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Sun Sep 4 08:17:55 EDT 2016
Slept from after midnight to before seven. May take a nap later.
Saw the orangey-pinkish-salmony sunrise.
Sunny. High of eighty-one. (I thought we'd put the eighties behind us!)
Goals:
- Fix shell script at work
Done.
- Grocery
Done.
Watched The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, a documentary about Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Good.
In roughly the same genre as How to Make a Book with Steidl, another documentary I enjoyed.
Also, although for whatever reason it resonates with me somewhat less, Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
"The Japanese word shokunin is defined by both Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries as 'craftsman' or 'artisan,' but such a literal description does not fully express the deeper meaning. The Japanese apprentice is taught that shokunin means not only having technical skills, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness. [...] The shokunin has a social obligation to work his/her best for the general welfare of the people. This obligation is both spiritual and material, in that no matter what it is, the shokunin’s responsibility is to fulfill the requirement." --- Tasio Odate, _Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use_
Recently, I considered what aspect of my job I most enjoy, and decided on the "garden tending" nature of it --- attending to an environment for years, moving gradually to a more perfect state.
This is similar to but not the same as craft and mastery of craft (which is a topic I've thought about a great deal in the past).
Both garden tending and craft mastery require expertise and aesthetic judgment.
The difference, I suppose, is one of scope and time.
An exercise of craft on a particular project is completable; garden tending is ongoing.
Tending a garden isn't a perfect metaphor.
One could tend a garden to keep its state constant; that's not what I mean.
Improvement over time is a key component.
Even if some changes are lateral or backward steps, it's important that the intent and long-term direction be improvement.
A large, complex, and long-term software project could be suitable garden.
An I.T. environment could be a garden.
A business could be a garden.
The thing in question must be of sufficient utility to justify the commitment (though it need not be grand or popular).
Wiped down the kitchen and bathroom counters, vacuumed.
Took a short nap in the afternoon
Breakfast: carrots, coffee with half-and-half, chicken pot pie
Lunch: macaroni and cheese
Dinner:
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