How do you survive fame? Podcaster P.J. Vogt talks with his friend, the actor and writer Molly Ringwald, “formerly the most famous teenager in America.” She starred in movies including “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink.”
Ringwald has a head on her shoulders and didn’t let fame get into it. And she got out of the country and moved to Paris, where she wasn’t famous.
She says the only thing she misses about being famous is getting tables at restaurants.
The Freakonomics podcast is doing a series of episodes on the physicist Richard Feynman. The first episode is terrific, and I’m looking forward to listening to the rest.
Feynman liked to figure things out from first principles. He didn’t accept received wisdom. This led him to extraordinary breakthroughs in physics and a rich and unusual life. He followed his own path, in science and in life.
But Feynman was a super-genius. You and I are not super-geniuses. If you and I try to apply this principle broadly, that leads to Qanon, anti-vax and other bad outcomes.
Sometimes you have to listen to what the experts say.
However, here in the 21st Century, with institutions breaking down and displaying incompetence, it’s difficult to figure out which self-proclaimed experts to listen to.
NYTimes: Could a Giant Parasol in Outer Space Help Solve the Climate Crisis?
Researchers are investigating whether a solar shield in space that blocks some sunlight could help mitigate climate change.
Are they really calling it a “space parasol?” It should be pink with yellow daisies all over, and tassels at the edges.
It has stopped raining and the sun is out at last, but it is so, so wet and chilly and unpleasant out there.
This is not why we are paying San Diego cost-of-living to live here. I demand to speak to a manager.
TV show idea: Just Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse and Susy from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel swearing. I would watch 13 seasons of that.
Currently reading: Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚My third or fourth time reading this wonderful book.
Cisco and NVIDIA did a technology integration deal this week—here’s why it matters: Cisco and NVIDIA want to take the hassle out of AI infrastructure. My latest article for Silverlinings.
Listen to our talk about the novel “Alas, Babylon” on Seth Heasley’s Hugos There podcast
Thanks to the indomitable Seth, who had me as a guest to talk about one of my favorite novels, “Alas, Babylon,” by Pat Frank. Hugos There.
Clarkesworld: “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole,” by Isabel J. Kim.
Via Pluralistic — thanks!
Shakshuka is better than winning the Darwin Award
I had a meeting at 11 am at a local coffee shop. It’s been raining hard nonstop since Monday morning. This is not unusual back east, but it is unusual here, and because the drainage infrastructure isn’t built for it, it’s a cause for concern. We’ve had a lot of flooding. Not in my neighborhood—we’re fine—but elsewhere in San Diego, during another round of storms last week, cars were swept away and people had to be rescued.
I put on my rain jacket and hat and drove to the coffee shop. I got there about 20 minutes early. Every seat was full but that’s fine—I’m comfortable standing—so I stood there and drank my coffee.
A man wearing an Apple Vision Pro walked by me to approach the counter. When he walked by me the other way, I stopped him and I said, with no preamble or introduction, “Do you like it?” He knew what I was talking about, of course. He said he did like it. He said he edits video and he had two screens open and also his email. I said, “Now? While we’re talking? While you were at the counter?” He said yes. He was wearing the Vision Pro the whole time.
My meeting arrived a little early. A little more than half-hour in, every phone in the still-crowded coffee shop went off. We all looked at our phones. Tornado alert. Take shelter in a basement or somewhere away from windows. I happened to have gotten a table very far from the window, so I figured we were good.
I messaged Julie to check on her. She said she was going to get the dog and sit on the floor in the back hall, and try to get the cats too.
After a few minutes of no tornado, I thought about driving home. Could I beat the tornado? That seemed like maybe a bad idea, but on the other hand, I’m on a deadline today.
By now, it was after noon, and I decided to check and see what the place served for lunch. They had shakshuka. I love shakshuka. I thought about the options: Drive home during a tornado warning and not have shakshuka and maybe get killed and win a Darwin Award? Or stay in the coffee shop, have shakshuka, not get killed and not win a Darwin award? I went for the shaksuka option.
There was no tornado. It stopped raining. The shakshuka was delicious. The meeting was excellent. I left for home and arrived at about 1:15 pm. The sun was out, even though the forecast called for a solid wall of rain Monday through Thursday.
And that’s pretty much my day so far.
I saw this dog at the park yesterday. He hopes your week is off to a good start.
He’s 16 years old, which is pretty old even for a small dog. (Small dogs live much longer than big dogs.) He’s losing his fur in spots and it was chilly yesterday—hence the stylish couture.
Friends came down from Los Angeles yesterday and we visited the San Diego Zoo
Yes, that is my finger in the preceding photo. I like it anyway.
I picked up annual passes for me and Julie. I want to make a point of going to the zoo and adjacent Balboa Park more often, without needing a goal or making a big deal out of it. They are great places to go and just be and walk around.
A toddler got stuck after climbing into a claw machine looking for a toy in an Australian shopping mall.
It’s me. I am the toddler.