Yesterday we all went to St. Louis to do some shopping. The weather has been too cold for the past 3-4 weekends to go out an do anything but yesterday was around 50 degrees. So we had a plan to get up early and head out to buy some stuff we’d been wanting.

We piled into the truck and left at 8:30 AM to pick up RT. We took the truck because of IKEA and needing to load some furniture, if needed. We headed out and stopped at Buck’s Crossing to gas up and get some breakfast. Then we headed down to the Chesterfield outlet mall. I was thinking of driving across the river to see the Cybertruck as advertised that was being detailed at a shop. But I decided that, in a few years, there will be plenty of Cybertrucks out there to see. 

Personally I would love to have a CT. My wife, however, wouldn’t. But wow, I would buy one of those things and pretend I was 10 years-old all over again. I love the design. I love Elon Musk wanted to have something different out there, something not old and boring, and that he pushed it through to the end. I’m kind of surprised that these vehicles are actually being manufactured. In the philosophical sense, it shows that one person CAN make a difference. One person can push their vision through. The future is not a predetermined linear path that we all more or less have to follow. The future is decided by conscious thoughts today.

So anyway, we didn’t see the CT. But we arrived early at the outdoor mall. I was concerned that it was going to be uber-packed, like the malls we saw in Orlando. I was afraid that my brain is riding this wavelength that all these other brains are on, and that thousands of people would also decide that hey, today is a great day to go shopping.

Luckily there were just a few people out shopping this early. I got some new Nike’s to replace my beloved shoes; the shoes that were the best I’ve ever owned. They were slip on and fit like a glove. I could easily walk and run in them. And they didn’t cut off my circulation like so many laced shoes do. But they were at the end of their life. The tread was non-existent. So I replaced them with the next best shoe I could find. I’m kinda shocked that I could not find an exact replacement online for my old pair. I’m used to being able to find any item I could imagine, somewhere out there on the web.

Elsa and Emma got some track shoes, Jack got some new shoes, and I went and got some new jeans at Levi’s. Then we headed out to Microcenter.

Microcenter is one of those places that I cannot believe I did not know about sooner. I only discovered it about a year ago, when we were supercharging and walking around. I always envisioned Microcenter as this small computer repair shop so I never thought much about it. But we went in and I discovered Nerd Heaven. I like it even more know that I have a 3D printer. They have a wide array of filaments. Jack and Elsa picked out some colors and I got white, black and orange. They have different materials too. Someday I’ll experiment with something other than PLA filament.

About my printer – I just finished printing the Prusaguitar. It’s a 3D printed guitar body. I purchased the recommended Telecaster kit from Thomann, to round it out. The body is printed but it’s still more practical to use a real wood neck and headstock just because of the string tension. That kit should arrive in a couple of days so I’ll see how well the guitar performs after it’s all assembled. I’m hoping it goes well because I could see myself designing all sorts of bodies. This was one of the reasons I wanted to get into 3D printing in the first place. As far as making action figures, that probably won’t become a reality until I can find a better way to scan people, and until Prusa comes out with their attachment that allows multiple colors to be printed on one object. Scanning people is hard because they move around, even ever so slightly. I would have to build some array of cameras and lights and poles, so that I could do a full scan in one instant. I have built other crazy homemade stuff before, like the electronic drum set I built in college. I don’t doubt I could do it, it’s just if the technology exists for this to be built at home, in the first place. But wow, it would be cool to be able to scan people and print out a figure of them. Maybe have one of those photobooth things at parties, where I could scan and sit around for 1.5 days while it prints lol.

Microcenter is also like a Rush concert, wherein I will see what I look like when I get older (I was informed by my family that I’m already “old”). I guess I’m going to own a black leather jacket soon, based on the people I saw. 

Then we went to our last stop at IKEA. RT was amazed at the size of the place. That made me happy for some reason. Maybe it’s just getting to experience things through other people’s eyes, things they see for the first time, and I get some sympathetic feelings as well. I remember my first time going to IKEA and just absolutely loving it. I love the little apartment living places they have set up. I think I love it because everything looks well-designed and clean. But I also love that everything is presented as a total living package. I don’t have to pick and choose random items from yard-sales and stores and hope that everything meshes well in my house. At IKEA everything goes with everything else. My whole life I’ve never cared about design. It was only when I got married and lived through the Great Recession that my life took a big philosophical turn. I learned that well designed items are elegant and beautiful, just like math is elegant and beautiful. 

I think the wife and I are at a point where we moving beyond IKEA and looking to get better made furniture, stuff that will last us the rest of our lives. IKEA serves a great purpose for people who like good design on a budget. But having said all of this we still bought a table for my office and a sideboard. The table will be for all my Lego buildings. They’re kinda getting out of control. But these are modular Lego buildings which, like IKEA, are well designed and well thought out. This is the critic’s dilemma I’m facing; I know from my time being in a band and writing songs, and from my time creating commercials, that I’m not a creative person. Well, I’m not as creative as I’d like to be. I try to balance my brain between creativity and technicality – not being absolutely good at either but being average at both. But I like to believe that the more I study design and architecture and user experiences that I’m becoming a better critic. I like to think that I could explain to a layperson why something is good art/design and why something is bad. So I can roundly criticize something for being awful even though I can not create very well myself. The way I avoid this hypocrisy is by roundly celebrating and fêting great art and great design. I feel like this is what the late great movie critic Roger Ebert would do. His criticism of movies were more entertaining than the movies themselves. But he himself couldn’t create a good movie. He could only recognize greatness when other people achieved it. 

After we loaded up the truck we headed home. I missed riding in the Tesla because there are podcasts and the whole musical library available at my fingertips. But it was nice to listen to FM radio for the day. You never know which song you’re going to discover. 

Lately I’ve been thinking about Fascism. Is it the opposite of Communism? Or is it just another type of authoritarianism? Is Capitalism the opposite of Communism? Just trying to determine where I’m at on this spectrum. I know I’ll never be Communist. But what about Socialism? Isn’t national defense the largest social program ever? Aren’t roads and our highway system a huge boon to Capitalism, but yet payed for with taxes? Isn’t our tax-payed court system another boon for the rule-of-law, which is needed for Capitalism? Isn’t the fact that a corporation is a separate entity, totally outside of the people involved with it, a government supported act? It seems like there is a point where everyone is going to have to submit part of their autonomy to the greater good. The crux is finding out what needs to be sacrificed, and by whom, and when, and to what extent. I know these questions have been discussed for over 2,000 years and we still don’t know for sure, or else we wouldn’t still be discussing it. Is there a way to ever know for sure? Or do you just have to put the book down, decide on a path to follow, and get on with your life? All I really know for sure is that I love my family (and being married), I love free trade, and I love going to Cardinal’s opening day. 

The wife is watching Love on the Spectrum on Netflix. I might have covered this before, but, am I on the spectrum? Or am I just an asshole (sometimes, never intentionally)? I seriously pitched the idea to the wife of us writing a book together. It would be called How to be Human. She would do most of the writing, based on how she has taught so many autistic and special people throughout her life on how to fit in to social norms. I would add my anecdotes on how I used to think and perceive the world versus how I look at things now that I’ve had my wife gently and patiently steer me for the last 16 years.