Jury Duty

Current location: Milwaukee Courthouse, MKE, WI, USA

Reading: The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

Listening: All Comes Crashing by Metric

(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status)

---

Jury Duty

I have jury duty this week! This is my third day serving, after being plucked from the jury pool and assigned to a case on Monday.

I might be done at some point today, but either ways there's a good chance that as you read this I'm sequestered, devices confiscated, ham-handedly discussing the finer points of Wisconsin law with 11 other randomly selected (and then pruned by the involved attorneys) citizens.

Thus, this'll be short, but I will note that the entire process has been interesting, if still shaped by extended periods of waiting, back-stiffness, and mediocre courthouse cafeteria food.

It's also made me think that the US would probably benefit from having more compulsory, shared, non-religious rituals related to the idea of democracy and justice and "serving" more broadly, as it tends to make one more aware of how the sausage is made, respect several aspects of the systems involved more than before, and consider how other aspects of said system (facets of it that only just barely work, seemingly held together by globs of decades-old super-glue) might be improved—alongside a dozen of other people with varying backgrounds and day-to-day realities who are going through the same thing.

The rest of the newsletter is normal! I hope you're having a wonderful week :)

Consider supporting my work by buying me a courthouse cafeteria coffee :)

——

I only got a sticker the first day when I was in the jury pool, sadly.

——

Things I've Made This Week

Select, recent works from across my project portfolio.

Aspiring Generalist: The Most Common Regrets

Brain Lenses: Zeigarnik Effect (podcast version)

I Will Read To You: Death Be Not Proud

Let’s Know Things: CRISPR

Curiosity Weekly / Daily: July 26 / July 26

One Sentence News: July 26 (podcast version)

——

Interesting & Useful

Point in History — hanshack.com Explore historical boundaries around a given location

Remastered: Paris 1920s in Color with Added Sound — www.youtube.com

A time travel to the streets of Paris 1920s where we can clearly see what is happening in broad daylight.

Visualizing the Coming Shift in Global Economic Power — www.visualcapitalist.com Over the next decade, China is expected to surpass the U.S. in economic power, and India is primed to become the third-largest economy.

——

I've been playing with distorted human forms recently, scribbling out a lot of this sort of character, experimenting with my new mid-range oil pastels while also figuring out how to make figures that are interesting and fun in a way, but also somewhat disturbing because of their contortions.

——

Outro

I'm going to keep this short, too, as I'm jotting all this down Wednesday morning, sipping my coffee and trying to make sure I've got time for a shower before popping outside to catch the bus and meander my way down to the courthouse, about 30 minutes (by bus) away.

Ever been on a jury? How long ago? What it's like in your neck of the woods? Anything that stood out to you about the situation or process?

Also: any big plans for June? I can't believe July's almost gone already.

Send me a quick message and tell me what's what. You can reach me by replying to this newsletter or by writing to colin@exilelifestyle.com.

You can also communicate via the usual methods: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or visual guide to the Aztec pantheon.

If you’re finding some value in what I’m doing here, consider supporting my work: Become an Understandary member / Become a Patron / Buy me a coffee

Closest airports to any location in the world.