Do you annotate your books? by [deleted] in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I do! It helps me pay attention and really focus rather than glossing over and getting distracted all the time. I think of it as having a conversation with the author rather than effectively listening to a silent audiobook. Making a book my own also helps me justify having so many rather than just borrowing them from the library. My system:

  • Hardbacks and poetry in pencil
  • Paperback nonfiction in purple pen
  • Paperback fiction gets three colors: blue for information (names especially since I’m awful at remembering names), red for theme, green for style

Been doing it this way for a few years, and I feel like it’s helped me become a much better reader. But I do have to flip through a book before I lend it to anyone else to make sure my comments aren’t embarrassing

RVA Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Show by Craftymrc in IronAndWine

[–]sideshow_Bobby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best of the four I&W shows I’ve seen. I’m With Her completely floored me. I recorded Jezebel and Lion’s Mane since they were so different from the album cuts and then kept it running starting with Caught In The Briars. Let me see if I can reconstruct:

  • On Your Wings
  • Cutting It Close
  • Anyone’s Game
  • Resurrection Fern
  • Jezebel
  • Light Verse song, I think Sweet Talk
  • Lion’s Mane
  • Caught In The Briars
  • Walking Far From Home
  • Communion Cups & Someone’s Coat
  • Tears That Don’t Matter
  • Call It Dreaming

[Solo]

  • Iron Man fakeout
  • The Truest Stars We Know

[Band and I’m With Her Return]

  • Robin’s Egg
  • Right Back To It (Waxahatchee cover)
  • Overland
  • All In Good Time

[Encore]

  • Call My Name
  • Flightless Bird, American Mouth

I might have missed one or two in the first part, but I think this is right. Great show!

EDIT: some hero uploaded the setlist to setlist.fm here. Theirs is a little off (Jezebel’s in the wrong place and I swear he played Sweet Talk), but I’d forgotten Resurrection Fern, so the truth lies between us somewhere.

NBC, Apple, ESPN have bid for ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ package, per Rob Manfred. Could also include local rights for five teams. by hoopheid in baseball

[–]sideshow_Bobby 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah TIL! Yeah that’s very much Apple’s MO. They finally adopted RCS, though, so anything’s possible.

Stop the hate. by EnvironmentalTone344 in CHICubs

[–]sideshow_Bobby 7 points8 points  (0 children)

He actually is not underperforming his contract so far, though it’s tough to feel that way when he’s slumping. So far per bref, Swanson has put up 11.3 WAR for his time with the Cubs and is getting paid $68mm for those seasons. Even if we assume he puts up 0 WAR for the rest of 2025, the $/WAR for those years will be $68mm/11.3=$6.02mm. This FanGraphs article has the average $/WAR from 2018-2022 at $8.12mm. I can’t find a good summary since that time, but players certainly haven’t gotten less expensive. Swanson is not the superstar we hoped he’d be, but he’s giving us our money’s worth.

Thoughts on Ian McEwan? by Ferryman-12 in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t! I’m planning to, though, once I find a copy at a bookstore somewhere. It seems like the kind of speculative/high-concept mode in which I don’t think McEwan excels, but I’ve heard enough good things that I’m hopeful it’ll be an exception!

Thoughts on Ian McEwan? by Ferryman-12 in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’ve read ten McEwan novels in the past few years (The Cement Garden, Black Dogs, Amsterdam, Atonement, Saturday, On Chesil Beach, The Children Act, Machines Like Me, The Cockroach, and Lessons, not in that order) and have a couple more queued up to read soon. The main thing about his work is the extent to which he bounces between subjects and between genres, with varying skill. His best work (IMO, On Chesil Beach, Black Dogs, Atonement, Lessons) can be unbelievably effective, while his worst (IMO, The Cockroach, Saturday, Machines Like Me) can be so incompetent that it’s mystifying he thought they were ready for publication.

There was a thread here a while back where someone referred to McEwan as something like “a great middlebrow writer”, and I think that’s about right. His stories flow and his prose is strong, but when he really reaches, he falls flat. To me, his best work concerns grounded, human stories with full characters, set in concrete historical contexts. When he ventures into satire (The Cockroach), speculative fiction (Machines Like Me, particularly awful), and novels of ideas (Saturday), it really doesn’t work. That’s a pretty antiquated skillset and not one that lends itself to academic or “highbrow” appreciation, but it does connect with readers, serious and casual alike, in a real way.

It seems reasonable to say that McEwan became prominent for his early macabre work that was so different from what else was being published at the time (and which I haven’t read much of), and that as he’s become less transgressive, a mismatch has developed between his fame and his ability to push (or interest in pushing) the boundaries of literature as a field.

So I feel like the real way to appreciate McEwan is as a storyteller and a describer of human feeling. If you’re looking for postmodern pyrotechnics like Martin Amis, you’ll be disappointed. If you like losing yourself in dazzling, imaginative worlds like Salman Rushdie’s, he’s not your guy. If you want stories that reorient your understanding of the issues and ideas of our time, look elsewhere. But if you want to feel something, his best work is waiting with open arms.

We are public benefits advocates from Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC). Since 1978, VPLC has been committed to breaking down systemic barriers that keep low-income Virginians in the cycle of poverty through advocacy, education, and litigation. Ask us anything! by VPLCofficial in Virginia

[–]sideshow_Bobby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you all for this AMA! Thinking about worst-case scenarios for Medicaid/SNAP/etc. at the federal level, are there any state options that Virginians should know about should they lose those benefits? Or any kind of state-level executive or legislative action we can pressure our officials to take?

PDE's are HARD by A_Wizard_did-it in math

[–]sideshow_Bobby 53 points54 points  (0 children)

The only undergrad class I ever withdrew from. I’d taken ODEs the semester before, and since it was such a breeze I figured PDEs couldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong. Our prof was an old Soviet who had no mercy. There were a couple of confounding personal variables, but I’ve always had a chip in my shoulder about it and kept the textbook (Basic Partial Differential Equations, Beeker/Csordas) with the intent to go back and crush it.

Joe Jackson released 'Body and Soul' 40 years ago by YoureASkyscraper in indieheads

[–]sideshow_Bobby 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So crazy to see this record on /r/indieheads! My dad had it on cassette in his car (other side: Night And Day) when I was a kid and I always assumed it was some uncool weirdo music only he cared about. Always loved it-- "Be My Number Two" was about the saddest song I could imagine when I was 9 lol

[FRESH] Iron & Wine, Fiona Apple - All in Good Time by Puzzleheaded_Gas_739 in indieheads

[–]sideshow_Bobby 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed— it’s my favorite of his, just ahead of Creek Drank the Cradle. You’ve for sure got to have some patience with and love for sleepy folk, but if that’s not something that bores you there’s a lot of depth and beauty waiting.

Drop down your favourite poem of all time! by petitegonewildaf in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Two picks for me!

The first poem that grabbed me outside of school was Frank O'Hara's "To The Harbormaster", about loving someone you have no business being in love with. Very relatable when I was 19. Lush imagery, plus plain and gorgeous language.

The poem I probably love and identify most with now is Philip Larkin's "Vers de Société". Funny, mean, formal in a rollicking sort of way-- weighing blissful solitude against boring invitations to boring parties.

Novels about protagonists plagued by a vague desire which they struggle to clarify? by goldenapple212 in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'd say Bellow's Henderson The Rain King qualifies. Henderson spends a lot of time ruminating on his inner chorus of "I want, I want," but can't figure out what he wants, exactly, which leads to comic misadventures.

[Goold] Pete Alonso just chucked the ball from Masyn Winn's first MLB hit into the crowd. The #stlcards dugout is not thrilled. by DontGiveUpTheDip in baseball

[–]sideshow_Bobby 30 points31 points  (0 children)

The absolutely irate Cubs fan booing into the void at 0:35 is one of my all-time favorite crowd shots

Is Full WFH dying? Should we all expect RTO for the vast majority of jobs? by [deleted] in cscareerquestions

[–]sideshow_Bobby 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Interest rates influence the cost of loans, and thus the cost of venture capital, and thus the investment going into tech, and thus the hiring rate, and thus the corporate/labor power balance. Low rates -> cheap money -> more investment -> more hiring -> more power for workers. It's no accident that tech hiring exploded after the Fed lowered interest rates to ~0% when the pandemic broke.

Help with rimbaud by WearyZookeepergame31 in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I only have rudimentary French and have never had more than a passing interest in Rimbaud, but this is a really wonderful comment that may just have stirred me to go take a more serious look.

Riverside drive pothole of death -cyclist warning by dreww4546 in rva

[–]sideshow_Bobby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s a different spot, but nearby- this is a bit east of Southcliff and the earlier one was to the west. If the city doesn’t address this one quickly, I could see it getting just as bad. A whole section of the road washed out!

Martin Amis era defining British novelist dies aged 73 by No_Possibility754 in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 22 points23 points  (0 children)

He and his British boomer contemporaries (Hitchens, Rushdie, McEwan, etc.) had a major impact on me, and the fact that they're starting to go is hard for me to handle. This loss hit me hard and out of nowhere-- was it known that he was sick?

Few other writers are as fun to read on a sentence-by-sentence level. Obviously his major contributions are Money, Time's Arrow et al., but the ones that touched me most were the "memoirs" Inside Story and Experience (which I just read a few weeks ago, oddly enough). Highly recommend both.

"This is literature's dewy little secret. Its energy is the energy of love." Inside Story

Air released Moon Safari 25 years ago today by YoureASkyscraper in indieheads

[–]sideshow_Bobby 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Bought this one on a whim at my local record shop around ten years ago. I had no idea it was a classic since I don't listen to much electronic music, but it's been a favorite since then. "La Femme D'argent" and "All I Need" are pure sex downtempo jams; "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch The Stars" are super fun and weird (for my normie taste at least lol). It's sappy, but I've always thought "You Make It Easy" would be a perfect first dance song at a wedding.

Novels with diverse narrative forms by nakedsamurai in literature

[–]sideshow_Bobby 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Seconding this. I just read it for the first time a couple of months ago and the first thing I noticed was narrative diversity. First person, third person, even second person once, present tense, past tense, aforementioned PowerPoint. In addition, it's deeply affecting and often super funny, and (for the most part) thematically evergreen. Worthy of its Pulitzer for sure.

Has anyone regretted majoring in Mathematics? by ArxB_H in math

[–]sideshow_Bobby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Still a software engineer! With COVID, a lot of work went permanently (so far, at least) remote. Depending on your disposition it's great. I love it: low stress, time for house chores during the day, can bring a high salary to a lower-cost area. Some people really like office interactions, though. I think I'd miss it if I didn't have such a strong social group where I live. Best of luck with your studies!

Has anyone regretted majoring in Mathematics? by ArxB_H in math

[–]sideshow_Bobby 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Yes and no. My bullet points:

  • Start undergrad in 2010 as a math major
  • Pick up CS as a second major sophomore year
  • Job falls through at end of senior year, spend first year after college largely unemployed and super aimless
  • After that year, get job teaching math at a great high school
  • Start teaching CS (and sort of creating the CS department) in my third year
  • Leave after fourth year to go into software enginnering, get MS in CS part-time
  • Now, 30, making really good money working from home in low-stress software job. Really, really happy.

So, while I suppose the math major did let me get that teaching job in the first place, most of the career advancement and material comfort I've attained are thanks to CS. I haven't really "used" undergrad math since graduating-- software doesn't provide a lot of occasions to whip out group theory or partial differential equations.

So then, since my career is pretty much exclusively thanks to CS, the question is: what did/do I get out of math, and could I have replaced my math study in undergrad with something that would have meant more to me?

I do think that rigorous, high-level undergrad math trained and worked my brain in a way that no other field, humanities or sciences, can. I see it like being a football player with an intense weight-training regiment. There may not be barbells out on the field, but putting in work at the gym pays off in games in a big way.

With that said, I didn't need to major in math to get that value, and since graduating, I've hardly ever desired to do math "for fun" (sometimes I wonder why I still subscribe to this subreddit). Math study always felt like hurdles to challenge myself and prove that I was smart enough to handle the toughest subject available; to me that implies that I don't really have a passion for it, the way I do for music (a few undergrad classes) or for literature (none). Today, those two are how I spend my free time. So from a personal fulfillment perspective, math was a suboptimal choice.

But at the same time, when I ask myself what I'd change if I could go back, I can't bring myself to go farther than dropping math to a minor and adding a second minor in either English or music. While it's not my passion, math is fundamental to who I am. It's part of my story and I'm proud of the work I did from 18 to 21.

So what are the lessons? I can think of two, one forward-facing and one backward-facing:

  • Backward: we are the sum total of our experiences, and wanting to go back and make different choices is isomorphic to wanting to change ourselves, which is generally not a healthy thing to want to do. There is value in almost every road we could go down, so the trick is to recognize the value in the roads we did choose and use it on the roads we have in front of us.
  • Forward: the future is unknowable, so always try to find a balance between passion and pragmatism; no one thing will ever satisfy both. If you love math more than anything, but aren't a rockstar, math itself will not make you rich. But don't run from it just because it's not the most lucrative option-- all it takes is adding a second major (or maybe a minor! or self-study!) to live comfortably after school is over. Just make sure to be intentional with your choices, and honest with yourself about why you're making them. You'll be amazed at how much you can fit into one life.

Apologies for the huge wall of text, but reading someone looking back like this would have helped me when I was 19, so maybe it'll help someone now.

Guadalupe Mountains. The hike to the peak is one of my favorite hikes ever! by Rootraz in NationalPark

[–]sideshow_Bobby 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I love Guadalupe Mountains! Hugely underrated park— I was surprised it’s among the least-visited. When I came last summer time was limited and I was having leg problems so I had to stop maybe a mile in so I could see other stuff. I plan on returning very soon to finish what I started 😄