https://notes.volumen.ca/ Updates and notes from VolūmenThu, 13 Aug 2026 23:51:39 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#the-pattern the-patternWork life has stabilized. I do the things I used to do prior to 2018. This seems to be a cycle. One mistake I don’t want to repeat is becoming too focused on work. No grand plan, no strong drive, no passion. Only simple days, a plain work life, the repetition of small things with discipline, the...Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#boxes-we-keep boxes-we-keepEarly mornings have a special gift for me. The break of dawn illuminates the invisible in what should be obvious: I can see that daily life is full of maintenance work. While that work is necessary, it often feels more like fixing things than living a simple, healthy, content baseline life. Yet...Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#on-repeat on-repeatI cannot get enough of these tunes recently: Blues in the Night (Dinah Washington), See See Rider (Ernestine Anderson), T’Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-Ness (Dinah Washington), and You’d Be So Nice to Come Home to (Helen Merrill). They’ve been on repeat for more than a month.Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#newspeak newspeakNewspeak is deliberately obscure language designed to confuse or deceive. The term originates from George Orwell’s 1949 novel 1984, where it describes a fabricated tongue intentionally engineered to restrict thought and cognitive ability. Orwell’s system worked by altering existing words,...Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#the-wrong-problem the-wrong-problemMost people don’t understand how computers work or know how to harness computing to solve problems, which limits their personal use. Computers are mainly communication tools to them since the advent of social media platforms and mobile computing devices, but generative AI has the power to change...Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#guitar-recording-setup guitar-recording-setupMy guitar recording philosophy has evolved toward minimal, purposeful gear: tone comes from the fingers, pick, guitar, and amp, while digital effects complement rather than replace the core sound.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#honne-and-tatemae honne-and-tatemaeHonne and tatemae aren’t simply truth versus lie. They’re both real, but at different levels. Tatemae is socially acceptable, while honne is the unfiltered truth that emerges when you trust someone. Neither is fake.Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#the-unix-philosophy-of-everyday-life the-unix-philosophy-of-everyday-lifeThe Unix philosophy holds that a program should do one thing well, stay simple, and avoid unnecessary complexity. The same logic extends beyond computer programs. It applies just as well to organizing time, schoolwork, or everyday life. The problem is always the same: left unattended, simple...Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#the-tale-of-kaho the-tale-of-kahoMurakami’s latest novel, “The Tale of Kaho,” was released on July 3, 2026, by Shichosha. It’s his 16th novel and marks his first in three years since “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” (Murakami, 2024). “The Tale of Kaho” expands on four interconnected short stories that were first serialized in...Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#guillaume-poncelet guillaume-ponceletWe discovered Guillaume Poncelet on YouTube, totally randomly. He is a composer, trumpet and piano player, born in 1978 in Grenoble, France. Music media characterize him as a minimalist neoclassical musician. His music videos blow us away. Simple melodies played softly on upright piano with its...Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#chesterfield-avenue chesterfield-avenueAn early morning walk down Chesterfield Avenue, in the chilled air and along the uncrowded sidewalk, helped me find a signal in the everyday noise. Earliest memories from childhood came back to me as I discovered thought and attempted to control thinking at will. A thought, as a stream of...Sat, 11 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#retirement-rehearsal retirement-rehearsalI took a brief walk this morning, on our 4th wedding anniversary, also the first day of my vacation, a period I like to call retirement rehearsal. It was a wonderful walk; the cool air filled me with calmness and a light joy. I moved down Chesterfield Avenue like a cloud gliding across the sky....Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#no-grand-plan-just-steady-state no-grand-plan-just-steady-stateI have thought about and diagnosed the mechanisms of weight gain and found that they are largely conditioned loops and the continuation of eating past satisfaction. I have made a simple and realistic plan that involves pre-portioning and gradual reduction of meal sizes.Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#on-compounding on-compoundingCompounding effects have implications that are easy to underestimate; for example, a good habit will compound, thereby improving one’s daily life, sustaining itself as an internal cycle. A lateral outcome is the diffusion of compounding, as acquired benefits spread to other aspects of life:...Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#posture-and-presence posture-and-presenceObserve the inner stillness of Yehudi Menuhin, one of the great violinists of the 20th century. Notice the majestic steadiness of his posture and his simple, gentle movements, each gesture commanding an exquisite wave of sound.Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#back-to-linux back-to-linuxI have set up a ThinkPad T540p laptop with MX Linux and am getting comfortable with my OS triad: macOS as my primary OS, MX Linux functional, and Windows on the ThinkPad T14 for office at work. It’s been nearly two decades since I last did anything on Linux, and I was delighted to find out about...Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#dissolving-into-sound dissolving-into-soundListening to Julian Lage’s video on his YouTube channel, I came to realize a subtle quality: he and his quartet are in a meditative state. It doesn’t look like they are performing, nor are they working. Thus, listening to them draws you into that restorative state in which you strip off the...Fri, 29 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#ikigai-origins-and-modern-interpretation ikigai-origins-and-modern-interpretationIkigai, a concept from Okinawa, is believed to support the longevity and well-being of its people, who have one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world.Sun, 24 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#messiness messinessLife is messy, the work we do, the personal projects we undertake, hobbies, simply put, a day from dawn to dusk is messy. No undo button to easily clean up the tracks and straighten it up going forward. Then even the clearest paths will branch out and no matter how clean a path, something will...Mon, 18 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#hakuro-nishiki hakuro-nishikiHakuro Nishiki is a variegated willow. Even someone who sees it without reading its label could guess it is a Japanese tree. With its soft and delicate form and the colour that can represent the sakura season, the tree in its pot caught our attention immediately. Now we wonder how it looks in...Mon, 18 May 2026 12:00:01 +0000