Blog | davidsmith208

Every man over 40 is a scoundrel

Yes. The quote is genuinely by George Bernard Shaw, although it was intended as one of his provocative aphorisms rather than as a sober philosophical statement. The exact wording is: “Every man over forty is a scoundrel.” It appears in Shaw’s 1903 play Man and Superman, specifically in the appendix called “The Revolutionist’s Handbook and Pocket Companion,” under the section “Stray Sayings.” What did Shaw mean? Shaw loved making deliberately shocking statements to force peopl

davidsmith208

Jul 152 min read

Poem for my birthday

Whitman 1 Rise O days from your fathomless deeps, till you loftier, fiercer sweep, Long for my soul hungering gymnastic I devour'd what the earth gave me, Long I roam'd the woods of the north, long I watch'd Niagara pour-ing, I travel'd the prairies over and slept on their breast, I cross'd the Nevadas, I cross'd the plateaus, I ascended the towering rocks along the Pacific, I sail'd out to sea, I sail'd through the storm, I was refresh'd by the storm, I watch'd with joy the

davidsmith208

Jul 113 min read

In Stillness and Silence

He made a great noise unto the Lord. By just moving he slowed down the right way. His worship was super concentrated on just air, water and light. A zephyr breeze was blowing by the babbling brook just has the sun was rising making for perfect timing. The words are loaded with power if they are derived from moon beams. When you are listening to the sound current you are not slowed down by Jesus and Mohammed. The purpose of life is to sit in the corner and meditate though

davidsmith208

Jul 113 min read

Josh Malihabadi

As far as I can determine, there is no complete published English translation of Josh Malihabadi’s autobiography, Yaadon Ki Baraat. It remains available primarily in Urdu. However, there are a few alternatives: An English excerpt titled “My Ordeal as a Citizen of Pakistan” was translated by the historian Mushirul Hasan and included in his anthology on the Partition of India. It covers Josh’s reflections on his migration to Pakistan and the difficult choices surrounding Partit

davidsmith208

Jul 21 min read

Iphone a synthesizer

Perfect—that actually makes this easier. Your iPhone 17 has a USB-C port that supports USB accessories, including class-compliant MIDI devices and USB audio devices. For you, the ideal setup is: Arturia KeyLab 61 MK3 │ ▼ Powered USB-C Hub ├── USB-C Power Adapter ├── KeyLab (USB) ├── USB Audio Interface (optional but recommended) └── iPhone 17 │ ▼ Speakers or headphones Then you can l

davidsmith208

Jul 21 min read

A bit weedy

In British English, calling someone or something “a bit weedy” is a mildly dismissive way of saying they are weak, lacking strength, ineffective, or lacking backbone. It’s more colorful than simply saying “weak.” The image comes from a weed in a garden: thin, spindly, and not robust. If the Economist described the centre right in Latin America as “a bit weedy,” they were probably implying that it is: Politically not very strong or influential. Lacking energetic or charismatic

davidsmith208

Jun 301 min read

Chewing on a bone

This is one of Kabir’s most psychologically penetrating metaphors. The passage in your image says: “When a dog chews a dry bone, he injures his mouth, and the taste he is enjoying is actually his own blood, though he knows it not. Similarly, people indulge in worldly sensual pleasures; but the joy actually lies within oneself, and not in the worldly things. The Nectar is within you…” The central insight is not necessarily that worldly things are evil, but that we mistakenly a

davidsmith208

Jun 294 min read

Maintaining fitness

Looking at your weekly graph, it actually tells a nice story about balancing fitness with real life rather than trying to make every day identical. Here’s how I read the week: Monday (~6,500 steps): Mostly a recovery/social day. Driving your sister shopping kept formal exercise low, but you still accumulated a respectable number of steps from errands. Tuesday (~13,000 steps): One of your highest days. Combining hard pickleball plus tennis makes this the week’s peak workload.

davidsmith208

Jun 282 min read

Less Need

There is less need for coloration and decoration - you just go to the place and expunge the ego. The place in the morning is where the bird sings. Total detachment leads to less gravity. When you leave for the inner world you have become a mystic. The cosmic vibrations or musical sound arose out of the center right and the horizon became more bright. If the spirit is willing you can achieve something more fulfilling. The constant search for what is meaningful can be irr

davidsmith208

Jun 194 min read

Davis Besse

That looks like a very varied and balanced day rather than one long, repetitive workout. You combined: 2-mile walk with your wife at 6 a.m. — social and emotional connection plus light aerobic exercise. 45 minutes at the gym including biking and backward walking, which can help balance and strengthen muscles differently from tennis and kayaking. 2.4 km kayak outing with about 50 minutes of rowing, average heart rate around 81 bpm. About 50 minutes of sun exposure. 8,975 total

davidsmith208

Jun 142 min read

Active recovery

That pattern is interesting because it matches what exercise physiology would predict. You had: Friday: tennis + pickleball accumulation Saturday morning: 3 tennis sets Then beach volleyball Then outdoor swimming Yet you report the strain/stiffness disappearing rather than worsening. One possible explanation is that each activity loads the body differently: Tennis → lots of lateral movement, deceleration, calf loading, shoulder rotation. Volleyball on sand → jumping and elast

davidsmith208

Jun 61 min read

Ashub in Sant Darshan Singh poetry

Yes, very much so. In fact, āshūb (آشوب)—that state of inward agitation, divine restlessness, and love-induced disturbance—is one of the places where Rumi and Sant Darshan Singh Ji come surprisingly close despite their different religious vocabularies. Rumi’s: hamcho ū bā gerye va āshūb bāsh “Be with weeping and āshūb.” is not recommending ordinary sadness. It is the condition in which the soul can no longer be satisfied with worldly substitutes because it has somehow glimpse

davidsmith208

Jun 62 min read

Ashub

Yes. The English paraphrase on the page (“If you are not handsome then be Jacob”) captures the basic idea, but some of the richness of Rumi’s Persian is hidden. The crucial verse is: تو که یوسف نیستی یعقوب باش همچو او با گریه و آشوب باش Transliteration: to ke Yūsuf nīstī, Yaʿqūb bāsh hamcho ū bā gerye va āshūb bāsh A fairly literal translation: “If you are not Joseph, then be Jacob. Like him, be with weeping and turmoil.” The key words 1. یوسف (Yūsuf) — Joseph In Sufi symboli

davidsmith208

Jun 62 min read

Dataism

This is an interesting passage. The author is using “positivism” somewhat broadly—not necessarily in the strict sense of Auguste Comte, but as the modern belief that empirical investigation, science, technology, and rational administration can progressively improve society. The question “what comes after positivism?” is one of the major questions in social theory today. One possibility: we are already in a post-positivist age Many thinkers argue that positivism stopped being

davidsmith208

Jun 52 min read

Eckhart and Zen

Yes, there are genuine points of overlap between the thought of D. T. Suzuki and Meister Eckhart, but there are also important differences that quantitative comparisons can obscure. In Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist, Suzuki argued that Eckhart came closer to Mahāyāna Buddhism than almost any Christian thinker because both speak of a reality beyond conceptual distinctions and beyond the ordinary ego. Where the overlap appears strongest 1. Emptiness and “Nothingness” Eckhart

davidsmith208

Jun 53 min read

Best mixer

That’s exactly the right way to think about it—once you start hosting other players, the mixer stops being “keyboard hub” and becomes your small band core system. A Soundcraft Notepad 2x2 is fine for solo setup, but it collapses fast when guests show up. You’re really describing a 5–8 input small-band mixer with growth headroom. What you actually need for your scenario You described: 1 Yamaha P-125 (stereo) 1 KeyLab 61 (likely MIDI → sometimes audio via computer, but let’s as

davidsmith208

Jun 42 min read

Stereo piano?

Given your equipment, I would not buy a mixer until you’re standing in the store and know exactly what problem you’re solving. You already have: Yamaha P-125 Arturia KeyLab 61 MK3 Two Akai MPK Mini MacBook Two Peavey PV15PM speakers One XLR cable The KeyLab and MPK Minis are primarily controllers, not sound sources. Their sounds come from the MacBook. The P-125 is the only keyboard here that makes sound by itself. Minimum purchase today I’d probably buy: Two good 1/4” cables

davidsmith208

Jun 42 min read

Trying to line up the ducks

Yes, there is a possible symbolic parallel, though it requires care because Rumi’s Islamic framework and Kabir’s Sant framework are not identical. In the passage you’re referring to, Rumi is emphasizing that creatures act according to the divine wisdom placed within them: The bee makes honey because God taught it. The silkworm spins silk because God taught it. Iblis worshipped for thousands of years, yet ultimately manifested pride. Adam appears weak and earthly, yet becomes

davidsmith208

Jun 32 min read

Masnavi 1: 1882-1884

Yes. The printed English paraphrase on the page is very compressed. The Persian is richer and more prayer-like. The verses read approximately: قطره دانش که بخشیدی ز پیش قطره علمست اندر جان من پیش از آن کین خاکها خفشش کند متصل گردان بدریاهای خویش وارهانش از هوا وز خاک تن پیش از آن کین بادها نفشش کند A more literal translation would be: The drop of knowledge that You bestowed long ago— that drop of knowing is within my soul. Before these earthly soils absorb and bury it, Join i

davidsmith208

Jun 22 min read

White shirts early light

What you’re describing is a bit unusual because most clothing is designed either to block light (UV protection, sun shirts) or to provide modesty and cooling. If your goal is to get as much early-morning and late-evening light exposure as possible while still wearing a shirt, look for fabrics with: Open knit construction rather than tight weave Light colors (white, cream, pale gray) Low fabric weight (under ~120 gsm if listed) Linen or linen blends Burnout tees (partially she

davidsmith208

Jun 22 min read