Word-whore. I write 'em. I talk 'em. Information, politics, media, and the cybers. I drink. I use bad words. All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
For some time now I’ve tried to adhere to the Getting Things Done methodology for, well, getting things done. My “trusted system” has fallen into disrepair, however, and my in-tray is far from its ideal empty state, with everything properly recorded.
I’m determined to do better in 2008, however. So as I do my end-of-year clean-up, I’m recording everything in the new (beta) OmniFocus software — something designed specifically for this task. I’ll also be looking at tips from the 43folders blog.
’Pong has combined his penchant for photographs of reflections with a self-portrait to head his latest post, Moments in 2007.
For him, 2007 was a year where he overcame some of the pressures of depression to achieve highlights such as a prize-winning image.
As I’ve said before in a post about privacy, depression hits 800,000 Australians every year and yet we try to pretend this epidemic and its effects don’t exist. Just pop another SSRI.
Small-minded politicians introduce legislation like WorkChoices in the name of “productivity”. Yet by disrupting routine family time and increasing individual stress they produce a shell-shocked workforce that’s less productive.
’Pong has the good fortune to have a day-job employer who has a more sophisticated worldview. When WorkChoices was introduced he told me “Why would I want to treat my staff so badly? I want to keep the good people!”
If a workplace produced physical illness as debilitating as depression, the proprietors would be paying compensation for decades — if they weren’t jailed for criminal negligence. But somehow it’s OK to destroy people’s minds. This has to end.
Depression is a normal human reaction to abnormal conditions. We’ve produced an abnormal society where in any given year nearly 1 in 20 of us suffers from its effects just in this way, let alone what others. Yes, this has to end.
Fortunately organisations like Beyond Blue help. And I’ll post my own, generally more positive thoughts later today.
The StupidFilter Project is building a filter that will remove stupidity from online content in the same way that spam filters deal with email. Apparently it’s going to use the excellently-named CRM114 Discriminator. Hat tip to Bad Language.
My Facebook status says: Stilgherrian is considering. All things considered. Suggest three.
My friend Matt says: Three huh? Pop Rocks; Hopscotch and a Stopwatch.
He’s pretty clever, I think. Now, whatever happened to Pop Rocks?
Someone (it was probably Meg) said that it’s a good idea to invite people to comment occasionally, especially people who haven’t commented before. So, if that’s you, I encourage you to take a look around, perhaps the popular posts or perhaps those which I like, and add your bit.
Being very disappointed with my most popular posts during 2007, here’s a list of 10 posts which I think are a better, more intelligent read. Enjoy.
Actually make that 15. In no particular order…
Most of that’s reasonably serious — suitable for a reflective Sunday morning, though. So you might want to check out the entire Humour category too.
They’re also the longer pieces, but I reckon there’s a whole swathe of little comments which are wonderful contributions to the sum total of English literature. Don’t you agree?