capshaw

I Was a 48-Year-Old Dead Man Walking, Until a juicy ribeye Said, ‘Not Today, Dumbass.’ I felt the decline creeping in—a subtle, unshakable sense that the end was drafting its terms. Arthritis stiffened my joints, brain fog dulled my edges, depression murmured its old promises, and my energy ebbed like a tide I couldn’t call back. (Thread)

Making the sand think.

My brother had a similar one. Certified legend.

@chrysb @calebhodges What do you think about the Graphiti/neo4j approach? Temporal Graph Rag seems like the most sophisticated one to me.

@calebhodges yeah it's part of the original piece but didn't fit well in the X post format, you can see the matrix here: rosebudjournal.notion.site/Everything-you…

This.

Project Hail Mary writer Andy Weir on social commentary in books: "I dislike social commentary. Like… I really hate it. When I’m reading a book, I just want to be entertained, not preached at by the author. Plus, it ruins the wonder of the story if I know the author has a political or social axe to grind. I no longer speculate about all possible outcomes of the story because I know for a fact that the universe of that book will conspire to ensure that the author’s political agenda is validated. I hate that." "I put no politics or social commentary into my stories at all. Anyone who thinks they see something like that is reading it in on their own. I have no point to make, and I’m not trying to affect the reader’s opinion on anything. My sole job is to entertain, and I stick to that." "To that end, I also don’t talk about my personal political opinions publicly. I don’t want readers to even know, honestly. I don’t want that in the back of their minds as they read my stuff." Is this why he has the #1 sci-fi movie in decades?

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

GenX inherited skepticism without optimism. We got the armor without the weapon. We're really good at not being fooled. At seeing through the bullshit. At expecting nothing so we can't be disappointed. What we're not practiced at is using that clear sight for something. I wrote about the harder discipline.

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

Hope isn't a feeling you wait around to experience. It's an action you take whether you feel it or not. Some days especially.

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

I spent most of my adult life calling myself a realist. Which is what cynics call themselves when they want to feel smart about it. Then I read one line from Nick Cave and it broke something open. Hope isn't a feeling you wait around to experience. It's an action you take whether you feel it or not.

Which costs more: Being wrong because you hoped for something. Or being right because you never tried.

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

Nick Cave: "Hopefulness is not a neutral position. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism." Adversarial. Not naive. Not passive. A discipline. As a GenX dad who spent decades calling cynicism "realism" — this line rewired something in me. What's the small, repeated act that keeps you in the fight?

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

Nobody talks about the cost of being a realist your whole life. You never look foolish. You're never disappointed. You saw it coming every time. But you also never built anything. Never bet on something uncertain. Never let yourself want something you couldn't guarantee. That's the price. I finally decided it was too high.

Cynicism requires nothing from you. That's not a feature. That's the tell.

A five-year employee gives two weeks' notice. Years of context. Vendor relationships. Process workarounds. Decision rationale. Strategy history. They write a Google doc. We call this "knowledge transfer."

Full article here: The Case for Optimism capshaw.substack.com/p/the-case-for…

Cynicism is a conclusion. Hope is a starting point. One lets you off the hook. The other hands you a shovel. I'm still digging. Most days, that's enough.