# December 2022

Look at me! I'm suddenly satirical! Read my hot-takes on [death](/to-your-grave) and [personal information](/please-sell-my-personal-information) and [brilliant ideas](/brilliant-app-idea).

After my cynicism dwindles, I tend to spend hours watching minutes slip by. Time is [scrounged](/between-time) and [squandered](/waiting-mode). Time is [shorter than you expect](/500-hours) and [longer than you think](/zeroes).

You [become what you do](/pick-practical-principles). You can [multitask](/busy-body) and [monotask](/monotasking). You can make living [impossible](/nothing-fulfills) or [inevitable](/make-important-things-inevitable).

Smartphones are antithetical to action. [Give your phone a home](/phone-home) and [leave your phone at home](/leave-your-phone-at-home). Also [avoid leaving your home](/decline-invitations) in general.

To see Outside simply, learn Toki Pona! It's can be used as a delightful baby sign-language. Check out my [manifesto](/tpbsl-manifesto), [guide](/tpbsl-guide), and [flash cards](/tpbsl-flash-cards).

Next month, I'll dedicate [Between Time](/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](mailto:hello@taylor.town)._

- 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](/tpbsl-flash-cards)
- [Leave Your Phone at Home](/leave-your-phone-at-home)
- [Decline Invitations](/decline-invitations)
- [Busy Brain, Busy Body](/busy-body)
- [Five Hundred Hours](/500-hours)
- [How to Scrounge for Between Time](/between-time)
- [Your Brilliant App Idea](/brilliant-app-idea)
- [Find a Phone-Home](/phone-home)
- [How to Thwart Waiting Mode](/waiting-mode)
- [Make Important Things Inevitable](/make-important-things-inevitable)
- [The Joy of Monotasking](/monotasking)
- [Nothing Fulfills](/nothing-fulfills)
- [Please Sell My Personal Information](/please-sell-my-personal-information)
- [take everything to your grave](/to-your-grave)
- [Refrigerate Reusable Water Bottles](/refrigerate-reusable-water-bottles)
- [Pick Practical Principles](/pick-practical-principles)
- [zeroes](/zeroes)
- [Toki Pona Baby Sign-Language Guide](/tpbsl-guide)
- [Toki Pona Baby Sign-Language Manifesto](/tpbsl-manifesto)

---

## Project Updates

- finished preparing for home repairs
- built a website for my 2023 tech conference
- [adapted toki pona sign-language for babies](/tpbsl-guide)
- outlined chapters of _The Robot Who Flunked Wizard School_
- clarified vision for secret VR game design
- plotted career stunts

---

## Recommendations

[^note]: _You may skip to [video games](#video-games), [apps](#apps), [books](#books), [purchases](#purchases), [images](#images), [videos](#videos), [podcast episodes](#podcast-episodes), or [music](#music)._

### Video Games {video-games}

- [Everything](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHp8LwBUzo): an Alan-Watts-inspired game that lets you experience the universe from new perspectives.

### Apps {apps}

- [Draw Things](https://draw.nnc.ai): offline stable diffusion on your iOS devices
- [F5Bot](https://f5bot.com): free keyword notification system for [Reddit](https://reddit.com), [HackerNews](https://news.ycombinator.com), and [Lobsters](https://lobste.rs).

### Books {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 {purchases}

- **[transparent sticky notes](https://www.amazon.com/Transparent-Sticky-Notes-Self-Adhesive-Translucent/dp/B09XK8FCHC/ref=sr_1_5):** Sticky notes, but _transparent_!
- **[VIVO kneeling chair](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H1CLK1G?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details):** Sitting in a chair all day hurts my back, so I purchased a backless chair!
- **[_The Architecture of Trees_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616898062?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details):** I purchased this book as a gift for my wife, and _holy h\*ck_ it's gorgeous.
- **[NÜOBELL Adjustable Dumbbell Pair (5-80 lbs)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB8D5VTW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details):** 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](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kallax-base-on-legs-white-40501892/):** Have IKEA cubbies? Make them more "grown up" by giving them legs!
- **[Vermirror Pro Comparator Mirror](https://vermirror.com/products/comparator-mirror):** This optic contraption is like artistic training-wheels on steroids. Watch [Tim's Vermeer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim%27s_Vermeer) (produced by Penn Jillette)! It's a really, really good documentary.

### Images {images}

- [kid standing on man's head](/r6xuxpra193a1.jpg)
- [sexy grinch](/ihh8sfqong3a1.png)
- [lettuce eat](/ltf0f4fmh98a1.jpg)
- [cursed snowbeast](/6lfwbrtn8i5a1.jpg)
- [how to troll society as a whole](/wzgz6adj6yb91.jpg)
- [puking orangutan](/cgf1ub3gil3a1.jpg)
- [stop the car obama](/aogccossps491.png)
- [the brown part of the banana](https://i.redd.it/pzon4nwgt0491.gif)
- [ChatGPT: caveman dating profile](/3jhwzervf94a1.jpg)
- [missing dolphin](/tzeua4kqrj5a1.jpg)
- [Mario & Sonic making out](/gmwwfrufon3a1.jpg)
- [holy forest](/ifmdqhjapd5a1.jpg)
- [crucifixion of Santa Claus](/tjdd5kwy393a1.png)
- [girls when a boy accidentally walks into the girls locker room](/uy5cdd0mnkp91.jpg)
- [classic Michael Cera](/uz2l9g4l8b3a1.jpg)
- [#fixie](/wwbe90r3gz361.jpg)
- [sad teletubby](/dw6t5ow5z38a1.jpg)
- [goth muppet](/mnavv8f5gh5a1.png)
- [ChatGPT: insincere apology](/rgo9c4b2fb4a1.png)
- [waaaaah i'm a baby](/fu694kcqtet91.jpg)
- [ChatGPT: on eating glass](/rk5kmgul954a1.png)

### Videos {videos}

- [The Greatest Year in Movie History](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mWK0mitlT8)
- [Love Languages: A Philosophical Horror](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD6KJ_ThZio)
- [How to Make Clay At Home (It's Just Dirt)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca20JkKFAcE)
- [How to Design a PERMACULTURE NEIGHBORHOOD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R-fAc0wl10)
- [5 Best (and Worst) Places to Build a Home or Village](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Trz6NvsUQQ)
- [Making Custom Concrete Pavers using Cardboard!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVqZHD-L8Rc)
- [inside Malaysia's Smallest House | Romantic Villa House tour | Tiny Garden Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6R_tW9w3ao)
- [Building a HEATED DOG HOUSE for Canadian Winters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCOtWEFA6nc)
- [World's Most Unique Airbnb! Cave House Full Tour! (amazing interior)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51VefAxafug)
- [I Spent 3 Years Alone Building a Log Cabin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtiaSn5iCg8)
- [Ludwig and the Folklore of Algorithms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVoZY9wTdY)
- [Did people eat spoiled meat in the Middle Ages?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrPnx5P7SsA)
- [AirBnB Decimates Housing Affordability (But It Doesn't Have To)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1VeEGCzqn4)
- [See the Earth's rotation in stunning time-lapse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkTdm3Ymjbw)
- [I ate 900 eggs in 30 days. Here's what happened to my body](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hh25TRG8p4)
- [Peepy's Good Peanut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMlLBAAUxYs)
- [diamond tom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mauUc4fH7sQ)
- [Politely asking Genghis Khan to stop killing people](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGDKO5xuJow)
- [following unjust laws](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmpYVbNDJc)
- [The Five Laws of Stupidity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O9FFrLpinQ)
- [Self Help](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er6aIaoxl8M)
- [Every Disney Animation Movie Ranked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQzYtSYKAo)
- [In Praise of Subtle Cinematography](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpcB9GiOJz4)
- [Why Amsterdam is Removing 10,000 Parking Spaces](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXLqrMljdfU)
- [Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RMdwA8GWB8)
- [If Squidward Got Everything He EVER Wanted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8BG-41Ahm0)
- [Atheist Debates - What did Jesus sacrifice?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOyyXMg5xBE)
- [The Maddening Mess of Airport Codes!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfOUVYQnuhw)
- [Man's Story Just Kept Getting Crazier | Stavros Halkias | Stand Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1SzFw99d4)

### Podcast Episodes {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 {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_ |