good things

[tielan]

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

~Robert A. Heinlein~
I don't know; I think this quotation is a bit hard on those of us caught up in late-stage capitalism.

And what does it mean to "conn a ship"? I mean, I know the navy has the phrase "the admiral has the conn", but I figured that was like taking command of the ship. Anyone know the meaning/origins of this?

(And why would a bunch of military sailors take commands from me anyway? Surely one of their number would be more suited/knowledgeable about how to do this?)

--

A few brainweasels:

Brainweasel: If I'd been more organised, better prepared, time-savvy, I'd have prepped the risotto for cooking today.

Counter: there is food aplenty tonight and tomorrow and the weekend. Risotto would be nice next week.


Brainweasel: Online people I haven't met in person really dislike me and/or take every opportunity to mock me to their friends.

Counter: ...I don't really have a counter to this. But I can take hope and encouragement in the fact that I just spent a weekend with a group of geeky women hanging, spent a weekend a month ago with a group of quilty women, and am spending a week with a group of women from church on a cruise in a month's time. So if all these women have met me in person and enjoy spending time with me, then chances are that the brainweasels have the conn.


Brainweasel: My quilting is shitty and everyone will look at it and think, "who let her hang her quilt in this show?"

Counter1: Undoubtedly some women will be The Quilt Police, but most others will be all "ooh, I love that design and how you've executed it - it's gorgeous!"

Counter2: I'm the one who'll use it afterwards, so long as it's quilted to my satisfaction, who cares about anything else?

--

And so as to give the brainweasels a good kick, here's five good things today.

1. I've been contracting for just over a year, and by and large, it's been a pretty good year of work doing reasonable jobs at places with good colleagues and easy-going bosses.

2. ...I kind of got stuck at #1. Just struggling a bit right now. Oh, wait, last night at bible study, one of the women said she was so happy to see me back in the group again (I'd been skipping weeks due to busyness/health/exhaustion.

3. Yesterday's lovely rainfall, which my garden needed. Followed by sun and dry today. If we could get a pattern like this going all winter, then my garden will be quite SET for when spring comes!

4. Roast chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, and carrots for lunch.

5. I just called my mum and we had an excellent chat about her move and the house and the dinner she had with my aunt and uncle, then we arranged to make plans for the weekend (in between all the quilting and gardening stuff going on).

Comments

[kass]

Ugh brainweasels are the worst.

Also, I grew up on Heinlein and I have a soft spot for some of his stuff for that reason, but he was often completely wrong. :-)

[scribblemyname]

Hugs and blessings on all fronts! You are a lovely person and I love your quilts and your fic and you!

[i_llbedammned]

Brainweasels are horrible! I hope you can beat them down!

Also your quilting I am sure is lovely.

And in a collectivist society, specialization is fine.

[alexseanchai]

According to Wiktionary, to conn a ship is to direct it. Whether this is the same thing as steering it presumably depends on whether the ship and crew are large enough that the roles get separated.

[tielan]

Brainweasels are absolutely the worst. :(

I mean, I like the idea that people should be able to do many many things. But a lot of that is a function of time and money, as well as the privilege of having people knowledgeable in the things that you are not around you. Whether it's how to slaughter animals, or how to write code.

[tielan]

Thanks.

[tielan]

I recognise when the brainweasels are at work at least, and I'm fortunate to have good support networks and some training in how to kick them to the curb.

It would be nice to be a jack of all trades, so to speak, but the truth is that most of the time we only have the opportunity to be master of one.

[tielan]

Ahhh. Well, I think when we're talking about naval ships, there would certainly be enough crew to have the person directing the ship be different from the steersman...

[monanotlisa]

Oh, the truth in your pithy late-stage capitalism comment... *crawls under sofa and never comes out again*

[rmc28]

I can do about 2/3 of that list, more or less. I've no idea if it would be a *good* invasion plan, or the wall would stay up but I'd give it a go if needed, good-enough is better than nothing.

(Now I want to make a poll.)

[havocthecat]

But...risotto doesn't take much prep? You just chop a few vegetables and either pull out some frozen or boxed broth and just do it? (Maybe I'm misunderstanding the prep you mean? Help?) My risotto is time-consuming in the moment, but the prep is fairly minimal, so we haven't got a meeting of the risotto minds. :)

But you're right in your brainweasel counter. I'm only asking because I'm curious, not because there's anything wrong with your risotto prep process!

People on the internet who haven't met you can fuck off with their complaining. People on the internet who haven't met me occasionally complain and they can fuck off too. (Personally, I'm convinced half the people who've met me also hate me, so, eh.)

(I have been struggling a lot myself recently, so I understand the concept, if not your specific particulars. I'm sorry, I know it's hard.)

[tielan]

We've only just started looking at where our food comes from - we've still no idea how our machines work!

[tielan]

I have a pretty good idea about how to go about doing most of these, with perhaps the exception of butchering a hog. Cut the throat and hang the carcass up to drain of blood? That's some heavy dead pig right there...

[tielan]

Ah, I was going to slow-cooker the risotto. And yes, risotto is simple prep, but it takes a while to cook.

Most of the time, I don't care about strangers on the internet. But this time of year, with winter setting in, the brainweasels get the conn. World news and politics don't help, either. And I'm just past the ovulating stage of my cycle which tends to bring on some grim thoughts.

*hugs* Hope you get the whip hand on your own brainweasels!

[thothmes]

If you are like me, with this comment coming a day (and because of the International Date Line, really days late, but it's June 1st here) late, sleep will have intervened, the sun will have risen on a new day, and the brainweasels will be curled and sleeping for a time.

You will have noticed I mostly lurk these days. I simply don't get here everyday, and sometimes wading in after the fact seems kind of rude, like piping up with a remark about something that was said three subjects ago. I try not to be an irritant like that.

Still, I have firm opinions about Brainweasel Two. It really needs to be permanently banished, but you would not really be you if it were. Self questioning is how you strive to be a better you, and it works. But I have read, and I have conversed, and while I cannot say that I know you, what I can say from the cheap seats in a different hemisphere, is that when people are able to be casually dismissive of you like that, it is because they simply do not value what you do, and are narrow minded enough to belittle those who are not of like mind.

Remember this; The minds that are of greatest value are those who have something new to offer. Otherwise we would still be working on the old stories in the old ways, transmitting the old values. Your gift is you, and when that is rejected it cuts to the core, but it does not change the value of what you offer.

I have been watching and reading for a while. You have made your way into fandoms I don't follow, but still I am here. Because what I see is beautiful and unique. Brainweasel Two makes fun of what it doesn't bother to understand. Brainweasel Two is confusing popularity with value, and could not be more wrong.