What were the biggest (a) technical and (b) mental barriers you saw during your travels preventing bitcoin adoption?

Sorry Siggy. My thoughts and prayers for your family and friend.

It's hard to know what to do or say when death rears its ugly head.

I'd been in a fight with my S.O. when I read your post, and I wanted you to know that your words fell exactly when and where I needed to hear them.

You have reminded me - and maybe others - when nothing else could, that there are things more important than my own selfishness.

Great share! Incredible how she doesn't seem to use any "weather proofing" (tar-paper, plastic, sealer etc.). Instead she seems to rely on durable materials and a well constructed design. I only saw her add calking once to the downspout.

I understand. I struggle with addiction too but mine is to tobacco. Some days I look in the mirror and can imagine the horrible illnesses smoking causes, and yet that's not enough to keep me from coming back to it.

I have quit before and I believe I can again.

Often where I'll start is by reflecting on the other good habits I can take up, hopefully deciding on one that can push out the bad.

I've always been very moderate and, in general, uninterested in alcohol, so I can't claim to know exactly what you're going through. But I know people who are sober and I'm confident for them this is one of the hardest things ever, and I consider them among the strongest people I know.

Eunuchs were really a thing - what terrible luck does that take, being destined for that....

I'd like to think I could have been a bard, because I'm wordsy and slightly musical by nature, but I'd probably end up a peasant.

The kind of political 'consensus' we tend to get in western Democracies is usually not consensus at all; feels more a fractalization of people into increasingly smaller camps that can't possibly hope to be represented by two parties' 'consensus.'

The phenomenon of groups coalescing based on trivial, lowest-common-denominator issues, as it was mentioned, often into two polarizing camps, may be a product of how humans psycology works. The convenience of thinking dualistically at the micro-level, as with most things, mirrors what goes on in bigger picture dramas, the convenience of having two-choices (red or blue, Knots or Core etc). Dualistic belief systems in ancient history¹ show us that this mode of thinking is a pesky bugger that is impossibly hard to shake from our genetic makeup.

Overall, I agree with your conclusion that working through these tough questions of right and wrong can result in deepening our understanding of how we interface with these questions, if gone about in a civilized way.

Nice way of putting it, I feel similarly ...

I wish all the best to you on your life journey, wherever it leads you.

Treat CCs as a hot potato and your reward will be aplenty.

I experienced an irregular heart rhythm while using kratom once so I stopped. I believe I read once that some people use kratom to help cut opiate addiction.

I think about this bizarre Jim Morrison 'interview' dubbed over by Rick Rubin where Morrison admits to being 'an alcoholic type person' and adds that the 'Irish are more the alcoholic type.' The interview is worth listening to in its entirety as I think it gave a window into the vulnerable, if not slightly misanthropic, poet-Morrison. It is beautiful, haunting and a bit tragic listening to his voice. Anyway it made me reflective on the cultural baggage that drinking has, wherein comes packaged the specters of both intergenerational traumas and festivities.

All my best to you, citoyen d'éspace.

Remember to celebrate all your Mystic Ladies tomorrow, gentlemen.

There's a scene at the end of the doc where Paul plays 'Let it Be' on the piano. It was the video I'd been after when I posted, but I couldn't find it on YT. Very beautifully made documentary.

Abbey Road is a masterpiece. Truly inspired musicianship.

touché

Well done, man.

From my experience, both are enhanced by a bit of THC, fwiw.

I'm sure you have good reasons for the decisions you make. Sounds like you're living your best life. Keep it up.

I'm confident that SN loves your weirdness.

This is similar to the 'gratitude for hospitality' rule followed, I believe, by the Franciscan order of monks, who generally follow a strictly vegetarian diet except when when accepting the hospitality of others. According to the Christian standpoint, these exceptions are made out of the edict, 'Love thy neighbour as yourself.'

'Resetting' your body like you do in January is important. I'm certainly interested in different types of fasts and how this can jump-start our bodies' natural healing mechanisms.

The social aspect of drinking is perplexing. It can be a 'social lubricant' at best, yet seems to be the root cause of lots of broken relationships

It's for social reasons that I'm not particularly fond of alcohol. Many a family's traumas, tragedies and silly needless feuds all could have been avoided it you took alcohol out of the mix. Those with good self-control are the exception and not the rule; those who don't have blemished what otherwise could be a good thing.

I know a man in his late seventies. Can work outside in the heat for hours without flinching, has no major health issues and he never touched alcohol once in his whole live. I have a hard time thinking that his abstinence is unrelated to his longevity. On the other hand, some people's bodies seem to be able to handle it.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm the type who thinks that a principled life needs to have some exceptions - this is a good example.

Sometimes you just have to live on the edge.