Anticipate and Adapt to Thrive
Brian Clark of Further has a few thoughts about change that spoke to me.
Change is unsettling, and plenty of people hate it. But odds are you’re not going to stop it from happening, and you’ll just become more miserable by fighting the inevitable.
Why not spend your time anticipating change instead? Look at it clear-eyed and without wishful thinking, and give yourself the best shot of better dealing with changes as they come.
In other words, be prepared to adapt. From a biological standpoint, an adaptation is a change that helps you better survive in your environment. More than survive, adapting to change can also help you thrive.
You’ve heard over and over that change brings opportunity. And although change may also cause chaos, there’s a whole lot opportunity coming our way.
I need to embrace some of the opportunities coming my way.
All the Small Things
Michael Wade asks everyone to do all the small things today and not worry about the big things. Pretty good advice.
I’m Only 9, And I’m Already In College. Here’s What Life Is Like For Me.
Kairan Quazi is nine-years old and wrote an essay in the Huffington Post about what’s it’s like to profoundly gifted.
I was a 3-year-old preschooler when I corrected my teacher’s knowledge of the constitutional requirements to be U.S. president. In kindergarten, I learned that telling my friends that Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons against his own people would cause kids to cry on the playground. My parents received a call from an unhappy principal that day. And telling my third-grade science teacher that her knowledge of gravity lacked depth earned me a spot on her naughty list for the rest of the year.
The Surreal Nostalgia of Arcade Longplays
Steve Rousseau, in Digg, writes about a unique thing to a certain age group: the nostalgia of playing arcade games. It’s amazing how the internet has not killed nostalgia, but amped it up. I think I’m more than a touch older than the author, but I’m with him every step of the way.
What’s it like to watch someone play a video game of your childhood better than you could possibly imagine in 1080p at 60 frames per second? It’s absolutely enthralling. It’s the past, but perfected. It’s better than you remember because it’s not you playing and it’s not being played on a big fuzzy CRT screen in a big loud arcade that’s desperately trying to suck quarters from you. It is the idealized childhood no one could ever possibly have. That’s the most intoxicating nostalgia; when the past is better than you remember because it’s been up-rezed and played by an infallible machine with infinite money.
The First Real Season
Bernie Miklasz, writing in The Athletic, has a full review of the challenges St. Louis Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt is going to be facing in his first full year as manager of the club. Personally, I think how he manages Dexter Fowler and Adam Wainwright will be the most interesting things to watch. He doesn’t need to be a zen master of the bullpen, just run it smartly and efficiently.
There’s pressure, so let’s see what he can do. I feel pretty confident, but you know, it’s January. Ask me again in July.
Not Normal
Tom Nichols has a pretty damning piece in USA Today about all the recent news regarding Trump and Russia.
This is not normal, in any way. As things stand, more people in the Kremlin than in Washington know what Trump said to Putin. It is almost certain that there are readouts and analyses of Trump’s discussions with Putin — but that for now, they are in Russian.
Finally, it is exhausting but nonetheless necessary to point out again the titanic hypocrisy of the Republican Party and of Trump’s apologists in the conservative media. If President Barack Obama had shredded his notes of a meeting with the Iranian president, or if Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager were sitting in jail for lying about meeting a Chinese business associate — and alleged intelligence officer — to share polling data, that alone would have been enough for the GOP to impeach everyone from the president to the White House chef.
This entire sordid affair is the worst scandal in recent American history. It surely eclipses Watergate and Iran-Contra.
Trump is compromised. It’s as simple as that. He should be removed from office.
And here’s the thing… his 30% cult following of the American people? They aren’t going anywhere after he leaves office by impeachment, indictment or electoral college in 2020. In fact, if he does lose in 2020 (the most likely way he will no longer be President) I expect him to actively not leave the White House until forcible removed by the Secret Service.
Five Ways To Fix Star Trek: Discovery
I watched the first season of Star Trek: Discovery mostly to see if my theories were true and to see where they took the franchise. I was right for the most part. I knew Ash and Voq were the same. I knew someone was from the Mirror Universe masquerading in the DISCO universe. I knew the spore drive was going to be abandoned. After all that, my interest was a bit “meh” on watching season two. However, the Pike-era Enterprise making an appearance along with some excellent casting has piqued my interest. Still, there is so much Star Trek: Discovery needs to fix to really establish this show in the pantheon, make the fans happy, and keep it on the air for longer than two seasons.
Here are my fixes to Star Trek: Discovery.
Fix the continuity/cannon
It certainly looks like the showrunners and writers are making a concerted effort to merge what diehard fans understand as the look and feel of this era of Star Trek and what Discovery is showing us. It’s probably not as jarring to the average Star Trek fan, but it is screamingly bothersome to the diehards.
Here’s the fix: Establish the whole DISCO universe is a parallel universe or better yet a pocket universe. No one is buying that it’s the TOS universe or the Kelvin timeline. What if a being such as Trelane or Q has created their own little universe? What if the red angels (the season two central mystery) are the proper universe breaking through? What if the red angels are harbingers of an entity that feeds on entire universes? What if some event in the past has created the DISCO timeline/universe? Maybe the Picard series will see him traveling the multiverse attempting to fix it?
Make Burnam the Captain
It was a nice idea to try and create a Star Trek series with the captain not being the lead on the show. I think it was an ok idea, but it really doesn’t work. Burnam is the lead character. Make her the captain and while you’re at it explain her first name. It makes no sense to name a female Michael. Also, Michael Steele from The Bangles is not her given name.
Solidify the crew
Now that we have a Captain Burnam, lets make Saru the first officer. We already have Staments as the Chief Engineer. I’m guessing somehow we are going to get Dr. Culber back, but he wasn’t even the CMO. Tilly needs to be on the bridge so I’d make her Helm. Need a communications officer and security officer which could be the same. There are so many no name people on the bridge.
Abandon the Discovery
I think one of the worst things about the show is the exterior design of Discovery. It is ugly and there aren’t many good angles. I hate the color and the cut-outs. I want a new design, so I’m advocating the ship being marooned in the 33rd century and the crew getting a NCC-1031-A. Maybe a Constitution-class ship?
Throw the whole thing out and start over
This show should have been set in the far future well past Star Trek Nemesis. It could have been set up with nearly everything else intact and fans and diehards would have been more forgiving of the technology and continuity errors. Additionally, with how they cast the Pike-era Enterprise, I would be much more interested in following the adventures of Captain Pike, Number One, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew instead of Burnam and the Discovery and I haven’t even seen Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and the rest of the actors do their thing yet. However, Star Trek: Discovery is what we got. Sigh.
So, I’d really try to start over and really reboot Star Trek: Discovery. Set up all the things I wrote above, and take cues from TOS and TNG and tell science fiction stories. Stand-alone episodes are better and provide comfort food for Star Trek fans. I love ongoing narratives and maybe there’s a good one coming up on Discovery with the red angels… I’m just not sure.
On the Necessity of Rest and Relaxation
Greg McKeown, from his book, Essentialism:
If you believe being overly busy and overextended is evidence of productivity, then you probably believe that creating space to explore, think, and reflect should be kept to a minimum. Yet these very activities are the antidote to the nonessential busyness that infects so many of us. Rather than trivial diversions, they are critical to distinguishing what is actually a trivial diversion from what is truly essential.
HT: Shawn Blanc
Big Slip
Stepping out this morning to walk the dog, I took one step onto what looked like a wet driveway and did a full cartoon slip and landed straight on my back. I’m lucky I didn’t crack my head open. I managed to hold on to the leash as well, although Rocco was wondering what the heck I was doing.
In any case, be careful out there.
Quoting Alan Moore
It’s super amusing to me to watch how newly elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez understands pop culture and social media. Apparently, some House members are irritated with the fact that she’s a young, beautiful, smart, extremely progressive rising star in the party.
So, in response, she tweeted out a quote from Watchmen, the award-winning 12-part maxiseries by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
I’m impressed she knows Watchmen and with that tweet she might’ve secured the nerd vote forever. However, don’t forget, she’s quoting Rorschach, an extreme right-wing character who gets blown to smithereens by an all-powerful, naked, Smurf-man. If any Republicans understood that, they might be able to fire back, but they don’t because they are bereft of any culture except Dennis Miller, Jon Voight, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock.
