Profile
Jacob Ruiz
@jacob
Recent Activity
Yesterday
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Thu Dec 4
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Back
Wed Dec 3
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Tue Dec 2
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Mon Dec 1
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Nov 30
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Mahler 3 Bimm Bamm
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Nov 30
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 27
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Nov 26
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
The wandering and mysterious grey wolf that music once was has been domesticated into a yipping chihuahua.
Nov 26
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
More thoughts. So little is asked of the audience these days. Musicians have become so eager to please. We have come to believe it is the music’s job to please you within 2-3 minutes, and if it fails it will be discarded forever. The result is that songs latch on to one very simple melody sung in simple lyrics, and repeated as much as possible so you’ll remember it. But what if we got it all wrong? What if it’s not music’s job to shape itself to you? After all we would never grow as listeners. We’d all be listening to baby shark from birth until death. But what if it’s our job to shape ourselves to the music? To become better and better listeners? To show the music an emotional depth that it can work with within us. To allow the music to take risks, to go on tangents, to make demands of us.
Nov 26
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Thoughts on music: for years I had grown tired of music. I had no interest in it. At best it was something I played in background to make work a little less boring. Music to me just felt predictable, formulaic, and cheap. It had all become so synthetic, you could hear the computers in every note. Every popular song for decades has had lyrics. What a shame. Our species invented the language of music to express what words can’t express, and then we gave up on that depth and subjectivity and paved it over with lyrics: THIS is what the song is about! What a sign of the scientific (Apollonian) age. We are so deeply uncomfortable with the task of inventing meaning for ourselves, that the only music we’ll listen to is music where the meaning has been prescribed in a laboratory. So I had fallen completely out of love with music. Until I discovered Wagner’s Tannhauser Overture. Why did I listen to this? I had been reading Nietzsche, and Wagner was an important figure in his life and philosophy, so I wanted to see what Wagner sounded like. I put in my AirPods, closed my eyes, and played the 17 minute track on Spotify. It brought me to tears. It was so vivid and so emotional. I could feel the music’s textures. The “streaky” violins streaming down repeatedly over the bigger swelling sounds of the orchestra felt so visceral. The piece ranged from sad to triumphant. It reached inside of me in a way no music with lyrics had ever done. Not a word was spoken, but I felt so much. This opened a door for me. I understood what music was capable of. And I saw that classical music is uniquely positioned to deliver that pure musical communication. There is more subtlety, even from a composer as bombastic as Wagner. It is less predictable - I think the trick that helped me appreciate this music so much was this: I tried to guess the next note the whole time I was listening. Of course this is impossible for a song you’ve never heard, especially one that doesn’t follow the typical verse, chorus, verse format we’re used to. But what it did was put my awareness right at the tip of time, revealing the song with such precision and awareness that each note revealing itself feels like watching a flower bloom, millisecond by millisecond. And while I can’t actually guess the next note, it made me appreciate that someone did - the composer. It shines a light on the incredible feat that is composing an orchestral work. There are so many sounds, so many possibilities, and the composer stands in front of infinity and takes a point of view! It is so daring, such a confident act, that one simply has to sit in awe.
Nov 26
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Back
Nov 25
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 23
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Nov 23
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Back
Nov 20
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 18
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Nov 18
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson
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Nov 17
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 16
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Nov 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
It has only recently occurred to me that no matter how long I live in Australia, and how much I invest in making this my home, I will always be seen as a Yank because of my accent. The Australian cultural identity is so firmly rooted in the accent, that even if you're granted citizenship, even if you spend decades here, if you don't sound Australian, you are not truly Australian. While the government may choose to grant me citizenship, the people have developed a nearly impossible to forge proof of authenticity: a particular way of pronouncing English words.
Nov 15
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 13
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Nov 12
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Back
Nov 11
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 10
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson
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Nov 10
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Nov 6
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 6
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Nov 6
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson. Chapter 5 exercise 1
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Nov 5
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson
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Nov 5
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Nov 4
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Back
Nov 3
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson. Starting chapter 5: middle “oh my” verbs and a new negative
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Nov 3
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Cool custom-made sofa bed https://youtu.be/GJGE63z-uS0?si=RyXoS1IIJjE-eQwN&t=574
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Nov 3
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Oct 31
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Oct 30
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek Lesson. End of Chapter 4 🎉
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Oct 29
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Vercel has a Book component. I should use this for /books.
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Oct 29
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Chest
Oct 28
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek lesson
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Oct 28
Jacob Ruiz completed a meditation
Meditation
Oct 28
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Oct 27
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Oct 27
Jacob Ruiz completed a meditation
Meditation
Oct 26
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
With AI people struggle to know what’s real or fake - could this be a good thing? For most of human history we lived a more mystic life. Even without the use of drugs, we seemed to blur the lines between reality and imagination, dreams and waking life. Could this be a much needed respite from the tyranny of rationality? Could Dionysus be gaining an upper hand on Apollo after centuries of defeat?
Oct 23
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Oct 23
Jacob Ruiz completed a meditation
Meditation
Oct 23
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Greek Lesson. Pronouns plural accusative.
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Oct 23
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Upper
Oct 22
Jacob Ruiz completed a meditation
Meditation
Oct 22
Jacob Ruiz completed a meditation
Meditation
Oct 22
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Ancient Greek lesson: plural pronouns accusative (us, and you plural)
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Oct 21
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
To do: - only show most recent updates in recent activity feed - add an “Omni-create” button to top of feed
Oct 21
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Ancient Greek lesson. More exercises for accusative pronouns singular.
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Oct 21
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
This video on "mini-essays" has so much that reminds me of what I'm building here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi8meiPUt84
Oct 21
Jacob Ruiz completed a workout
Legs
Oct 21
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Early sketch for OpenSelf. I like the tiles at the top. Gives overall shape without pushing recent activity below the fold.
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Oct 20
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
One reason I built this site: I want to write more as I read. I feel like I’m a passive observer just spectating other thinkers. I want to interact with the books I read through writing. Current split is about 99% reading, 1% writing. Target is 80/20, eventually maybe 50/50.
Oct 20
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Ancient Greek lesson: More accusatives: pronoun singular (Chapter 4)
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Oct 19
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Monday morning work session. Sunny day, a bit windy. Strong espresso.
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Oct 18
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Writing topics so far for the Iliad: Bravery Fate vs free will
Oct 18
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Nice bike ride this morning. Spring is here.
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Oct 18
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Write as if no one is reading - what I love about having no likes or comments or followers here. It’s public, but I have no idea if what I’m writing is being read. That changes how I write. There’s no stage fright. No expectations from the audience to stay in a particular character.
Oct 18
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I could write a love letter to these stubby little divider lines. Do they have a name? They can do so much. A colorful accent. An anchor for the eye - I swear it invites you to look at it directly and read both title and subtitle simultaneously. It helps competing text coexist in a space that would either look too cluttered or too boring. Just a line.
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Oct 17
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Watched Autumn Sonata last night. Great movie. My takeaway: as with life generally, nobody makes it out of childhood unscathed. The only path out is forgiveness.
Oct 17
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Ancient Greek Lesson: More exercises for contract verbs.
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Oct 17
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
“The human task is not to be happy. It is to become someone who can bear reality without needing illusion.”
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
It’s funny how random memories float to the surface during meditation. Today: I went on a tour of Hollywood as a kid, and the tour guide told us they used Corn Flakes as fake snow.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I should add day separators to the Thoughts feed. Large or xl text, semibold, secondary color. Will look sweet.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I’d like to add a GitHub-style calendar heat map here to show frequency of workouts. It needs some visual interest.
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Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Home view should show an AI generated summary of my day. “Today Jacob went to the gym, thought about the paradox of capitalism, and brainstormed feature ideas”. How do you feel about your day when it’s read back to you?
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz added a book
The Odyssey
by Homer
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz added a book
The Nicomachean Ethics
by Aristotle
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I should add "Deep Work" sessions within Work. Like tracking a workout but for work sessions.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Beautiful song
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Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Bookmarking Novel for a Notion-style WYSIWYG text editor https://novel.sh/docs/introduction
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
"Live beautifully" Possible slogan for Open Self? "Live beautifully in public"?
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
The medium is the message - this project is an operating system for the soul. The shape of the software, over time, will shape the person who uses it. This is as much a philosophy project as it is a software project. This is my Nicomachean Ethics.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I love the non sequitur quality of the Thoughts feed. It feels like looking back on the day’s thoughts under a strobe light.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Is profit an inefficiency?
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Testing linking Thoughts to Books! This post should show up under The Iliad in my book collection.
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz added a book
Learn Ancient Greek
by Peter Jones
Oct 16
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Today’s Ancient Greek Lesson. Chapter 4: More contractions
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Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
The paradox of capitalism - it gives power-hungry people a game to play that is defanged compared to politics. A game bound by markets rather than armies. But as the players gain power, society grows fearful and turns to the state to contain them. But the extent to which the state contains them is the extent to which they see a new path to power. The ambitious spirits no longer seek the boardroom. They seek the throne.
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz added a book
The Gay Science
by Friedrich Nietzsche
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz added a book
The Oresteia
by Aeschylus
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz added a book
The Iliad
by Homer
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
The ability to link Thoughts together would be helpful too: - Replying - Paste a link to "quote" it (Let's see if these line breaks hold)
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Also need to add links. Would love to be able to share songs. Let's see how this looks: https://music.apple.com/us/album/symphony-no-5-in-e-minor-op-64-iii-valse-allegro-moderato/1830501402?i=1830501988
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
I need to add drag & drop for images in the Thought composer.
Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
More UI inspiration for the Book detail page. Nice fat header with buttons, search, and a tidy list.
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Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Finished my Ancient Greek lesson for today. Typed up my Chapter 3 notes in Notion. Hoping to move that over to this site soon.
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Oct 15
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
The book detail page should look like this. Book image at the top with title and description. Then below is a list of "notes" files, maybe with nesting to allow for flexible book notes. For example The Iliad > Summary > Book 1 or The Iliad > Writing > What does Homer say about free will?
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Oct 14
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Will this image make it? Let's find out.
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Oct 14
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Let's see if images work.
Oct 14
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
Oh shit this works.
Oct 14
Jacob Ruiz posted a thought
My first thought.