Black Cat Blog

Thoughts, Stories, and Ideas

  • A Good Zen Quote

    This quote is especially thought provoking to me, especially as someone who has anger issues and a diagnosed mental illness. But I am non-violent. Anyhow, I’ve made many decisions in the past based on anger and they have always been ones I have regretted.

    An action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.

    Genghis Khan

    I’ve left jobs because I was angry at coworkers or management only to find a new, and sadly, worse job. I’ve lost friends over anger. I’ve lost opportunities too. Thankfully, I have never lost my freedom. I am learning to deprogram the anger through therapy. Although the process is long and hard.

    While Genghis was a master military strategist and student of Sun Tzu, he knew very much that he was anger prone. He learned to step away from making any decisions when emotionally charged. These are lessons I want to learn myself. I am angry at my present employer and co-workers and found a new job.

    This time around I am going to a company that is a known quantity for me so I am hopeful that history will not repeat. I’m ultimately leaving for all of the right reasons however.

    While anger can be a motivator, it should never be the primary reason for a decision. Hell it should never be a reason for a decision that must necessarily be made in a neutral frame of mind.

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  • Zen Quotations

    Normally I am very much a fan of Zen and its quotations but I really and truly hate this one:

    Pain doesn’t last. And when it’s gone, we have something to show for it. Growth.

    — Kamal Ravikant

    Pain does not necessarily equal growth. As we are learning in more present times, pain can actually lead to psychological trauma and mental illness. I am more of a fan of having one move outside of their comfort zone. That is what actually makes someone grow. Taking risks equals growth. Pain often causes setbacks that take years to recover from. That is, if the person can ever recover from.

    Ravikant missed the mark here. Pain can lead to psychological trauma which not only impedes growth but can actually prevent growth or cause major regressions in a person. This is why I do not generally like organized religions of any sort. In the end, organized religions are a facility of human beings. Human beings are very much error prone and religions reflect this tendency. I do generally like Zen because it is far less egregious than most other religions and it is not saddled by dogma. And this is one man’s belief.

    Kamal Ravikant could be mistaking pain for discomfort here but I do not think so. Generally, I believe he thinks pain is growth, much in the way our millionaire and billionaire classes preach that pressure turns coal into diamonds. By the way, I hate the sayings that come from the wealthy as well because they are more propaganda than practical.

    Growth comes from learning from one’s mistakes, engaging in lifelong learning, and seeking new opportunities to safely expand horizons. While some pain does teach us important life’s lessons, repeated pain equals trauma.

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  • A Book I Have Read The Most

    Daily writing prompt
    Which book have you read more than any other?
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    This is a fun one because the book I read the most is The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. Before I launch into my reasons and an analysis of the text, a little about Roald Dahl. Dahl could nominally be considered one of the “OG” subversives. And the cool thing is that he was able to bump right up against the line, cross it, and come back without anyone in power being the wiser. Dahl was smarter than they are/were. May you rest in peace and in power, sir!

    As a child I loved this The Fantastic Mr. Fox it’s an exciting page turner full of adventure and almost heart-stopping moments. The read was genuinely exciting to me. Reading it as an adult, I see a totally different perspective which makes the book equally as exciting. Roald Dahl was truly before his time.

    When the Foxs’ home was destroyed, Bryce, Bunson, and Bean, the wealthy farmers, they were forced underground. In return for being forced underground, they built secret tunnels to the farms so they could steal the farmers’ produce. Mr. Fox completely justified this by hollowing out a community – think communism and socialism here – dining room. A crew would then steal from the evil wealthy farmer an amount of food to live on. Mr. Fox saw no qualms about stealing nee reclaiming resources necessary for life.

    Roald Dahl placed his extremely left political views into Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox ensured that vegetables would be made for the rabbits and animals that are not carnivores. In effect, the subtext suggests that everyone should be taken care of without artificial means testing. When I read this book, I am in awe of the message he’s sending and that he was able to do it in a highly conservative time where anyone needing assistance was seen as “less than human.”

    To this day I still read the book about once a year and pick up on something I missed. That is the depth of Dahl’s writing. The same can be said for his other books like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and The Great Glass Elevator. In the latter, Roald Dahl rather openly criticized the United States’ Government which was tantamount to heresy at the time it was published. Yet the criticism was so implicit, few picked up on it. They assumed it to be just like a comic strip. But in reality, it was a very harsh criticism of the US Military Industrial Complex.

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  • Erasing A Trend

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could erase one trend from history, what would it be?
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    This is another good daily writing prompt. One historical trend that would be great to erase from the past and prevent in the future is the human tendency to gravitate towards anger and hatred in poor economic times. Members of the poor and working class turn on each other in economic recessions, depressions, “dark ages”, etc. The rising levels of hatred seem to be in direct proportions to economic and financial stressors. These stressors rise exponentially when access to a reliable and safe income dry up.

    A large part of this problem seems to be the insatiable greed of the wealthy. Let’s look at Elon Musk, history’s first trillionaire. That’s more money than most people could spend in a lifetime. One does not obtain that amount of money through honest and ethical business practices. This man has hurt an untold and unknown number of people to obtain this vast sum of money. But we can surmise that the people he has hurt have been the working class. In a bitter sense of irony, rather than getting angry at Musk, the working class turn on each other; fighting for scraps like stray dogs in the street. But that’s a topic for another day.

    This has been a historical trend throughout times. Since Trump was dubiously re-elected to the presidency we are seeing it play out. Rent, food, clothing, gasoline, and the cost of basic needs have risen exponentially while wages have fallen. The only answers to problems like these are more regulation and not less. I guess that’s another historical trend to erase. Humans born into inter-generational wealth, when left to their own devices, will not generally do the right thing automatically. This is why we need regulation.

    But the trend of cyclical economic depression giving rise to hatred, racism, and domestic terrorism needs to come to an end because it does no good whatsoever. The working class needs to band together and not be so divided. These divisions have existed for centuries however. It is what has enabled this trend.

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  • What Shapes Us

    Daily writing prompt
    Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
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    It is my belief that we are shaped by our experiences rather than who we are. Our experiences are actually what define us and answer the question of who we are. Or maybe, and more perfectly said, our experiences mostly define who we are and shape us. Speaking from personal experience, I can definitively say my experiences, both positive and negative, have shaped me.

    One summer I rode a bicycle 300 miles, when I lived in Arizona I learned to ride a motorcycle, and when I graduated from college I backpacked through the Sierras in California and the Northern Presidentials in New Hampshire. These experiences helped to define me as comfortable and happy in the mountains and loving riding anything with two wheels on them. I met people and built long lasting friendships; had experiences with extreme beauty and got to do some activities many dream about.

    I went to Alaska and Hawaii. I spent New Years 2010 in Tokyo with a very good friend. Those were the good times. The bad times with mental and physical health issues served to remind me of my humanity and the short time that we live on this planet called earth. In getting sick and struggling, I learned humility, kindness, empathy, and sympathy for others. I learned the value of elevating others around me.

    It is our experiences that profoundly shape us and define us. It is also the choices we make as a result of these experiences. Do we choose to learn from them or do we dig in our heels and continue to repeat mistakes we have made? There are truly many variables here. I am reminded of a friend who is a recovering addict. I love his two life’s mantras and I feel it best to conclude this posting with them.

    If you are going through hell, keep going, and do not stop. What has a beginning also has an end.

    Adapt, improvise, and overcome.

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  • Technology Here To Stay

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s a piece of technology you’re convinced will exist in 20 years?
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    I am convinced that the Internet, TCP/IP Networks, and computers are here to to stay and they will be around in 20 years. The Internet has changed lives and mostly for the better. We have unprecedented access to information and ideas. Granted a lot of it is mis and disinformation so extra care has to be taken to sift out the wheat from the chaff and we have to use some critical thinking skills. That much said, the Internet has helped to discover hobbies that I would otherwise have not discovered nor really taken an interest in like ham radio.

    The Internet is modern equivalent of the movable type printing press. Those that choose to be luddites risk being left behind. We are also living in particularly interesting times with regards to the Internet. The Internet itself is starting to again resemble its early days of introduction to the consumer and business marketplaces. Corporate control is starting to wane in favor of people creating their own home labs, hosting their own services, and leaving the cloud and corporate offerings behind.

    I have moved all of my stuff out of the cloud, including email. I host everything out of my own home on a business class desktop with good quality hardware that I own. I make regular backups like the olden days of computing. And I am free from the perennial subscription models to boot.

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  • Life Long Learning

    Daily writing prompt
    Are you a lifelong learner?
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    I am a lifelong learner and I believe strongly that everyone should commit to learning. There is ample evidence to suggest that learning slows brain aging and promotes brain and cognitive health. Learning also promotes positive mental health and wellness. That much said, it is something that is meant to be enjoyable for all. Learning is enjoyable when one partakes in subject matters that are appealing or interesting and not a subject one is forced or obligated to learn.

    Those that make the commitment to learning also commit to being independent and fre. Learners are, by proxy, critical thinkers and will not automatically believe what they have been told. Critical thinkers are far less easily controlled and are less willing to allow themselves to be controlled. Throughout history, the great leaders were also great students and great learners. Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, routinely touted education.

    Learning can be done beyond the brick and mortar walls of the classroom. One need not associate learning with subjects that do not appeal to them. Engaging in a hobby is a perfectly valid form of learning. Learning need not build a skill that can be monetized or even lead to riches – that’s merely a shallow, capitalistic notion. It can be done to simply help one grow and develop as a person and to help make life enjoyable.

    I learn for the pure sake of learning and pursue subjects that are exciting and interesting. I know I will only live a finite number of years and I would sooner spend them in pursuit of knowledge, tangibility of the knowledge notwithstanding. The entire point is the pursuit of knowledge purely for personal growth and development. I have a computer lab which gives me so much joy. Even in the setbacks and frustrations when things break or fail, there is joy in fixing them and advancing my own skill.

    I feel capitalism wins when I succumb to watching too much television or movies; too much in the way of mindless entertainment. Mindless entertainment in the form of spectacle has been around for centuries. It’s merely changed forms over the millenia. The only people who benefit from spectacle are the ones you hand over your hard earned money to. Why not take that money and use it towards a hobby that is beneficial?

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  • My Good Habit

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s one habit that has improved your life the most?
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    A habit that has really improved my life is a commitment to life long learning through engagement in a hobby. For me, learning is a far better antidepressant than the ones that Big Pharma have come up with. My hobby is my home computer lab where I tinker, break things, and learn. While sometimes frustrating, this is all part of the learning experience and ultimately leads to a sense of accomplishment when a problem gets solved. I make it a part of my day to build, grow, and maintain my home lab.

    Learning is also a love as it truly has to be. I pity the people who only learn when it is a requirement; they lack hobbies or interests. The neat thing about learning opportunities is that they can be found in many places. I discovered the home lab hobby at one of my local libraries that has a technology center. I visited the technology center and saw what people were doing. The next thing I knew I was diving in head first into the next learning opportunity.

    I recommend more people try out a hobby that will help them grow and learn. Hobbies and interests that engage you will improve your life as they have my own.

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  • Present Times

    I am a student of history. It is these current times of extreme socioeconomic injustice that the Black Panthers of the 1960s and 1970s prophetically warned us about. While the Black Panthers’ primary goal was racial empowerment of black lives, they also knew that empowering the lives of every poor and working class person mattered. They understood it was ultimately division amongst ourselves that was hurting us.

    While today’s Black Panthers still must necessarily be about helping the lives of black people and immigrants, they still have a vested interest in helping all oppressed people. If you are working two full time jobs and still cannot make ends meet, you are not a temporarily embarrassed millionaire, you are a victim of a rigged system. This system has us so thoroughly defeated that we have no time whatsoever remaining to organize against it. By the words of our friends that tried to warn us, this was completely by design. This is no accident and no by product. These conditions are intentional.

    We earn less money despite being collectively more educated and working harder. Our money is stolen from us at the grocery store, the clothing store, the energy companies, the entertainment companies, and even the internet service providers. Homelessness is on the rise amomg the employed! Yes, the employed! If that is not staggering than I cannot fathom what is. It may no longer be enough to organize against the system. That ship might very well have sailed. More drastic measures may need to be taken to prevent our lives from further descending into survival.

    It is time to start paying attention to the wisdom of the Black Panthers. It is time for all working class to open our minds and hearts to their experience and foundational knowledge as organizers. I encourage everyone to go to this website: https://www.uate.net. I have hit my final straw and have reached out to them in the hopes that I can use my technology skills to help them. If you have any kind of skills, whether you are white, black, latino/latina – whatever your background – please ask to become a panther. Panthers are smart, wiley, adaptable, and never give up. I am learning neither should I and neither should you.

    In our darkest of times there is hope! Let’s utilize the wisdom that many human lives have brought us. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Tim Cook, and Bill Gates are but 5 people. They have made it impossible to work for reform within the system. The Black Panthers know that when barriers are built up within the system, we work outside and around the system rigged to kill us slowly.

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  • Scammers

    I have written posts on Linked In about signs that you are about to be scammed. I’ve written the same posts on Nextdoor. Well wouldn’t you know it? Today I got scammed and it hurt badly. I lost $50 via Apple Pay on a moving scam. Here is the entire story:

    I reached out to somebody on TrashNothing. This person is not the scammer. Anyhow, she was offering a king bedroom set in beautiful condition. I was planning on getting it for my fiancée. In a sweet way she complained about me taking up so much space in our queen. But I love her so much that I started looking. And sure enough this came up.

    Today one mover flaked out completely. So I tried reaching out to somebody else and they ended up taking my money. I’m not into victim blaming but this one was my fault. He wanted me to pay half up front via Apple Pay on a telephone number other than what he contacted me on. That should have been the red flag that ended it.

    Sadly, I was desperate to get this bedroom set for the absolute love of my life. Desperation and emotion clouded my better judgement and I fell hook, line, and sinker for it. Well, once bitten, twice shy. I will only deal in cash now and only when the job is completed.

    I went to ApplePay with a tone of contrition in the hopes of getting my $50 back. Once the money is sent, there’s no going back. I felt sick to my stomach when I realized that loss represents 4 hours of work. I get paid $17 an hour. 1 hour of work with tax deductions works out to be roughly $12.75 per hour.

    Scammers are parasites and predators. They seek out innocent and trusting targets and exploit them. Scammers should face consequences similar to sex offenders. They should be required to register on a database and I do not say this lightly because I am generally anti-government but this is where the government and I agree. Don’t hurt your fellow class members. Don’t exploit the vulnerable, and furthermore, never exploit children.

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