advice from the practical(ˈpraktək(ə)l)

the shop, and the soul(sōl)

By Henry H. Walker

in shop class my student realizes she is capable(ˈkāpəbəl),
she learns how to use machines
to cut, to drill(dril), to shape wood into a useful form,
a form she conceived(kənˈsēv) and achieved,
something more real than the dance of pixels(ˈpiksəl) on a screen,
even more real than the dance of those words
I so dearly love, in books and writing,
words which are grounded in the concrete, at their best,
but still beyond touch and concrete substance(ˈsəbstəns),

today our cars are engineered(ˌenjəˈni(ə)r) beyond our tinkering(ˈtiNGkər),
our food usually has a store between it and the ground,
our appliances(əˈplīəns) warn us not to attempt their fixing,
or even opening them at all,
instead of knowing where we are
and finding the way ourselves to where we want to go
with a map, with signs, with dead reckoning(ˈrekəniNG),
we become servants(ˈsərvənt) to our GPS,
let it find the way that we slavishly(ˈslāviSHlē) follow,
and woe(wō) to us if it is suddenly not there,

I want to figure the way myself, when I can,
on the road, in the wood, in my life,

the girl at the first of this poem
finds out in shop class
that she is not a princess,
for whom others toil(toil),
but instead she is a mover and shaker
who can do more than she thought,
if she but will,
the practical shouts at us to learn our world,
to know our world,
to open ourselves to be actors in our own play.

https://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/2020/03/advice-from-practical.html

Texas(ˈteksəs) emergency room doctor self-quarantines(ˈkwôrənˌtēn) in his kids’ backyard treehouse

By Ashlee Burns

Many healthcare workers are taking precautions(prəˈkôSH(ə)n) to protect their families from exposure(ikˈspōZHər) to COVID-19(Coronavirus disease(dəˈzēz)), but a Corpus(ˈkôrpəs) Christi emergency room doctor is taking self-isolation(ˌīsəˈlāSHən) to another level.

Jason(ˈjāsən) Barnes, 39, is a physician(fəˈziSHən) at Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville and Christus Spohn Hospital South. He couldn’t risk exposing his wife, Jenna, and sons, Stiles(stīl) and Bentley, to the coronavirus, so he packed his things and made his kids’ backyard treehouse a temporary(ˈtempəˌrerē) home.

Working in the emergency room, Barnes has treated patients who came in for problems, such as a hurt leg, only to find out they were infected with coronavirus.

“The main reason I’m isolating from my family because I’ve been treating patients with the virus,” Barnes said. “My wife and kids often get sick with things I bring home from the hospital, and many times in the emergency department, we get caught off guard with patients.”

Barnes has spent nearly three weeks in the cabin(ˈkabən) treehouse. He often shouts down to his kids or sometimes goes up to the glass door of their home to ask for something.

…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-emergency-room-doctor-self-quarantines-in-his-kids-backyard-treehouse/ar-BB12Ytjl

Sassy(ˈsasē) Cow(kou) Creamery(ˈkrēm(ə)rē): Wisconsin(wisˈkänsən) business provides free milk using a ‘kindness cooler(ˈko͞olər)’

By Alaa Elassar

A Wisconsin creamery is providing free milk to community members struggling during the coronavirus pandemic(panˈdemik).

Sassy Cow Creamery, owned by brothers James(jāmz) and Robert Baerwolf, in Columbus(kəˈləmbəs), Wisconsin is keeping a refrigerator(rəˈfrijəˌrādər) outside of their store fully stocked with milk and other dairy(ˈde(ə)rē) products.

The refrigerator, called the “Kindness Cooler,” is available to anyone in need of milk and will be fully stocked until the end of the pandemic.

“My three daughters got the idea after being home from school for so long,” James Baerwolf told CNN. “They had a lot of time on their hands and were looking for ways to help out the community and that’s what they came up with.”

The family introduced the Kindness Cooler at the end of March(märCH), “when things started going to pieces,” James Baerwolf said. Demand(dəˈmand) has been high, with the creamery giving away more than 400 gallons(ˈgalən) of milk a day.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/sassy-cow-creamery-wisconsin-business-provides-free-milk-using-a-kindness-cooler/ar-BB12TkBh

How to Be Good

What a therapist(ˈTHerəpəst), scholar(ˈskälər), monk(məNGk), C.E.O. and others can teach us about bringing our best to everything we do, every day.

By Simran Sethi

By the end of the year, I felt tired and overwhelmed, ready to peel(pēl) away onionskin(ˈənyənˌskin) layers of regret(rəˈɡret). That’s most likely why, when I wandered by a Little Free Library, Nick Hornby’s book “How to be Good” called out to me, the bright(brīt) yellow cover a beacon(ˈbēkən), the title offering redemption(rəˈdem(p)SH(ə)n) for mistakes large and small.

The book tells the story of a doctor boldly(ˈbōldlē) (and hilariously(həˈlerēəslē)) navigating the rocky road of self-improvement: “Just because I wasn’t good,” the protagonist(prōˈtaɡənəst, prəˈtaɡənəst) muses(myo͞oz), “it didn’t mean I was bad.” But as I reached the novel’s end, I realized I had not arrived at the answer to what exactly it means to be good. So, I asked Mr. Hornby.

“It’s a constant theme, isn’t it?” he emailed in response. “Especially now, when we have no excuse not to know what’s going on. We are bombarded(bämˈbärd) with images of others less fortunate(ˈfôrCHənət) than ourselves. What are we supposed to do about it?”

This is the question. What are we to do? As we struggle to confront(kənˈfrənt) an ever-growing number of crises, how can we be good to ourselves and others? The starting point is understanding what we mean by “goodness.”

Rachana(rəchanə) Kamtekar, a professor of philosophy(fəˈläsəfē) at Cornell University, explained goodness by way of ancient(ˈānCHənt) Greek philosophy: “For Plato(ˈplātō), goodness is the same as happiness. We desire appetitively(ˈapəˌtīdiv) because of our bodies. We desire emotionally because of our sense of self in contact with other human beings. And we also have rational(ˈraSHnəl,ˈraSHənl) desires to understand how to do what’s best. Our goodness requires all of these capacities(kəˈpasədē) to be developed and then expressed.”

…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/smarter-living/how-to-be-good.html

The Power of Getting Clarity

By Leo Babauta

Before I started Zen Habits, I was in a place in my life where I had a beautiful family, but I was stuck and dissatisfied(di(s)ˈsadəsˌfīd) with myself.

I knew I wanted to change things — my health, finances(fəˈnans,ˈfīnans), job, way that I was approaching life — but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do about any of it. Most of the time, I just ignored all of this, and distracted(dəˈstraktəd) myself.

I didn’t have any clarity on what I wanted or what I needed to do. This lack of clarity is felt in all of us very deeply, so that it shows up in how we talk, how we hold ourselves. It affects our relationships, our jobs, our health.

Then I got very clear that I needed to change. And clear that I wanted to quit smoking, start running, become vegetarian(ˌvejiˈte(ə)rēən), start waking earlier, and start writing more. I went on to do all those and more.

Clarity helps us to focus, to take action, to feel energized(ˈenərˌjīz).

A lack of clarity causes stress, inaction, a scattered(ˈskadər) focus, relationship difficulties, confusion on teams.

Some examples of areas(ˈe(ə)rēə) to find clarity in:

Your mission(ˈmiSHən) in life
Your morning routine(ro͞oˈtēn)
Your financial plan
What you need to do to improve your relationship
How you’ll get healthier(ˈhelTHē)
What others expect(ikˈspekt) of you; what you expect of them
How a meeting will be run
What your boundaries are in each relationship

As you can see, this is a pretty broad topic — it can apply to every part of our lives. And we don’t have to be perfect, and we don’t have to get clarity on everything this week. It’s something to bring awareness to that we can improve over time.

But the more we find clarity, the more we’ll have focus, calm(kä(l)m), motivation.

…
https://zenhabits.net/clarity/

Chicken and egg question goes back to ancient(ˈānCHənt) times, but there’s a simple answer

A scientist explains why technically it’s easy to explain which came first.

By Jason Bittel

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Believe it or not, this question has its roots in ancient Greece(grēs), where philosophers(fəˈläsəfər) used it as an excuse to argue about cause and effect. What’s more, it’s what is known as a paradox(ˈparəˌdäks) — a situation or statement that appears to present contradicting(ˌkäntrəˈdikt) facts, both of which can logically be true.

Some might say the chicken came first, since you can’t have an egg without a chicken to lay it. But others might argue the egg came first, since all chickens begin life inside of an egg.

A paradox, right? Not if you want to get technical. The question has a rather simple answer if you talk to an ancient egg expert.

“It’s pretty straightforward(ˌstrātˈfôrwərd),” said Jasmina Wiemann, a molecular(məˈlekyələr) paleobiologist(ˌpālēōbīˈäləjist) at Yale University. (Paleobiology(ˌpālēōbīˈäləjē) is the science of fossil(ˈfäsəl) organisms(ˈôrgəˌnizəm).) “The egg is much older, evolutionarily(ˌevəˌlo͞oSHəˈnerəlē), than the chicken.”

Chickens, as we know them, probably became domesticated(dəˈmestəˌkādəd) about 10,000 years ago. But the animals that they descend(dəˈsend) from, known as jungle(ˈjəNGgəl) fowl(foul) or Gallus, can be dated back 21 million years.

Now that might sound pretty ancient, but the incredible, edible(ˈedəbəl) egg has been around for hundreds of millions of years.

For instance, scientists recently discovered a fossilized(ˈfäsəˌlīzd) bird from northwestern China with an egg stuck inside its body. At 110 million years old, this species(ˈspēsēz, ˈspēSHēz), known as Avimaia schweitzerae, would have flitted about in a world dominated(ˈdäməˌnāt) by dinosaurs(ˈdīnəˌsôr). It’s the most ancient bird egg ever discovered.

（还有两段在评论区）
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/chicken-and-egg-question-goes-back-to-ancient-times-but-theres-a-simple-answer/2020/03/24/7ece878a-60e0-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html

SINGING MAILMAN(ˈmālˌman) WHO DELIVERS(dəˈlivər) A POWERFUL MESSAGE IN A FEW WORDS

By Roger Ebert

While “digesting(dəˈjest, dīˈjest) Reader’s Digest” in a dirty(ˈdərdē) book store, John Prine tells us in one of his songs, a patriotic(ˌpātrēˈädik) citizen came across one of those little American flag decals(ˈdēkal).

He stuck it on his windshield(ˈwin(d)ˌSHēld) and liked it so much he added flags from the gas station, the bank and the supermarket, until one day he blindly(ˈblīndlē) drove off the road and killed himself. St. Peter broke the news:

“Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore; It’s already overcrowded(ˌōvərˈkroud) from your dirty little war.”

Lyrics(ˈlirik) like this are earning John Prine one of the hottest underground reputations(ˌrepyəˈtāSHən) in Chicago(-ˈkägō,SHiˈkôgō) these days. He’s only been performing professionally since July, he sings at the out-of-the-way Fifth Peg(peg), 858 W. Armitage, and country-folk(fōk) singers aren’t exactly(igˈzak(t)lē) putting rock out of business. But Prine is good.

He appears on stage with such modesty(ˈmädəstē) he almost seems to be backing into the spotlight(ˈspätˌlīt). He sings rather quietly(ˈkwīət), and his guitar(ɡəˈtär) work is good, but he doesn’t show off. He starts slow. But after a song or two, even the drunks in the room begin to listen to his lyrics. And then he has you.

He does a song called “The Great Society Conflict(ˈkänˌflikt) Veteran’s(ˈvedərən, ˈvetrən) Blues,” for example, that says more about the last 20 years in America than any dozen adolescent(ˌadlˈesənt) acid(ˈasəd)-rock peace(pēs) dirges(dərj). It’s about a guy(gī) named Sam Stone who fought in Korea and got some shrapnel(ˈSHrapnəl) in his knee(nē).

But the morphine(ˈmôrˌfēn) eased(ēz) the pain(pān), and Sam Stone came home “with a Purple(ˈpərpəl) Heart and a monkey on his back.” That’s Sam Stone’s story, but the tragedy(ˈtrajədē) doesn’t end there. In the chorus(ˈkôrəs), Prine reverses(rəˈvərs) the point of view with an image of stunning(ˈstəniNG) power:

“There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm Where all the money goes…”

You hear lyrics like these, perfectly fitted to Prine’s quietly confident style and his ghost(gōst) of a Kentucky(kənˈtəkē) accent(ˈakˌsent), and you wonder how anyone could have so much empathy(ˈempəTHē) and still be looking forward to his 24th birthday on Saturday.

…
https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/john-prine-american-legend

Living according to your hierarchy(ˈhī(ə)ˌrärkē) of values

By Derek Sivers

My “daily” blog was silent the last four days, because I took my kid on a spontaneous(spänˈtānēəs) trip(trip) to another country. No phone. No computer. I gave him my full attention every day from when he woke me in the morning to when we fell asleep together at night. It was great.

I thought for a minute about the importance of my commitment to post here daily. But nope, being with him is more important than writing.

Upon returning, I considered heading off by myself on a 10-day trip, balancing writing and exploring(ikˈsplôr) another culture. But after sleeping on it, I realized that no, writing is more important than exploring.

Once you realize that one value is more important to you than another, you have to ask yourself if you’re living accordingly.

What’s ultimately more important to you?

Learning? Or creating?
Money? Or time?
Expanding? Or focusing?
(… etc.)

…
https://sivers.org/vls1

Sorry, but Working From Home Is Overrated(ˌōvərˈrāt)

Home-cooked lunches and no commuting(kəˈmyo͞ot) while we deal with coronavirus(kəˈrōnəˌvīrəs) can’t compensate(ˈkämpənˌsāt) for what’s lost in creativity.

By Kevin Roose

I’m writing this from the makeshift quarantine(ˈkwôrənˌtēn) bunker(ˈbəNGkər) in my dining room — sweatpants(ˈswetˌpants) on, hand sanitizer(ˈsanəˌtīzər) nearby, snacking my way through my emergency rations(ˈraSHən,ˈrā-). I’m getting plenty(ˈplen(t)ē) of work done, but I’m starting to get unnerved(ˌənˈnərv) by the lack of stimulation(ˌstimyəˈlāSH(ə)n). It’s been hours (days?) since I interacted face to face with a human who is not related to me, and cabin(ˈkabən) fever(ˈfēvər) is setting in.

Among the coronavirus’s many effects is a boom in people like me: office workers, shooed away from the office, trying to acclimate(əˈklīmit,ˈakləˌmāt) to a work-from-home lifestyle.

While the outbreak has already created inconveniences(ˌinkənˈvēn-yəns) (and much worse) for millions of people in the form of travel(ˈtravəl) restrictions(rəˈstrikSH(ə)n), health scares(ske(ə)r) and stock market turmoil(ˈtərˌmoil), it has been an exciting time for some fans of remote work. They argue that quarantined workers are getting a glimpse(glimps) of our glorious(ˈglôrēəs), office-free future.

“This is not how I envisioned(enˈviZHən) the distributed(dəˈstribyo͞ot) work revolution(ˌrevəˈlo͞oSHən) taking hold,” wrote Matt Mullenweg, chief(CHēf) executive(iɡˈzekyədiv) of Automattic, the software company that owns the WordPress blogging platform.

Mr. Mullenweg, whose company’s work force is fully distributed, sees a silver(ˈsilvər) lining in the coronavirus. In his blog post last week, he wrote that it “might also offer an opportunity for many companies to finally build a culture that allows long-overdue(ˌōvərˈd(y)o͞o) work flexibility.”

I get where he’s coming from. I was a remote worker for two years a while back. For most of that time, I was a work-from-home evangelist(əˈvanjələst) who told everyone within earshot(ˈi(ə)rˌSHät) about the benefits of avoiding the office. No commute! No distracting co-workers! Home-cooked lunch! What’s not to love?

…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/technology/working-from-home.html

The Opposite(ˈäpəzət) of Fear

By Steve Pavlina

Based on what I’ve been seeing regarding(rəˈɡärdiNG) people’s reactions to the unfolding coronavirus(kəˈrōnəˌvīrəs) situation, many seem to be trying to keep themselves out of fear mode.

Instead of fear, they suggest adopting(əˈdäpt) a mode of thinking and being they typically describe with words like optimism(ˈäptəˌmizəm) or love.

Stay positive. Don’t be afraid(əˈfrād). Don’t panic(ˈpanik). Turn towards love.

Yet when you look at their responses and attitudes(ˈadəˌt(y)o͞od), what they’re really doing is one of more of these:

Hoping that everything will be okay
Guessing
Waiting
Ignoring or downplaying risks(risk)
Making claims based on mathematical(ˌmaTH(ə)ˈmadək(ə)l) ignorance(ˈignərəns)
Reposting debunked(dēˈbəNGk) memes(mēm)
Trying to encourage others not to fear
Stocking up on food and toilet(ˈtoilit) paper
Sanitizing(ˈsanəˌtīz) their hands…

Is this really the opposite of fear though? Is this even moving away from fear all that much?

I’d say that the opposite of fear is more likely to include actions such as these:

Seeking to understand the situation more accurately(ˈakyərətlē)
Gathering facts, details, and relevant(ˈreləvənt) predictive(prəˈdiktiv) information
Assessing(əˈses) risks(risk)
Making rational(ˈraSHnəl,ˈraSHənl) predictions based on relevant models and data
Identifying, defining, and prioritizing(prīˈôrəˌtīz,ˈprīərə-) problems
Devising(dəˈvīz) solutions to problems
Implementing solutions and lifestyle adjustments
Sharing facts, details, and actionable(ˈakSHənəbəl) info with others
Asking questions to increase understanding
Cooperating(kōˈäpəˌrāt) with others to identify, prioritize, and solve problems
Coordinating(kōˈôrdəˌnāt) with others to implement solutions
Monitoring changes to the dynamic(dīˈnamik) situation

Many people are doing a bit from both lists, which is to be expected. We have our rational side and our irrational(iˈraSHənl) aspects(ˈaspekt).

…
https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/03/the-opposite-of-fear/