SONG OF BOB

notes and intervals

Confidential to Mark Zuckerberg

June 26, 2018 by Bob Redmond in res publica, this is now

Dear Mark:

First, I hope you haven't missed me these past three months. I haven't missed you, I must admit. I've been doing more real, rather than virtual things; among the real I count reading. Here are some excerpts from a delightful, even breathtaking, book by Kay Larson—Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists. I found it in Powell's Books in Oregon several years ago, when Amy and I got a delicious weekend day to roam the city while Grandma Grace spent time with Japhy.

Klaatu barada nikto

January 21, 2017 by Bob Redmond in res publica

A blog, wow! So 1990's! Why and what for?

Three reasons: first, the dynamics of Facebook, with its binary like/dislike discourse and time-wasting attractiveness, is no longer merely distasteful. It's truly harmful: narrowing friend communities to hysterical echo chambers, facilitating fake news, creating destructive and expensive feedback loops for small businesses. It's a two-dimensional reality that allows for no quietude (I exist only if I click), no nuance, no reflection or meditation, no evolution of our human-ness…