I enjoy the craft of computer programming, the endless desire to solve problems better than I did last time. I may enjoy it more than any other aspect of my job, and it’s served me well in my career. I’ve become a good programmer. I may even be a very good programmer. I don't know. I’m not sure I can make that distinction myself.
Is that enough? I don’t know. In all commercial art, the artist needs to sacrifice some amount of beauty and perfection to pay the bills. (I don't mean for that to sound too pretentious, but I do think of software development as art, or at least much more like art than most people imagine.) Too many sacrifices, though, and the work becomes painful. Where's the line? How much should one allow it to move? I don’t know.
Be more like Buckethead. Do what you love, even if other people find it strange. Those same people might also find it beautiful.
Yes, many artists wear costumes on stage, but Buckethead, or Brian Carroll, clearly sees the world differently, even when he's not performing. He's a soft-spoken, shy, reportedly very sweet man who sometimes gives interviews through hand puppets. He writes songs about robots and Michael Jordan and his love for his parents. He hands out toys and does nunchaku demonstrations on stage. He's said his greatest goal is to build a theme park, but he's also afraid to call others on the phone to talk business. All the while, he's one of the world's most skilled, creative, prolific, and underappreciated electric guitarists.
Here's one of his most well-known songs, “Soothsayer”. A lot of the songs on Colma are fantastic, and I'm currently enjoying “Padmasana”, which I forgot about until now. I also like the soundscape album Bucketheadland (remember how he wants to build a theme park?), but it's hard to find online, and that link may not work for long.
Be more like Buckethead. Be more brave in doing what you love.
Irritability is not bad temper. Nor is bad temper irritability. Bad temper carries the heart into it. The bad tempered man really does delight to vex and torture. Irritability flames and is gone. But both ruin happiness.
Carlin had a way with words. This is a great observation, and it's about much more than driving. Whether we're talking about politics, religion, work, hobbies, or anything else, it's easy to criticize those who don't behave exactly as we do, with exactly the same level of enthusiasm. It's easy to excuse our imperfections by making them out to be the bad guys.
Again, this is not simply partisan. Zuckerberg was a villain ten years ago, and he's a villain today.
Yes, he's been philanthropic, and he's pledged to donate 99% of his Facebook shares to charity. That is genuinely amazing, and it deserves genuine praise. To be sure, it's a hell of a lot more money than I'll ever donate to charity. Still, what does it matter if he destroys the world in the process? Will his philanthropy even begin to clean up the mess he's created? Surely not. He's done far more than $200 billion worth of harm to society. Try putting a dollar amount on political extremism, a problem his company has massively exacerbated.
Mark Zuckerberg is a villain, and like all villains, he thinks he's doing good for the world. He's not.
“In the beginning, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers; later on, mountains are not mountains and rivers are not rivers; and still later, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers.”