Christy's 5 Questions for June of '23 06/05/23
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It's about that time again[1].
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1. Describe the most expensive object you'd like to buy.
I'd like to purchase a factory for building cars. Is that an object?
I'm going to count it. One giant factory, and everything in it, plus
enough capital to run the thing. I'm stretching the question, but it's
what came to mind.
I'd like to own a factory that builds cars with no model years. A
modular and unchanging frame, with parts that are as modular and
unchanging as possible. Churning out cars that are affordable,
repairable, universal, ugly, clunky, and whatever else I find
beautiful.
The ecosystem would self-generate around customizations, which
people would purchase elsewhere and add on their own, or through
third-parties. The factory wouldn't ship anywhere, people would come
visit to buy their cars, dealers would haul the cars away if they
wanted to and could make that fit in the margins. New factories would
open in new areas near the buyers.
It'd be a private company, with an explicit goal to distribute profit
to the workers, avoid growth, and absolute never ever ever cave to any
social monsters of fashion.
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2. What is something the generation preceding you loves that you don't
understand?
Model year cars. Oh, and local TV stations piped through expensive
cable packages.
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3. What is something the generation succeeding you loves that you
don't understand?
Vintage computers. My aunt just set aside an old Performa for me this
afternoon, actually. I just have to travel 1200 miles to pick it up.
I'll be there later this year though, so no worries.
Almost no one I meet or know understands vintage computers, actually.
Some people a generation or two above me in pubnix understand
perfectly, so it's likely not a generational thing.
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4. What holiday in your calendar needs to be replaced, and with what
other observation or commemoration?
Every commercial holiday needs to be replaced with Days of Fishing.
Religious holidays also need to be stripped of commercialism. It's my
own fault though.
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5. What do you think it means to be redeemed? Have you felt redeemed
at one time? Can one be redeemed an iota without the drama of a
constructed fiction narrative?
Well, there's Webster 1828's No.1 option:
"To purchase back; to ransom; to liberate or rescue from captivity or
bondage, or from any obligation or liability to suffer or to be
forfeited, by paying an equivalent"
I have felt redeemed on many occasions. When I get a raise and
paying life's costs becomes easier. When someone forgives my idiotic
behavior. When I'm accepted even though I'm different. When a friend
is a friend. When something horrible turns out alright. When answers
come. When I behave like a good boy and share. Even a hug or a kiss or
a smile, given or received, is redeeming.
None of these things has ever come with drama or constructed
narratives.
There's redemption from sin, but that's another topic altogether. I
feel that too. It doesn't feel dramatic anymore, I think it did more
before I realized that it wasn't some one-time gift but rather
something that I'd need all the time. "Oh, you screwed up again
tfurrows? Not a problem, I'll pay your tab. You're sort of a pain, you
know that, right?" And I do know it. It's redeeming to suck and be
loved anyway.
Is it constructed or fictional? Perhaps, but I've not felt hurt by the
construct. some people have, but I'm not sure they see what I see in
it. I'd love to know what they see, without the drama of everyone
trying to convince everyone else in the conversation. A quiet,
redeeming sort of conversation. Or a loud one even.
[1]
gopher://sdf.org:70/0/users/christyotwisty/phlog/2023-June-Five-Questions.txt
