For several years I have been teaching online about the constraints that give rise to containers. I have a bunch of exercises that I do with people to give them a felt and embodied sense of “container” while we are online.
Today Matt Webb shares an interesting experience related to that:
A few weeks ago I was on a zoom call where someone had a standing mirror in their room in the background. I’ve never seen that before. It kept me weirdly on edge throughout like it violated some previously unstated video call feng shui or something.
(I had another call in which the person’s screen was reflected in a shiny window behind them and so I could see my own face over their shoulder. But that seemed fine. This was not the same.)
My disquiet came because the mirror was angled such that it showed an off-screen part of the room. I could see beyond the bounds; it broke the container.
The very best way to learn about dialogic containers is to notice dialogic containers. Where are the spaces inside of which you make meaning and how are they enabled? Carry that question with you.
Spider ballooning blows my mind.
100 years ago on Christmas Eve, Winnie the Pooh appeared for the first time in print. I was named for the boy in the story.
Watching Algeria v Sudan in the Africa Cup of Nations on Christmas Eve. One of the things that makes the tournament so interesting to me is learning about the teams and players and what they give to be able to play. In the case of Sudan, their national team is largely made up of players from the two big clubs of Al Hilal and Al Merreikh who have played their past two seasons in exile, joining the domestic leagues in Mauritania and Rwanda. Algeria was never going to lose the opener, and indeed they beat 10 men Sudan 3-0. But watching Sudan play their hearts out and especially their keeper Elneel, who stood on his head in the match, you see what it means for them to play and give hope and distraction to the people of Sudan.
Farewell to the bandicoots, farewell to the shrew. Farewell to the Slender-billed curlew. These are just some of the species officially declared extinct this year.
The Ontario government wants elected local officials to secretly waive archeological studies for development proposals. This year I visited Pompeii. Imagined if the local officials had just allowed a canal to be built through the ruins? Indigenous history interacted differently by people in Canada who believe that only European history and archeology is valid. There is a word for this blatant disregard of one person’s history over another’s simply because you don’t believe their story matters as much.
Rogue black holes, hacking LinkedIn and playing the birth lottery.
Yes the World Junior hockey tournament is coming up (and that is a big end of year tradition in many Canadian homes ) but the African Cup of Nations is also on and that is the best continental tournament for the neutral. It’s unpredictable, features many top world players and you find yourself pulling for countries like Botswana who are currently holding their own against the powerhouse of Senegal. If you love underdog football, this is for you.
Some very cool places I’ve only just visited for the first time at YVR. #FirstNations #Musqueam #Autusm #Neurodiversity #YVR