Frosted Echoes

A social indie web log.

TIL the web version of Microsoft Office is free if you are using the Edge browser.

// 5:14 PM, May 29

Another Sunday Divine Liturgy at All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church. Beautiful service.

// 2:18 PM, May 29

🎵 Perfectly Out Of Time

Stray Fossa is a band that Apple Music kept pushing on me until I realized that I really liked them. Combining hushed tones and gentle atmospherics with chillwave sensibilities, they appeal perfectly to mid-life me. At this period in my existence, I'm looking backward and forward in equal measure. Music that contains a sense of restrained nostalgia with a nod to retro-futurism speaks to where my mind finds itself. I can imagine walking through an urban landscape with ear buds in, going from classic architecture to the most modern of skyscrapers and beholding all with a fascination brought about by realizing harmony in contradiction.

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// 6:11 PM, May 28

Andy Phelps writes about how, growing up in California, near Edwards Air Force base, he had to deal with the constant reminders of the possibility of nuclear war. To cope with the existential dread, he found comfort in an arcade game: Missile Command.

But in that moment, playing Missile Command was transformative: it provided a way for me to process my frustration, my fear, and my anger. It offered an outlet for my grief, and it also, amazingly, provided a sense of agency and control over a situation in which I had none of either. While the hopelessness of my plight was being reflected in the press covering the Cold War, in popular music on MTV, and in the comic books and action heroes of the day, Missile Command did a unique and (at least to me) profound thing: it didn’t offer some escapist view of the situation — everyone that plays the game eventually loses — but it did offer both a way to trivialize and compartmentalize the fear (it is, after all, an arcade game and you can play it again with a quarter so there is always another life) — while simultaneously holding out the idea that you can win for a while, and for a pretty significant while at that. You can laugh at yourself for the stress you feel while playing the final moments of the game, and then savor the fact that you’re still alive in the arcade and get a piece of pizza.

Anything that gets you over the pressures of the world so you can enjoy a slice of pizza can’t be too bad.

→ Games of the Soul: An Anecdotal Introduction by Way of Missile Command

// 2:40 PM, May 28

My son was playing his guitar and singing “All My Little Words” by the Magnetic Fields this morning and it sounded so good. My heart swells with pride. I feel like he should record a covers EP.

// 2:30 PM, May 28

Just updated my Now page (no swimming edition). frostedechoes.com/now/

// 11:17 AM, May 28

Wired For Reproduction

Image source: Heather Mount on Unsplash

Brandy Schillace writes for Wired Magazine about how pregnancy should be untethered from motherhood. Her piece reads like someone who has either never encountered Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World or, if she has, thought it was proscriptive. It’s a Judith Butler fantasy world writ large, with reproductive organs being separated from an unwanted reality.

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// 8:04 PM, May 27

We tend to think of government corruption as happening in other places. Third world countries. It’s time to start thinking about, and rooting out, the corruption in our country. All of those who take money to jeopardize the safety of our children have to be exposed and brought to justice.

Elizabeth Bruenig lays out her case that this is a society coming apart.

But these aren’t the growing pains of a society making difficult advances toward an orderly peace. These are the morbid symptoms of a society coming undone, and they arise largely from policy choices made by interested parties with material motives.
Elizabeth Bruenig https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/uvalde-texas-robb-elementary-school-culture-death/638435/

“Material motives” from politicians (especially Republicans) trump the well-being of our children.

// 6:37 PM, May 26

I will never forget this piece. Since it was written, America has only grown more devoted to our own Moloch. Our craven politicians are his acolytes. Citizens armed to the teeth are his followers.

The gun is not a mere tool, a bit of technology, a political issue, a point of debate. It is an object of reverence. Devotion to it precludes interruption with the sacrifices it entails. Like most gods, it does what it will, and cannot be questioned. Its acolytes think it is capable only of good things. It guarantees life and safety and freedom. It even guarantees law. Law grows from it. Then how can law question it?

→ Our Moloch | Garry Wills | The New York Review of Books

// 8:29 PM, May 24

The new Feedbin app for iOS is super snappy, designed well and seems less buggy than the previous incarnation.

// 10:11 PM, May 23

Cal Newport On Social Media

Author of Deep Work, Digital Minimalism and other tech-adjacent books, Cal Newport, talks about the perks of living without social media in this video.

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// 9:48 PM, May 23

Just finished reading: David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell 📚. Gladwell rarely disappoints. The stories he presents of the little guy up against the big guy are entertaining as well as instructive.

// 4:28 PM, May 22

Come To The Dark Side (We Have Cookies)

A lot of times, when I watch movies that pit good vs. evil in easily distinguishable sides, I wonder about someone actually choosing a path that is clearly evil. Take Star Wars, for example. Why would someone choose to be on the dark side, with all the available evidence that it’s just evil? There are moments when I have trouble suspending my disbelief. George Lucas tried hard to make Anakin’s descent into the evil persona of Darth Vader believable, but it was still rough around the edges. The depiction of evil in movies can be so exaggerated as to be cartoonish.

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// 6:47 PM, May 21

🎵 Mint Julep - Covers

<a href="https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/album/covers">Covers by Mint Julep</a>

→ Mint Julep - Covers EP

The 1980s was a decade that started with an album called The Age of Plastic. The band that released the album, the Buggles, captured the spirit of the age by announcing “Video Killed The Radio Star” in a nod to the rise of MTV (Music Television). They had their fingers on the pulse of the American music scene that was springing up in the wake of disco and the long tail of the rise of punk. Plastic was an appropriate metaphor for an embrace of everything synthetic. Synthesizers captured the popular imagination and even stole some thunder from the guitar.

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// 7:00 PM, May 20

Sunday worship at the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

// 6:30 PM, May 19

Is Automattic A Poor Steward Of Its Acquisitions?

Almost a year ago, Wordpress owner Automattic bought the beloved journaling app, Day One. One of the first things that was announced was imminent integration with Automattic's two blogging tools, Wordpress and Tumblr. This news wasn't shocking, as Day One previously had integrated with Tumblr and being able to share a journal entry publicly on established blogging platforms made sense. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg even called journaling in Day One "private blogging."

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// 10:54 PM, May 18

Things are heating up here in NC, and it’s about time to spin one of my favorite summer records: Washed Out’s Paracosm.

// 7:23 PM, May 18

It looks like Matter took into account one of the primary criticisms of the app — that it was too cluttered — when designinng the second version.

// 8:34 PM, May 16

Variables.

// 7:16 PM, May 16

Brave Rewards seems like a cool way to pay creators. I wish more people were verified, but I think I’m going to add my blog.

// 12:59 PM, May 14

🎵 Full Moon Baby

I love how Hollie Cook is able to blend reggae and dream pop vibes on “Full Moon Baby.” I enjoyed Cook’s first album, Vessel of Love when it came out in 2018, but there’s something unique about this track.

This is how you do crossover. It feels like the way forward when even pioneering genres are beginning to retread the same ground over and over again. Almost no stone has been left unturned in even some of my favorite musical styles. I’ll always enjoy the familiar, but I’m eager to hear new ways to blend styles and create something that speaks of novelty.

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// 7:00 PM, May 13

Orthodox Christianity, The Far Right and the Green-Eyed Christ

Image source: Valamo Monastery, Karelia, Russia

A new book entitled Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Apostasy in Appalachia examines how more conservative and even far-right Christians are flocking to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). The phenomenon is detailed by Odette Yousef in the NPR piece Orthodox Christian churches are drawing in far-right American converts.

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// 7:00 PM, May 13

I looked into migrating over to blot.im last year (because it was so easy to post from Obsidian), but noticed that the platform had some issues that weren’t being addressed. This is the second time in a few months that users have wondered whether the project has been abandoned.

// 7:14 PM, May 12

I’m leaning towards face tattoos but I’m open to suggestions on how to deal with my midlife crisis.

// 6:22 PM, May 12

Less Is More

I’ve decided I need to introduce some changes to how I post online. I typically write a lot of link posts because I read quite a bit online and want to share things that I think are interesting. This comes from a desire to add my thoughts to what is put out there by others, and — let’s face it — comment sections are a pretty bad way to do it. Lately, though, a lot of what I see online has to do with the outrage of the week. “Outrage of the week” sounds like some cute embellishment, but it has become literally accurate. Every week, the people on the internet collectively lose their minds about a particular subject. Then, everyone gives a hot take on that subject. When the next week hits, there’s a new subject to write about. It has become an all-too-familiar standard pattern.

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// 6:38 PM, May 11

Faith

Noise

Tech