"The impeded stream is the one that sings"

Alas, another technological revolution is upon us. The fears swirl. Will A.I. take my job? What will will be left for my brain to do? What can I be proud of, absent marketable skills? How will I pay for things?

The lord only knows. I do not have one single answer, but I do have the poets. Words written by humans remind me everyone has been through it. I liked this poem by Wendell Berry. It was published in his book of essays, Standing by Words, which explored the conviction that the "ever–widening cleft between the words and their referents mirrors the increasing isolation of individuals and their communities from the land". This was in the '80s. It would be really interesting to talk to him today. This is a hopeful poem, and I probably like it because I possess that personality in all the character frameworks that never seems to be on a clear path. Also, I'm American; I believe things that satisfy my agenda, even when I don't have one.

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

It's cold in New York, and my sister ditched me for her friends, so I finally finished this little site I have been wanting to make. I have been compiling my favorite excerpts, poems, and short pieces of writing for over a decade, and I wanted them to live somewhere more engaging than a spreadsheet. I categorized all the pieces so they can be recommended accurately, and it was hard to pick one category for each. They all have many facets. Upon closer examination, most of them turn out to be about courage. I think that's what it takes to be human--certainly, to be a poet.

It would have taken me several months to build this myself, so I asked an LLM to do it. It needs some styling and logic upgrades, and the copy is cheesy, but it exists. I have mixed feelings. Irony is annoying. I could use the React learnings, but I'm also glad v1 is done, and I didn't have to spend 60-80 hours sitting at a desk. Every decision is a trade, and I think artificial intelligence will make it even more important to actively choose each trade. I hope you enjoy this. Let me know if you make any of the recipes.