[![bioluminescent petunias](/petunias.jpg)](https://www.light.bio) # Town Hall #21: Basement [^note]: [Subscribe to Taylor's Town Hall via email](https://newsletter.taylor.town). Well, I've become [a painting goblin](/painting-goblin.jpeg), minus the paint. My days have been pleasantly packed with spring gardening, family time, deep work, lecture prep (4+ talks coming up), 3D modeling, etc. Quiet is nice. Life is good. I'm alive. But anyway, I've been up here long enough -- the basement beckons. ## Writings - [Dear advertisers, please respect my thirst for novelty.](/ads-twice) - [the best words](/words) - [Foods for Straight Teeth & Easy Breathing](/face-food) - ☆ [long time; forgot to human](/forgot-to-human) - [Concat Arrays with SQL Aggregate Functions](/array-concat-agg) - [P&B: Taylor Troesh](https://manuelmoreale.com/pb-taylor-troesh) - [Why I Write Extremely](/write-extremely) - ☆ [Tidy Dice](/tidy-dice) - [Hyper-Realistic 2037 Concept Car Interior](/stupid-touchscreen) - [Half-Star Emoji (for Half the Price)](/half-stars) ## Soon | | | | | ------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 2024.05.21-24 | Chicago, US | [Circularity '24](https://www.greenbiz.com/events/circularity/2024) | | 2024.05.26-31 | Amsterdam, NL | [DDD Europe](https://dddeurope.com) | | 2024.06.07-15 | Oslo, NO | [NDC Oslo](https://ndcoslo.com) | | 2024.07.04-07 | Los Angeles, US | [Anime Expo](https://anime-expo.org) | | 2024.08.08-11 | Las Vegas, US | [Def Con 32](https://defcon.org) | | 2024.10.19-21 | Las Vegas, US | [WWWY](https://www.whenwewereyoungfestival.com) | ## Thoughts | | | | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 2024.04.17 | idea: hole-digging meditation workshop called "digging deeper with holistic meditation" | | 2024.04.16 | if you don't disclose your baby's sex, you'll get fewer pink/blue gifts | | 2024.04.13 | apparently acorns have no actual corn in them | | 2024.04.12 | stringly-typed vs. strongly-typed | | 2024.04.09 | Note to self: Meat is defensible, but my current lifestyle isn't. Factory meats are no good. | | 2024.04.08 | "That's enough, Johnny! You're grounded. No dinner, no television, and definitely no sousaphone." | | 2024.04.03 | if this gets 10 likes i will steal the declaration of independence | | 2024.04.02 | `:syntax off` | | 2024.03.30 | big idea: a minigolf course called Un Petit Put | | 2024.03.29 | My laptop disconnects from the internet every 15 minutes (`*/15 4-14 * * *`) until I turn it on again. I built a sandcastle to dam the tides, and to restrain myself from rollicking in them. | | 2024.03.29 | Chronic completionism is misery. | ## Finds | | | | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 2024.04.15 | ["leviacene"](https://overcast.fm/+BAwtQa9GU4) complements "anthropocene" | | 2024.04.14 | [♫ every day is the worst day of my life ♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdzDRhTTfnc) | | 2024.04.14 | [fear me, for i am an unstoppable and capricious god](/avp-shapes.jpg) | | 2024.04.12 | "I did some research into this some time ago. We were looking into "bio-light" using luciferase (the mentioned firefly protein). The thing is that that protein emits one photon for 1 ATP (fuel) molecule. The amount of ATP needed to make a 200 lumen plant, is kilograms per day. Completely unfeasible." -- [@teekert](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39999768) | | 2024.04.12 | [say something old in a new way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Interpretation) | | 2024.04.11 | [Nuclear Power Trio - Critical Bass Theory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6TPL_fgUsc) | | 2024.04.11 | [ninja warrior, but it's skateboards](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZANKhLpONY) | | 2024.04.10 | [good dehydration recipes](https://www.freshoffthegrid.com/recipes/dehydrating/) | | 2024.04.09 | only morons and cowards "respond to incentives." healthy people do what they want to do if reasonably practical, great people do what they want to do no matter what. ... -- [@alicemazzy](https://twitter.com/alicemazzy/status/1545394998732115969) | | 2024.04.04 | Check out the [Future of Coding](https://futureofcoding.org) [Weekly Digest](https://newsletter.futureofcoding.org) and [Slack Archive](http://akkartik.name/archives/foc/). | | 2024.04.04 | Please convince my wife to let me turn our home into a [charter house](https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/02/17/charter-houses/) -- [SCIENCE HOUSE](https://www.experimental-history.com/p/lets-build-a-fleet-and-change-the)! | | 2024.03.28 | ["Structured data. Not too much. Mostly text."](https://merveilles.town/@akkartik/111798602704749628) | | 2024.03.28 | a [seven harp ensemble](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOpYPDyIwNE) couldn't hold me back | | 2024.03.28 | This is [/now](https://sive.rs/nowff), a microblog. | | 2024.03.28 | This is now a [microblog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging). | ## Books | | | | | ----: | --------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ★★★★★ | [review](/books#garp) | [_The World According to Garp_ :: John Irving](https://bookshop.org/a/100436/9780593186879) | | ★★★★★ | [review](/books#educated) | [_Educated_ :: Tara Westover](https://bookshop.org/a/100436/9780399590528) | | ★★★★ | [review](/books#night-circus) | _The Night Circus_ :: Erin Morgenstein | | ★★★★ | [review](/books#midnight-library) | _The Midnight Library_ :: Matt Haig | | ★★★★ | [review](/books#dispossessed) | _The Dispossessed_ :: Ursula K. Le Guin | | ★★★ | [review](/books#soil-manual) | _A Soil Owner's Manual_ :: Jon Stika | | ★★★ | [review](/books#paved) | _Paved Paradise_ :: Henry Grabar | | ★★★ | [review](/books#maniac) | _The MANIAC_ :: Benjamin Labatut | | ★★★ | [review](/books#conway) | _Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway_ :: Siobhan Roberts | | ★★ | [review](/books#what-do-you-care) | _What Do You Care What Other People Think?_ :: Richard P. Feynman | | ★★ | [review](/books#upcycle) | _The Upcycle_ :: William McDonough and Michael Braungart | | ★★ | [review](/books#nine-princes) | _Nine Princes in Amber_ :: Roger Zelazny | | ★★ | [review](/books#here-to-eternity) | _From Here to Eternity_ :: _Caitlin Doughty_ | | ★★ | [review](/books#colt) | _Revolver: Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America_ :: Jim Rasenberger, Jacques Roy, et al. | | ★★ | [review](/books#book-thief) | _Book Thief_ :: Markus Zusak | | ★★ | [review](/books#birnam-wood) | _Birnam Wood_ :: Eleanor Catton | | ★ | [review](/books#among-others) | _Among Others_ :: _Jo Walton_ | | | [review](/books#little-big) | _Little, Big_ :: John Crowley | ## Music | | | | ----: | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ★★★★★ | Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile :: _The Goat Rodeo Sessions_ | | ★★★★★ | The Lemon Twigs :: _Everything Harmony_ | | ★★★★★ | Janelle Monáe :: _The ArchAndroid_ | | ★★★★ | Strawberry Girls :: _French Ghetto_ | | ★★★★ | Portishead :: _Third_ | | ★★★★ | Hiromi :: _Move_ | | ★★★★ | DOMi & JD BECK :: _NOT TiGHT_ | | ★★★★ | A Skylit Drive :: _Wires...And The Concept Of Breathing_ | | ★★★ | The Octopus Project :: _Hexadecagon_ | | ★★★ | Sufjan Stevens :: _The BQE_ | | ★★★ | Nuclear Power Trio :: _Wet Ass Plutonium_ | | ★★★ | Nils Frahm :: _All Melody_ | | ★★★ | Nala Sinephro :: _Space 1.8_ | | ★★★ | Jethro Tull :: _War Child_ | | ★★★ | Gupi :: _All_ | | ★★★ | Good Tiger :: _A Head Full of Moonlight_ | | ★★★ | Chick Corea :: _Plays_ | | ★★★ | Carmen Jaci :: _Happy Child_ | | ★★ | ooxygen :: _Puppy - EP_ | | ★★ | Technimatic :: _Better Perspective_ | | ★★ | TURQUOISEDEATH & vmrrobotic :: _Fool's Sanctuary_ | | ★★ | Swan Lake :: _Beast Moans_ | | ★★ | Snail's House :: _Lumi_ | | ★★ | Snail's House :: _Imaginarium_ | | ★★ | Rush :: _Snakes & Arrows_ | | ★★ | Near the Parenthesis :: _L'Eixample_ | | ★★ | Moonlit Sailor :: _We Come from Exploding Stars_ | | ★★ | LITE :: _Multiple_ | | ★★ | Into It. Over It. :: _Figure_ | | ★★ | Hitsujibungaku :: _our hope_ | | ★★ | Hitsujibungaku :: _Tonneru Wo Nuketara_ | | ★★ | Helloween :: _Walls of Jericho_ | | ★★ | Devendra Banhart :: _Mala_ | | ★★ | DZA :: _XENOBOT.1 - EP_ | | ★ | Joie De Vivre :: _The North End_ | | ★ | Frank lero and the Patience :: _Parachutes_ | | ★ | EXO :: _EX'ACT - The 3rd Album_ | | ★ | Drose :: _Boy Man Machine_ |