughout, but its ending secures it a “modern masterpiece”.
- ★★★★☆ Animal Farm by George Orwell: Animal Farm delightfully illustrates how authoritarian regimes usurp control. Although the book seemed to be specifically a critique of Stalin’s Russia, there are gems to glean about perverse institutional incentives.
- ★★★★☆ The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett: This was my first Terry Pratchett book. Oh boy, what a delight! If you like clever authors like Raymond Smullyan and Douglas Adams, you’ll adore his writing. The Colour of Magic covers some surprisingly deep ideas about science and religion wearing a witty grin.
Purchases
- transparent sticky notes: Sticky notes, but transparent!
- VIVO kneeling chair: Sitting in a chair all day hurts my back, so I purchased a backless chair!
- The Architecture of Trees: I purchased this book as a gift for my wife, and holy h*ck it’s gorgeous.
- NÜOBELL Adjustable Dumbbell Pair (5-80 lbs): I’m strength training again! I spent extra money on adjustable dumbells that don’t have tacky logos all over them. The dumbells feel premium in your hands, but the flimsy plastic bases almost ruin the experience.
- IKEA Kallax base on legs: Have IKEA cubbies? Make them more “grown up” by giving them legs!
- Vermirror Pro Comparator Mirror: This optic contraption is like artistic training-wheels on steroids. Watch Tim’s Vermeer (produced by Penn Jillette)! It’s a really, really good documentary.
Images
- kid standing on man’s head
- sexy grinch
- lettuce eat
- cursed snowbeast
- how to troll society as a whole
- puking orangutan
- stop the car obama
- the brown part of the banana
- ChatGPT: caveman dating profile
- missing dolphin
- Mario & Sonic making out
- holy forest
- crucifixion of Santa Claus
- girls when a boy accidentally walks into the girls locker room
- classic Michael Cera
- #fixie
- sad teletubby
- goth muppet
- ChatGPT: insincere apology
- waaaaah i’m a baby
- ChatGPT: on eating glass
Videos
- The Greatest Year in Movie History
- Love Languages: A Philosophical Horror
- How to Make Clay At Home (It’s Just Dirt)
- How to Design a PERMACULTURE NEIGHBORHOOD
- 5 Best (and Worst) Places to Build a Home or Village
- Making Custom Concrete Pavers using Cardboard!
- inside Malaysia’s Smallest House | Romantic Villa House tour | Tiny Garden Home
- Building a HEATED DOG HOUSE for Canadian Winters
- World’s Most Unique Airbnb! Cave House Full Tour! (amazing interior)
- I Spent 3 Years Alone Building a Log Cabin
- Ludwig and the Folklore of Algorithms
- Did people eat spoiled meat in the Middle Ages?
- AirBnB Decimates Housing Affordability (But It Doesn’t Have To)
- See the Earth’s rotation in stunning time-lapse
- I ate 900 eggs in 30 days. Here’s what happened to my body
- Peepy’s Good Peanut
- diamond tom
- Politely asking Genghis Khan to stop killing people
- following unjust laws
- The Five Laws of Stupidity
- Self Help
- Every Disney Animation Movie Ranked
- In Praise of Subtle Cinematography
- Why Amsterdam is Removing 10,000 Parking Spaces
- Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler?
- If Squidward Got Everything He EVER Wanted
- Atheist Debates - What did Jesus sacrifice?
- The Maddening Mess of Airport Codes!
- Man’s Story Just Kept Getting Crazier | Stavros Halkias | Stand Up
Podcast Episodes
| ★★★ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Sight and Sound Decadal Film Survey |
| ★★★ | Freakonomics Radio :: Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing |
| ★★★ | Planet Money :: In defense of gift giving |
| ★★★ | Planet Money :: Spam call bounty hunter |
| ★★★ | Radiolab :: New Normal |
| ★★★ | Radiolab :: Null and Void |
| ★★★ | Radiolab :: The Ashes on the Lawn |
| ★★★ | Radiolab :: The Middle of Everything Ever |
| ★★★ | Story of the Week :: Fake Gay-Conversion Camp |
| ★★☆ | 99% Invisible :: Balikbayan Boxes |
| ★★☆ | 99% Invisible :: The Divided Dial |
| ★★☆ | Articles of Interest :: American Ivy: Chapter 6 |
| ★★☆ | Articles of Interest :: American Ivy: Chapter 7 |
| ★★☆ | Cautionary Tales :: The Company That Cancelled Christmas |
| ★★☆ | Chemistry for Your Life :: What happens to coffee when it cools down? |
| ★★☆ | Chemistry for Your Life :: What is gluten? |
| ★★☆ | Chemistry for Your Life :: Why do foods turn brown when we cook them? |
| ★★☆ | Conversations with Tyler :: 2022 Retrospective |
| ★★☆ | Cortex :: 2023 Yearly Themes |
| ★★☆ | Dear Hank & John :: Major Major Major Major |
| ★★☆ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: Visions of the Deep Life? |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Abram Petrovich Gannibal |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Apollo 13 |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Christmas Foods |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Geography is Destiny |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Paricutin: The World’s Youngest Volcano |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Christmas Truce of 1914 |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Domestication of Dogs |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Little Ice Age |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Most Important Battles in History |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Pipe Organ |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Walled City of Kowloon |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Winter Solstice |
| ★★☆ | Freakonomics Radio :: In Search of the Real Adam Smith |
| ★★☆ | Making Sense :: On Disappointing My Audience |
| ★★☆ | Making Sense :: Repairing Our Country |
| ★★☆ | Making Sense :: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried |
| ★★☆ | Making Sense :: Time Management for Mortals |
| ★★☆ | Making Sense :: Why I Left Twitter |
| ★★☆ | Planet Money :: My Favorite Tax Loophole |
| ★★☆ | Planet Money :: When women stopped coding |
| ★★☆ | Quanta Podcast :: Old Probelm About Mathematical Curves Falls to Young Couple |
| ★★☆ | Radiolab :: The Flight Before Christmas |
| ★★☆ | Software Unscripted :: Technical Empathy with Andrea Goulet |
| ★★☆ | What’s Your Problem? :: Flying on Battery Power |
| ★★☆ | What’s Your Problem? :: How to Save the Most Lives |
Music
| ★★★★★ | Gil Evans :: The Individualism Of Gil Evans |
| ★★★★☆ | Bon Iver :: Bon Iver |
| ★★★★☆ | Jethro Tull :: Aqualung |
| ★★★★☆ | Pinback :: Information Retrieved |
| ★★★★☆ | foxtails :: III |
| ★★★☆☆ | A. G. Cook :: Apple vs. 7G |
| ★★★☆☆ | Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniil Trifonov, Hwayoon Lee, Maximilian Hornung & Roman Patkoló :: Schubert: Forellenquintett (Trout Quintet) |
| ★★★☆☆ | Bon Iver :: For Emma, Forever Ago |
| ★★★☆☆ | Covet :: Covet on Audiotree Live |
| ★★★☆☆ | Heavy Heavy Low Low :: Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock |
| ★★★☆☆ | LITE :: Installation |
| ★★★☆☆ | Lights :: PEP |
| ★★★☆☆ | Machinedrum :: Human Energy |
| ★★★☆☆ | Meredith Monk :: Dolmen Music |
| ★★★☆☆ | Oceana :: The Tide |
| ★★★☆☆ | Petal Supply :: Hey |
| ★★★☆☆ | Purity Ring :: WOMB |
| ★★★☆☆ | The Flower Kings :: The Sum of No Evil |
| ★★★☆☆ | Yung Bae :: B4E |
| ★★★☆☆ | mewithoutYou :: A To B Life |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Albert Ayler & Don Cherry :: Vibrations |
| ★★☆☆☆ | CAPSULE :: Fruits Clipper |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Death Cab for Cutie :: Transatlanticism |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Followed By Ghosts :: Dear Monsters, Be Patient |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Glacci :: Lucid E.P. |
| ★★☆☆☆ | In Love With a Ghost :: Healing |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Jets to Brazil :: Orange Rhyming Dictionary |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Knapsack :: Bend |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Machine Gun Kelly :: Hotel Diablo |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Martyn :: Voids |
| ★★☆☆☆ | New Sylveon :: ZVER |
| ★★☆☆☆ | PUP :: THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND |
| ★★☆☆☆ | S U R V I V E :: Mnq026 |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Seiko Oomori :: Muteki |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Snowblood :: I’m Ready |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Son Lux :: Tomorrows I |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Stratovarius :: Episode |
| ★★☆☆☆ | The New Division :: Shadows |
| ★★☆☆☆ | William Fitzsimmons :: Until When We Are Ghosts |
| ★★☆☆☆ | half•alive :: Now, Not Yet |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Beacon :: Gravity Pairs |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Catie Curtis :: Long Night Moon |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Jason Isbell :: Something More Than Free |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Maggie Lindemann :: PARANOIA |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Neck Deep :: Wishful Thinking |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Never Shout Never :: Time Travel |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Polvo :: Today’s Active Lifestyles |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Rise Against :: The Sufferer & the Witness |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Shit & Shine :: Toilet Door T**s / the Biggest Cock In Christendom |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Son Lux :: Brighter Wounds |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Supercar :: HIGHVISION |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Yan Wagner :: Forty Eight Hours |