I wrote recently in “Thoughts on Turning 49” about the Stoic principle of not having an opinion. As Jungian synchronicity would have it, I chanced upon a TikTok interview featuring Pete Holmes ranting about the navigation app Waze, and he mentioned what I later leaned was the Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen:

The Great Way* is not difficult for those who have no preferences.

Third Chinese Patriarch Of Zen

Here’s Marcus Aurelius on opinions:

“It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgements.”

Marcus Aurelius on Opinions

Professional explainer of all things Stoicism, Ryan Holiday, expounds further:

The point is: One of the most powerful things we can do in life is to limit the amount of opinions we have. To say: “I don’t have an opinion on that.” (Even if deep down we do!) To focus on the things in front of us that matter, or more importantly, that are in our control. There is plenty there for us. Plenty to keep us busy, and not miserable.

The Curse of Having an Opinion About Everything

Our culture places great value on deciveness and action, hot takes and big opinions. But maybe we’re betraying a healthier version of our potential in so doing. Ride the wave.

I’m not sure when Microsoft added drag and drop support of images into OneNote for iPad, but it’s there now (at least in TestFlight build 16.80). The lack of this feature was a bother for me and had me peeking at Bear again tonight. So glad to see this!

Between the weekend getaway and a toy show I promised to take the boys to, a 10k wasn’t in the works for me this Sunday. I did manage to squeeze in a 5k and set a PR by a hair. Behold:

Nothing terribly exciting, although I will point out that I was able to pull with more power at a lower stroke rate;. If you look at the third split, most relevantly, today I pulled at 198 watts at a stroke rate of 25 strokes per minute, while I pulled 198 watts on my previous PR in November on the third split… at 31 strokes per minute. It’s a small bit of data but it’s exactly what I”m trying to do: row with greater power, but more slowly.

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.

HL Mencken

Yesterday’s 10k row was not a personal record, but I would like to direct your attention to my stroke rate:

While I was not as fast some previous efforts, I did keep my stroke rate pegged at 28 strokes per minute. Compare that to last Sunday’s:

• Last week: 10k at 30 s/m, 186 watts
• This week: 10k at 28 s/m, 184 watts

My goal, besides rowing a 10k in 40 minutes, is to cap my stroke rate below 30 s/m, so that will mean keeping power up more consistently. Fewer, but harder, pulls. Feasible? Dunno. But I think the slower rate will preserve my aerobic capacity.

Quick note: Rhonda joined me again this Sunday, but instead of her usual 10-minute Apple Fitness+ workout, she opted for a 20-minute row. I did the 20 minute alongside her, pulling around 28 s/m with good power for the “hard” sections and ramping up the stroke rate to 33-38 s/m for the “all out” efforts. This means my warmup led to me having 5k in the bank before I even sat for the 10k. With a light warmup and cooldown, that’s 00:27:50 and 279 calories burned before the 00:41:17 and 640-calorie burn during the 10k.

Them’s some meters!

Unstick yourself by making “bad art”:

Often the problem is that they’re too tied to the outcome — too concerned with getting it right, being amazing at what they do, making pots of money or even impressing others with their achievements.
All of that keeps them stuck.
But the way forward is surprisingly — terrifyingly — simple. That’s to commit to just one thing: Make bad art.

This article rang true for me, with my TikTok adventure and even here on Uncorrected. Hell, it’s why I called it “Uncorrected” in the first place: Here’s some stuff I’m thinking about, reading, or interested in. I’m not creating anything polished, just creating. Nobody gets hurt, I have some fun, and hopefully you, dear reader, get a twinkle, however ephemeral, in your eye.

Beat Your Procrastination with One Terrifyingly Simple Commitment

Whatever the Brockman’s Gin is good for, it’s not your standard martini. We tried a Martinez, and that was deelish, but not likely a daily preprandial. This sidecar might be a nice alternative during the Week Between.

Blackberry Sidecar

Nothing basement-shattering today; I managed to shave a fraction of a second off last week’s effort. Progress is progress I guess. I was carping for air at the end after losing focus for a few meters.

On a related note, someone asked me recently if I watched TV while I rowed. I categorically do not watch anything other than the Erg app or the PRM screen when I’m rowing, because it’s the only way to keep from drifing off into less effort. Rowing is a cruel mistress.

But I love her.

I’ve got one more year before the big half-century. Some things I’ve learned:

1. Say What You Think: Do this tactfully, but be true to yourself in dealing with others. I don’t mean the “I say what I think” coarseness of someone with a childhood wound; I mean be upfront about what you think, not in the interests of being right, but in the service of number two.
2. Prefer your own opinion to the opinions of others: This is from Ryan Holiday/Daily Stoic; trust what you think. You don’t have to be right all the time (you won’t be). But we’re all dealing with situations that don’t have “right” answers (sure, hindsight is twenty-twenty). Corollary: honor your ambivalence. Don’t get taken in by pressure. Sometimes not making a choice is making a choice. Another corollary: choice is protective, in most cases. When you can, make a choice. Don’t let things happen to you.
3. Don’t doubt your capacity for change: The things you think aren’t ever positions you’d back or activities you would enjoy might very well be entirely within your capacity or interest. Ride the wave sometimes. Corollary: try things when you get the chance. Don’t be a picky eater, in food and experiences. But when you find something? Commit to it. Don’t be inflexible; change it up when you’re wrong. Did I mention that I lost 70 pounds? That’s an example of something I didn’t think I could do. But here I am.
4. Stop worrying about being wrong. It doesn’t mean you’re an awful person. Nobody’s perfect.

This week’s list of things to check out:

1. Raycast: Raycast is an app launcher for macOS. It competes with apps like Launchbar (an old favorite of mine), Alfred, and even Apple’s own Spotlight. I once read that Launchbar is essentially an alternative interface for your Mac; I can’t argue with that, and Raycast is as well. It’s great for launching applications and finding files, but the real magic is in integrating with apps using their APIs. For example, I can add a to-do item to Todoist without leaving my current application using Raycast, reposition windows, and move files. All very cool. I would love to support the project with a license or subscription, as I do Launchbar (and many other applications), but their only support tier is pricey at $100 USD a year.



2. Raindrop.io: Raindrop.io is a bookmark manager. Sure, you can use your browser, but any nerd worth his salt runs a couple of browsers. Raindrop allows you to quickly bookmark and organize your bookmarks, and there’s a version for every OS, mobile and otherwise. I helped a colleague set up a Raindrop install for social bookmarking.



3. Inktank printers: Remember ink cartidges? Sure you do. These newfangled printers have bottles of ink that are easy to refill. Best of all, they don’t dry out after sitting for a bit, requiring the rubber-chicken-waving of cleaning print cartridges. Sure, a color laser would be the best way to go, but these printers are a nice intermediate step. Ours is an HP 7300.

Great song by one of my favorite bands. Lyrics are appropriate for today.

20-minute 5k yesterday. Very pleased. Dropped watts in split three but still finished at 00:20. That’s a good time for a middle-aged spud.

Rehoboth Beach is a dog-friendly town, to say the least. Here are some fur babies I took pics of. The last specimen is not of Rehoboth Beach, but was happy to see everyone home.

Shaved 15 seconds off of my most recent PR 10k. Aveage power was up to 185 watts, with all but the last split coming in under 2:04. Very happy. These most recent rows show modest but steady progress (I’m shooting for a 40-minute 10k). Not hitting the law of diminishing returns just yet, but I have to start planning for that, I suppose. I’m in the middle of the pack when I rank my PRs using Concept 2’s ErgData app, and intermediate for my age comparing myself to the norms published on RowingLevel.com.

Here’s this Wednesday’s 30-minute piece. After the first split at a solid but not exceptional (for me) 2:05, I kept things hot around 2:02. Maybe a banana or two and I could keep this up for 10k.