Patrick LaForge

Jane just ordered "decapitated" tea

Scan the code to buy a new book of poetry

Poetry for sale — good stuff

TiVo Confirms It Has Stopped Making DVRs, Marking the End of an Era In a significant shift for the home entertainment industry, TiVo, a pioneer in digital video recording, has officially ceased selling its DVR products. The company confirmed this development in a statement to Cord Cutters News, signaling the end of an era for a brand that once revolutionized how consumers watched television. Cord Cutters News first […] The post TiVo Confirms It Has Stopped Making DVRs, Marking the End of an Era appeared first on Cord Cutters News.

I gave up my TiVo when I quit cable TV but it was a liberating piece of tech and whoever designed the remote was a genius. https://cordcuttersnews.com/tivo-confirms-it-has-stopped-making-dvrs-marking-the-end-of-an-era/

@pabloniusmonk @marcoarment yes

@marcoarment OK I have never been a big Phish fan before but Trey blew the lid off Golden Gate Park last weekend sitting in with the remains of the Dead

A sign on a door on 7th Ave in NYC says Don’t Press The Button you weren’t supposed to leave

Inexplicable sign

A brownish gray reptile sitting on the head of a brown statue of what looks like a young Buddha surrounded by brown bark, a tree trunk and some green shrubs

I saw this funny reptile sunning itself on Buddha‘s head this morning out on my walk.

Few journalists get to choose the headline for their piece. So, whenever the clickbait of a terrible, search-engine-optimized headline belies an actually-good article, consider getting mad at the editor. Not the writer.

A generic image of cars on a lot

Clown show https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/05/us/trump-news?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c&pvid=15A3889D-5AC1-4AFE-B678-B54BEF266089

It reminds me of film strips in junior high school in the 1970s. “Pittsburgh — city of steel!”

We are halfway through “The Brutalist.” That is all. (It’s good. So far.)

@briankrebs I am already retired so I have been steadily rebalancing over the last 2-3 months. More value / small cap / bonds / gold. I used to be 90 percent broad market index / growth / large cap but that basically means owning a lot of the so-called magnificent seven tech stocks that are […]

I'm more than a little concerned what's going to happen when the US stock market opens again next week. But even if there are muted responses from Wall St or from international markets, I think it's safe bet all the uncertainty and chaos created by this administration so far is soon going to […]

@plragde My wife just pointed out the weird echoes of the present moment in Infinite Jest, and I vaguely recall a connection there- an old listserv? …. Anyway: A lounge singer president (with a shadow president) breaks up NATO and expands into Canada etc. He’s renamed the Gulf of Mexico. Can […]

Screen shot of the landing page for Reconcilable Differences, a podcast with John Siracusa and Merlin Mann. Available at the link in the post.

After listening to this episode of one of my favorite podcasts I found myself wishing more people would just go back to blogging. Also: yes, I know this means I am old. https://www.relay.fm/rd/254

@RecDiffs @hotdogsladies @siracusa Great discussion in e254 helped with my own “somebody else’s bucket” problem. Email newsletters seem to be about 1) money, but also 2) readers want a push option that isn’t RSS (a niche) or social (for all the reasons). As a retiree who blogs I don’t need $ […]

If we just post harder everything will be ok

just want to make it clear to all my friends in LA that you are not allowed to die

It makes you wonder what is happening now that will later be revealed as evil. I have some ideas! https://vmst.io/@jalefkowit/113765751213387034

Zen Talk: Panshan's Cut a Fine Piece <div class="sqs-layout sqs-grid-12 columns-12" data-layout-label="Post Body" data-type="item" data-updated-on="1730929669380" id="item-672be3fdcb96ed1a5545eced"><div class="row sqs-row"><div class="col sqs-col-12 span-12"><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-c8e79155da421ff58b67"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class="sqs-html-content"> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><br/></p> </div> </div></div><div class="sqs-block image-block sqs-block-image sqs-col-6 span-6 float float-right" data-block-type="5" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1733507656774_237985"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class="image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-overlay-hover design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none" data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper"> <figure class="sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic" style="max-width:578px;"> <a class="sqs-block-image-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/artemyellow/" target="_blank"> <div class="image-block-wrapper" data-animation-role="image"> <div class="sqs-image-shape-container-element has-aspect-ratio" style=" position: relative; padding-bottom:146.71279907226562%; overflow: hidden;-webkit-mask-image: -webkit-radial-gradient(white, black); "> <img alt="" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png" data-image-dimensions="578x848" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-loader="sqs" data-src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png" data-stretch="false" decoding="async" elementtiming="system-image-block" height="848" loading="lazy" onload='this.classList.add("loaded")' sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 100vw" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png" srcset="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=100w 100w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=300w 300w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=500w 500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=750w 750w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=1000w 1000w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=1500w 1500w, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5055d21c24acbaa64592f3ce/0a0c900a-712e-4d45-86da-adfda92f305c/butcher-credit+Artem+Yellow.png?format=2500w 2500w" style="display:block;object-fit: cover; width: 100%; height: 100%; object-position: 50% 50%" width="578"/> </div> </div> </a> <figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <div class="image-caption"><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/artemyellow/" target="_blank">Artem Yellow</a></p></div> </figcaption> </figure> </div> </div></div><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1733507656774_240931"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class="sqs-html-content"> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Recently, I have been working with some of the <a href="https://amzn.to/4gqskGx">300 koans collected by the Japanese Zen Master Ehei Dogen</a> in his Shobogenzo. I’d like to discuss a short one: <em>“Case 21, Panshan’s Cut a Fine Piece.”</em> It goes like this.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><em>Once Zen master Baoji of Panshan went to the marketplace and overheard a customer speaking to the butcher. The customer said to the butcher, “Cut a fine piece for me.” The butcher threw down his knife, folded his hands and said, “Sir, is there any piece that is not fine?” Upon hearing these words, Panshan had an awakening.</em>                                                                                 </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">One thing I found interesting about this koan is that it’s not the typical story of a nameless, clueless, monk encountering teaching from a wise zen master.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It’s about an overheard remark. The butcher may not have even known anything about Zen. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It reminds me of those stories about monks who have an insight when they see a flock of birds, or a flower, or hear a sound. A pebble hitting a sandal. Dharma gates are everywhere, boundless, as we chant in the <a href="https://www.stillmindzendo.org/chants">great Bodhisattva vows</a>. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A stranger says something, a little piece of unexpected teaching. And the words stick with us. About 20 years ago, when I was just starting out with Zen meditation, I was at another zendo and I overheard a senior student, a monastic, who was upset about something. I think he was the facilitator of the retreat. Something was going wrong. I don’t remember what it was. The mats weren’t set up right, or something was wrong with the altar. People weren’t doing kinhin walking meditation properly.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">He was frowning and complaining about whatever it was to another senior monastic.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">And she said to him, “see the perfection.” And they both suddenly laughed.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I don’t remember much else about that day, but that stuck with me. See the perfection. It’s great advice.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It’s also hard to do. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I find it easy to fall into <a href="https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/2/the-egotism-of-the-perfectionist">perfectionism, a form of negative thinking</a>. Nothing is good enough. There is always something better, somewhere. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have high standards. We need rules. They give us structure. They encourage discipline, and excellence. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">But I think, like me, many Zen practitioners, are prone to <a href="https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/2/jack-kornfield-on-the-tyrrany-of-perfection">excessive perfectionism</a>.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I used to experience this in my <a href="https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/2/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime">old job as a journalist.</a> There were editors who would overlook good work to nitpick little things that didn’t matter that much. Sometimes they’d even miss deadlines obsessing over some minor detail.                                                                                  </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A boss of mine used to have a reminder taped to his computer: <a href="https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/2/advice-for-the-irritating">don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good</a>. Zen has reminders like that too. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">You may have heard about the aesthetic principle called <a href="https://amzn.to/4gmM51x">wabi sabi</a>. It values the asymmetry and simplicity of the ordinary. Artisans will deliberately introduce “mistakes” into the teacups and other objects they make. It’s a reminder.  </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/2/enso-and-perfectionism">Or take the enso, the Zen circle. </a></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">You draw it with a single brush stroke, a single breath. It’s a broken circle, not closed. Another reminder.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It is a paradox: perfection within imperfection.  </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It makes me think of that line from the song by <a href="https://amzn.to/3OHEdfi">Leonard Cohen, a longtime Zen practitioner.</a> <em>There’s a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. </em></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In the koan about the butcher, the customer asked for a fine piece. The butcher is defensive. He doesn’t sell bad meat.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">This exchange, overheard hundreds of years ago, written down by Dogen, is still remembered. Why?</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">At first, I was little distracted by the subject matter. I haven’t eaten meat in 30 years. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">But this koan could be about anything. Tomatoes. Apples. Cake. How the mats are lined up in the zendo.                     8</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Some commentaries on this koan mention the <a href="https://amzn.to/4g40Zdm">Diamond Sutra</a>. Every slice, every piece contains the whole of the universe. It’s complete. Perfect. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The story also echoes a more famous koan that a lot of us have studied. There are a several versions: <em>The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. For those who do not pick and choose. </em></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I remember struggling with that one. No preferences? How do you get dressed in the morning? How do you decide what to eat for dinner? Of course, we make choices and decisions every day. We must.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">But the more I’m able to go with the flow, the less I pick and choose, the more I am at ease. If I have strong expectations, if everything must be just so, the more I suffer. That’s straight from the<a href="https://amzn.to/4fm6iE1"> Buddha’s first noble truth.</a></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Like all of us, the customer in the marketplace was caught up in preferences. And how was the butcher to know which cut of meat that the customer wanted? To him, all of it was fresh, expertly trimmed, perfectly fine.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Lately I have taken this koan as guidance in my practice. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Sometimes, when I am doing zazen (sitting meditation), I catch myself trying to be at peace, calm, focused. I want the chattering in my head to just fade away, along with all the aches and pains of my body. </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I’m trying to cut a fine piece of zazen. Of course, this backfires.                                                                                    </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">There is no good or bad zazen. There is just zazen. Whatever is happening right now is the practice. And the practice comes down to focusing on your breath.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Does my back hurt? Breathe. Am I replaying an argument in my head? Breathe.  Is the person next to me coughing? Breate. Is it too hot or too cold? Breathe. Are there loud noises out on the street? Breathe</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Remember our little story: Zen master Baoji of Panshan went to the marketplace and overheard a customer tell the butcher, “Cut a fine piece for me.” The butcher replied, “Sir, is there any piece that is not fine?”  </p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">See the perfection.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"> <em>I gave a slightly different version of this talk on Sept. 23, 2024, at </em><a href="https://www.stillmindzendo.org"><em>Still Mind Zendo in Manhattan</em></a><em>. This koan appears in </em><a href="https://amzn.to/4gqskGx"><em>The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans</em></a><em>, translated by </em><a href="https://www.lionsroar.com/zens-radical-conservative-john-daido-loori-roshi/"><em>John Daido Loori.</em></a><em> </em></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><br/></p> </div> </div></div></div></div></div>

Are you a perfectionist? https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/6/panshans-cut-a-fine-piece

Solid

My own disclosure: I am retired and living off investments. I can’t be bought. I will not be returning to mainstream journalism. My opinions represent the views of my employer, me.

A Dreyfus list of X “pay period” payments for his high engagement posts on the former Twitter

Ben Dreyfuss disclosed that he earned a couple of thousand dollars from Elon Musk’s X for posting through the election … I admire the transparency. Others should follow suit.

A tweet calling on big accounts and journalists on X to disclose how much Musk is paying them to stay and post

Why am I still on the hellsite? I’m not getting paid. But some people are:

Sarah McBride: I never planned to use “multi stall women’s restrooms” in Congress. “This is not an issue.” It is a disarming, calm interview that makes it clear why she is a successful politician. No wonder the other side fears her. https://youtu.be/w2ftQVj8KgQ?si=K0z_uucB2o-9vKlN

Today's ChatGPT prompt: “Write a 250-word blog post in Gen Z TikTok slang about how to care for cashmere. Give it a headline with a bad pun." https://palafo.org/posts/2024/11/22/cash-me-outside-how-to-keep-your-cashmere-slaying

How could someone vote for both Trump and AOC? They told her: “It’s real simple … Trump and you care about the working class,” one said. “I feel like you are both outsiders compared to the rest of DC, and less ‘establishment,’” said another […]

There will be a public report https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Control of the US house is down to a few very close races that sure are taking a long time to count, in California and Arizona, among other places (gift link - with a longer thread at palafo.bsky.social) […]