A Map that Reflects the Territory

Does this count as a “book”? It doesn’t have an ISBN number. It’s a set of five little physical books collecting essays written by a group of bloggers called Less Wrong. You could read them all online. I prefer reading books, so I paid money for the books.

I didn’t finish every essay. Some weren’t interesting, some required too much work.

Best quotes:

“We’re looking at a collapse of reference to expertise because deferring to expertise costs a couple of hedons compared to being told that all of your intuitions are perfectly right.”

And I didn’t tag it so I won’t put quotation marks, in case I got a word or two wrong, but: We are each of us basically 3.5 billion years of hacks in a fragile trench coat.

V-Day – date on which they tell me that my vaccine has reached its complete intended efficacy.

V-Day + 1:

• Make appointment for haircut & eyebrow wax
• Make reservation for Trattoria d’Elia
• Make reservation for Single Pebble
• Plan date for North Carolina (dependency: Xopher)
• Plan date for southwestern road trip (dependency: Maggie)

V-Day + first 6 available weekends:

• Go to Montreal. (dependency: border is open)
• Go to VPB
• Go to Pizzeria Verita
• Go to Doc Ponds

V-Day + first available birthday:

• Go to Cirque du Soleil

V-Day + first available September:

• Go to Acadia/Bar Harbor

V-Day + first available March:

• Go to Virgin Islands

I realize that the day I get my vaccine is a long, long way off. I get that.

I realize that just because one gets a vaccine doesn’t mean that a damn thing is going to change, because apparently, you still aren’t allowed to do a damn thing that you couldn’t do before, so just stop before you even start with the doomphasis (my own coinage).

But because I am basically at the bottom of the list – I mean literally, I am probably the absolutely positively last person on the list – let’s see, Tytania Incognito (flips to the very very last page, drags finger down to the very very bottom) – oh yes. (Rummages at the bottom of the bin, looking for that very, very last syringe.) I know it’s here somewhere – ah!

As I was saying, because I am literally going to be last in line, that means that by the time they get to me, herd immunity will either be achieved; or they will have a much better idea of how contagious vaccinated people are or aren’t. I will know what I am “allowed” to do, and I’ll be allowed to do something. For pete’s sake, I’m going to at least get a haircut & an eyebrow wax (hallelujah).

And so hey, because it is such a long, long way off, it is a perfect vehicle for dreaming. More to come.

I have to get to this museum.

So amazing to think of how people wove these beautiful patterns by hand; and the dresses & waistcoats they must have been made into. (  )

I love Tree.

Meanwhile, in Burlington yesterday…

We went to Burlington on a small errand which turned out to be a bit of a fail. We walked up & down Church. We only went into Homeport, for my errand, and Kiss the Cook, because they were keeping the door open & that made me feel good about their ventilation. At KtC, X saw a pie plate for cheaper than what he had just recently paid online for the same. Although it was in the 30s, there was a cold breeze and no sun, so we felt colder than I’d hoped we would. Altogether, a lot of things to feel down about. On the upside, we stopped for refreshment at an outdoor kiosk specializing in Frenchy baked goods and drinks. X got a ham sandwich and I got a Belgian hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was the greatest. There’s nothing better than real hot chocolate made out of chocolate and not from a mix. Like drinking a hot candy bar.

I didn’t feel great but I didn’t feel awful, seeing all the places of business that were verboten for us to go into. I felt like that world was not gone forever, but rather just waiting to burst into life again. It’s not just that I want to go to a restaurant per se. We like to go to different places. Walk into a store with some odd thingamabobs in it. X is drawn into little details most people don’t see. He will see something odd in a store that catches his fancy and he just lights up, gets lost exploring it. It’s like the world is our museum. That’s what I miss.

So, mission accomplished for first Day Off of the week: I didn’t get depressed. I set myself various goals and hit them. The trick was that I would only have to spend 1 hour total on any one task. If I didn’t feel like doing something, I could goad myself by remembering it was only one hour.

So belatedly, here’s a photo of Xmas schloot.

Clockwise from top left:

• a coconut scented candle
• an out-of-print book showing weavings from the Victoria & Albert Textile Museum
• a book spelling-bee puzzles (these are fun)
• a wine stopper – but why stop?
• a tea holder – made in Japan of cherry bark
• a vanilla scented candle (there are 2 vanilla and 1 coconut)

I’m surprised X bought scented candles. He’s normally quite opposed. He must have liked these (he smelled ’em before he bought ’em).

The tea holder is funny because three people gave me tea this season.

Did you stay home today?  100%

What local business or charity did you support?   None, will double down a different day

What’s for dinner? Mushroom barley soup. Along with black bean soup, my main Instapot Knockoff Use Case.

Excited that tonight X & I jointly decided on our menu for Xmas day: tourtiere – a two-crust pork pie – with X making his OWN crust, no Pillsbury involved… and coconut cake – from the Best Recipe!

Did you stay home today?  100%

What local business or charity did you support?   Daily Planet. We never even eat there. But I heard they were trying to raise funds to stay alive. I like giving money directly to those in need.

What’s for dinner? Leftover night

Or I’m too lazy.

Did you stay home today?  Popped into JCAT for my pickup.

What local business or charity did you support?   JCAT

What’s for dinner? JCAT