Produce.

Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.

William Morris, born on this day in 1834

Forever.

In a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams laid out enthusiastic plans for future celebrations of the Independence he helped secure ...

It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

The city fathers of New Albany, Ohio think they know better. 

Gird yourself for today's abomination ...

The City of New Albany is proud to introduce an Inclusivity Zone at the end of this year’s Independence Day Parade route. Located near accessible parking, this area is designed to be more sensory-friendly so that all families can enjoy the parade. Parade participants are required to adjust their performances when passing through this zone by lowering volume, avoiding flashing lights or sudden noises, and not throwing items from floats. 

Stop.

Underperformed.

MIT ponders the long-term "cognitive debt" of sucking on the ChatGPT gas pipe...

While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.

An overview of the project is HERE. 

Not-So-Typical.

Dorcas Taylor Jones, the library’s communications manager, explained rock culture and pinball took off in the 1960s with the same loud and flashy momentum making for a not-so-typical library experience.

Society.

The natural gravitational pull of all society seems to be toward getting somebody to relieve people of the anxiety of having to make their own decisions.

Thanks, Kurt.

Recognition.

"In recognition of these stressful times."

Transfixed.

Rubens, Self-Portrait,1638

Good Lord ...

I remember going to the Uffizi 20 years ago, and tourists were walking around like zombies taking video footage of the entire experience, not pausing to look at the work. I’m in favor of tolerating hybrid spectatorship, where you look at the work and maybe take a photo as well. Obviously, going too far in either direction is also not great: If you’re only experiencing something through mediation, why are you there? And the “slow looking” movement comes across as pretty conservative—it’s excessively reverential and technophobic. I want to make a case for both being possible, for being with your phone as a way of close looking. 

It was 1994. 

We had left home early in order to arrive when the doors of The Toledo Museum of Art opened.  

It was The Age of Rubens exhibition.

Brushstrokes.  I can still see the light above the painting revealing the individual furrows created by the individual hairs of the brush that Rubens had held to paint that glove 350 years prior to that moment.  We were there nearly all day, but kept coming back to that painting to gaze in astonishment at time, visibly streaked across that canvas.

Transfixed.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at a restaurant that had bagna cauda on the menu.  I can still hear her faint giggle as she leaned in, allowing me to gently dab the glistening olive oil from her chin with my starched white napkin, her eyes fixed on mine as she continued chewing and smiling.

What a grand day. No pictures were taken. None were needed.

Obvious.

Captain Obvious has conducted another "study" ...

Song Lyrics Have Become Angrier, Simpler and More Repetitive, Scientists Find

Algos.

Has tech plunged culture into an era devoid of originality and surprise?

Culture today is uninteresting because that’s what the algos are optimized to produce. The brilliant and restless civilization that rampaged through the second half of the twentieth century, the culture whose genius spanned the wrestling guitars of “I Saw Her Standing There” to the shoulder pads of Yves Saint Laurent, has come to a standstill.

Depends.

Leonardo, Mona Lisa (detail), 1503

Any general statement is like a check drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it.

Ezra Pound, from ABC of Reading

Mind-Numbing.

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "Nah, man, it's cool.  You just don't get it."

He used marijuana to control his emotions. At 17, he used it every day.

Choices surround us.  Choose not to be controlled.  Don't do drugs, slappy.

Mind-numbing.

Choice.

From a September 2011 post on THP ...

In my personal experience, the idea of multi-tasking is one that invariably leads to the increased potential for confusion and a spreading-too-thin of conceptual awareness. The obsessive need for keeping 15 plates spinning just because it is a "skill" that we have decided is required in order to "compete" (?) is utter madness. Given the choice between a Blackberry and iPhone, I'll take a rowboat every time.

The alternative scares the crap out of me. 

Activity.

Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653

This is the principal point:  with what kind of activity is man to occupy his leisure?

Aristotle

Godless.

Leyendecker, Thanksgiving, 1928

 The American Spectator looks at our Godless Thanksgiving ...

I was recently alerted to a Thanksgiving Day lesson at the website education.com, a go-to source for teachers. On the main page was a 60-minute lesson plan titled, “Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving.” “Thanksgiving offers an opportunity to teach young students about early days in the original colonies,” the plan informs us. “Students will discover the purpose and people involved in the first Thanksgiving.”

So far, so good. But read on.

The introduction instructs the teacher: “Call students together. Ask students to think about some of their favorite holidays and what they like to do on these holidays. Tell students that Thanksgiving is coming up. Ask students what some of their favorite Thanksgiving traditions are. Read Thanksgiving Day.”

Thanksgiving Day is one of three books recommended, none of which — notably — mention God or religion. Not one. There are, however, bountiful references to Native Americans, various tribes, corn, stuffing, potatoes, popcorn, yams, jelly, and turkeys. The Creator even gets trumped by cranberry sauce.

The “review and closing” portion of the “Thanksgiving” lesson concludes with these exciting guidelines: “Have students line up to present their Thanksgiving fact and what they are thankful for. Congratulate the students on their hard work. Encourage everyone to dig into the yummy food and enjoy having a Thanksgiving feast together!”

Dig in, kids, without a thought of thanking the Almighty.

Welcome, pilgrim, to the new world — a place, incidentally, that the Pilgrims long ago fled to for religious reasons.

Grant.

Even dressed like a frail-cat, Grant could snap your neck in a heartbeat ...

Thanks, Kurt.

Be.

Instead.

According to the post, organizers hid over 2,000 eggs and set up a designated area for 1- and 2-year-old children to look first, followed by 3- and 4-year-olds. After that, all kids could join in. However, organizers said participants did not follow instructions, and parents instead rushed to collect the eggs.

Proudly.

Cease.

ATTENTION!

Cease the following immediately ...

• Beginning sentences with, "So, ...," "Yeah, so ...," and "Like, ..."
• Ending sentences with "..., right?"
• Any use of the words "epic" and "beast."