Hi all,
I’ve always written these posts while sitting somewhere within an 8’ x 8’ space in my Beacon Hill studio apartment. I’ve tried a few different variations over the first two and a half years of TOA but inevitably after a month or two I would make a minor change in search of a better sitting position. One day in the last month, I had a moment of insight and constructed a standing desk by placing my ottoman atop my table. I then put my computer on top of the ottoman before getting to work.
This decision has undoubtedly been one of the smartest ideas I’ve come up with in a long time, reinforced by how some of the long term pain and discomfort in my legs seems to be slowly going away. But I think this decision also reflects a certain form of stupidity, perhaps unique to the human race, in that it took me two and a half years to apply a concept I regularly used in a different context – I’ve been using standing desks at work for years. I guess writing at length on TOA about domain dependence is no guarantee that I’m not susceptible to occasional bouts of the condition myself.
Links…
It’s been a little while since I ran through links and they’ve started to accumulate a little bit in the TOA newsletter draft folder. Let’s have a quick look at a couple of things that made me think over the past few months.
First is this short article highlighting an unusual interaction between comedian and host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah and the French ambassador to the USA, Gerard Araud. As the article explains, the exchange was preceded by Noah’s joke about the World Cup winning French team being comprised of so many players of African descent that 'Africa won the World Cup.'
I remember thinking a few months ago that the French ambassador’s response to Noah was pretty good. His statement presents an image of France that I’m sure he and many others believe in and work tirelessly toward every single day. I also wonder if Araud responded because he felt kinship with players who had done the same thing he did every day – represent France proudly on the international stage because that's what French people do. Finally, I must point out that I really liked the phrase 'there is no hyphenated identity'.
However, I think Noah’s comment speaks to a general and, at least in my mind, more important idea – minorities are always battling against the false duality of being a full citizen when they do well and being an unwanted outsider when they do poorly. Noah’s joke is that he looks more like Kylian Mbappé than Antoine Griezmann – his point is that some consider one of these players more French than the other. It echoes German star Mesut Ozil’s sentiment that when it comes to the question of nationality, it shouldn’t run both ways.
To put all of this in a different way, I think at some level these two men are making the same underlying point – national identity shouldn’t be subject to change based on events. The conflict comes in the opposite ways they approach the matter because Araud contends that the French always view all French as French while Noah implies that there are plenty of people who do not accept everyone on the national team as French. I think although both points of views are based in reality, Araud's reality is the truth of a philosophy while Noah’s reality is the truth of an observation.
Links (continued) or leftovers: The Raqqa Diaries
I suggested in this post from earlier in the month that there might be some benefits to finding another word to use instead of ‘ISIS’. This link is from a little while ago but makes a similar point to the post while sharing a brief history of the conversation.
A TOA non-food recommendation
Longtime readers of Business Bro propaganda will know of The Shit Sandwich, a commonly cited analogy for how most feedback takes on the following construction – a nice comment, a bit of negative feedback, and finally another nice comment. The method is often criticized because it sends a mixed message and therefore runs the risk of one aspect or the other being lost in the delivery. Apparently, despite these criticisms the template remains a popular way to serve up feedback.
I heard a good observation this month about feedback that I’ve been thinking about lately in this context – why not isolate feedback instead so that the message is either entirely negative or entirely positive? There’s something to the idea and I’m sure I’ll have more to add at some point in the future.
Did you leave the apartment at all?
Yes indeed, October is in fact a great month for leaving the house. The highlight was surely a pair of concerts condensed into one weekend, Chvrches at the Orpheum Theater on a Saturday night followed by Courtney Barnett at the House of Blues on Sunday night. I was looking forward to both shows and neither one disappointed. The Chvrches show was the most energetic concert I’ve probably ever seen and I’m surprised the synth-pop group from Scotland’s dazzling use of lights and sound didn’t cause the ancient venue to burn to the ground (or at least, cause a brief power outage in the downtown area).
Quite frankly, when I woke up on Sunday morning I thought the prior night's Chvrches show would be tough to beat - I suppose I temporarily forgot that Courtney Barnett has a really good thing going. Her talent on the guitar is mesmerizing in person and I think the crowd would have stayed all through the night if the Australian lefty had insisted on playing solos until dawn. It hit me just now as I was thinking about these shows that although Chvrches had put on a phenomenal show, there is always something special about watching an artist pick up an instrument and play it about as well as it can be played.
Anything else?
I was thinking about what differentiated successful helmet football coaches from their inept peers when I realized that it could probably be summarized in one easy thought – the worst coaches seem intent to prove themselves right while the best coaches are those constantly looking for ways to prove themselves wrong. I didn’t think much about it at the time but the thought has lingered in my head over the past few weeks. It seems to apply in many areas far away from the helmet football field and I’m anticipating having a little more to say about it in some upcoming work.
Until then, thanks for reading.
Tim
In the next month of... True On Average...
1. The problem with the corporation is on the way up.
2. I solve climate change.
3. Let's find my best self...
