Going through an emotional rough patch earlier this week, and then (in an unconnected happenstance) watching Gran Turismo (I’d missed seeing the movie when it first came out in theaters), it started to dawn on me how much I’ve begun to value my “offline identity” relative to my “online identity”. Online, I talk about all the things I pontificate about on social media, blogs, podcasts, etc., and I write lots of code. Offline, I walk/cycle/scoot ( #micromobility has become very important to me!), meet new people, enjoy live music, and engage in a variety of activities with my #family in and around #Portland.
Somehow, the “juice” I get out of life is trending in that direction: IRL. The reason Gran Turismo got me musing on this is because prior to this year, I’d never thought of myself as an “athlete”…never thought of myself as a “fitness buff”.
I think that’s changing. And for this once-chubby nerd, it’s super weird! 😅 But super fun.
Happy May the 4th: https://swanh.net
Are you peeking out during eternal Caturday?
A great quote from Joe:
“Go hard at whimsy. Be goofy. It’s the way to survive.”
— Joe Crawford, Notas del viernes
https://aaronparecki.com/2024/05/02/5/oauth-browser-based-apps-last-call
OAuth for Browser-Based Apps Working Group Last Call!
Want to read: A Fish Has No Word For Water: A punk homeless San Francisco memoir by (ISBN 9780986226694)
🎵 It’s a Blade Runner: 2049 soundtrack afternoon
I was reminded of this gem: Featureman’s “How to Eat a Watermelon the Correct Way”
Summary: lend a #book from your personal library⁶ to a friend, on the conditions that they do not donate sell or dispose of it, and instead when they are done with it they return it or lend it to someone else who agrees to these conditions.
My goal was to create a book lending system that:
* preserves books — effectively in a giant #distributed communal #library
* makes lending easier fiscally, psychologically, emotionally for both parties
* encourages direct person-to-person lending without intermediaries
* grows a culture of non-zero-sum sharing, preservation, and longterm thinking
The basic steps to create a Library of Infinite Loan:
1. Create a separate space (like a particular bookshelf) for #books to infinite lend. A small shelf in a guest room or common space like a hallway works well.
2. Move books there that you are ok lending out and never seeing again
3. Label that space your “Library of Infinite Loan”, or invite guests to borrow from your “Library of Infinite Loan”
4. When visitors ask what that means, explain the Rules
Rules for borrowing from a Library of Infinite Loan (“the Rules”)
1. Keep it as long as you like
2. Do not sell donate or otherwise dispose of it
3. You may give it
a. back to the person you borrowed from
b. or back to its original purchaser if they wrote their name and web address inside
c. or (lend it) to someone else who agrees to the Rules
There are several ways to extend / expand the Library of Infinite Loan:
* custom book plate: design a custom book plate for yourself with room for your name (and web address) on it e.g. “From Tantek’s (@tantek.com) Library” (with space), print it on longterm adhesive paper, and place it inside new books you purchase. When you move a book to your Library of Infinite Loan, amend the book plate to say ”… Library of Infinite Loan” and attach a copy of the Rules.
* add a “borrowers log” with blank lines for anyone you lend it to or they lend it to, transitively, to optionally add their name, web address, and a date of borrowing. Then amend the rules to allow returning a book to who you borrowed from or anyone in the borrower log or original purchaser.
* more media: CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, LaserDiscs, VHS, cassette tapes, video game cartridges etc.
* other things
* large tools — which usually come in a box with instruction manual, so there’s a logical place to put an “owners plate”, “borrowers log”, and copy of the rules.
* artwork — a great way to rotate art among a community
#infiniteLoan #libraryOfInfiniteLoan
References:
¹ I’m looking through old personal logs for earliest mentions of “infinite loan”
² In my 2019 personal log I found a note that I “moved some books as library of infinite loan to guest room” where I had previously setup a small bookshelf for such books.
³ https://indieweb.org/2020/Austin/reading
⁴ https://chat.indieweb.org/2023-10-01#t1696202307311300
⁵ I was also inspired by sharing the idea again to a couple of friends in an espresso-making livestream this morning
⁶ https://indieweb.org/personal_library
Throwback to June 1998 at Creation Festival East. This is where I first met Jeeves (on the left in the yellow glasses). Katt was one of my earliest online friends and this was the first time we met in person. I wore fun hats at the time. As you can see, we were all pretty cool.
I was interning at Teen Mania Ministries at the time and in lieu of going on a mission trip that summer, Matt (in the white shirt) and I road tripped to a few music festivals to promote Acquire The Fire events. Jeeves was considering the internship and I think meeting us helped convince him. Sorry? 🤣
I also hit it off really well with Luke (in the red shirt). We ran into him at a couple of the festivals we went to. I think he was in a band named Little Flock. Unfortunately, I lost track of him in the following years.
Original photo by Jeeves
🍿 Watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and enjoyed it. Loved seeing James Acaster in it; he’s one of my favorite comedians. It wasn’t quite as good as Afterlife, though maybe that’s because this didn’t hit in the feels as much.
