What we have here…

…is a failure to communicate.

https://www.threads.net/@calvinandhobbes507/post/DC6lMqcBlgZ?xmt=AQGzXxO7cw8Z1YL41jbKuq_A9Q41mb7LhuaUbc9PVP24WQ

☕️

@jerryseinfeld thinks "coffee is the most important part of a human's life" 🤣 FallonTonight

https://www.threads.net/@fallontonight/post/DC8PmMKpPHP?xmt=AQGzVKROjD39Hke-cyJWgLYQXJB0JtHiGLtrypgdKv6ZbA

the ultimate thanks-giving

"I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure."

When the poetic neurologist Oliver Sacks learned that he was dying, he wrote something almost unbearably beautiful about the measure of living — the ultimate thanks-giving:

https://mailchi.mp/themarginalian/oliver-sacks-gratitude

Conversation starter

 

Einstein the cheerful determinist

"In human freedom in the philosophical sense I am definitely a disbeliever. Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity.

Schopenhauer's saying, that "a man can do as he will, but not will as he will," has been an inspiration to me since my youth up, and a continual consolation and unfailing well-spring of patience in the face of the hardships of life, my own and others'.

This feeling mercifully mitigates the sense of responsibility which so easily becomes paralysing, and it prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it conduces to a view of life in which humour, above all, has its due place."

— The World As I See It by Albert Einstein
https://a.co/5CXVSa7

Ramble on

"Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)–sometimes referred to as 'winter depression'–usually manifests more during the colder months, the main theory attributing this to lack of sunlight. But there is no surer way to find some peace (and perhaps even joy!) within this complicated season than to confront it head on. If you, like so many others, find yourself dreading the winter, it is time to do something about it–after all, winter does keep coming around.

Once again, walking is the answer. Rather than hiding indoors and wishing time away, pull on your boots, hat and a good jacket and start exploring. Remember the wonderful Norwegian saying, 'There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.'

Continuing your walking in nature throughout the winter will get you out in the daylight, improve circulation, increase serotonin (that all-important feel-good hormone) and help to regulate sleep and appetite. There are plenty of new locations to discover or old favourites to revisit, winter wildlife to spot and all the fierce weather to enjoy as well as a fresh appreciation of this dramatic season to be gained.

Be bold about spending time walking outdoors during winter; you may very well be surprised at the difference it makes to how you feel."

— The Rambler's Handbook: A Seasonal Guide to the Best Walking Routes in Britain by The Ramblers' Association
https://a.co/9NeGYZR

Free books

Websites where you can download unlimited books for free:

1. Planet eBook
2. Free-eBooks. net
3. ManyBooks
4. Librivox
5. Internet Archive
6. BookBub
7. Open Library
8. BookBoon
9. Feedbooks
10. Smashwords
11. Project Gutenberg
12. Google Books
13. PDFBooksWorld
14. FreeTechBooks
15. Bookyards
16. GetFreeBooks
17. eBookLobby
18. FreeComputerBooks

Thank a librarian.

https://www.threads.net/@librarian.space/post/DCcgx4HTduQ?xmt=AQGz2t2H_A2afbyaxGEBjw4sSSo0diupZ07Bg7FnsASSvA

Einstein, 1939

"...free exercise of the intellect exists no longer, the population is terrorized by gangsters who have seized power, and youth is poisoned by systematic lies... all in all, man changes but little..."

Free Your Mind. The Election Will Follow.

It is essential to carve out space for other things

...The truth we could do with relearning is that struggling to transcend our fundamental limits — by trying to feel certain about the future, wanting to take in all the world’s suffering or willing the election to go our way — gets in the way of our doing the most that we actually can. In the limit-embracing mode of being, we can do our part as citizens of a world in crisis yet still stake out attentional space for the other things that count: family, contemplation, noticing how the leaves change color on the trees.

Uncertainty is never over; meaning and joy have to be found right in the middle of it, if they’re ever to be found at all. This aspect of the human condition is undoubtedly an uncomfortable one. But as the American Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck reportedly liked to say, what makes it unbearable is our mistaken belief that it can be cured.

Oliver Burkeman

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/opinion/stop-obssessing-election.html?smid=em-share

The antidote to November

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing"...

it's time to start the countdown to spring training. 102 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes,...

Spring Training Countdown