Pierced
Originally uploaded by brunkfordbraun
I really like the contrast between the monochrome background and the paint in this.
Author Archives: Brock Tice
Jones Hall Courtyard
In my Secular Rituals post, I mentioned the Jones Hall courtyard at Tulane. I was unable to find any photographs of it in a quick search before, but now that I’ve had a chance to go through my pictures at home, I’ve found my old drawing:
The open part of the courtyard (only the edge is shown) is to the left, while Jones Hall itself is behind the point-of-view in the drawing. I believe there’s another name for this courtyard, but I can’t remember what it is. It was (and is) one of my favorite parts of the Tulane campus.
Coffee Temperatures
Observation: Iced coffee and hot coffee asymptotically approach the same taste as they sit in a cup on your desk.
Secular Rituals
There are a couple of things that I’ve noticed I enjoy doing roughly once a year. I’m not sure yet why I engage in these “secular rituals”. So far they include only:
- Watching the entire series of Cowboy Bebop
- Reading (or attempting to read) Gödel, Escher, Bach
- Watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (and the original movie)
The (plausible) reasons for reviewing these works that I have come up with so far are:
- To mark the passage of time internally.
- Because the experience is enjoyable, and after a year it’s not too repetitive.
- To remind myself of the feelings and thoughts that these media have evoked in me.
When at Tulane, especially when I was a freshman searching for meaning, I would do some other things periodically, mostly wandering around campus. In particular:
- Visiting the Nydia, typically at night, when it was still in its glass enclosure.
- Talking with Louis Rothbard, before they tore down the University Center and tore up the benches where he sat.
- Sitting in the Jones Hall courtyard under the vines. Here’s a drawing I did of one part of it years ago:
Like the more recent activities mentioned first, periodically I would feel compelled to do these things. Having done them, the need was sated for a few weeks or months, and would then come back again.
Have you felt like this? Do you have any secular rituals?
GTD Tip: Finder’s Column View
For the Mac users among you, here’s something I’ve been doing the last few months that you might find useful.
When you get to the following part of your weekly review (which you are doing, aren’t you?):
Review “Pending” and Support Files
Browse through all work-in-progress support material to trigger new actions, completions, and waiting-fors.
try using the column view in Finder to go through your digital files. This assumes that you have some or most of your project support materials in digital form. Here’s my project view (click thumbnails for full size):
As you click through the list, it’s easy to delve into the sub-directories but keep track of where you are:
Do you have any weekly review tricks?