System IV, Building Beige

Hardened Absurdist.

Detroit born/raised spud, currently a couple blocks below the Army Corps of Engineers’ planned floodgates, Green-Wood, Brooklyn #NYC. Glug, glug.

Smoked a joint with Julian Cope, delivered my own daughter on a kitchen floor, almost barfed on Steve Jobs (not all on the same day).

I’m cishet, but a fierce 🏳️‍🌈 ally-in-training.

I just want an ad-free, chronological feed from smart people.

Public Key

npub1ghjk2msaws0x0rmseupewhhnzndlgpdmpagcud8rz3ukm9ea0ujs85yzrv

NIP-05 Address

goodthinking_at_beige.party@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsytet9dcwhg8n83acv7quhtme3fkl5qkas75vwxn33g7tdju7h7fgat8p8s

Author Public Key

npub1ghjk2msaws0x0rmseupewhhnzndlgpdmpagcud8rz3ukm9ea0ujs85yzrv

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Last Notes

2024-10-29 19:58:57

One of the cool things about #NYC is you can be walking the dog and lo, you find a cookbook from a high-end #vegan restaurant you took your daughter to four years ago, just sitting on a stoop as though it were waiting for you.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/113/392/479/615/163/474/original/c01e8c546f2cb4c1.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/113/392/480/198/000/863/original/b7c3ade360e057b2.jpeg

2024-08-31 12:12:04

It is Saturday in New York City.
It is time to smoke a pound of marijuana.

2024-08-01 02:14:59

A lovely evening tonight at a tiny bookshop in Hoboken, NJ, with Robyn Hitchcock reading passages from his new memoir and playing a few 1967 covers (the entire memoir takes place in 1967 — so very him).
LOTS of Brian Eno stories, too!
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/884/350/468/711/122/original/0492ada1f31cb0ff.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/884/350/865/220/807/original/fd7813c9ab45f1c4.jpeg

2024-07-14 11:20:56

Me for the past 3 days: Dog, why will you not poop? Please poop. You must poop. Poop now, please.
Dog this morning: [waits for me to go outside, poops all over living room]
I’d say we’re back to normal here.
#DogsOfMastodon

2024-07-12 11:46:23

@npub1zdp…vqv8 Why? Asking for a friend.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/773/350/382/881/285/original/108c9b4cbe31bf2c.mp4

2024-03-29 12:09:16

Just saw the news from a few days ago: RIP Richard Serra.
I doubt we see anything on his scale emerge again in our lifetimes.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/178/898/918/646/103/original/673af5bd95ea9dfb.jpeg

2024-03-18 11:14:46

I only noticed these two recently while walking the dog the next block over, but they’re my new favorite channel.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/116/398/996/951/236/original/46f466ff58c90476.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/112/116/399/143/619/372/original/ce211b71faf2a15f.jpeg

2024-02-26 16:37:59

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@npub1k4q…3lsq #Enshittification

2024-02-25 23:18:17

How to make chickpea (garbanzo beans) flour, in 4 easy steps, so you can stop paying too much for someone else to mill it. The only barrier is having a very good blender.
Needed:
Basic bag of dried chickpeas
High-speed blender
Bowl
Sift
Spatula
Steps:
1, Blend the chickpeas at high speed
2, Sift into bowl
3, Blend whatever didn’t sift
4, Sift again
Congratulations:You now have chickpea flour, and all the possibilities it brings (shan tofu is my favorite)
#Vegan
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/994/672/599/627/378/original/3f02e7e89696b5ec.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/994/672/819/346/971/original/54f0984c70e6de26.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/994/673/333/478/714/original/4d8091f82f7256e7.jpeg

2024-02-24 14:18:51

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@npub1lzz…jhl3 America has passed “The Emperor’s New Clothes” tipping point.

2024-02-16 19:09:49

There would be so many boosts from me if you’d just add ALT.
God damn. It’s becoming tiresome. Motherfluffers, just add ALT, please.

2024-02-09 13:47:31

@npub1aum…5jx0 I see you know board games, and if I’ve disturbed you with this previously, please forgive me I am old.
30 years ago a friend and I developed a game based on the subway here, the idea being that the “board” was just the free printed map they (still) will hand you at any booth in the system, so the game would change with the city, and you’d be current with the subway at the same time — no small thing here. Good for regular folks, good for tourists, good for NYC. And presumably, fun.
We presented to the MTA itself. Their response was “we’re mass transit; we’re not a game company”.
If you want it, most of the work is done, and it’s yours.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/901/832/009/742/574/original/6fa926c1c028a111.jpeg

2024-02-09 13:27:22

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@npub14sx…7cqe @npub1e6s…un7p Wow. I just read his wiki. Legit hero. Brightened my day, thanks.

2024-02-09 12:32:29

Posit: Mastodon is no less-guilty of proving the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory than any other network.
We just have better fuckwads.

2024-02-05 18:12:06

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@npub1ccn…czwu This. I have served on a “successful” 501 (c)(3) board for over a decade. I wish we did not have to exist.

2024-02-01 05:04:22

tiny graffiti
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/854/476/399/588/356/original/956460ca3fa03a62.jpeg

2024-01-24 19:52:59

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@npub19fc…ay3c danng. thanks.

2024-01-24 19:49:03

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@npub19fc…ay3c my dude, i’m late and my feed is a firehose. what jackets.

2024-01-24 16:20:59

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@npub1nn8…8sed The CBS Evening News, Starring Walter Cronkite
(sorry)

2024-01-23 23:19:06

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@npub1k4q…3lsq @npub1g8x…adgv @npub1v2s…mqq5 We hear you. Republicans have been trying to dis-assemble PBS here since Reagan.

2024-01-22 21:59:45

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@npub10zz…6rg2 @npub1k4q…3lsq You don’t want to know what we yelled out when we were driving through Gary, Indiana, but it got the windows rolled up in a hurry.

2024-01-21 13:34:01

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@npub1c35…9pmh Hahaha. Not this time, Amazon. Or any time, ever again. Cancelled Prime last month after 15 years. I’d like to see the movie, I bet it’s art. But I do not believe in propping up penis rockets, and Bezos can fuck off.

2024-01-21 01:07:52

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@npub19fc…ay3c I thank you. My next door neighbor… he does not thank you.

2024-01-20 22:49:16

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@npub19fc…ay3c I’ll see your Soundgarden and raise you Off By 50 https://open.spotify.com/track/42AmT28cSlKtwyKrtKvyf7?si=7dpuY-ynQTCemMIPH8kMyg

2024-01-01 18:18:44

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@npub1200…aqy2 You were my very first follower on Mastodon, and I bet we would argue in public about some things. But I’m in, friend.

2024-01-01 17:21:54

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@npub18lj…80hq Friends, because they were so ungrateful living in $6,000/month apartments.

2024-01-01 11:30:13

New Year, Old Me!
#GenX #HowGenXAreYou

2023-12-30 23:43:02

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@npub1sp8…qn0c @npub1n4a…wzvg As someone who designed and play-tested a pro-NYC subway board game only to watch it die in front of the MTA a year later, I gift you whatever is left of my positive vibes. Rock on, that looks pretty cool.

2023-12-30 22:40:15

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@npub1gmx…atcq Proud to say I’ve known he was trash since circa 1991. Nature simply doesn’t present “continuity” in the way conservatives want it to, need it to.

2023-12-19 20:17:31

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@npub19fc…ay3c It’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle, washing up on shore in a Frito’s bag.

2023-12-17 13:59:32

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@npub1dm5…5sqe Very cool. What’s up next for the paper?

2023-12-06 03:01:17

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 Ah yes, Cass Technical High School, Detroit, Michigan, Class of 1982.
I’m the bald one.

2023-12-06 02:29:58

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@npub1s9c…hg5j @npub19fc…ay3c I agree with this, but it has to be the stupidest expression of civil war possible, far trashier than we are imagining.

2023-12-03 11:04:17

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 I remember the D&D panic, at least the Detroit expression of it. It was homophobic at its core.
So, the fluid dynamics of the physical mass (human crowd) play on an information level as well? I wonder what the ants think.
Action without thinking, passion without mercy.

2023-10-16 15:51:29

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@npub1gpe…q6xk @npub1ccn…czwu @npub137f…em6w I’m sorry it’s Monday, yeah? Also, lmfao :)

2023-10-16 13:30:21

@npub19ku…xpf5 On the R. Crumb tip… Gave this to a friend last week. Suddenly, the 10 year old is interested in religion lol.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/111/244/936/511/835/993/original/01616b1da2fdb490.jpeg

2023-10-16 12:31:46

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@npub16zs…z9dg @npub1ccn…czwu Okay, that too rocks, thank you for planting the idea. I can do anything with fresh garlic (he says, with no hubris whatsoever ;) Toum is a favorite, if you’re a huge garlic fan, fwiw.

2023-10-16 12:16:24

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@npub16zs…z9dg @npub1ccn…czwu Beautiful.
A friend gave me (!!) an air fryer that has a dehydrate mode, and wow if this has not come in handy for such things. I now make a killer za’atar, for example. If you’re vegan and gluten free, as I have been for a few years, it becomes essential. Please understand I did not cook for the first fifty years of my life, this is all new to me.

2023-10-16 12:05:52

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@npub1ccn…czwu @npub16zs…z9dg Thank you. You never know when something little to you is going to save someone else’s life. :)

2023-10-16 11:59:28

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@npub16zs…z9dg @npub1ccn…czwu Oh my god. I have the perfect rosebush out back and the perfect kitchen that could use some color and new ideas. NOW I know what to do. Thank you for this.

2023-10-13 18:40:34

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@npub19fc…ay3c Thanks for this. From back when Jesus was innocent.

2023-10-09 15:51:50

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@npub1hvz…mle9 Give it a period of time…

2023-10-08 13:53:11

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 If you’re of a certain age from NYC, you may remember the floor-to-ceiling LCD glass-walled restrooms at Bar 89. The glass became opaque based on whether the door lock was engaged. It was like Buñuel designed a bathroom. And yes, there were opacity failures at critical moments.
All I’m trying to say is, I wish the birds well, all things considered.

2023-10-04 21:46:40

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@npub19fc…ay3c I was walking the dog here in Brooklyn. Silenced the phone and the watch and… it kept going like it was cicadas. lol.

2023-10-03 16:56:00

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@npub1tel…4v4v cite origin please and thank you. can’t make out the sig and am in no mood for search engines :)

2023-09-28 17:32:59

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@npub189n…satx Blaming the victims never gets old, in this country at least.

2023-09-01 22:27:21

The rare Doppeldackelblep. #Bleptember
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/110/992/244/120/831/144/original/7615e2bce5a75e70.jpeg

2023-08-05 10:23:58

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@npub144e…k359 @npub1yln…e2vv
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/110/836/517/263/318/618/original/5b60968bc96d59e2.jpeg

2023-07-10 11:09:33

I made a Corsi-Rosenthal box last Wednesday. Five days in and the MERV-13 filters are already a shade of grey darker thanks to a single day with AQI above 150, but probably mostly due to my proximity to the BQE and all the soot from traffic on the East River, which is nearby as well.
My construction here was obviously, uh, hurried, but the thing works great so far.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/110/689/476/472/706/385/original/2d9cbb5329dbff20.jpeg

2023-06-23 12:12:59

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@npub1cpp…2uya It seems the comfortable media’s empathy for others only begins where they are themselves as successful individuals, socio-economically. Always looking “up” at rich folks. Anyone that falls “below” their level is ignored. I find it beyond disheartening and disturbing. The worst part being I know some of these folks.

2023-06-22 13:12:59

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@npub1hyk…3p33 The #Enshittification of shitting has begun.

2023-06-12 15:09:27

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@npub1927…62ks @npub1tmz…vsgn Great pic! Glad there’s still green in it, though I guess the valley wasn’t too affected. Ex is a maritimer, I miss that place (and the donairs :)

2023-06-06 12:05:50

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@npub12gf…p35w @npub1zdp…vqv8 @npub1hy4…fw8v Great story!
Mine here is 10, he just lost his alpha sister a few weeks ago (17!) and he might as well be Velcro now, will not allow me out of the room.
Their devotion is something to learn from :) Glad you had that experience!

2023-06-06 09:14:09

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 @npub1hy4…fw8v Lol. My mini dachshund was completely unraveled at encountering a pair of dog-shaped concrete doorstops awhile back. Got his big boy growl out and everything.
Is shape/size recognition an evolved trait? The jumping spiders in my back yard seem to think so.

2023-06-05 00:39:21

the vines are taking over the wires on our block and i love it.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/110/488/817/588/941/841/original/0811aa435e709894.jpeg

2023-06-04 22:17:23

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@npub1483…lv2w About 15-20% masked or at least having a mask ready around their neck on the street now from what I’ve seen here in Sunset Park Brooklyn. I am typically the only one masked out of 20 at our studio.
Didn’t anybody really enjoy not having a bad cold or the flu for the last few years?

2023-06-01 21:59:04

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@npub1cpp…2uya I often wonder about such monuments and what they’re meant to DO. Do they actually serve people beyond a stunning visual presentation? Did they ever? Again, it’s majestic but what is the point if you can’t dip your feet in that pool?

2023-06-01 21:52:18

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@npub1cpp…2uya Gorgeous of course. But do any humans ever get to be human in it?

2023-05-29 21:59:25

Mastodon better pick up the pace if they really want to conquer the seniors’ dating app market.

2023-05-28 15:00:09

My super’s plumbers suck. Who leaves their work this way?
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/110/446/903/829/933/337/original/cb2859830fd82fd4.jpeg

2023-05-27 12:54:49

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@npub1q2t…jr8a There are bots you can follow that remind you to add alt after the fact as an edit, or even reply privately when you’ve boosted a post with no alt. I use @npub1fzm…duxa and it’s great. But I think better habits might be formed if you got the notification before posting.

2023-05-27 12:49:22

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@npub1q2t…jr8a I wish it were built-in, like missing an email subject (“are you sure you want to post without alt?”) kinda thing. You could switch it off.

2023-05-27 10:52:32

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@npub1q2t…jr8a On posts that I want to promote, but are missing alt text, I’ve taken to boosting, then replying with what I think the alt text should have been. I hope that’s okay, but if it’s gross in some way, please let me know. Here to learn. Thanks!

2023-05-22 12:20:28

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@npub15gn…gx9s Detroit solved that with white flight and wanton bulldozing in the 80s and 90s. Lots of urban farming projects now, but not really there yet imo. Sometimes I wish I could go back and organize around it.

2023-05-22 12:05:43

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@npub15gn…gx9s That’s awesome and I salute you! Gardening on a human scale warms my heart. We should all be so fortunate to be allowed it.
Here it’s rare for obvious reasons, but at least NYC has socialized composting. I’m blessed with a postage stamp sized yard and, sometimes, have been able run the whole garden-to-table-to veg stock-to-compost cycle. It’s a glorious thing, hard to explain to those who haven’t had the opportunity.

2023-05-22 11:54:09

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@npub15gn…gx9s Yes! Then imagine you also “have the time” to do some composting, maybe start a little victory garden as you dance with work.
I’m not prescribing it; I don’t know enough about your circumstances.
But just imagine if some of the millions working from home could expand themselves along these lines.

2023-05-21 23:51:38

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@npub1q47…h4cg Hah. And i hate that show. But still.

2023-05-18 02:26:34

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@npub18lj…80hq America voted for greased hair in 1980 to throw out an actual practicing Christian. That was the end of it, all this other shit is just consequences.

2023-05-17 22:59:12

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@npub1eeu…u43z @npub1hy4…fw8v @npub189n…satx once again: Nestle believe drinking water is not a human right and should (only) be exposed to the market: Their market. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nestle-ceo-water-not-human-right/

2023-05-16 21:12:52

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@npub15u4…jekn @npub1d56…t94y Nothing worse than someone too busy to work.

2023-05-16 21:08:20

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@npub1y87…g8n3 @npub1d56…t94y Ha! Sounds like Mastodon, tbh. ;)

2023-05-16 20:29:21

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@npub15u4…jekn @npub1d56…t94y I had this exact exchange with a goddamned vendor. I’m like, “my dude, i have the wallet out. I need this [easily billable thing that I cannot do because of proprietary bullshit]” them: “I haven’t ghosted you!” that was early march.

2023-05-16 14:38:29

Yay. I have successfully signed into beige.party. I will now carefully begin bringing over as much of my identity as I can from my @goothinking@mastodon.social account. Your guidance toward, and patience with, a successful migration is welcomed.