Fragments to begin your moday

Hey, good morning, fellow seekers of the obscure and profound!

Welcome to a collection of fragments—the curated assemblages of revelations, musings, and intellectual wanderings from a journey through the hidden cryptic corridors of the web. And by all means, send a return missive with your thoughts.

Oh, and since it’s Monday, here is some music to help you get going. Take it easy; you’ll get there!

— Nils

The veil shifts

A corridor filled with doorways to the web…

Nate Silver on Kamala Harris’s Chances and the Mistakes of the ‘Indigo Blob’: Long but good listen about probability, risk, and perspective. I wrote about probabilistic thinking last time, and if that piqued your interest, you’ll likely enjoy this podcast.

Time management techniques that actually work: There is some good time management advice. I can’t say I’ll be hiring an executive assistant anytime soon, but the other nine points are pretty straightforward, practical, and implementable by anyone. I can’t be the only one who struggles to ensure the required gets done and find time to do the desired, right?

Reluctantly, America eyes building more nuclear weapons: Geopolitics is a hobby interest of mine, and what a time to be alive if you are interested in it! After years of reducing the size of nuclear arsenals worldwide, we’re on the cusp of moving back in the opposite direction as the risk of conflict between ‘major’ powers escalates. States will look for ways to unilaterally fend off aggressors (and having ‘the bomb’ is an effective way to do so… currently). Try not to lose sleep over it; there is nothing you or I can do about it anyway, ya know? Email me if you want to read but are blocked by the paywall.

… fleeting thoughts pass by.

Anxiety is easier to manage if you try to be curious when you notice it instead of trying to stop feeling anxious.

Is it a librarian’s murmur you hear or the books themselves?

I am detaching from my usual non-fiction to read some grimdark fantasy, and Red Country is pretty good! The pacing is good, and finding characters to root for has been a bit easier, which isn’t always easy in an Abercrombie novel. Red Country is a standalone novel in Joe Abercrombie’s “Circle of the World” series with a bit of a Western vibe.

It ties itself nicely into the other books, characters, and events in a way where, should you not have read them, you are not missing critical information.

I don’t think you need to have read the original trilogy to enjoy Red Country. However, if you are interested, unless fantasy with a distinct western-frontier feeling sounds really, really tempting, I’d start at the beginning.

Strange portents of possibility

A couple of irons in the fire, as they say (whoever “they “are). Most of it right now is on the back end—for example, I’d like to set up referral links and have something interesting to give you as a thank-you.

There are also possibilities being explored for an upcoming piece: a book review (nonfiction), something on our stranded astronauts (much trickier to research than anticipated), and a piece of strange narration for you to enjoy.

But hey for now? I wish you an excellent day.