2018.06.04 - Day 82

Re: Arts/science distinction, I just take a pragmatic view nowadays. I don’t listen to my left brain trying to allocate me to narrow areas that I am supposedly good at. I think that, like many of us, I was put off several subjects that I now find interesting. For example, Yuval Harari makes history so interesting whereas they made it so boring when I was at High School.

I try things, and if they are interesting and if I enjoy the activity and have reasonable competence performing it, that will sustain the activity. Luckily, I was able to make a living from jobs in engineering but I think I would have been happier in something more arts based. It’s hard to make a living that way. I watched a video made by an old professional musician and producer the other day, and he says that many young guys come out of colleges with music degrees, work as interns free for a few years and then give up and find other jobs. Hardly any big music studios left any more - free streaming has killed the music industry.

Lunch came quickly

You eat out a lot Stevie. :)

Am wondering about taking a few weeks (for dream session) for just dream sharing and 'playing lightly at interpretation'. Might be fun. In the process of organization yesterday I found some old audios, and as I began to write out a few dreams from 2015, they were shockingly similar to dreams I've been having recently which leave me with a "Why am I going over and over this?" feeling. The dreams give more clarity into things I already know very well. Who am I trying to reach?

Received an invitation today, another recurring one, but not a big party, just a weekend away with someone I don't know how to define my relationship with. I guess it is more like a standing invitation that I don't generally respond to. But I'm feeling like... maybe.

Yesterday I said to my son, "You know when we first moved here, we used to go out and about more, just exploring." He responded that yes we did, but he is 19 now, and that I should go out with friends more. :)

And then I realized that a few years ago I was hurt (including financially - having to stay in my current apartment longer) in a situation where a friend's new husband and my world views had clashed, and she had treated me quite casually, figuring that I'd understand and be able to absorb the balance. I didn't absorb it well though, and I don't think I've really worked through the dynamics - not the outer ones, but the inner ones/trust ones. This was an old friend, and I sort of felt like, "Ah now I remember." edited 19:30, 4 Jun 2018

It seems like Homo Ludens is winding down. I have little more than a chapter to read. The main ideas have long been set forward and illustrated. Now we travel through history illustrating those ideas. What could possibly come as new at the end?

Just one thing, which comes from that journey through time: "More and more the sad conclusion forces itself upon us that the play-element in culture has been on the wane ever since the 18th century, when it was in full flower." But that's reading ahead. More conclusions as I get there.

I wonder whether Huizinga would have been more or less optimistic had he written the book today, 80 years on.

Apart from that, I am considering resubscribing as a premium member of Second Life. Or maybe my wife will instead (which would take off the pressure of guilt of donating to PaB!). We can't afford two subscriptions, nor anything but free tier. We've created a group in readiness. And I've been looking around the landscape. Where to get land? On a waterfront? By a road? By a welcome center? In a quiet sim with lots of abandoned land? Next to other people with similar interests? Or use the stipend as rent on estate land? It has to be somewhere we'd both like, so maybe an art community would suit us both, if such a thing exists.

I've joined a few writing groups in Second Life. (It's handy to look at the groups a respected friend has!) And I've found a couple of Mastodon instances that deal specifically with writing. I suspect these may be useful for sharing ideas, techniques and tools, getting critiques, and for just generally immersing oneself in the craft. Because one thing's for sure: you become the company you keep. edited 05:08, 5 Jun 2018