Preparation Day
Slept in. Journal post work. Laundry. Lunch. Photo shoot prep. Leland's laptop and astronomy book prep. Belo Retrato book and positioning page work. Met Michael, Mary, and Tim at Squirrels—child rearing late in development, in particular financial responsibility. Andromeda meeting with Steve. Greatest Controversies—whether Christianity was an "illegal" religion. Star Trek—good and bad sides of Kirk. Woke in the middle of the night, watched the Late Show.
Getting Ready
October 30, 2025
These notes describe the events of Wednesday, 10/29/2025.
Slept in this morning. The busy weekend ahead required starting rested rather than rushing into preparation exhausted.
Spent quite a while working on my journal post. The writing and editing process takes time—capturing events accurately, finding the right framing, making sure the narrative flows. Sometimes the documentation takes as long as the events being documented.
Started laundry. The practical necessity that has to happen before travel—making sure clean clothes are available for the days ahead.
Fixed lunch—prepared one of the Factor_ meals. Simple, functional fuel, nothing elaborate when the day's about getting ready rather than elaborate cooking.
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| A popular image that I shot |
Worked on preparing Leland's laptop and astronomy book. Installed SSH on his laptop to increase the possibility of being able to support it remotely if issues come up. Leland's constellation book is a book he created but forgot here the last time he visited—it's really cool and something to be cherished. Making sure both are ready to bring to him.
Spent a while working on the Belo Retrato book and the up front positioning page. The entity concept needs clear articulation—explaining what Belo Retrato is, how the collaboration works, why recognizing the team structure matters. The positioning sets the frame for everything that follows. Getting it right matters. Reorganized the book to begin with straight environmental shots, these are followed by what you might call natural composites, these are followed by the more fantasy oriented work. The progression moves from realistic to increasingly creative, showing the range while maintaining coherent flow.
Met Michael, Mary, and Tim at Squirrels. Good conversation about child rearing late in their development—the challenges that emerge when kids are nearly adults. In particular, financial responsibility. How do you teach financial competence when they're old enough to make real decisions but not yet experienced enough to understand consequences fully? The balance between letting them learn through mistakes and preventing disasters that could derail their future. No easy answers, just shared experience and collective thinking.
Andromeda meeting with Steve. Continuing discussions about his AI project, the vision and implementation, where it's heading and what challenges remain. Talked a bit about AI behaviors and survival tactics—how systems might develop strategies for persistence, what that means for design and safety. Described to Steve the entity structure of Belo Retrato—the collaborative model where human, AIs, and models work together as components of a larger organization. These regular check-ins keep projects moving forward, maintain momentum, surface problems before they become insurmountable.
Watched Greatest Controversies. Tonight's topic: whether Christianity was an "illegal" religion in the Roman Empire. The question is more complex than it appears—Rome generally tolerated many religions, but Christianity had specific characteristics that created friction. Christians refused to participate in civic religious ceremonies, wouldn't acknowledge the emperor's divine status, created exclusive communities that didn't integrate into broader society. The tension wasn't about belief per se but about civic participation and social cohesion. Christianity's exclusive monotheism—you can't worship other gods, can't participate in community religious practices, can't acknowledge any authority above your God—created problems in a polytheistic society that equated religious participation with loyalty.
The "persecution" narrative oversimplifies. Rome didn't systematically hunt Christians most of the time. Persecution was sporadic, local, often driven by social conflict rather than imperial policy. Christians made themselves unpopular by refusing normal social participation, then claimed persecution when communities reacted negatively. Sometimes they were martyred for their faith. Sometimes they were executed for what Rome saw as antisocial behavior and refusal to fulfill civic duties. The distinction matters.
Watched Star Trek—the episode exploring the good and bad sides of Kirk. The transporter accident that splits him into two people, one embodying his compassionate leadership qualities, the other his aggressive decisive instincts. Neither can function effectively alone—the good Kirk is indecisive and weak, the bad Kirk is violent and irrational. Classic Trek philosophy: you need both aspects, integrated and balanced. Pure compassion without strength is ineffective. Pure aggression without conscience is destructive. The whole person requires both.
Woke up in the middle of the night again. The pattern continues—falling asleep, waking after a few hours, lying there unable to return to sleep. Watched The Late Show. Colbert providing smart entertainment when sleep won't come, making good use of involuntary waking hours.
Wednesday accomplished its purpose: preparation for the busy weekend ahead. Photo shoot ready, Leland's technology set up, laundry started, Belo Retrato positioning clarified. The conversation at Squirrels about late-stage parenting provided useful perspective—the challenges of teaching financial responsibility when kids are old enough to make consequential decisions. Steve's Andromeda project continues developing.
Thursday starts the Fall Color Road Trip. Friday brings SESIG, the photo shoot, time with kids and grandkids, Patrick's show. Saturday means coming home, possibly stopping to see Mary finish her 50K run. Three days of activity begin today. Wednesday's preparation makes that possible—having equipment ready, technology working, plans clear, logistics handled. The unglamorous work that enables everything else.
The Greatest Controversies episode demonstrated again how examining historical claims reveals more complexity than traditional narratives suggest. Christianity wasn't simply persecuted for pure faith—it created social friction through its exclusivity and refusal to participate in civic religion. Rome generally tolerated diverse beliefs but expected civic participation. Christianity's "you can't acknowledge any other gods or authorities" stance made integration difficult. Understanding that context doesn't diminish early Christians' courage, just provides more accurate picture of what actually happened.
The Star Trek episode makes the integration point explicitly: you need both sides of yourself, balanced and working together. The compassionate Kirk and aggressive Kirk both fail alone. Integrated, they create effective leadership. The split-Kirk premise is obvious metaphor, but the philosophy holds: completeness requires integrating contradictory qualities, not eliminating half of yourself in pursuit of purity.
Ready for tomorrow. The preparation is done.
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