Good morning. Hello. How are you? #822
A too short one but at least there's nothing about colonoscopies today.
Good morning. Hello. How are you? I’m just freakin dandy. Not annoyed at all that an anonymous monopolistic platform turned off Timehop’s API access today due to an error in their automated review process that tells us they never received an email from us two days after confirming that they received the email from us. Not annoyed at all, nope. And not annoyed at all at another anonymous platform that says tomorrow they’re gonna turn off API access to everyone who doesn’t pay some mysterious, non-stated price for the API. Age of the open web is dying, folks. Open APIs are becoming a thing of the past. Most big new platforms haven’t even bothered. Snap API, TikTok API. Lol. Yeah right.
Just dandy.
Headed to New York City in an hour or so for a work dinner, that’ll be nice there are some coworkers I haven’t seen in… two years? Three? And a few I’ve never met in person. It’s an in-n-out trip, one night only. Two business meetings, a work dinner, bed, airport, home. If dinner doesn’t go too late, maybe a nightcap with a friend we will see.
Very excited to use my Blue Cruise™ on I-40, though.
Watched the State of the Union last night. Well, if I’m being honest we only watched the last 40 minutes or so. We missed the part where Biden seems to have tricked the Republicans into supporting social security, we’ll see. But we saw Sinema’s “wait isn’t this the Oscars?” embarrassment of a dress and MTG’s Cruella Deville getup and her bonkers repeated heckling it really is something. The part where someone yelled to Biden that all the Fentanyl deaths were his fault was probably a new low but I suppose the only surprise is that they haven’t gotten that much worse with their decorum since 2009’s “You Lie!” shout. I suppose Biden wins things because he relentlessly rides the middle and makes a point not just of saying “not all cops” but saying it first but man I don’t need that any more than “not all men” or “white lives matter.” I don’t need a litany of penny-anty fraud prosecutions as something to be proud of when there are people who steal that much money from the comfort of their office, blah blah blah no one needs me sounding like a bleeding heart liberal here. There is a paradox at the core of the Biden administration I will never get my head around. How did they get so much done but manage to make it feel like they got almost nothing done. How are we supposed to be excited about this guy even though he seems pretty competent. Why do I think he’s too old is that true or a Republican plot. I don’t know. I’m just fairly certain that I’ll feel abject horror all the way through the presidential election and I am so so not looking forward to it.
Fani Willis come save us. Could it be this week? Could it finally happen? Could Trump be criminally indicted? It’s supposed to be soon. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I gotta get in my car soon and head to the airport and I have to perfectly time it all because I have a call I need to take in the car — really one of the wonders of modern technology, car speaker phones — and the call will probably take almost exactly as long as the drive so everything needs to be orchestrated quite carefully. I’m overly distracted by that, by the day ahead, but these API issues this morning I really hate harried mornings this is why I get up so ridiculously early, so I don’t have frazzled mornings. Gah. Gah, I say!
I will say I am very very impressed with these Hindenberg research fellows for their utter, complete, masterful humilation of the Indian conglomerate Adani. I mean, my god, what a hit job, just amazing. I mean being a shorting hedge fund is not a way that I, personally, would want to spend my days, but boy they sure do their job well. I’m not really following the ups and downs, ins and outs of the whole affair, just sort of ambiently keeping an eye on it but it really is something.
Okay well, my topics list is leaving me high and dry and my brain can’t focus so off we go today. Let’s do a cute picture of Jane rollicking in some leaves which is just a thing that magically happened on our walk the last two days sometimes life gives you lemonade. I am sad I won’t see her for a couple days — she was at Grammy’s last night and I won’t see her this morning, or tonight, or tomorrow morning. Kind of cold turkey after four days of breakfasts and bedtimes.
Let’s do a goth playlist. Almost all new stuff, only two old ones: a synth pop jam from non-Clan Xymox becuase Twist of Shadows is the best Xymox album fight me. Bill and I were talking about this the other night I know this is not technically true but it is how I feel. So many killer singles on Twist of Shadows. The other oldie is a deep old In the Nursery cut tht I used to listen to all the time in my Very Very Goth days. Very psyched I got to see them once, at Elysium in Austin of course. Man to think about all the esteemed goth musicians that have walked through the doors of Elysium. Rest of this mix is new, starts off with some modern synthy goth and ends with the dark moody mellow stuff I am quite enjoying this mix today.
Sorry this is so brief and I’ll almost certainly skip tomorrow I’m not bringing a laptop with me on this trip, so we’ll pick this up on Friday!
Twist of Shadows is surprisingly decent given a new listen. Back when it came out, I of course decided I didn't like it because they had left 4AD. But given a re-listen, It's solid. Not as good as the first two of course but nowhere near as bad as other bands who left 4AD. I'm thinking of you Modern English! I think it's appropriate that Stop Start doesn't get get its own Wikipedia page.