15/31 Rage, contempt and green ice cream

I only met my paternal grandfather twice. The first time, I was about three. He took me for ice cream. I wanted “green” which, to my West Coast and three-year-old mind was self-evidently lime sherbet. To his East Coast sensibilities, it meant pistachio. I cried all the way home. He said, “Damn kid” and “How the hell am I supposed to know what green ice cream is?” (This is a famous family story, often repeated--I doubt whether I actually remember it directly.)

It was barely a thing. It was a toddler crying over ice cream. Boo-hoo little special snowflake. But it was also a grown man normalizing rage and contempt for a grandchild he would only meet once again in his life. I must have deserved it. I was stupid. I should have known better. People will get mad and say bad things, and maybe shake me a little, if I don’t “learn to like it.” These are the preconscious proto-reactions of a three-year-old child.

( Unto the third and the fourth generation )

16/31 Reading more

I'm testing Spreeder, a browser extension for speed-reading online content. It's awesome. You highlight some text, right-click and select Spreeder, and it plays the text one word (or two or three words) at a time, fast.

First I did a quick test of my speed when reading conventionally, and came out at about 290 words per minute. So I set Spreeder at 300. That felt really slow, so I tried 400, and finally settled at 500.



I tried it on some fic, a New Yorker political article, and a post on BikePortland. I'd say my comprehension of each was at least as good as it would have been reading conventionally. That's an instant 70% speed increase.

The average American never surpasses speech-speed in reading, about 200 words per minute. We subvocalize--read aloud in our heads. Spreeder helps force you past that limitation. Apparently most of us spend about 30% of our reading time "regressing"--re-reading and checking back. Obviously Spreeder eliminates that option altogether.

What's lost, of course, is rhythm and cadence and the other auditory qualities of text that, in speed reading, you're actively trying to get rid of. There are times when you want those, and that's when you'd put down the toys and techniques and go back to 200 words per minute.

A couple of really valuable aids for reading online material the conventional way:

Beeline Reader: colors the text progressively, making it easy to follow from line to line. A very good aid for focus. (Hat tip: ravurian.)

Clearly, a browser extension associated with Evernote, and Readability, an independent browser extension. Both present text in the font, size, and page layout of your choice, without ads or distractions, thereby aiding both focus and poor eyesight.

17/31 Meme: Time Lord

Meme from pretty much everywhere:

You are now a Time Lord. The object closest to your left hand is your Sonic item. One of your parents’ occupations is your title. Your last text is your catchphrase.

I am the Antiquarian Book Dealer. I have a pair of sonic embroidery scissors. My catchphrase is "Congratulations. Manifestation accomplished!"



I'd be a crappy Time Lord, but if anyone needed any threads snipped, I'd be ready.