How can so many watch and enjoy inane, superficial television shows? Why does the population focus more on sporting events than geopolitical disasters? Why is consumerism celebrated and the rise of social media ‘influencers’ followed with such passion?
I feel as though our civilisation is being incessantly dumbed down. Our attention is the commodity that every company, every ‘influencer’, every entertainment option wants to attract, and competition is fierce. Rather than recognise the value of our attention, we seem willing to give it away for little to nothing in return. I would like for us elevate ourselves and dedicate our focus and attention on things of genuine importance. Yet we prefer being closeted by the warm embrace of ignorance, simplification and superficiality.
It’s tempting to resign myself as a misfit within our society. To disconnect from others. To adopt a misanthropic view of the world. To think about ways in which I might step out of the society in which I find myself.
This, however, would be the choice of weakness on my behalf. Instead, I need to dig in and find ways to stay interested in the world. I need to find others who are similarly frustrated by the banality of everyday life and engage intelligently with them. I need to find outlets of interest that will help me cope with the frustration of being part of a society, swathes of which I don’t identify with nor understand.
With Keyboard Maestro, you can automate just about anything. In addition to teaching you all of the mechanics of Keyboard Maestro, this course includes a number of walkthroughs of automation workflows you can use, download, or alter to automate your own Mac.
Keyboard Maestro is one of the Mac apps, alongside other automation tools Hazel and Textexpander, that ensure I get 40 hours of work done each week with about 30 hours of effort.
Now MarsEdit has been made available as part of my Setapp subscription, so I’m able to give it another go, this time as a paying customer. This post is being written and published using MarsEdit.
It will be interesting to see if the software establishes itself as a consistent part of my blogging workflow. The big challenge is that there are so many great writing apps on macOS (and iOS), so competition is intense.
Not having to go to work each day has allowed me to really find a rhythm in terms of household management. I could really get used to being a house-husband.
What Went Well at Work?
Another month of not being there — thanks Long Service Leave! Interestingly, I am not missing it at all. Clearly, I have a good mental balance between work and life.
Highlights
Meeting and catching up with a range of interesting people from all walks of life. This includes old friends, people I hope to be new friends, business people, artists and politicians. It’s been a busy social month.
Visiting my mom with the two boys and sleeping not in her house, but in the tent with them.
Watching Hannah deliver awesome oratory performances in front of a large group of people.
Participating in media with Hannah and the boys, and having the opportunity to do a TV interview.
My Media Diet
Game of Thrones.
Star Trek Discovery. I loved this second series, and am disappointed it’s over.
My son and I finished Mario World Odyssey together on the kid-friendly difficulty level.
I finished Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Such a good game. I hope they make another.
I started playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This could take up a lot of my time.
My Passion Project
I stepped away from projects this month, and just concentrated on keeping the house running and having some fun.
The ultimate project - Australia’s Federal Election, is being held on 18 May. If you’re an Australian voter and live in the electorate of Swan, vote 1 Hannah Beazley!
Zelda Breath of the Wild is addictive!
I met some new people today who were just brilliant folk. Hit it off with them immediately. It’s not often that you get to make ‘new friends' through random chance.
My Easter bunny related news: I finished Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. What a great game.
Easter treats.
My Apple Store visit was a huge success today. My capable Genius confirmed my iPad discolouration patch, and replaced the iPad with a new one on the spot. Best part about that is I get a new battery!
Adobe Rush for iOS is good. Some bugs in places, but it’s helping me to edit together video successfully.
My iPad Pro has developed a ‘lighter’ splotch on the screen, just a bit above the home button. I keep thinking it’s a smudge, but it’s definitely the screen. Now I can’t unsee it. Must be upgrade time. 😅
RSS reader update: Reeder is too ancient, its panels don’t look nice on a portrait iPad and it has slow sync. Unread is pretty but there is so much swiping and long-tapping needed to do anything. I might be slinking back to Fiery Feeds.
@martinfeld i just saw that John Siracusa has faved your rumination in Instapaper. A brush with nerd fame!
After using Fiery Feeds for some time, I’m doing an audit and testing other RSS apps again. Fiery Feeds seemed to be using a lot of battery. So far, Unread is winning.
That was fun, spending $672 on car maintenance, with news of more expenses to come soon.
It was great to be out in the bush with our old girl Indi.
The third entry in this series, reviewing my month that was.
What Went Well at Home?
I started Long Service Leave, which is a benefit that becomes available after working for a single employer for 10 years. This time off has been wonderful so far. I have not at all missed work. I’ve disconnected my email accounts, am not answering calls, and am entirely disassociated from my normal work world. It’s extremely refreshing.
Having time away from work has freed me up to knock off a bunch of items from my ‘to do’ list.
I went to a retro musical bingo event. I, along with the others at my table, dressed up in suitable ’80’s retro gear’. I was wearing double-denim, high-top sneakers and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt. We arrived to discover our group was the only one who went to the effort to dress up. We didn’t care though, still having a good time.
I’ve been doing a lot more cooking, and trying to enjoy it.
What Went Well at Work?
Not being there!
Highlights
Going swimming at beach for many mornings, just before it becomes too cold to do so. I discovered that I really do enjoy a swim in the ocean, particularly at a beach that offers change room facilities, for changing before getting back in the car to head home.
Attended a Town Hall session with the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. More importantly, my wife Hannah Beazley gave the introductory speech, and she was brilliant.
My Media Diet
Continued watching Star Trek: Discovery, season 2.
