What good?

Wherein I use my blog to work through something I’ve been chewing on for a week.

Part of Franklin’s daily schedule includes focus setting each morning and a review each night.  The intent is to go some amount of good in a day in addition to working on moral perfection.  (He was an ambitious man.)

I have been doing the same as part of the morning protocol that started this summer. And I’ve been struggling with that “good” part of the prompt.

Not in the existential sense but more in scope. What is enough good to achieve in a day. I’m not going to make the world a better place in a single day nor do I want every day’s goal to be “do specifict work thing”. Aside from that being boring and that I have hobbies, my work day is pretty jammed with must-dos already.

So, that leaves little person goals, I guess? The first few days of Temperance Week I used the [edict list][http://www.abmann.net/list-of-virtues/\] I write on Sunday to inform my daily goals. 12/28 included “stop eating before you feel full.” 12/29 was the very specific “maintain temperance with food + drink”. 12/30 and 31 had “properly hydrate” which I failed both days.

These seem vaguely useful but, if I am setting more specific virtue goals, it feels as if that undermines the point otherwise. So should I not try to accomplish some other useful good?

Out v In

I think in my mind the virtues are inward focused goals, self improvement’ and the daily goal should be outward focused improvement. Though Benjamin Franklin was well aware of the personal benefits to be gained from his projects — city militia, the post office, lending a press to his apprentice when he left for Boston — so many of them had community improvement at their heart.

If that is the intent, doing some small, external good, how do I define those? I had a few last week that were a blend like “be patient with Alyska” which I could always be better at. The goal was still about my own conduct and interfacing with the world.

24 hours in a day, if you don’t sleep.

So then do I make them about work? Do I do more things for other people? How will I get my own stuff done? Do I attempt some community service each day? Do I have time enough to do that amongst other responsibilities?

And you see the dilemma…

The answer is almost assuredly “calm down, do what you can.” A simple kindness, even to yourself makes the world a little better.

Dear reader.

If you had to set a small, external goal for the day, what would it be?

What good would you do in a day?

Silence

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

This virtue is not about quietude or vowing to never speak again. The virtue of Silence is expressed in listening and sincereity of speech. Franklin’s intention was to reduce the amount of tie hespnt in “trifling” conversation so he had more time for matters of greater import to him.

…considering that in Conversation it was obtain’d rather by the Use of the Ears than of the Tongue, and therefore wishing to break a Habit I was getting into of Prattling, Punning and Joking, which only made me acceptable to trifling Company, I gave Silence the second Place. This, …, I expected would allow me more Time for attending to my Project and my Studies.

• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, chapter IX

I suspect it was a desire to buld his own wealth and business more than spending time with family but he was ultimately a pragmatic person.

The idea of spending less time with useless conversation is good. Useless requiring some definition because, even as an introvert, I need some human interaction lest I go mad(der). I would define useless as gossip or derogatory conversation, both of which I tend to do. I tell myself I’m “venting” when someone or something has frustrated me; it is, at best, useless and, at wost, destructive to my relationships - both the people I’m venting about and those to whom I am venting. No one likes a consistently negative person

I extend this idea further to include spending the time in necessary conversation better, using Silence as a way to engage better. I manage a number of people at work which requires weekly 1:1 meetings. I tend to speak more than some of my team members and that isn’t helpful. We don’t have those meetings so I can talk at them but so they can keep me updated on their projects, successes, and challenges.

So, upon the previous week of Temperance, I do pile these edicts:

1. Listen to understand in all interaction, not to respond.
2. Speak less; do not seek to simply fill the silence.
3. Do not derogate, gossip, or villify others for my own satisfaction.

I’m curious where I’ll fall with venting this week. venting is useful to a point and I’ve certainly crossed from off-gassing frustration into #3 above. I wonder if I can find the line more easily once the week is out when I am otherwise unable to let the frustration pass.

Pile ’o Edicts

It behooves me to track my growing list of edicts as I progress; so, I have added a dedicated navigation link above so you can track them too. And maybe, those of you who know me in person, can keep me honest.

List of Virtues

My first week Wrestling with Franklin

My first week Wrestling with Franklin.

The Drunken Bunny man

I’m focusing on temperance as that was the idea - focus on one a week for 13 weeks. I clearly have issues with Frugality and Industry but there will be time enough for that later.

Alyska likes to say that I pour from the top. I eyeball from above the glass rather than using anything that might disspell my self-perceived preternatural liquid measuring capabilities. It’s a terrible habit born of alcohol tolerance - though smaller now, I used to be a pretty big dude who could hold his liquor. I would pour generously to account for generous proportions and the desire to hit the fuzzy state of inebriation more effectively.

Amidst my 30s and having lost much weight since college, old habits soften my resolve much faster than I think (and who signed me up for that?). Which, of course, is impaired with all that booze in my brain. I know I do it, and admitting to it generates a little shame.

So, unmeasured consumption is my kryptonite, both expressed by using hard to measure serving procedures. Cocktails poured from the top, food served in bowls, both lead me to excess. The major failures this week indicated in the dark marks in the grid above stem from this.

My favorite cocktail, the Manhattan (named for Dr. Manhattan who mixes them one atom at a time), contains about 40% alcohol the way I mix it. 2fl oz whiskey, .75fl oz vermouth, liberal dashes of bitters, many cherries. It is easily two “drinks” worth of booze. Delicious booze.

But there in lies the issue: waaaaay too much alcohol even for one drink and I was ignoring it. Does anyone person need that much?

It depends on your goals, I guess, and mine are rarely “drink this tasty thing for it is tasty”. It’s always “relax” after a long day and that is nonspecific at best, at worst a moving target leading well past relaxed to hangover.

Heading into the week, I laid out a few specific goals to keep in mind as I focus on building temperance. And htey were specifically geared towards this failing.

1. no alcohol on an empty stomach
2. and no more than one, measured drink (4oz wine or 1oz whisky or 3oz port)
3. stop eating before feeling full

I adhered to #1 perfectly - no booze right after getting home from work or gym when I’d not eaten in half a day. So, that’s good. Two of the dark mark days are failures in #2 - cocktails. Minus New Year’s Eve, partially - I willfully had a second drink but this was after I already ate much more than I should have in Thai food. So, that was probably a doubleplusungood day.

On Food and Cooking

This week has illuminated more completely my problems with over-eating. As with pouring from the top, I over-eat when I order food (which I suspect is partially the restaurant modus operandi) and when I serve myself from small-looking dishes. I have no idea how much food my bowls hold but I sure as hell fill them up anyway.

Nor do I eat slowly. This is somewhat exacerbated in my exercise routine which I have been more aggressive with lately and thus make myself hungrier in the evenings. Being ravenous when you sit down does not lead to temperate eating, just bloated stomach and aching later that night.

I have been, though, much better proportioned in most of my meals. I eat two meals a day at work because it is subsidized and ultra-convenient - my office is literally down the hall from an on-site coffee shop that sells bacon and eggs in the morning. Breakfast is two hard boiled eggs and 4 slices of bacon, occasionally six or a piece of fruit if the previous night was a weight training night. This is about 400 calories at most and plenty of good protein and fat.

Lunch, I have been eating much more salad or bread-less sandwiches in much more reasonable size. I try to limit myself to about 5oz meat for the latter with plenty of pickled goods on the side. Salads I don’t really take care aside from not going crazy with oil and vinegar. But “going nuts” on salad greens is a silly concept (if you’re counting calories).

Dinner is really my problem. I don’t cook bad food, bad here defined as loaded with carbohydrates (I try to eat very low carb, less than 80g a day). I just don’t portion it well. I buy gargantuan steaks or pressure cook 3 pounds of chili at a time which leads to regular over-eating as described above.

This episode brought you by: A Measuring Cup

My best solution, aside from eating more mindfully, is as mundane as serving myself from measuring cups. It’s hard to admit that - it feels like I have to treat myself like an uncontrollable child. But, in truth, these are bad habits I’ve been carrying with me for years. Given that I am better than not in most situations, giving myself quantifiable good/too much line can only help.

It mostly helped with my drinking problems and stands to reason it will help elsewhere. Numbers give you power, especially when you can learn that 6oz of stew is filling but 8oz is filling to discomfort. Which is the important distinction - both get you to satisfaction but only one of them will let you stay mobile for the remainder of the evening. (Hint, it’s the second one.)

So. Lessons from the week:

1. Measure your intake, and that means food too.
2. Eat more mindfully and, when in doubt, leave food on the plate.
3. Cocktails cock it all up so stop pouring from the top.

In conclusion, drinking is still awesome

Temperance is not about abstaining from anything. Identifying things that encouraged intemperate behavior will help. Like knowing the sheer amount of booze in my typical cocktail will encourage me to just mix the dang thing smaller, not stop drinking them.

Otherwise, continuing with previously stated intentions will help.

Uncovering flaws is ultimately a joyous thing because we can acknowledge them and work to reduce them. At that’s the whole point of this enterprise.

Review of the @ArtofManliness Virtue Journal

I’ve been using the Art of Manliness Virtue Journal for a little while now and have developed strong feelings over it and its design as I progress in my own virtuous journey.

Let’s start with the journal insert

Open Journal Cover close

Aesthetics

The booklet cover is designed to look like an old printed book. It even uses the Baskerville type face which was designed in 1757. Franklin and Baskerville had an on-going correspondence and Franklin quickly adopted use of the Baskerville typeface upon publishing after reading the first book Baskerville printed with it - Virgil’s Bucolica, Georgica et Aeneis. You can read a little on their relationship here.

So, that’s a nice touch. The text is crisp except for the larger faces shown on the weekly grid pages.

Grid Good this day

(I could be better with resolve….)

There it’s distressed to look more weathered. The lines and text for the entry pages are all grey rather than a full black allowing them to guide but not intrude with use.

Build and paper stock

The insert is built like a tank. It is sturdy, dense, and made from a thick paper stock that feels good in the hand. The paper stock being so thick has merits and flaws. It takes fountain pen ink very nicely. I’ve been using the rOtring Lava fine nib with both Edelstein Inks and Organics Studio. The Edelsteins in particular flow thick but the paper does not feather or smudge in any noticeable fashion.

Problematically, with use, the the paper causes the book to remain open when bent.

Cover open

You can see here the pages I’ve used and the gapping happening. I suspect it’s a combination of the perfect binding and the thickness of the stock. It has significant fold memory. I think this will do two things with use over the next 3 months.

1. Cause the book to grow fat and unwieldy, making it harder to carry with me.
2. It will age instead of deteriorate with use.

I will absolutely accept the drawbacks of the paper stock for the fountain pen friendliness and plumping for a well-aged insert. It adds to the appeal.

I really like it overall. Even the cream color of the pages, which normally drives me batty. But each detail feels chosen to illicit the aged and weathered field. The journal feels important without feeling pretentious. It will work with you and look nice doing it for good, long time.

The leather cover

Aesthetics

The journal cover is absolutely lovely. The embossing is well detailed and gorgeous. The journal fits well in there, not loose at all so it doesn’t shift in use. I think the insert seats well enough that I’m a little worried about getting the darn thing out when I fill it. And, actually, you can see Brett McKay struggling with it in the video linked above.

Grain

It’s made from full grain leather which you can tell from the unfinished edges on the cover. If you look closely, you can see the grain and the corium layers which have differing density and texture. You can also see the thorough saturation of the tanning and dying. The color is even over the surface and penetrates through the whole thickness of the leather.

Stitching

The stitching is thick. I’d bet dollars to donuts that it’s a single filament polyester thread which is what is used for durable, long last goods where reliability is paramount, like boots. And parachutes.

And it smells just great. You guys, well-made leather goods have a wondrous aroma and if you haven’t ever had a well-made, high quality leather good, you really should. (When I bought my Saddleback Leather satchel, I shoved my entire head into it to get as much of the scent as possible.)

Utility

Pen loop

Pen Loop

The pen loop inside has been useless for me. Fountain pens don’t fit well, if at all, nor does the leather hold them in place because of their weight. Fountain pen clips are designed to slip into pockets, over pocket fabric, where the tension in the clip in conjunction with the fabric under the whole of the clip hold it in place.

To benefit from this with the supplied pen loop, you have to partially slide the pen in so the ball of the clip rests on the end of the loop. (pictured above) But you only have a little leather under the clip which doesn’t rest against the top of the clip meaning it is unstable. Now, you could slip the pen in the pock on the inside flap…

Pen pocket

But it slips out because theres nothing to prevent that in fabric tension or a sewn pocket for the pen.

I suspect none of this is a problem if you use a standard, lightweight ballpoint pen.

Ribbon

The ribbon bookmark is a stiff nylon, I think. It is problematic. It is a little too short and stiff to properly do its duty as a marker. The latter should fix itself over time and may reduce the following problem. Because the ribbon is so stiff and the pages of the book are so thick that they don’t close well, the ribbon tends to slide out of place.

Ribbon

The placement of the ribbon exacerbates it. It is sewn directly center on the cover with the long end running to the left, away from the insert. So when you place it, you have increased resistance because of the direction and placement the ribbon is sewn and the pulling.

On their own, the shortness and stiffness, would be minor problems if at all. But add those to the sewing choice and it makes the ribbon hard to use.

Usability Changes

If I were to suggest any differences in a 2.0 version, it would be to add a second ribbon of different color and a band around the midsection.

A band would help keep the cover and pages closed, especially over time as it fattens with use. It would also keep the ribbon seated. The Midori traveler’s notebook covers could be a good model rather than, say, the moleskin, as the dimensions of the franklin journal would look funny with the latter.

The second ribbon would allow marking the weekly grid and the current day page. Considering that the intended use is to fill out both the daily notes and each weekly box in the virtue grid. I find myself opening the book, moving the marker to the weekly page, filling out the daily page, flipping back to the weekly grid, then re-marking the daily page. It’s not the greatest (nor terrible to do) but could be better.

And I’d add a pen pocket instead of the loop, something sewn shut, you could slide a pen into. You’d have to be clever in implementation because you wouldn’t want to mar the cover’s exterior with a second line of stitching.

Even if you just dutch the pen loop and make the pocket about 80% the height of the cover, you could use that. The pen clip would have the full length of the leather to seat itself on. It would be functional for heavier fountain pens while still allowing for regular ballpoints to sit.

Overall

The product is fantastic and I have really enjoyed using it despite some quibbles because of how I use it. The only non-specific flaw is the ribbon and the pen loop issue is probably less likely to happen, but of moderate impact. I fully intend to continue purchasing the inserts on my own moral journey. And I’m really looking forward to what it looks like in a year.

I am most excited about the @artofmanliness Virtue journal.

Definitions: A little Philosophizing

I think it behooves me to list some definitions. Exploring virtue and morality requires understanding what those concepts mean. The definitions can be a little fuzzy especially since they rely on outside things to exist only in context of individuals and groups thereof.

What I talk about when I talk about Virtue

Virtues are characteristics or traits of “right” or good behavior defined by an individual or society. Examples, taking from Benjamin Franklin, can include concepts like Temperance, Industry, and Silence. What is considered “virtuous” is malleable considering the can be sourced both from an individual as well as society.

Religion often establishes virtue and codes of conduct for people. Christianity and Judaism both rely on the Ten Commandments. Christianity further includes Faith, Hope, and Love as core virtues defined in Corinthians. Love is, in this triumvirate, the most important and defined as “patient, kind, not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude.”

Hinduism has a similar ten virtues written in the vedas, though they are paired down to 5 in later parts of the texts - Ahimsa (Non-violence), Dama (self restraint), Asteya (Non-covetousness/Non-stealing), Saucha (inner purity), Satyam (truthfulness).

Virtues, too, can come from social structure like in the samurai code. The Hagakure defines it’s virtues for samurai (in bushido): righteousness, courage, benevolence, respect, sincerity, honour, loyalty.

What I do when I act out Virtues

If virtues are qualities considered good, the intention of virtue becomes guiding human behavior to goodness or righteousness. Morality is the expression of a virtue. Morality, then, is learned acceptable behavior from your upbringing or social constructs. The interesting thing here is that though we may teach virtues, morality is understood based on reactions to an action in society.

Depending on how “pure” you want to make that, you start defining the inherent goodness of an action based on solely the consequences of the action (consequentialism), so an action is “moral” if the results are measurably benevolent. Or you can define the morality of an act on the action itself (deontology), so an act is inherently moral or immoral. An easy example would be killing Hitler as a child. Consequentialists would argue the benefits of Hitler dying as a child make the act of killing morally good; whereas, deontologists would argue than any act of killing is immoral according to any social construct. (Note that the above is a radically simplified explanation.)

What I judge when I judge about Virtues

In either case, actions matter and are guided by one’s closely held virtue. Reinforcement of that virtue comes from reactions to actions carried out for that virtue. Your judgement of what I do is a system of understanding the goodness or badness of an action taken in relation to a virtue.

That structure, the response or understanding from society at large, is Ethics. It’s how we reinforce virtue and morality and it develops organically over time. Goodness and badness of actions do not exist in a vacuum nor can you say that outward expressions of belief are natural right or wrong. It’s he consequences of those actions and how we respond that make something “good” or “bad.” Belching is a silly example. Belching in public is considered rude in America but not in other countries.

What?

Ethics are a system for understand morality. Morality is the expression of a virtue. Virtues are characteristics valued by a person or society. The all exist dependent on each other and necessarily change as society changes. What is virtuous today may not be virtuous tomorrow. And, likely, what was virtuous to Franklin in 1746 may not be virtuous in 2015.

What matters?

That’s the thing, right? Trying to figure out what matters? The curiosity I have is how much of my definitions of virtue will align with what society holds as virtuous. I grew up fairly secular with mostly my family’s, mostly my father’s, actions to guide me. Many of my strongest memories are watching my brothers getting into to trouble for silly things they did, stuff that I learned rapidly were a bad idea.

How much of my personality virtues come from that sort of learning? What sort of virtues do I hold based on reinforced positive behaviors from my childhood? Do my struggles for industriousness stem from seeing my father always relaxing on nights and weekends?

Such shall be the end goal of all this: understanding my virtues. I believe I have them though I can’t necessarily enumerate them. So of them will matter to me more than others and others still I’ll want to adopt from Franklin’s own list as I endeavor to uphold them.