Ben Mann Monthly October: music, pole, lark chronotype, rocky horror, broken foot, Undone
Purpose
An index for my memory
A menu of topics for my next conversation with you
A faster way to share what I’m excited about without the barrier of writing a complete blog entry on it
A skimmable way to spread content I found valuable
Experiments and experiences
Currents
A friend created this music streaming service that sits on top of Apple Music, Spotify, and others and helps you share playlists with your friends. I’ve enjoyed his DJing a lot so far. Excited to see what comes next. Let me know if you want an invitation.Pole lessons x2
Went to two parties at Mission Control, a community house with a pole. I’ve been wanting to learn some real moves for a while now and finally learned some things! It’s a combination of strength, flexibility, control, and dance. I don’t like it enough to jump in though.Morning lark chronotype trial
I’ve started going to sleep around midnight and waking up without an alarm. Before, my schedule was shifted 3 hours later. I have less flow state at night but I sleep more since I tend to collide less with morning meetings. Overall I’m happy with it and want to keep pushing earlier. The biggest downside is it only takes one weekend night hanging out with friends to make the next day rough.Audience participation movie: Rocky Horror @ Clay
On Halloween Rosanne and I saw a dual screening of the movie and live acting by “the body cast.” The audience had responses to almost every line and would occasionally throw props like toilet paper and rice. Irreverent and playful.
Life updates
Stress fractured foot running 11.5 miles. Oops. Healed now.
Nose fully recovered from turbinate reduction, can sleep ~80% of nights without issue.
Researched SSRIs, post forthcoming
Project Baseline annual visit #3
New therapist through Two Chairs — Thoughtful Therapy, excellent so far!
Turned 31, had only 1 bite of cake due to keto
Content
5 point Likert ratings for “I would recommend this content to a friend”, sorted
Undone 5/5
A sensitive, playful, deeply moving exploration of depression, schizophrenia, family relationships, and growing up
Beautiful animation in the style of A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life
In a world where most films reuse the same plots, this one felt entirely original
Parasite 3/5
Surreal satire exploring the gap between the rich and poor through the lens of a family of con artists
Plenty of “don’t go in there!” moments of dramatic irony; a good movie to watch with friends
Characters were a little on the flat side, but each interesting enough to make up for it
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan 4/5
A memoir from a man who devoted his life to surfing, but also eventually journalism
Surfing is full of metaphors about life. We exist in these beautiful natural environments which we nonetheless are powerless to control. Why do we keep searching for these peak experiences fraught with danger? Why is spirituality so tangled up with those moments in which the maximum extent of our competence delivers us into the rarified sublime? What do we sacrifice to get there? I can’t effectively summarize Finnegan’s lived answers to these questions.
The book starts off very simple and gains complexity as Finnegan ages, so don’t be turned off by the first few chapters.
Is Enlightenment Compatible With Sex Scandals? | Slate Star Codex 3/5
Experienced meditators have a bad track record of sex scandals
This is surprising because meditation is supposed to free you from the cycle of craving and aversion
It also frees you from social norms, which would make it hard to abide by eg marriage contracts
An atypical love story between gangsters set against the backdrop of China’s development from 2001 to the present.
Strong female lead. Everyone else sucks.
My Year in SF’s $2M Secret Society 2/5
Attempt to create a cult/religion based on what sounded to me like board-game mechanics
Fell apart because the founder got bored, ran out of money, or was too elitist?
Seems to show people want community/third space, though their max user numbers weren’t that impressive (2k?)