Five Links #055

Vices and Advices

Photo by Matthieu Comoy on Unsplash

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Hiding behind the garden wall ..

I don’t think I have a problem with alcohol. Which is a funny way to open, but was the sentiment banging down the door to the back of my mind while reading this post by Cams Campbell, on his feelings upon reaching 6000 days without a drink.

I loved his post for so many reasons. For one, 6000 days - what an achievement. Well done. Two, I loved that he hand-wrote the post. Three, he provided a suggested soundtrack to go with his handwriting.

But four, I got the sense that, even after having been off alcohol for longer than his son had been alive, and seemingly having overcome his addiction and ‘made it’, there was still a sense that he is a work in progress. As though the addiction was just one part of a wider patchwork.

While I don’t think I have a problem with alcohol, that sense of — I don’t know what to call it, is it discontent? — struck a chord with me.

Some snippets:

If you'd like to listen to some music as you read, here's a short playlist of songs that remind me of my time in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where I worked on my Russian language and my alcoholism in equal measure.

And

Sometimes it’s all too easy to take it for granted that I’ve been a sober husband and dad since then. Reaching this milestone gives me an excellent opportunity to reflect on that. The first feeling that comes to me is a profound sense of gratitude.

And

It’s surprising to me that I still feel low self-esteem after six-thousand days of not drinking. I would have expected those feelings to have been taken care of by now. That’s the thing, though – I don’t think those feelings will ever really go away. I’ve just got better at dealing with them.

And

My default state is still to avoid human connection. I’m learning this about myself as I explore my thoughts and feelings and become more self-aware. Just yesterday, I was loading the car outside my house when I heard a car coming down my road. Rather than stepping out the gate and offering a cheery wave to the driver—someone I undoubtedly would have known—I waited behind the wall, where I felt safe until the car had passed by. Is that really what six-thousand days without alcohol look like? Well, yes, for this bear, it is.

What Do 6000 Days Without Alcohol Feel Like for an Alcoholic

(via Foster)

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The Mystery of Smugglers Cove ..

I’m a big fan of the heist movie. Think Ocean’s Eleven and the Thomas Crown Affair. But one thing that always struck be as odd in those movies is that often the main antagonist isn’t so much a scary policeman but more some seemingly boring administrator from an insurance company or somewhere similarly beige.

So this article, about a guy who chases down stolen relics and returns them to their cultural homes, kept me hooked. He’s a perfect balance of boring administrative ‘do we have jurisdiction here’ and whip-smart-Redford-meets-Indiana-Jones-pursuer.

Some snips -

And they recognize that we're not trying to go back and redress the wrongs of the 19th century. I mean, that's just not our legal mandate. But what we are doing is saying, okay, maybe looting is as old as any other trade in the business (it's been done for thousands of years), but it's got to stop now. And so we have those cases, where anonymous people just call with tips. These complete strangers are behind some of our more extraordinary seizures. It’s really kind of impressive and heartwarming.

and

He had looted the coffin seven years earlier but was never paid for his spoils. And it was now sitting in the Met. Angry and in possession of receipts, he fired off an anonymous email to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to tip them off about the buxom gold figure in the photo next to the Kardashian.

and

We will identify a smuggling network. And smuggling networks tend to be very localized and very precise. Generally, if you tell me the region, I will tell you the smuggler. And so when we investigate the smuggling network, we generally identify pieces and people that no one knew existed. And then we notify the country, "Oh, by the way, we've got 100 objects that were looted from your country." And the ambassador will say, "Really? Really? We didn't know that." Yeah, [of course] you didn't know that. That's the nature of antiquities smuggling.

Inside the Mind-Boggling World of the Antiquities Theft Task Force

(via a reader, who may want to retain her anonymity and thus shall be known as the ‘Distinguished Librarian from South Carolina’)

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It’s better without context ..

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Little-l liberal ..

More vices without context —

It is with this experience of sex work, a profession that is tabooed globally and one in which sex workers are mistreated and discriminated against, that Egozi decided to update their LinkedIn. “Sex work is the oldest profession in history. If we’re talking about LinkedIn as a professional platform, sex work has the foundational place in it. If you talk to a sex worker, they can help you understand your boundaries, how to set up contractual agreements, how to value yourself at work, set rates, and be clear in your communication. If I said I have 20 million Instagram followers, that might make people really proud. But if I say that I am in the top 5 percent on the world’s biggest adult-content platform, which I have been, they might look at me funny, but it’s the same tactics and creativity that go into it.”

And

“A big reason behind why I made the post was to make clear that I want this to be known as a part of what I bring to the table, so that I can be more comfortable. But when it blew up, it felt like things were happening to me, rather than for or because of me. There were some 75 pieces of press coverage that got my story and pronouns wrong, used photos of me, my family and friends from my Facebook account, without my permission. It was all over the internet.”

I Listed Sex Work on My LinkedIn Profile. Here’s What Happened Next.

(via Morning Brew - Sidekick)

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Sound advice ..

Norman the PhDM @metadoxy

My wife just said "if you hate everyone, you should eat something, and if you think everyone hates you, you should go to sleep" and I don't think I've heard a better life hack

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Bennett

bennettgreen.com