Thanks for the tip, I think I just sent a DM on Mastodon. Wow it only took me 2 weeks to build up the courage to try that, I dunno what that means…

Here you go.

The song currently playing on repeat in my head is Send in the Clowns by Insane Clown Posse.

When there’s too much hatred in the world
When the public makes you wanna hurl
When you realize all you feel is pain
When you always lose while the rest gain
When you feel alone in a crowded room
When the only thing you crave is doom
When you gotta get high to survive
That’s the only time you feel alive
When between your ears is a hurricane
You gotta fantasize she knows your name
When you don’t believe and they say “try”
All the cool shit you’ve done are lies
When causing you pain makes them feel good
They would kill you and walk if they could
When makin’ sense makes no sense at all
Is when you hold the grease paint stick and draw that smile
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA–

Good habit.

Just so you know, the perp confessed: https://archive.is/Sy6RL

Nah, clowns are actually very attentive to their audiences. You need real human empathy to be a good clown.

I do use AI for background at times but always check out the material first. This time, I did not…

Maybe it’s because I’m not an AI, but I don’t understand how the word “always” can be used like that…

Reminds me about a popular commercial about a guy who wrote a book. The commercial was so moving that a lot of people looked for the book, but it didn’t exist. So they took an existing book, renamed it, published it under a pseudonym, and got the actor from the commercial to promote it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_Fishing%3A_Memories_of_Angling_Days

Jonathan is quite naive about it

On May 3 Harker talks about going to the library and reading up on that part of the world. On his ride in, he is able to guess at various people’s ethnicities. Also, the Balkans were well-known for having a history of conflict; nobody was surprised that the Great War started with an assassination there several years later.

At this point he already knows Dracula is not who he says he is,

I don’t believe Dracula has made any claims regarding his nature. If he wants to crawl around outside his castle, he’s certainly entitled to.

In fact, I refer to him as a “crime-lord” but on second thought this may be mistaken; it’s not yet clear exactly what crimes Dracula has committed. My intuition is that in the Austro-Hungarian empire of the late 1800s the nobility were still a privileged class, though not to the extent as in medieval times. What kind of generally-questionable activities could they perform with legal impunity? I don’t know, but it seems like the sort of thing a half-decent lawyer would determine before going there.

It also isn’t actually going against Dracula’s orders, because the door wasn’t locked. It just had frozen hinges.

Dracula had actually given two relevant standing orders.

First, on May 7, Dracula said “You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except where the doors are locked” On May 15, Harker says “the door was locked, and the key was gone! That key must be in the Count’s room; I must watch should his door be unlocked, so that I may get it and escape.” This clearly demonstrates Harker’s intent to circumvent Dracula’s instruction. Later that day he says

I found one door at the top of the stairway which, though it seemed to be locked, gave a little under pressure. I tried it harder, and found that it was not really locked, but that the resistance came from the fact that the hinges had fallen somewhat, and the heavy door rested on the floor. Here was an opportunity which I might not have again, so I exerted myself, and with many efforts forced it back so that I could enter.

Note that (i) Harker admits that the door “seemed to be locked.” Thus it was possible that Dracula too may have believed it to be locked. (ii) Harker describes that he “exerted myself, and with many efforts forced it back so that I could enter”, meaning that it was not easily entered. Thus it was also possible that Dracula believed Harker was unable to enter the room – meaning that although it did not have a lock, it was possible that Dracula believed the room was inaccessible to Harker and thus did not require special notice. (iii) Harker admits “Here was an opportunity which I might not have again” suggesting that if Dracula discovered the room to be vulnerable to Harker’s intrusions, he might remedy the situation.

Harker isn’t just some rando coming over to watch the game and looking for the bathroom. Harker is a foreign guest in the hereditary domain of a member of the ruling class. Harker is also the lawyer of a client who has paid for his expertise (as well as for transport and board.) In both roles, it is Harker’s duty to confer with Dracula to determine whether entering that room is in keeping with Dracula’s stated intent.

Second, on May 12, Dracula warns that “should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle”. On May 16th Harker says that after forcing his way into the bedchamber of Dracula’s wives: “…I felt sleepy. The Count’s warning came into my mind, but I took a pleasure in disobeying it.” So clearly he remembered the warning, decided to ignore it, and admits taking pleasure in doing so.

Conclusion: Harker is a crafty gloating monster who cannot be trusted in your house. I would certainly never invite him in.

(ii) apologize to Dracula for causing him trouble, and (iii) remind Dracula that even though they have different cultures and backgrounds, Harker is still sworn to confidentiality as his lawyer and in his fiduciary role will serve him as best he can for as long as he can.

I can’t see how either of those would have helped. Dracula does not come across to me as a typical crime-lord who might have such questions of honour as important to him and for whom such a kowtowing would change anything.

First of all, this is not kowtowing, this is just stating Harker’s professional obligations. It’s OK tho, bc Harker seems to have forgotten all about those obligations too. Dracula recognizes this and has already gotten to the stage where he’s looking for another lawyer.

Second, it’s not yet clear how Dracula has been dishonorable. On the contrary, he’s been exceptionally polite and attentive and has worked closely and effectively with Harker. Harker may point to one incident on May 8 when Harker was bleeding all over the place and Dracula’s “eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury” and made a gesture to his throat (which only made contact with a necklace). Admittedly at that time Dracula disposed of a shaving mirror by throwing it out the window – Harker is welcome to bill him for that, but it is not clear that Dracula acted dishonorably in doing so. It might even be argued that feelings of empathy had rendered Dracula so upset that his guest had suffered harm (by the shaving-cut) that he’d impulsively removed the shaving-apparatus, explaining that “this is the wretched thing that has done the mischief.”

In conclusion, I haven’t read the book so I dunno, maybe Dracula turns out to be some kind of evil monster who denies health-care to little kids or something. Personally if I were him I’d go to the highest mountaintop, build a trebuchet, put Harker in the sling, and shoot him in the general direction of the Black Sea. More charitably, Harker deserves a brief period of incarceration in Austria-Hungary after which he should be deported in chains and disbarred.

p.s. I hope his fiancee ends up with someone else!

Out of the homies, back to the homies. It’s the cycle of life.

The hell with this Harker guy.

First of all, he comes to this place after doing some background reading on it, so he doubtlessly knows the nobility here aren’t exactly saints. But wtf he’s got to get paid, right?

So he gets there and Dracula goes out of his way to keep him safe from wolves and spirits; Dracula feeds him and serves him himself, and even warns him not to go to certain private rooms.

But Harker ignores all that, and he breaks into the bedroom of Dracula’s wives even tho he knows its wrong. Frankly at that point Dracula would be legally justified in defenestrating him, but no, Dracula tells his wives to back off bc Harker’s under his protection. Of course this causes no end of drama between Dracula and his wives (which Harker feels absolutely no remorse for, let alone apologizes for). Dracula’s literally running up and down the walls trying to take care of his business as quickly as he can before this incompetent lawyer freaks out even more over… over what? Because the castle (which is in very dangerous territory) isn’t easy to get in and out of? Because Dracula has a blood fetish? (which he didn’t act on!) Because Dracula’s wives were upset that Harker broke into their bedroom? Because the locals hate Dracula? (which is probably why he wants to leave!)

Harker’s a smoothbrained cuck who needs to get back to England ASAP not bc Dracula’s dangerous to him but bc if he’s away much longer his fiance’s going to get banged either by that dude she’s been sleeping with since childhood, or by that girlfriend she’s stripped down with by the fire. Harker needs to (i) come to terms with the fact that things might end badly for him bc that’s what happens when you work for sketchy crime-lords from dangerous lands (ii) apologize to Dracula for causing him trouble, and (iii) remind Dracula that even though they have different cultures and backgrounds, Harker is still sworn to confidentiality as his lawyer and in his fiduciary role will serve him as best he can for as long as he can.

Yeah it’s a terrible feeling giving up a sport bc it’s too hard on ya. Like I really love Judo but I just can’t throw myself at the floor repeatedly any more. But I might be able to do Aikido or low-contact Karate (or just strength training which is what I chose). The trick is knowing when to move on, and it’s a tough decision.

Translation

Sounds like we should never go to Camelot for 'tis a silly place.

Aw yeah, I had their Spiritual Bypass on the list of tracks I was thinking of posting.

btw if you added a track link, it didn’t come through.

this follows from Zorn’s lemma.

Thanks, I’m gonna have to take a closer look at this later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorn’s_lemma

Speaking of which I really like the way they dance in their video for “Hunger Cries”.

I was watching a youtube movie review and I didn’t realize it was AI til it started using the term “self-delete”.

Dunno, decades of enshittification might happen overnight, like a singularity. A shitgularity, as it were.

But Comcast/Xfinity is truly, truly horrible. Their tech support sucks and there are some account-related things you need to talk to them for. I feel stressed just thinking about it.

Still trying to wrap my head around how a partial ordering plays out here. I think it’s fair to say that for any such nonempty spectrum, there exists at least one person about whom it can be said: “nobody is gayer than they are.” Right? (even if 1 or more people are equally gay…)

Reminder to self: don’t sing this song while in public.