Room for improvement

I just folded a piece of paper in half, very carefully, so that the sides are even, then put it in the recycling.

The construct that we call self: how very fragile it is. All the rules that surround it. All the conditions that have to be met for us not to feel threatened. There's certainly room for improvement on the design.

Copies of the New Yorker piling up at an alarming rate. How can that many weeks have passed?

You can fake appreciation by clapping politely even when you think something's not that good - I've clapped at a performance while thinking "Why are people clapping for this?" - but it's different with laughing. Laughing is a more honest response. Much harder to fake.