The title is really the whole post. It's where we find the meaning in our life.
So why is it so hard to figure out?
I went to a screening and Q&A with Kevin Smith last weekend, showing Dogma for its 25th anniversary. He recently wrestled the rights away from the Weinstein's, so it will enjoy a theatrical rerelease and presumably streaming and home video reissues.
Smith is an excellent story teller, and if you've ever seen him live, then you know that translates well into his appearances. We saw him coming out of the pandemic, and he was good then as well. This time around, he shared some great stories about Alan Rickman and George Carlin. I've heard him talk about Carlin before, but it was interesting to hear about Rickman, and the friendship that he had with him, without realizing it was a friendship until he passed. Understandably, he felt like his "dopey" movies were not up to big time actors like him. That's kind of Smith's m.o. though. To hear him tell it, he's just happy to be here and make movies with his friends. And that's largely what he's been able to do, mostly on his terms. He found a way to do this through podcasts and tours and such. He's made his own future outside of the traditional Hollywood scene.
And yes, he definitely made some dumb movies, but Dogma still lands pretty well. The dialog is rich in deep cuts of Biblical stuff. Despite protests back in the day, I don't find it particularly negative toward Christianity, or any religion. Smith made the point that the movie captures his beliefs when he was "a kid," but for the most part he doesn't really lean into religion anymore.
His core movies, the Clerks trilogy, Chasing Amy and this one, are pretty great. I never really got Mallrats. Red State was what I would call his "Tarantino" movie, and generally better than people give it credit for. But sure, Tusk and Yoga Hosers are not really very good.
I admire the guy. He's a movie nerd that always knew what he wanted to do, and he's largely done it on his terms. He was doing selfies in the hall on our way out (he had to go into a later screening for Q&A), just kind of hanging out. No entourage, no one else around. He seems relatively grounded, and since going vegan post-heart attack, and later quitting weed, he seems to really enjoy what he does. It's still weird to see him so thin.
I've written a few times about how the medicinal properties of marijuana, or THC specifically, have helped me a great deal. For years I struggled with insomnia, probably related to anxiety, and 5 mg of THC via a gummy has largely solved that problem. Unexpectedly, it also treats my restless leg problem. I've never been formally diagnosed with that, but I know that I don't have it when I'm taking the THC. Diana uses it for back pain management, which is especially useful since the conventional pain killers have not been good for her kidneys. There's a lot of potential upside, but we don't really know what the negatives are, because they haven't been studied.
I was thinking about this because I'm in Colorado at the moment, where recreational THC in all its forms is a thing, and it's everywhere. There are four dispensaries within four blocks of my hotel. Because of the federal status, I can't fly across state lines with my gummies. The least I can do almost anywhere is 10 doses of 10 mg, which sucks because I need only 15 mg total for three nights. It's cheaper here than in Florida, but it's still a little wasteful. Also, the brand that I bought sucks, such a weird texture compared to what I get at home. That's the Wana brand, by the way. They're delicious and don't taste like weed. Unfortunately it's been raining, and the nearest store here is too far away.
One of the things that varies so wildly with product is potency. If you like to smoke it, who knows what you might get. Growers have worked hard to breed more potent strains. But even for edibles, it varies wildly. Even for the brand that I like, the real dosages are between 8 and 9 mg per gummy, and when you're only using half of that, that's a lot of difference. The batch I got here was about 10.8 mg, which is almost 30% more than what I'm used to. Again, I'm not a heavy user, and not trying to get high. The most I've had in an awake situation is that 8.something, and honestly, I don't really like the feeling. It's not like being drunk, but I can't explain why. Maybe it's just the difference in familiarity.
Where I'm going with this is that if it was legal, we could see a lot more precision in how it's regulated consistently, especially as it relates to potency. If you make an alcohol product, the ATF will fuck up your business if you don't exactly land the proof that you're selling. With THC products, there is no uniform scrutiny in that respect. And I understand, when you're dealing with plants, variability is impossible to control. But it seems weird that it isn't more consistent in every other form of THC, including edibles, tinctures and vapes. That's a lot of chemistry.
Again, I have to point out that it's not like alcohol. Alcohol is essentially poison. There is no evidence that it provides any health benefit, despite the longstanding myth about red wine having some benefit. There is, however, a ton of evidence that THC can be beneficial for a range of health issues. It might also have negative long-term effects, but we can't study that with the rigor that we can with legal products. I know it helps me, but I want to know that it isn't going to cause harm, or that the risk is relatively low. We also don't know what percentage of people will find it addictive, but it's a non-zero number, and I'm sure it's higher than clinicians would prefer.
The feds need to reclassify. I realize we have bigger problems right now, but a healthy government can do more than thing at once. (If only we had a healthy government.)
About seven years ago, we bought a robot vacuum from Neato. We actually used it up and downstairs, with two docks. It worked fairly well, though to use it downstairs, you really had to invert all of the dining chairs (that's 12, including the counter), which was a deterrent to using it. The reason you had to do this is because, despite having a spinny laser or something to map the surroundings, it mostly ran into everything over and over. We used it less and less over time, and then its battery died. I replaced it, but also learned at that point that the company went out of business, and they would be shutting down their servers eventually. That's the problem with "smart" stuff... it stops working when it can't phone home. Then a few weeks ago, it died hard. It shut itself down.
I still like the idea of a vac bot, so I looked around to see what was hot. The tech reviews had all of the usual suspects, but various online forums and Reddit were all about this Roborock brand that I had not heard of. That seemed odd, but I suspect many reviews only happen if the vendor gives the writers a sample. I started looking at the suction measurements and such, and Roborock seemed pretty great. Then one of the better midrange models, normally $800, was half-price (they go well over a grand), and that seemed like a good deal.
The software is pretty great. The app allows you to "rope off" parts of the map and delineate rooms, so you can choose specific areas to do. Most importantly, it doesn't bang into stuff all day, especially when it knows where stuff is. The device itself uses rubber brushes, which is interesting, and they seem to do a really good job. The dust chamber could be bigger, but when it does get overfilled, it struggles to empty into the dock. It uses disposable bags in the dock, which isn't great, but not the end of the world. Overall, I'm really impressed with its performance. I do wonder if it will have longevity, because it needs the cloud service. I mean, I've had the same upright Dyson for 20 years, and will probably have it my whole life.
Our carpet sure sucks though. The Pulte builder-grade crap looks like a dozen people have lived here for two decades, and it's just the three of us over seven years. It needs to be replaced, but there's kind of a with a weird economy I'm not sure now is the time. That, and when do we downsize and move out? I assume that better carpet should at least look good for five years.