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July 23, 2020

Broken Stars

Broken Stars is an anthology of short stories by different Chinese writers. They are collected by Ken Liu (an awesome writer in his own right). I can’t say that I enjoyed every story as much, but there are some really innovative ones in there.

I don’t have the best mental map of Chinese history (but do know some things), so a lot of the subtle hints when using historic rulers/periods do get lost on me.

And I think I like sci-fi that plays with concepts (e.g. time) more than those that incorporate too much historic or today’s concepts.

The stories are:

  • Goodnight, Melancholy (Turing is featured heavily, makes me think of Machines Like Me)
  • Moonlight
  • Broken Stars
  • Submarines
  • Salinger and the Koreans
  • Under a Dangling Sky
  • What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear (heavy, good)
  • The New Year Train (good moral/end-note)*
  • The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales (interesting, very good sci-fi and medieval mix)
  • The Snow of Jingyang
  • The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Laba Porridge
  • The First Emperor’s Games
  • Reflection (good idea about seeing time flow backward)
  • The Brain Box
  • Coming of the Light
  • A History of Future Illnesses

*”I’ts simple when you put it like that right? What doesn’t make sense to me is this: lots of times, when the starting point and the destination are fixed – say, birth and death – why do most people rush towards the end?“

July 1, 2020

Network Effect

Network Effect by Martha Wells is the fifth installment in the Murderbot Diaries series. It was a bit longer than probably necessary and I wasn’t totally focussed, so it wasn’t as engaging as with the earlier editions.

See a fuller review here.

June 29, 2020

Public Commitment 2020 – Update 2

This year my theme is Upgrade. The goal is to use the things I already know, and apply/improve/renew it to build more new things.

Besides the goals listed below, the biggest thing I’ve done is to start a Zettelkasten. This is a method of making (atomic) notes that are heavily interlinked. The program I’m using for this is Obsidian.

The main feature is the idea that you can link, well, ideas, between different topics. So instead of containing everything to one book review (where I already did some linking to other concepts too), its main function is interlinking.

Another tool I might use is Anki, which is a flashcard program. I think this is for slightly different knowledge, things you want to remember (separately). So individual concepts, but also facts (e.g. when Rome was built, or when someone’s birthday was).

The division of different types of knowledge (notation) would then be as follows:

  • Notion: keeping track of work projects and ideas
  • Google Calendar/Notion: weekly planning
  • Notebook/Notion: daily planning
  • Toggl: keeping track of time
  • Todoist: (semi) daily checklists
  • Checklists: cataloging daily and irregular checklists (e.g. pre-vacation)
    • now in a single file, could also be on this website
  • Obsidian: connected ideas
    • add to it daily, also review random note daily
  • Anki: remember ideas/things
    • add to it daily, review daily
  • This website: book summaries, notes from media, bigger essays

For instance, reading a book would mean the following:

  • Keeping tracking of my time in Toggl
  • Checkmark in Todoist every day (gentle reminder to read)
  • Checklist: one for what to do after finishing a book
  • During reading make notes in Obsidian if I have new insights (5-20 per book I think, less over time as some are already in the system by then)
  • Make a short summary on this website
  • And possibly put some more factoid knowledge pieces in Anki

Alright, that was a lot about how I keep track of things. Over the next few months I think the system will keep evolving and I hope to settle on something that helps me stay productive, focussed, and fulfilled.

Now onto the goals.

Goal 1: Write Nova (and possibly other short stories)

Still on hold, maybe something to do during a small ‘vacation’.

Goal 2: Improve this website

Already done in the first quarter. I do plan to add a dark mode, for which I have made the basics, but need to further finetune it.

Goal 3: Do something crazy for love

Not yet, but have planned a fun day for Lotte’s birthday.

Goal 4: Write essays about 6 topics

After the first two, I haven’t really progressed much. I started with music production but found I didn’t like it at this time. Then I worked on my stretching routine and have added a lot to the fitness page, but still need to write up one article about stretching itself.

I plan to do that this week.

The next one after that is probably plant-based or Effective Altruism.

Goal 5: Start a new and successful venture

You can check out the progress/projects under this venture at Blossom Act.

The last three months have still been an exploration. But things are starting to become more clear. I haven’t made any revenue, but see a way forward towards that soon.

With COVID, the in-person practice hasn’t started, but let’s see if this quarter (especially with not going on vacation), that could be done sooner than later.

Alright, that brings this update to an end. I’m still really satisfied with how life is going. And really happy that I can spend my time as I please. Things with Queal are still going well and this quarter we will celebrate its 6th birthday.

June 28, 2020

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy is one of the marketing books that one supposedly should have read. I found it somewhat informative, but mostly because I projected my own experience and ideas on what is being said.

It does a good job of presenting different ideas, but a lot of them are of that time (mail order business). That doesn’t mean that some of the lessons or inspiration isn’t valid.

One good nugget from the book is the lesson that starting with an idea, and making that come to fruition, may be harder than selling something (in a specific area) that is already successful somewhere else.

I’ve made some more notes in Obsidian.

June 22, 2020

To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic

This review was first published on Blossom Analysis.

To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic is a fictional book about starting a psychedelics research project/revolution, written by Ben Sessa.

Is there hope in psychedelic medicine? Can we dream bigger than just numbing patients (and doctors)? That is the underlying question in this fictional book by Dr. Ben Sessa. After reading the book you may take home some hope, some tingling of the possibility that MDMA, LSD, psilocybin, and other psychedelics could help people become whole again. But if nothing else, you will get to know two, somewhat broken, men (the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) who start a psychedelic revolution.

Review

“To fathom hell or soar angelic just take a pinch of psychedelic” – Humphry Osmond

Using a fictional book to describe a brave new world where psychedelics make a new introduction is an unique way of exploring this possibility. The book hovers between the esoteric and science-driven, between dream catchers and psychotherapy.

The world that is sketched could be best positioned at around the turn of the century, a moment in time where very little research had been done on psychedelics (since shutting it all down at the end of the 60’s). The way it’s revived, in a barn and with plenty of reference to The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary et al., was quite interesting.

The book, and the research mentioned, may best be seen as a proof of concept, an introduction to psychedelic therapy (it features several sessions with MDMA, LSD, psilocybin). The double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are left for a future moment to transpire.

The critique of the ‘normal’ system is evident in Sessa’s description of current psychotherapy. He paints it as a system in which patients come back for years, don’t solve their underlying problems, and get dosed with SSRIs that don’t do much if anything. Oh, and the protagonist is fantasizing about killing his patients (don’t worry, it doesn’t turn into Hannibal). The alternative, psychedelic (psycho)therapy, is offered as a way out of this loop.

From my perspective, the alternative is presented without enough evidence and rigor (the double-blind studies that are left for the reader to imagine happening sometime in the future). After seeing positive results, the two psychiatrists are heralded as heroes in a presentation for their colleagues. It’s a fantasy that many in the psychedelics field may have, but unfortunately many have been burned too much before to have that level of hope (although it is likely to be justified in this case).

At the end of the book, things get turned up to 11. The second psychiatrist (Joseph Langley) is dying and in a flurry of science-y sounding words, they run tests and strange things happen. One is left to ponder what this means or why it’s related to psychedelic science, but I was none the wiser.

Other Works by Ben Sessa

Ben Sessa has also written The Psychedelics Renaissance, summarizing where we stand with research and sticking much more to facts this time.

June 16, 2020

Ginger Drink

To start the ginger drink (with a ginger bug), and to keep it alive, do this:

  1. Add a cup of water (230g) into a medium-sized jar (1,5x cup of water at least)
  2. Add 3 tsp grated (in food processor) ginger
  3. Add 2 tsp sugar
  4. Stir (multiple times per day)
  5. Repeat 2-4 daily, until it starts to fizz (close jar if needed)
    • Total ginger ~250g, total sugar ~150g

To make a ginger drink:

  1. Juice 30g ginger (or blend really-really well, can juice with garlic press too, but 30g is a lot) into a large jar (2 litres+)
  2. Add 1-2 juiced lemons
  3. Add 1.6 litres of water
  4. Add 150g sugar
  5. Add 15g of ginger bug (restock your ginger bug if needed)
  6. Taste-test!
  7. Let it ferment (1-7 days) until fizzy enough
    • Put it in the fridge when (almost) fizzy enough, so it ferments slower

Inspiration/tips:

June 16, 2020

Hummus

This is the basic recipe, see possible changes below:

  1. Soak 150g raw (dried) chickpeas for at least 8 hours (e.g. overnight)
  2. Cook for at least 30 minutes (replenish water if needed) (add baking soda TO TEST)
  3. When done, drain and run cold water over them
  4. Put them (XXX grams?) into a food processor, together with
  5. 5 tbsp tahini
  6. 2 tsp lemon juice
  7. 10g salt
  8. 1 tsp garlic
  9. 1 tsp chili flakes (Ottolenghi)
  10. Add cold! water to the same height as ingredients
  11. Blend for at least 10 minutes!

Orange version:

  1. Add rass el hanout (and/or kurkuma)

Fresher version:

  1. Bake garlic & paprika (bell peppers) in oven before, with royal amount of olive oil over them (don’t add garlic powder)

Bean alternatives:

  • Mix chick peas with lentils, black beans, white beans, etc
  • (haven’t tested if any of them taste better, but variation doesn’t hurt)

Recipes to try:

  • https://cookieandkate.com/best-hummus-recipe/
    • Hmm, add a little baking soda to water when cooking chickpeas (so they become softer)
    • Hmm, cold water
    • Possibly add a bit of olive oil (good tasting one?)
    • Ground cumin
    • Variation: fresh leafy herbs
    • Variation: kalamata olives
    • Variation: sun-dried tomatoes
    • Garnish: olive oil, sesame seeds, chopped fresh parsley
June 16, 2020

Whole Wheat Bread

1. Mix together in a bowl, make blob:

  • 300 grams – whole wheat oat flour (volkoren tarwemeel)
  • 100 grams – oat flakes (haver vlokken)
  • 40 grams – crushed flaxseeds (buy in bulk packaging)
  • 40 grams – seeds and/or nuts
  • 10 grams – yeast (also buy in bulk)
  • 10 grams – salt (with iodine, not sea salt)
  • 250 grams – lukewarm water
    • dough should be soft but not too sticky, add more whole wheat if needed

2. Let it stand for 20 minutes

3. Spread it out on baking tray (powdered with oat flour), fold two sides together (left-right), then roll from another side (top or bottom)

  • Make about 3 cuts on the top so it can rise without breaking
  • Cover with hand towel

4. Let it stand for 40 minutes

  • Start oven (220 degrees) at 30 minutes into waiting time

5. Put in oven for 30 minutes

  • Let it cool under a hand towel afterward

Variations/tips:

  • Make two blobs (so you can freeze one of them, about 30 min after the end)
  • Add some raisins to the mix (or other dried berries-type things)
  • Make with (partly) white flour for more fluffy (less fibre-rich) bread
June 11, 2020

Manifesting Minds

Originally published on Blossom Analysis

Manifesting Minds is an anthology of articles from the MAPS Bulletin and is edited by Rick Doblin and Brad Burge. It contains the highlights of articles written until 2014, which are grouped per theme. The book does a great job of offering different perspectives, but for specific information one can best search on their website itself.

Quick Take

The essays are divided into eight categories. They are the following:

  1. Arts and Creativity
  2. Coming of Age
  3. Science and Medicine
  4. Therapy
  5. Sexuality
  6. Spirituality
  7. Ecology
  8. Technology

The essays range from articles written about the topic, to interviews and recollections of experiences. One learns about doing 2C-B with your children, doing (macro) doses of psychedelics and their relationship to extreme sports, and the connection between meditation and psychedelics.

Amongst the many authors are the luminaries like Ann Shulgin, Ram Dass, Aldous Huxley, but also lesser-known voices and perspectives like that of one of the MDMA trial participants.

As mentioned in the intro, the book provides some insights, but one could also find these by searching the MAPS Bulletin website.

One quote that stood out to me is the following in the interview with Aldous Huxley, speaking about a psychedelic experience:

“You remember something extraordinary having happened. And to some extent you can relive the experience, particularly the transformation of the outside world. You get hints of this, you see the world in this transfigured way now and then-not to the same pitch of intensity, but something of the kind. It does help you look at the world in a new way. And you come to understand very clearly the way that certain specially gifted people have seen the world. You are actually introduced into the kind of world that Van Goh lived in, or the kind of world that Blake lived in.”

June 4, 2020

Wall of Storms

Wall of Storms by Ken Liu is the second installment in the dandelion trilogy (preceded by The Grace of Kings). It’s another epic story that entices emotions, uncovers plots, and keeps on surprising with the large level of creative innovation.

In this mini-review I wanted to touch upon two aspects. The characters, which are very well done. And the story structure according to the 8 steps of the hero’s journey.

The Characters

The main protagonist is Kuni Garu, you get to know him as a kid in the first book, and experience him as Emperor Ragin (people get new names sometimes, which is somewhat confusing) in the second book.

The great thing is that the characters all have their own personality, shaped by the earlier history in the book. Their strengths also show their weaknesses and most of them are strategic thinkers with great theory of mind. They think about what others think about them (many times over).

This not only includes thinking about what the person directly in front of you thinks, but also what the others there think, or what the general population will think (in the long term).

The book is highly political, but then more in a Game of Thrones-way then in a left/right party politics way. All I can say is that I was really captured by the considerations that all the characters had, the flaws that you got to see, and outcomes of their actions on the world.

Story arch

  1. A character is in a zone of comfort,
    1. Kuni Garu and the gang are in peace, they rule the country
    2. Luan Zyu is a noble without titles
  2. But they want something.
    1. Succession needs to be planned far ahead / want to keep the piece
    2. Wants to do the most interesting thing
  3. They enter an unfamiliar situation,
    1. Intrigues, world outside of Wall of Storms
    2. Teaches Zomi and/or ventures outside the Wall of Storms
  4. Adapt to it,
    1. Squash rebellion? And/or teaching kids to grow up
    2. Survives, is at other island
  5. Get what they wanted,
    1. Things are in balance/united
    2. Finds new people
  6. Pay a heavy price for it,
    1. Has to give own life in the end, deaths/temporary peace from others
    2. Dead, guides other people to Dara
  7. Then return to their familiar situation,
    1. But family wins partly, people are united, daughter is (temporarily) empress
    2. Student had learned much (Komi, could also do her arch someday!)
  8. Having changed.
    1. New situation with other people, learned to innovate quickly
    2. Zomi is more wise now

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