Hi all,
Welcome to Proper Admin for May 2016. Given the length of this post, I decided to split it into three parts- part two is going up Sunday morning (early early- between 5am and 6am) while part three will take its place during the usual Tuesday time slot.
If you need a concept refresher, click here.
Blog Admin- May 2016 edition
Q+A from April- actual questions from actual readers
Q: Can you write a post about finding an apartment?
A: No, but I'll offer up a couple of comments. First, it is very easy to get overwhelmed if you weigh too many factors. You also risk giving trivial factors more weight than deserved. So, try to pick as few things to look deeply into as possible and go from there- two or three is more than plenty.
Second, know all the minimums and maximums of the other factors and make sure you measure each one exactly. Rent, for example, is a convenient proxy measure of expenses but what you care about is likely total expenditure- which would be rent plus utilities plus the cost of changes in commute/travel time, etc- don't cut corners and run with the convenient number handed out on the listing.
Finally, avoid making comparisons unless as an absolute final resort. Comparisons are intuitive but they are also lazy- instead of determining a factor's true value, you only measure it against another arbitrarily available apartment. You might determine, for example, that one apartment has a 'better' kitchen than another, but you might not know that you are looking at the two worst kitchens in all the rental market. Like with the above point, decide what the characteristics of an acceptable kitchen would be and make sure the listings you check out pass- or don't.
My most recent apartment search was two summers ago. I looked for three things- improvement in commute, outdoor space, and something within X dollars per month. The apartment I ended up with met all those criteria.
Today, my commute is trivial (*), the roof deck has been closed for repairs, and my budget would benefit from a cost reduction. So I'm 95% sure I'll move out. I might even take my own advice from the above during my apartment hunt.
*Being sacked, you know? Plus, the whole Hubway thing makes my two minute walk to the Red Line irrelevant.The following things were actually said about my blog in April
'Nice April fools.'
'Even though I still had jet lag, your blog kept me awake.'
'Nice call on iktsuarpok...'
'All Irish people sing.'
OK, so maybe not that last line. That comes from a 2015 video of 'Running To Stand Still', the song I mentioned in my post last Friday. It's concert performances have evolved a bit over the past thirty years- here is one link per decade of the my favorite ones:
1980s: Dublin Point Depot- cover of 'Dirty Old Town' at the end is a nice touch, though Bono seems to be in opposition to the crowd regarding where to kiss his girl. Since this was a New Year's Eve show, I suppose it might have technically been played in the 90s. Hmmm. Apparently, this show was played over the radio and the recordings of the concert became one of the most bootlegged U2 shows in the band's history.
1990s: Rotterdam- A little more going on at the front end and it segues nicely into the intro for 'Where The Streets Have No Name'. Both songs mention running, so maybe that even makes sense. I also think this version was actually played more frequently in the 80s, for what that is worth, but this video is from a 90s show.
2000s: Chicago- Bono gives a speech. Breaking news, right? Also, the 'steam train' is now a 'fast train'. The dedication to the US military highlights a bit of what my post last week went into regarding meaning and how it evolves for both artist and consumer (maybe). Getting video presentations involved is something I believe U2 is credited for, to some degree, from their Zoo TV tour in the 90s but is now a more or less standard feature of arena shows, at least if my recent experience at a Muse concert is any indication.
2010s: Uh, somewhere... The Edge is playing but the rest of the band is nowhere to be seen. A positive? The sound of this version is very different. 'All Irish people sing' comes in around 1:15 into the video and The Edge, being Irish, obliges. He even brings the steam train back.
What was all the chatter about?
April 2016 blog posts
*4/1- Proper Admin, April 2016
I might start doing 'Proper Admin' five days or so into the month. Just gives me a bit more time to write about books I finish at the end of the prior month, you know? Not sure how I got everything ready for April when Friday fell on the 1st.
*4/5- 'Lost In Translation'- Round One, Part Three
*4/8- 'Lost In Translation'- Round One, Part Four
At the end of this post, I posted a 'quiz'. The idea was that you got lost while someone was out there waiting for you. Here are the answers:
-> If you are in an Apple commercial...an iPhone will be used to look it up, possibly among dancing youths.
-> If you are in a Haruki Murakami story...you will never arrive (but at least there will be jazz in the background) and your friend would not have been there, anyway.
-> If you are on the green line...you will get out of the subway system at Oak Grove.
-> If you are in the next Harry Potter book...Ron will probably fuck it up anyway.
-> If you are in a Budweiser commercial...a puppy or a horse will probably appear in the middle of the night to lead the way.
-> If a man smiles back at you...run away. You are in a song called 'Sloom'. It's about sloom.
-> If you are at an NBA game...there will be six timeouts anyway (during which one of those above commercials will be shown) and you'll probably be seen on TV by your friend.
-> If your friend is The Rock...the smell of your friend's cooking will guide you.
-> If your friend is a rock...don't worry- you have generations to remember.
-> If you are watching the Flying V...Iceland will score on a breakaway.
-> If you are at a Republican presidential debate...Trump will probably explain that the friend lives in the middle of nowhere because he is a loser.
-> If you are at a marshmallow test...your friend is going to grow up to be impulsive.
*4/11- 'You have exceeded the log-in limit. Please wait a few minutes and try again.'
*4/13- Leftovers- 'The Checklist Manifesto'- sample checklists
*4/15- Leftovers- Welcome to Blogger...
This post and the one from 4/11 were fun, in their own way, but I also decided at the time that my future posts are going to focus almost entirely on books or ideas that grow out of reading books- I'll leave the personalized ranting and raving to the professionals.
I definitely use some of those checklists.
*4/18- 'Lost In Translation'- First Quarterfinal
*4/19- 'Lost In Translation'- Second Quarterfinal
*4/21- 'Lost In Translation'- Third Quarterfinal
*4/22- 'Lost In Translation'- Fourth Quarterfinal
The bracket zoomed through to this point mostly because I wrote all the posts in March. I currently have no posts written for the final two rounds so it is on an indefinite break. I do hope to have it wrapped up by the end of the month, though, just not making promises.
In the meantime, a number of things that I think deserve their own words-
-> The celebratory sound at a basketball game that you hear (for some reason) when a shot goes in well after the buzzer.
-> The mixture of exasperation and resignation when you arrive at the Red Line and see that you have to watch the Braintree train go by before you can board the Ashmont train (or vice versa).
-> The weird surge of energy you get late in the evening when you have been hungover all day.
-> The weird surge of energy you get when the sun comes up and you have been up all night.
-> The imperceptible (and perhaps entirely mental) reduction in quality of an inexpertly poured Guinness.
-> The strange ability of my sneakers to repel goose crap at night (even though by daylight it appears that this stuff is all over the place).
-> The victorious feeling of going back to sleep after realizing you woke up two hours before you need to be out of bed.
-> The sensation of knowing someone is going to step directly into your path without looking first, even though it might be many seconds away from happening.
-> The warm feeling of a nap you take using blankets that have just come out of the dryer.
-> The act of stepping off a scale before you confirm the final number.
-> The act of greeting someone by moving your mouth without making any sound.
-> The extra banana you get at Haymarket when the vendor wants to round off your purchase to an integer weight.
-> The general shit quality of the Green Line.
-> Prominently displaying in your home a musical instrument that you cannot play.
I did invent a term for a work context regarding people I encountered who spoke knowledgeably about a topic about which they knew nothing- a business bro. More on business bros at some point in this space.
*4/29- Maniac Magee Is Running To Stand Still
A few years ago, I noticed I had a strange habit. Whenever I was asked if I already knew what somebody was talking about, I would almost reflexively answer 'yes', even if I had absolutely no idea (*). To my recollection, the conversation would flow forward with an understanding that I did not require additional explanation and I never encountered a situation where my dishonesty was dramatically exposed later on.
*I guess this is kind of like the business bro thing, now that I am looking at these last two paragraphs again.These days, that habit is largely gone. In fact, it might go too far the other way- where I am very quick to admit ignorance- but that is another topic entirely. The habit does live on in altered forms, most frequently when I fail to clarify a name upon being introduced. I also see it when I respond to questions about my favorite book.
The problem with how I answer the 'favorite books' question is that I read into it a little too much and generally answer questions that are slightly different than what I am explicitly being asked. In other words, instead of actually answering the stated question 'what's your favorite book?', I might answer the question 'what's a book you liked which I might consider reading?' or 'what's your favorite book whose mention will allow this conversation to build and perhaps expand into something to which we both could contribute equally (and) enthusiastically?'
Very rarely is the answer to THAT question Maniac Magee, so very rarely do I state aloud that this is my favorite book. Instead, I usually answer one of the following, based on the question I 'hear':
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I'm a huge sports fan)?
A: The Game, by Ken Dryden. It's about how one athlete views mortality through the end of his hockey career, kind of. Besides- Bill Simmons really likes it and you read him all the time!
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I read about three books a year, all of them prominently stacked on the first display you see in major bookstores)?
A: The New New Thing, by Michael Lewis. You'll probably like it because you've read a lot of his other stuff already but this one came out before his popularity took off. It's about the guy who started Netscape- remember Netscape?
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I'm currently going through a semi-existential crisis)?
A. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. It is a philosophy book from a Roman emperor, generally considered to be among the better philosophy works, as I understand it.
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I have the attention span of a housefly)?
A: Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Many of the ideas are written in an aphorism style, which means...hey, who are you texting?
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I'm an aspiring 'business bro')?
A: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz. It is a business book which focuses on all the not fun stuff- firing, demoting, self-doubt, etc- just failure in general within the context of running a business.
Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I only read fiction)?
A: Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami. I will admit that I do not trust my instincts about fiction all that much, however (*).
*To the point where the fictional 'Maniac Magee' is my favorite book but apparently not my favorite fiction book. This kind of inconsistency is more common than logic would dictate- I'm almost certain the Grammys once gave Taylor Swift a 'Best Video' award after she lost in a more closely defined category earlier in the show.Q: What's your favorite book (and remember, I read your blog)?
A: Didn't bother with that Maniac Magee post, huh?
May schedule (tentative- T/F unless noted- posts published @ 11am ~ noon)
*5/3- Life Changing Books, 2012
*5/6- Proper Admin, May 2016 (Part One)
*5/8- (Sunday) Proper Admin, May 2016 (Part Two)
*5/10- Proper Admin, May 2016 (Part Three)
*5/13- 'More or Less' (tentative)
*5/17- open
*5/20- open
*5/24- open
*5/27- off
*5/30 (Monday) Last year on Memorial Day
*5/31- off
There will be at least one more post (in that 5/20 open spot). If I had to guess, at the very minimum I'll wrap up the Lost In Translation word bracket and try to cover Sheryl Sandberg. We might also get my thoughts on being a Justice of the Peace or on Moneyball.
I am not going to post on the Tuesday or Friday before and after a holiday but I will try to post on the holiday. Not sure why this makes sense to me.
Other topics I kind of started working on but unlikely to show up in the coming month...
Sorry folks, but this section is being discontinued...too much admin to keep track of this one properly. I'll just speculate at the end of the above section, as I did earlier, to make up for it.
What else happened in April?
Not much, but those are the breaks. I finally made it to the ICA, which I'll comment on briefly in part two, and started going to the MFA (which I'll need to complete in multiple trips, given its size).
I took a second TB test in two months, which is purely an admin problem, and after successfully passing the first test, found on the second test that I 'passed' but that my result required a write up of sorts specifying certain findings. This reminded me of a podcast (More Or Less) I heard in April and I think I'll write more about it in a post later this month.
I finished eleven books which I get into in the next two posts. Again, one on Sunday and one on Tuesday.
Until then, hope everyone has a terrific weekend.
Tim
