Notes from the Weekend

LATELY ALL my dreams have been the same: a car careering out of control that I can’t stop, a car that I can’t start if my life depended on it (and it usually does). Apparently, according to Claude (yes, I tell my dreams to bots now), the unconscious mind often uses cars to express thoughts and feelings about our control, power, independence and ability to progress in life. A car you can’t control could mean a lack of control in waking life, with the car as a symbol for one’s life’s path, and not being able to steer representing a lack of control. On the other hand, a car that won’t start could mean feeling inadequate to complete a task: if your life depends on getting the car going in the dream, it may reflect worries that you are not equipped or competent enough to accomplish something vital in your waking life. Lack of control, definitely. But do any of us have any control, or is all just a illusion? And does it even matter? For every morning is a chance to wake up to all the lives you haven’t yet lived. P and I were having one of those deep conversations this weekend, free will versus predeterminism, questions about the nature of consciousness, causality, and the relationship between mind and matter. Rather than ascribe to either of those two, I rather fancy myself a compatibilist, at least for the moment. Anyway, back to the dreams. There is another one about a restaurant, but I’ll tell you about that one next time. Also met a black and white cat this weekend that ran across the street to meet me, then proceeded to purr loudly between my pats and ear scratches while he circled about my legs like he’d known me his whole life. Strange cats running out to greet me like they know me is something that happens a lot, which is strange, as I’ve always gravitated more towards dogs.

This week’s links include an Italian garden, and how to make complex and balanced zero-proof cocktails; pocket tweed jackets for the office; a French croissant recipe; and much, much more.

xo,

P.S. past weekend links