@drwalt Thanks for the useful review. It’s now on my list. Looking it up (on Amazon! Shame!) I found Outgrowing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, which I’d probably look at on the strength of the title alone, but which also seems to be well-reviewed.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91919554","date_published":"2026-06-10T18:03:45+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"18:03","date_timestamp":1781114625,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91859397","content_html":"@lukemperez ever see Danny Boyle’s Millions?
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91859397","date_published":"2026-06-09T20:54:05+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-09 20:54","date_timestamp":1781038445,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91850671","content_html":"@JohnBrady I just discovered & am enjoying the whimsical but serious idle.news site. See their “Seven Theses nailed to the door of the productivity cathedral.” I came across the site via the essay “On the difference between rest and idleness.”
\n>Rest can be sold, because rest promises a return. Buy the mattress, the app, the retreat, the supplement, and you will work better, earn more, perform at your peak. The promise is always, in the end, a promise about your output…
\n>Idleness cannot be sold this way, because idleness refuses the premise. It does not promise to make you better at anything. It offers no return on investment. Its only product is itself: the hour spent, the light watched, the thought followed nowhere in particular, the afternoon allowed to pass without producing evidence. There is no pitch in it. You cannot monetize a man staring at rain. You can sell him a meditation app that promises the rain-staring will lower his cortisol and improve his quarterly performance, but the moment he accepts that pitch he is no longer idle. He is resting, strategically, on the advice of his wellness coach. The rain has become a tool. The idleness has been quietly converted back into work.
@canneddragons I’d heard that he painted. I’m not sure I like it, but obviously he’s a serious artist. I had no idea.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91753595","date_published":"2026-06-08T12:51:06+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-08 12:51","date_timestamp":1780923066,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91716949","content_html":"@canneddragons So many questions!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91716949","date_published":"2026-06-07T20:29:58+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-07 20:29","date_timestamp":1780864198,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91714385","content_html":"@jabel Beautiful, and fascinating about the underground river. I can’t see “chthonic” without thinking of H P Lovecraft, who loved words like “chthonic,” “ichorous,” “eldritch.” So the whole post had a spooky undertone for me.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91714385","date_published":"2026-06-07T19:32:59+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-07 19:32","date_timestamp":1780860779,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91695270","content_html":"@JohnBrady I’m remembering a friend (he worked in the tech world) in the 1990s who didn’t keep a calendar or appointment book. He said that if his commitments got to be more than he could remember, that meant he was over-scheduled.
\nI take his approach as an ideal, but our wall calendar remains essential for our household. And sometimes I write out a to-do list on a note card for what I want to do in the next hour. Age may have something to do with this. :-)
@miljko I’m partway through Vol 1 of I think 7 volumes, so don’t hold your breath! But I’ll be sure to report. In a way it reminds me of Haushoefer’s The Wall.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91657031","date_published":"2026-06-06T16:58:04+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-06 16:58","date_timestamp":1780765084,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91651247","content_html":"@JohnBrady Started reading: Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of Volume. This is going to be interesting.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91651247","date_published":"2026-06-06T14:28:21+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-06 14:28","date_timestamp":1780756101,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91646070","content_html":"@dwalbert Hand-cranking that generator on the back of the PDP8 was exhausting. Fortunately we could usually force some work-study undergrad to do it.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91646070","date_published":"2026-06-06T13:03:36+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-06 13:03","date_timestamp":1780751016,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91617108","content_html":"@dwalbert @ffmike Worked on a DEC PDP-8: to start it up, you entered some binary code with toggle switches, which enabled a paper tape reader. The code on the tape enabled mounting & reading one of those foot-wide hard discs you describe, which (at last) loaded the OS.
\nI lived in the Boston area, home to the dominant companies DEC, Wang, Data General. All gone now, a reminder that someday there will be no Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc.
@JohnBrady Fr Stephen Freeman’s latest is unusually probing. I tried to extract some quotes but couldn’t isolate anything short.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91596118","date_published":"2026-06-05T17:56:22+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-05 17:56","date_timestamp":1780682182,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91526853","content_html":"@JohnBrady My favorite from a generally useful article: “Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious”
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91526853","date_published":"2026-06-04T12:39:08+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 12:39","date_timestamp":1780576748,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91524903","content_html":"@ReaderJohn We’ve been working on building a permanent church & have talked about the rule of thumb that one priest can’t pastor more than 100 families. When you exceed that it should be time to think about establishing a new parish, not enlarging the existing one.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/JohnBrady/91524903","date_published":"2026-06-04T11:34:28+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 11:34","date_timestamp":1780572868,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"73179125","content_html":"Divna Ljubojević - Agni Parthene. I listen to this often.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://abbamoses.micro.blog/2025/09/02/divna-ljubojevi-agni-parthene-i.html","date_published":"2025-09-02T15:51:43+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-09-02 15:51","date_timestamp":1756828303,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"72249521","content_html":"I’m drifting toward being one of those “Workflowy for everything” cultists.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://abbamoses.micro.blog/2025/08/21/im-drifting-toward-being-one.html","date_published":"2025-08-21T20:17:16+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-08-21 20:17","date_timestamp":1755807436,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"69868116","content_html":"Bill Kauffman on artists spurning state sponsorship:
\n\n\n\n\nConscientious objectors who wish neither to wield nor submit to power are as impractical as unemployed poets, whiskey priests, and dandelions.
\n
The libertarian/anti-statist view has never had much of a constituency, but I’ve been thinking about how rapidly it seems to be losing ground these days.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://abbamoses.micro.blog/2025/07/18/bill-kaufman-on-artists-spurning.html","date_published":"2025-07-18T15:32:04+00:00","author":{"name":"john brady","url":"","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2023%2F21%2F25456.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"JohnBrady"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2025-07-18 15:32","date_timestamp":1752852724,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}}]}