I will cop to it: despite having read the term in the newspapers for decades, I never understood the term Supply Management. All I ever knew was that it was contentious.
This post from a dairy farmer helps show his perspective.
Book: The Fifth Season
Last winter, on our annual cottage trip with friends, I read a book (described in reviews as a "laugh-out-loud sci-fi love story." believe it or not) that had a chilling rape midway through. The book tried to redeem itself, tried to somehow earn the rape. It absolutely didn't work. To this day, I find it baffling how this aspect of the book seems to be totally skimmed over in every review I've read of it.
Anyhow. That digression was a bit of a warmup for why I found reading N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season incredibly stressful. I think it was mostly state dependent memory: I read 95% of the book while we are at the cottage on this years edition of our trip. And most of the book was fantastic: an incredibly interesting world, unlike any fiction I'd read before.
Yet, as I approached the end of the book I became gripped with a fear that the book would end with the revelation of sexual abuse. A climax was coming, I could feel it, and I knew that for some authors, the way to hammer home a characters pain would be to introduce sexual violence. I found myself stuck, unable to continue. In fact, I first started writing this review at that 95% point, not entirely convinced I'd be able to finish.
In the end, I found a sympathetic friend, who I sent seeking answers in plot summaries. He ended up giving me the all clear. I also ended up googling "N.K. Jemisin Sexual Violence", and found this article by her that assuaged my fears.
In the end, I finished the book. It's full of human pain, and a world that hates humanity. No sexual violence though, thank goodness. Still, I find myself putting the sequel on my for-later shelf at the library. I definitely want some time to recover from The Fifth Season.
Taking a Twitter Break
Goodbye Tweetbot.
I loved Twitter a couple of years. I think the trick really was that I found a group of people to follow that constantly were linking to or talking about fascinating things.
I learned a lot from Twitter. It's been an important part of me learning about a number of topics. An important way for me to listen to people I wouldn't normally interact with.
I need a break though.
Twitter is too stressful. It too angry. Most of all, it's not healthy for me. Twitter has eaten far too many hours of my life, and I feel constantly like it has displaced other things in my life I'd rather do more of. There's also a performative aspect to it that grates; I don't feel genuine always on Twitter.
So it's time for me to take some time away. Let's see what happens if I take a month (31 days) away from Twitter. A couple rules for myself: No browsing the timeline. Links to tweets and threads are OK if coming from friends.
Now seems as good a time as any. Perhaps better than most, as I'll be headed to a cottage with some friends.
If you need me? Email me.
Mansur Brown
I've been loving Mansur Brown's stuff lately
So Much Good Music
I haven't posted a music post in quite a while. I think the root cause is that I've been overwhelmed of late with great music. It makes it hard to share things, because I feel like I haven't given albums or songs the consideration they deserve before sharing. That's probably a weird hangup I have.
Let me try to not let that hold me back.
The Perfume Genius album No Shape has impressed me every time I put it on. The whole thing is great. Give it a listen.
The eponymous track from Colin Stetson's All This I Do for Glory blows me away.
Dave's album Game Over is 💯. You also need to listen to Question Time.
Ok, code's done compiling. Back to it.
Book: Annihilation
To be honest, I still don't know how I feel about Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. It was a continuously disquieting experience. I'm not sure if I'll read any more of the Southern Reach books, not because it was bad, but because I'm not sure it's my kind of experience.
Book: The Woman Who Smashed Codes
Near the beginning of the month, I finished reading Jason Fagone's book The Woman Who Smashed Codes, a biography of Elizebeth Friedman, a code breaker who formed a huge part of the history of cryptanalysis in America, along with her husband William Friedman.
It was a really enjoyable read, telling the story of two people and the role they played in history, with great prose.
Book: To Say Nothing Of the Dog
A great time travel novel by Connie Willis. Highly recommended, and left me craving witty period pieces.