stupid first world problems you're dealing with

[Squee]

As we were driving home last night the fucking exhaust pipe fell off our car.

[ignatius]

5 hours ago, Wunderbar said:

What do you love about this book and what is it about for you ?

And why do you think people define this book as a hard read?

it's just long and has endnotes. it's not "hard" it just takes time and you have to use 2 book marks. one for the end notes and one for the main part of the book. i found it thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. it's very readable and accessible imo. after he died i read it two more times and it was even better than the first time i read it. i read all his books again after he died. I love the book.. but i like all his books in varying degrees. i loved his style of writing and his voice.. the voice i created in my head while reading. he was a smart talented guy who could be really sad, really funny and acutely observational. one colleague referred to him as "a noticing machine". for better or worse. .he could take hyper self consciousness to absurd lengths. infinite jest is full to the brim of amazing characters in interesting situations. the structure of the book is a little complex. one scene is a conversation between 2 people that takes place in one night but is interspersed throughout the book the same way other subplots are that take much longer to develop. also, the end of one of those timelines/plots is placed at the beginning.. so, it's helpful to flip back to the beginning when you get to the end and read that chunk again. it's a nice bit of circularity. 

overall, he was a writer i really identified with. he did what good writers do. told stories about what it's like to be alive while entertaining. in the case of infinite jest he portrays american culture in a near future america.  it's full of various plots and motivations from all kinds of people caught up in various webs. 

so, when someone says infinite jest is the literary equivalent of a third eye blind album because it's told in a "peppy way" and talks about "addiction" i kinda wanna barf then go into that person's life and try to figure out why they would say something so incredibly stupid and lazy. and then i stop and realize this is just some normie mainstream person with a youtube channel about books.. but there's a comment section full of people saying how he's said everything they thought and will recommend the video to anyone who wants to read infinite jest. 

i find this frustrating and i know it's just my own bullshit and "what is art" enters into the picture. .and i'm reminded of the time i was at monthly some friends and i did at the local Barcade "Ground Kontrol" and before my set ran into a guy who had the paperback of Infinite Jest with him. carrying it around. and so i brought it up because it's right there in his hand. and mentioned how sad it was he killed himself. and the guy didn't know this and hadn't read the book but was for some reason carrying it around. then i remember the female youtuber who was commenting on something about certain types of guys and how they "have that unread copy of Infinite Jest on their shelf" and ugh.. i want to rhow all of american culture into the toilet. 

so, yeah, there's a lot about his work that's in my brain. there's controversy, praise etc. but he's a writer i hold dear. "what's it like to be alive" and in particular an american. he captures that for me... in a way that listening to autechre makes me not feel like such an alien. so, if that youtuber would've said "he's the autechre of books" well lol.. obviously i'd be pleased and would've dumped a heap of praise in his comment section for being so astute and saying just what i thought.. which is what people did about fucking third eye blind.  but this would've been so idiosyncratic that it wouldn't happen since that's some shit that's in my brain and probably no one else's as indeed it's all subjective personal stuff linked by my particular brain in some way i cannot explain. i mean. .third eye blind.. might as well say it's the literary equivalent of the theme to the show "Friends". 

RANT WALL OF TEXT.

Edited April 14 by ignatius

[cruising for burgers]

I went to the aquarium in osaka… just a bunch of depressed and confused animals being photographed by equally depressed and confused humans… I wish photography was forbidden, for my sake as well, would have enjoyed it way more if I didn't try all the time to get the best photo/video I could...

[decibal cooper]

On 4/14/2024 at 12:06 PM, ignatius said:

so, yeah, there's a lot about his work that's in my brain. there's controversy, praise etc. but he's a writer i hold dear. "what's it like to be alive" and in particular an american. he captures that for me... in a way that listening to autechre makes me not feel like such an alien.

Have not read Infinite Jest, but I like Wallace too. My favorite thing I read from him was his commencement address to the students at Kenyon university (forget the year). Phenomenal speech (and also kind of heartbreaking because he mentions suicide in it, so he may have been considering it for a while before actually completing the act himself).

You have probably already seen this, but I still from time to time rewatch his 2003 interview. Still incredibly relevant and fresh how he talks about American culture and how it is at an impasse politically especially.

 

[Squee]

Hm, I'm in a bit of a pickle.
I was in a meeting with my best clients. The stuff I do for them is so much fun.

We were chit-chatting and they mentioned that there was more stuff around the corner and they would tell me more at a later point. I then opened my mouth and without thinking said, "Let me know if you ever need a full time sound designer". They went quiet, looked at each other, and after a couple of seconds one of them said, "hm... interesting...".

Fuck. Why did I say that? I didn't even consider what I was saying and I didn't consider how they would react. The team lead is already checking up on if it's possible to hire me and I don't think I want this.
Even though it's tough as fuck being a freelancer - especially since having a kid - I still love it. I hope this doesn't work out, haha. Fuck.

[J3FF3R00]

2 hours ago, Squee said:

Hm, I'm in a bit of a pickle.
I was in a meeting with my best clients. The stuff I do for them is so much fun.

We were chit-chatting and they mentioned that there was more stuff around the corner and they would tell me more at a later point. I then opened my mouth and without thinking said, "Let me know if you ever need a full time sound designer". They went quiet, looked at each other, and after a couple of seconds one of them said, "hm... interesting...".

Fuck. Why did I say that? I didn't even consider what I was saying and I didn't consider how they would react. The team lead is already checking up on if it's possible to hire me and I don't think I want this.
Even though it's tough as fuck being a freelancer - especially since having a kid - I still love it. I hope this doesn't work out, haha. Fuck.

I feel you, dude. Freelancing for a good client has the perfect balance of commitment/non-commitment. You never have to worry about being “fired” and things getting more uncomfortable than them finding someone else. However, full time is full time. Benefits can be great. But they own you. 
 

[Squee]

15 minutes ago, J3FF3R00 said:

I feel you, dude. Freelancing for a good client has the perfect balance of commitment/non-commitment. You never have to worry about being “fired” and things getting more uncomfortable than them finding someone else. However, full time is full time. Benefits can be great. But they own you. 
 

The biggest problem is that I would have to tell all my clients that I'm no longer available. And then what happens if it doesn't work out working full time for these guys? I would have to come crawling back to my old clients and ask if they're still interested in using me.
Another thing I didn't think about... in about 6 months time I'll find out if a show I worked on will be picked up for a second season. Working on that first season was the best experience ever.

I really should learn to keep my mouth shut.

[usagi]

On 4/14/2024 at 9:40 PM, Squee said:

As we were driving home last night the fucking exhaust pipe fell off our car.

reading this made me lol. idk why.

[Squee]

30 minutes ago, usagi said:

reading this made me lol. idk why.

[usagi]

lmao

[cruising for burgers]

2 hours ago, Squee said:

 

[Squee]

26 minutes ago, cruising for burgers said:

 

Didn't have any.
But the exhaust pipe has been fixed and C1 Seduction is back on the road!

[cruising for burgers]

good to know, godspeed!

[cichlisuite]

5 hours ago, Squee said:

put a "just married" plate on and you're good for another 50k km

[ignatius]

15 hours ago, Squee said:

The biggest problem is that I would have to tell all my clients that I'm no longer available. And then what happens if it doesn't work out working full time for these guys? I would have to come crawling back to my old clients and ask if they're still interested in using me.
Another thing I didn't think about... in about 6 months time I'll find out if a show I worked on will be picked up for a second season. Working on that first season was the best experience ever.

I really should learn to keep my mouth shut.

oof. send them a message and walk it back or tell them you just committed to something for a certain amount of time or whatever... it's a fine line of obvious bullshit vs. a convincing story.. but the other option is to fess up and tell them you spoke w/o thinking and are obligated to hold up your end for other clients.  you never know.. they could say "Well, we're prepared to offer you $1 billion and a foosball table" 

[ignatius]

On 4/16/2024 at 9:29 AM, decibal cooper said:

he mentions suicide in it,

he had a long history of depression and was hospitalized for a bit because of it. he wrote a lot about depression and did it as well as anyone has. you can google "david foster wallace depression quotes" and get a lot of returns.   it's a bummer because he was on meds that worked but they were older meds and had some side effects that can make parts of life difficult. he was married and wanted to start a family so after lot's of thought and discussion w/his doctors they switched his meds. the new meds didn't work well. and as happens sometimes when switching those kinds of meds.. you can't go back.. because sometimes the old meds won't work any more because the brain.. synapses do a thing where they close off to those particular chemicals and the receptors do no update. he tried to go back to the olds but no go. so, he hung in there as long as he could I guess and was still writing. one or two of his friends said he was writing to simply escape boredom.  then at some point in 2008 he hung himself in his kitchen. 

his final totally unfinished novel was released after he died. kind of a mixed bag of brilliance and tedium and half baked stuff. but the brilliant parts are brilliant. but suicide and depression are deep in a lot of his work. he handles it amazingly well and makes ideas about it very relatable. but reading it all after he died felt more revealing to me. had a different feel of course.  

[Squee]

8 hours ago, ignatius said:

oof. send them a message and walk it back or tell them you just committed to something for a certain amount of time or whatever... it's a fine line of obvious bullshit vs. a convincing story.. but the other option is to fess up and tell them you spoke w/o thinking and are obligated to hold up your end for other clients.  you never know.. they could say "Well, we're prepared to offer you $1 billion and a foosball table" 

Yeah, that's a pretty good idea actually.
My guess is they'll either get back to me and say they can offer me 3 days a week, which I won't say yes to, because I know that in this line of work 3 days quickly becomes 5 days. And I'm not working 5 days a week for 3 days pay. Also, I don't think profitable to hire me full time. Without going into too much detail, I don't think it would be profitable for them to hire me anyway. I know they use me quite a lot, but that only sums up to about 5-6 months per year.

[Wunderbar]

On 4/14/2024 at 6:06 PM, ignatius said:

it's just long and has endnotes. it's not "hard" it just takes time and you have to use 2 book marks

i figured it was something like this. reading infinite jest on a e-reader is seamless. the book is definitely one of my best art experiences i have had. And i loved every time Mario came by it was just a joy to read.

[Squee]

I was stuck with a bunch of people I didn't know yesterday. All of them a lot younger than me and my girlfriend. All the girls knew each other whereas the men had never met. I can usually talk to pretty much anyone, but these people were the biggest challange I had ever faced.

At one point I ask one of the guys, "So, what do you do?". I know it's not the most exciting question, but hey... I had to break the ice in some way.
His response, and I shit you not, was, "I'm a consultant at a company".

And that was it.
He didn't add anything to that line, so I had to say, "buddy, you're going to have to elaborate on that". And so he did by saying, that he would consult companies about various issues they're facing.

I gave up and asked the next guy the same question and his response was, "I work for an online store".

Jesus Christ. All this tasteless Ed Sheeran crap and TikTok has really fried these people's minds.

[zero]

10 hours ago, Squee said:

Jesus Christ. All this tasteless Ed Sheeran crap and TikTok has really fried these people's minds.

sounds like they were pissed off they were forced to actually communicate IRL with other humans, rather than hiding their faces in their phones.

the boomer lesson to be learned here is that smart phones have fucked the younger generations ability to participate in small talk, as mundane as it normally can be. being able to successfully shoot the shit with people standing right next to you is a skill that is slowly fading away...future sociologists will pinpoint the year 2007 (iphone released) as the year when society began its descent toward the current phone addicted culture we all can witness the world over in 2024. I don't think Steve Jobs realized the extent of the damage the iphone would eventually do psychologically or sociologically to the humans on this planet when he helped launch the thing into the world back then.

[Zephyr_Nova]

My brain often does this thing where it'll give me a dumb song title or band name that will amuse me more than it should.  it occurred to me to start looking them up and see what that theoretical song/band sounds like in practice.  Stinkhammer was not bad.

[Rubin Farr]

A “full” bag of crisps in the US, wtf 

[ambermonk]

2 hours ago, Rubin Farr said:

A “full” bag of crisps in the US, wtf 

Supposedly there are two reasons they're packaged this way:
1. The other half of the bag gets filled with nitrogen gas, which prevents the contents from crumbling during shipping/transit.
2. Said nitrogen gas displaces air, which makes them stale with prolonged exposure.

Edited April 23 by ambermonk
Scientific clarification and stuff

[Rubin Farr]

5 minutes ago, ambermonk said:

Supposedly there are two reasons they're packaged this way:
1. The other half of the bag gets filled with nitrogen gas, which prevents the contents from crumbling during shipping/transit.
2. Said nitrogen gas displaces air, which makes them stale with prolonged exposure.

Yeah, but the weight went down as well, in the same sized bag. Frito-Lay is doing this a lot now, shrinkflation. I’ve also noticed some flavors of Doritos got rid of the see-thru window on the bag. 

[Crazing]

There are 3 shredding tracks on pearl jams new album - the rest is middle age meh