Brooklyn Diasporism

Zach Barocas, Diasporist Diarist

Late Start? Not Today.

Covid, the era more than my case last year, has made it difficult to wake up as early as I’d like to or used to. It’s not a problem, exactly,1 but it is frustrating.

Most days I sort of shrug it off when I’m steeping coffee 30 or 45 minutes later than I’d hoped to be. Today, however, I managed to get up as intended, and reflecting on this I can’t help but think of the broader lethargy the pandemic and its mishandling has brought to bear. I need to remember that it isn’t just me, just my problem, that even among the most resilient and unaffected of us, Covid has cast a unique shadow over our lives. Keeping this in mind serves empathy, which is always a better emotional start to a day than self-pity.

🎵 Listening to Canto Ostinato

  1. Even the change I’m describing here doesn’t make me late for anything, but it does make me feel like I don’t have time to do everything I like to do to start my day. ↩

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs Podcast

I don’t know anyone who listens to Andrew Hickey’s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs who doesn’t bring it up in conversation with other people who are known to listen to the show. My bandmate Brooks Harlan turned me onto it. His bandmate Sue turned him onto it. Another of my mates, J. Robbins, is onto it. It’s a great show, not least because Mr. Hickey is impossibly thorough and committed to his work1 but because his starting point is that each of these songs contributes to the greater whole of what rock music is, as opposed to simply making a greatest hits or top 500 list. As for myself, I started late but am catching up. This week’s episode is number 162, in my own progress starting with episode 1 early last year, I’m up to number 136, The Who’s “My Generation.”

  1. e.g. even at the outset, he knew that if he produced a show a week with a couple weeks off for holidays or unforeseen events, it would still take 10 years to complete his list. ↩

Mastodon and Micro.blog

I’m having a great time acting like I’m online in 2006 or something, reading blogs, thinking about ways to organize or publish my bits and bobs, thoughts, fancies — and as much as I’m also enjoying Mastodon and micro.blog (again), I can feel some of the aspects of such platforms creeping up on me. micro.blog appeals to me most for several reasons, not least of which is that it doesn’t feed into the vanity and self-seeking of likes and follows. These tallies are unavailable to users, and for presumably good reason: there’s no motivation there to do anything except what one wants, no likes to get, no followers to count. It feels sort of vacant at first, but much like blogging 1 you just sort of get in there and do it. Post what you think is important or just cool and move on. Read what you think is cool or just important and post a link to it.

I imported the accounts I follow on Mastodon into my micro.blog account, and frankly, I might delete them from there. They seem out of place somehow, as if they’re vying for attention or reaction. It takes some getting used to and for some people, micro.blog might serve no practical purpose. I find for myself, though, I want a place to learn some things, and catch up a bit. The rest of it was wearing on me even before Twitter was purchased.

  1. or at least the kind of blogging I’ve always done. ↩

Lesser Acts, Greater Acts

Keeping in mind lately that if a lesser action takes the place of a greater action,1 we are, in the end, depriving ourselves of meaningful or healthful experience. I think I prefer to avoid statements like this because they have a kind of moralizing tone. But the truth is, our decisions have a moral dimension, and it falls upon each of us to determine what constitutes a greater or lesser act.

  1. e.g. checking a friend’s Facebook feed takes the place of contacting a friend directly; stress-eating cookies takes the place of a meal. ↩