elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 07:05 am
The nearly-invisible potential asymmetry of journal relationships hits me this [Sunday] morning as i carry a concern about someone who probably doesn't know who i am. But i carry it on.

I met a ZZ plant at Lowes on Saturday: i'd heard of them from [personal profile] oracne but hadn't met one before. I was visiting with my nibling who is addicted to plants. She'd rescued an orchid from a drug store, and i volunteered to help her go get proper potting media for it. I love listening to Nibling E rant about the sad presentation of house plants (ornaments glued to cacti, glued down pebbles, Venus fly traps in dry soil, etc). She gets a rooting hormone gel for her Yule gift. I'll be using my rooting gel to propagate my stevia plant (and blueberries and figs and...).

I *have* had an insight about my "i used to get so much done, what's happened" feeling: i may be comparing myself to a time when i was under incredible stress. Being more present probably takes more time: i'm more thoughtful, and so on.

So, I'm trying to find a way to get away from this computer in the morning and do what i need to do to transition to work. Lately i've been trying to "get through" everything -- which i can't seem to manage -- and i run late. I'd like a better reminder: i've had my phone make a chime but that's not been enough. I wanted a mac app that would steal focus from what i was doing, which the app "coffe break" and "Time out" do, but i wanted the forced break at a scheduled time. So far, IM!Clock seems best. I get a little irritated recognizing that if i knew enough about the mac scripting language i could probably write this myself, but life is too short.

Candidates considered:

* coffee break, flaky
* time out, no set time (used to use this, very close!!)
* timer rh timer, flaky
* IM!Clock

I've also written down a schedule of my not-at-computer time to help me get to the desk on time. It doesn't answer the challenge of journaling and getting email and readin other's journals and managing todos all in the time between waking and getting ready to work, but it's a start.

I've gotten some raking done this long weekend (i took Monday off) -- i'm putting cardboard down around the edges of the garden and covering with (mostly) pine straw. Last season, the few places i did that did stay free of stilt grass, but the cardboard is now long gone. This is a action that is not compatible with the flame weeder, but as we go into drought the flame weeder seems more problematic.

But in other ways it doesn't feel like much. I suppose the very stimulating Saturday out with my nephew then my niece did take an outsized chunk of my energy.
elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
Thursday, July 25th, 2019 05:48 am
In a recent New York Times "Smarter Living" column, [You’re Not Paying Attention, but You Really Should Be:
How to actually notice the world around you.
], the author relates advice from Rob Walker, author of “The Art of Noticing.”

Another of my favorite tactics Mr. Walker suggests: Record 10 metaphor-free observations about the world this week. This is deceptively simplistic: Who couldn’t look at 10 things this week and write them down? The trick is the no metaphors hook. You’re just noticing, not comparing, analyzing or referencing. You’re forced to slow down and truly contemplate the world around you, rather than passively breezing through it.


I'm not sure this is a practice i need, but i am curious. Metaphor only or also simile?

I stepped out in the pre-dawn air, following a barking Carrie Dog. She had been awakened by something -- I assume some vehicle coming or going along the dirt road across from our driveway. The air was cooler than inside, fresh, dry. Cassiopeia shone over the house, moonlight shimmered through the trees. It made me realize the hot months may be about half over (assuming September brings relief).


Which didn't seem that hard, although i suspect "fresh" was once upon a time a metaphor. The word began as Old English fersc ‘not salt, fit for drinking’, per the Apple dictionary, and the metaphorical use broadened its definition. Since the fifth definition begins with "(of the wind)" i don't think it's currently a metaphor.

pondering and practicing )

Must stop thinking about this.

I'm taking a class today on persuasion and have 3 points to ponder
1. When was the last time your mind was changed by an argument? It might not happen often, so have a think. How did the other person change your view?

2. How do you normally try to convince people to your way of thinking? On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is “never,” how often are you successful at this?

3. When was the last time you were sold something that you didn’t really need? Chances are, there were some psychological tactics at play—what made you buy?
my answers )
I have a suspicion that my mental processes are far more fluid and flexible than average, so i don't think what works for me is necessarily going to work for others.