It’s nearly impossible to not have parasocial relationships with people involved in making the art you love.

But it’s important to remind yourself once in a while that the image, the personality, and the values you map onto these people are not who they actually are.

Last week a lot of folks were put out when James Hetfield of Metallica announced at their show at The Sphere in Las Vegas that Metallica shows were politics-free zones. While this came a surprise to folks old enough to remember …And Justice For All, it probably shouldn’t have been surprising given that nobody but cops and ICE agents listens to Metallica anymore.

I kid! I kid! Kind of! But it’s important to remember that the members of Metallica are all almost unimaginably wealthy (Remember in the movie when they gave Trujillo a million dollar signing bonus?). And so, like all wealthy people, their primary allegiance is to money and to their wealthy peers, no matter what they might have said in 1989. Whatever they meant to you in your teen years, they’re not your friends.

But isn’t this a wrestling blog? Sure! So let’s talk about Tony Khan for a little while. Tony is a huge wrestling nerd who founded a company that employs a lot of great wrestlers and puts on wrestling shows that, at the moment, feel fun and fresh and full of energy and basically everything WWE is not.

He also employs Evil Uno, which means he’s indirectly responsible for Mystery Wrestling happening, and Mystery Wrestling is, of course, the best thing.

But Tony Khan’s dad is not only the lead investor in AEW. He’s also a Trump supporter, having donated a million bucks to Trump’s first inauguration.

Also Tony’s company currently appears on networks controlled by fascist billionaire David Ellison.

I am a fan of AEW, but I think it’s very important to remember that Tony Khan is not my friend and that if the fascist who owns the networks tells him AEW is too queer and the “Fuck ICE” chants need to stop, he’s probably going to do what the money guy says and not what the fans want. I believe the guy genuinely loves wrestling. And, furthermore, he hires great talent and books great shows (see caveat, below). But he’s not our friend.

But also? I feel like because most of the criticism of Tony Khan comes from WWE partisans, AEW fans kind of reflexively defend Tony Khan, kind of the way liberals reflexively defended the stunningly ineffectual presidency of Barack Obama because the loudest criticism came from white supremacists.

Having terrible people hate you is a good sign, but it doesn’t make you perfect. And so it is with Tony Khan.

Let’s start with AEW’s women’s division, which is incredibly stacked with talent and almost always only gets one match per Dynamite or Collision show. Why does AEW consistently underutilize the women’s roster?

But also: when I found out that Chaotic Wrestling’s Rich Palladino had worked for Major League Wrestling, I started checking out some shows and even attended one in June, which I think may be about to air this week! Anyway, I dug the aesthetic and the goofiness and felt like MLW was trying to be a spiritual successor to Lucha Underground, down to employing Luis Fernandez-Gil, who played owner Dario Cueto on Lucha Underground, and having its evil faction, Contra, somehow wanting to, like, take over the world via a semi-obscure wrestling promotion—a plan so crazy it just might work!

I asked on Bluesky, which has a robust wrestling community, why MLW didn’t get any love there, folks explained that people didn’t like that they employed people like Matt Riddle, Austin Aries, and Joe Coffey, all of whom were credibly accused of being pieces of shit during wrestling’s Speaking Out moment.

I didn’t know that and started doing some research on the Speaking Out movement that happened before I got back into wrestling. And folks? I’ve got some bad news for you about AEW’s Will Ospreay and Darby Allin. (tl;dr: they too are pieces of shit.)

(Sure, sure, they showed Tony some texts. Puh-leeze.)

Look: being less of an absolute garbage human being than Vince McMahon is good, but it’s also an incredibly low bar to clear. I’m not suggesting that folks should boycott AEW or anything like that—they put on 6+ hours of really good wrestling every week and employ some great wrestlers and provide, for now, a way to enjoy a national wrestling promotion that is not run by enthusiastic fascists.

But I am saying that venerating Tony Khan will eventually lead to heartbreak. Because, like James Hetfield, he’s not your friend.

Work is formally under way on a new Local Plan that will help shape how the Stroud district develops over the coming years.

Stroud District Council has reached the first formal milestone in the Government's new planning system by completing its Gateway 1 Self-Assessment. This marks the official start of a 30-month process to prepare the new Stroud District Local Plan 2026.

The Local Plan is an important document that helps guide decisions on issues such as housing, employment land, infrastructure, town centres, transport, climate change and the natural environment.

The council has published several new documents on its website, including a summary of feedback received during early scoping work carried out in summer 2026, reports from stakeholder workshops, and a proposed timetable for preparing the plan.

At this stage, the new Local Plan is still in the very early stages of development. No decisions have been made about future development locations, site allocations or the overall strategy for future housing growth across the district.

More details here:–
https://www.stroud.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-strategy/new-local-plan-early-engagement/

Early Engagement Workshops summary for Wotton-under-Edge Ward

The report produced for the plan runs to 82 pages so in a not very scientific fashion, I've attempted to pull together a ward summary:-

Specific points Flagged issues directly relating to Wotton included the need to extend GP facilities or create new integrated medical provision, more facilities and play areas for young people, secondary school capacity, affordable and starter homes, flooding and flood risk management, protection of historic character and heritage assets, nature conservation sites, empty shops, affordable workspace, youth employment and tourism opportunities, road safety, car parking, EV charging and improved bridleways. In the district-wide housing distribution exercise, the Infrastructure workshop allocated 2,000 homes to Wotton-under-Edge, justified on the basis that a larger allocation could unlock investment in new retail, services and infrastructure, though constraints noted included topography and conservation area policies.

Implications The emphasis on infrastructure before development, GP capacity, secondary schooling, flood risk and transport connectivity in and around Wotton aligns closely with issues regularly raised by residents. The significant gap between the district housing target and the south cluster's ability or willingness to identify sites locally signals that difficult spatial choices lie ahead, and that early engagement by the town council and residents in the next stages will matter.

You can dig down for the detail in the original report linked to above.

Originally arising from this note: On the mimicry of uncertianty This note explores the notion of the anchor point within an essay. You will need to have read the above note if you want to make sense of my repeating references to the Fagor washing machine

George Orwell

A good example, and one I think resonates strongly with what I'm calling an anchor point, comes from Orwell's essay “A Hanging” (1931). The essay is moving through questions of empire, punishment, power and death, but the entire moral weight of the piece pivots on a tiny observation: the condemned man steps aside to avoid a puddle on the way to the gallows.

It is a trivial act. Yet Orwell suddenly apprehends that this is not an abstract category called “a prisoner” but a living human being with a life of purposes and habits. The puddle becomes an “anchor point” from which the essay's moral perception unfolds.

The essay does not begin with a thesis about capital punishment. It begins with experience. The recognition emerges from attention. Similarly, in “Shooting an Elephant”, the elephant itself becomes an anchor point. Orwell is ostensibly discussing imperialism, but the essay turns on the concrete predicament of standing before the animal with a rifle while a crowd watches. The imperial system becomes legible through a single lived situation.

What is interesting for our purposes is that these early Orwell essays are full of what Essayism would probably regard as legitimate anchor points:

a puddle, an elephant, a cup of tea, a coal miner descending a shaft, a toad appearing in spring.

They are encountered things. The thought grows out of them. When I write about the washing machine, Ludwig Gann, Fagor and Mondragon, I believe I am doing something structurally very similar. I am not presenting evidence to support an existing argument. I am recording the point at which the world itself begins to disclose a connected thread. Where my critique of the “later” Orwell may emerge is that these anchor points gradually seem less capable of sponsoring possibility and more capable of sponsoring diagnosis.

To put it differently: Early Orwell: “This thing I have observed unsettles my assumptions.” Later Orwell: “This thing I have observed confirms my opinions.” That may be putting it too sharply, but I think it is close to the distinction that is now pacing the trackways in my thoughts.

In my note, the washing machine functions very much like Orwell's puddle in A Hanging. It is utterly mundane. Yet from it unfold questions of technology, co-operation, labour, memory, place, intellectual formation, cynicism and essayism itself. The difference is that my washing machine anchor point leads to an expansion of possibility and connection, whereas the argument I am beginning to formulate about AI and perhaps the later (Animal Farm) Orwell is that both exhibit a tendency toward closure. They arrive at the answer too quickly.

That, I think, is why the line in my note: It seemed entirely ordinary then. is important. It is the moment before the anchor point reveals itself as an anchor point. I would like to believe that sentence carries the same quality as Orwell noticing a man step around a puddle. The meaning has not yet arrived, but it is about to.

William Hazlitt

For me, personally as an Essayist, Hazlitt reveals more because Hazlitt's anchor points are often absurdly ordinary and personal. He does not begin with public questions and descend to experience. He begins in experience and discovers that it contains the world.

The classic example is “On Going a Journey.” The anchor point is simply walking. Not a philosophy of walking. Not a theory of solitude. Just setting out on a road. Everything else unfolds from that act. Hazlitt notices a signpost, a distant hill, an inn, a stream, a stretch of road. The essay's reflections on freedom, society, memory and consciousness arise from those encounters. The walk is not an illustration of the argument. The walk generates the argument. That feels very close to my washing machine passage.

Now as I think about this, I must report an observation of a friend: I suspect your own work is actually closer to Young than you sometimes admit. When you talk about writing as “walking the landscape in words”, that's not quite Hazlitt. Hazlitt's landscape often becomes a theatre for consciousness. Your landscape often has an independent reality that pushes back.

Hazlitt often begins with self. Young often begins with observation. Your Essayism seems to begin with a relationship between the two. Neither the Romantic tendency: What does this reveal about me? Nor the purely descriptive tendency: What is out there? But rather: What happens when an attentive mind encounters this thing? That is why the washing-machine passage works. It isn't really a memoir passage. It isn't really a descriptive passage. It is a record of an encounter. The machine leads to Gann. Gann leads to Leicester. Leicester leads to Mondragon. Mondragon leads to Orwell. Orwell leads to uncertainty. – OK I paraphrased his comments.

But to return to Hazlitt and his anchor points – Another excellent example is On the Pleasure of Hating. The anchor point is astonishingly small. He sits at a coach window watching people gather around a travelling show. From this observation of a crowd his thoughts begin ranging across politics, prejudice, conflict, partisanship and human nature. Again, the anchor point is concrete and observed.

Even closer to what I am trying to describe might be My First Acquaintance with Poets. The ostensible subject is literary, but the essay repeatedly anchors itself in specific remembered encounters: seeing Coleridge walk into a room, hearing him speak, the atmosphere of the place, the impressions of the young Hazlitt. The essay is not organised around a thesis concerning Romanticism. It is organised around recollected moments. What I see here for my developing notions areound Essayism is that Hazlitt's anchor points often remain open.

Orwell's puddle in A Hanging ultimately points toward a conclusion about capital punishment. Hazlitt's best anchor points often continue radiating associations long after they have performed their immediate function. Take the opening impulse of On Going a Journey. The walk never quite becomes reducible to a lesson. It remains a walk. The physical experience never entirely disappears beneath interpretation.

I'd like to believe that's close to what my washing machine is doing. The machine is not merely “evidence” for a proposition about essayism. It remains stubbornly itself: a machine, Ludwig Gann, Leicester, Fagor, Mondragon, ICOM, laundry before a flight. The associations accumulate, but none annihilates the reality of the thing itself.

In reviewing the washing machine a number of things occur to me. It is much more of a Hazlittian anchor than an Orwellian one. Orwell's anchor points often become moral revelations. Hazlitt's anchor points become occasions for associative exploration. And I wrote it naturally, it was not a contrived device, it was the simple emergence of my disposition on to the page.

And there is perhaps a useful formulation lurking there for Essayism: An anchor point is an ordinary encounter that proves incapable of remaining ordinary. The puddle in Orwell. The road in Hazlitt. The washing machine in Montory. None is introduced as a symbol. Each becomes one only because prolonged attention reveals a network of relations hidden within the mind of the person perceiving it.

That, I suspect, is precisely what my AI critique is saying. The machine can imitate the shape of the anchor point, but it tends to arrive carrying the conclusion already folded inside it. Hazlitt, at his best, genuinely does not know where the road will lead when he sets out along it. The uncertainty is not decorative. It is generative.

Fresh Produce Supply Chain: From Wholesale Markets to Commercial Kitchens

Fresh fruit and vegetables go through several stages before reaching a restaurant kitchen. From growers and wholesale markets to storage facilities, distributors and final delivery, every stage plays an important role in maintaining product quality and availability.

For restaurants, hotels, cafés and catering businesses, having access to fresh produce is essential. Chefs depend on consistent ingredients to prepare meals, maintain menu standards and deliver a good customer experience. However, fresh produce is perishable, which means delays, unsuitable handling and poor storage can affect its quality before it reaches the kitchen.

A well-managed fresh produce supply chain connects suppliers, wholesalers, transport providers and hospitality businesses through an organised purchasing and distribution process. Understanding how this process works can help restaurant managers make better sourcing decisions, reduce avoidable waste and maintain a more reliable supply of ingredients.

What Is a Fresh Produce Supply Chain?

A fresh produce supply chain is the network of activities involved in sourcing, handling, storing, transporting and delivering fruit and vegetables from their place of production to the final customer.

In hospitality, this process usually begins with growers or importers and continues through wholesalers, distributors and commercial buyers.

A typical fresh produce supply chain may include:

1. Growing and harvesting: Fruit and vegetables are cultivated and collected when ready.
2. Initial sorting and grading: Produce is checked for quality, size, condition and suitability.
3. Wholesale sourcing: Products are purchased, consolidated and prepared for distribution.
4. Storage and handling: Produce is kept under appropriate conditions to maintain quality.
5. Transportation: Orders are moved from suppliers or wholesale markets to distribution points and customer locations.
6. Commercial delivery: Restaurants, hotels and catering kitchens receive and inspect their orders.
7. Kitchen storage and preparation: Ingredients are stored, prepared and used according to operational requirements.

Each stage affects the condition, availability and final purchasing cost of fresh produce.

Why Fresh Produce Supply Chain Management Matters

Fresh fruit and vegetables require more attention than many non-perishable products. Their condition can change during storage and transportation, and different products have different handling requirements.

For hospitality businesses, supply chain management is therefore about more than receiving an order. It involves ensuring that the right products arrive in the right quantities, at the right time and in a suitable condition.

1. Maintaining Freshness and Product Quality

Freshness is one of the most important considerations when buying fruit and vegetables for commercial kitchens.

Poor handling, unsuitable storage temperatures, excessive delays and physical damage can reduce product quality. Leafy vegetables may lose their crispness, berries can become damaged and delicate herbs may deteriorate quickly.

A reliable supply chain considers product requirements at every stage, from harvesting and grading to packing and delivery.

Restaurant buyers should establish clear quality specifications with suppliers so that deliveries meet the kitchen's expectations.

2. Improving Supply Reliability

A restaurant cannot easily maintain its menu if essential ingredients are unavailable.

Shortages of tomatoes, potatoes, onions, salad leaves or other frequently used ingredients can disrupt food preparation and create pressure on kitchen staff.

Reliable suppliers and organised delivery schedules help businesses plan their purchases and reduce the risk of unexpected shortages.

For products that are particularly important to daily operations, having suitable alternative suppliers can provide additional security.

3. Controlling Purchasing and Distribution Costs

Fresh produce passes through several stages before reaching a commercial kitchen. Handling, storage, packaging, transportation and intermediary services can all contribute to the final price.

Restaurants should therefore look beyond the quoted product price when evaluating suppliers.

Delivery charges, minimum order quantities, product quality, usable yield and potential spoilage all influence the actual cost of purchasing.

Reviewing the complete supply arrangement helps hospitality businesses make more informed procurement decisions.

4. Reducing Product Damage and Waste

Fresh produce can be damaged by rough handling, unsuitable packaging, poor stacking or excessive storage periods.

These problems may result in rejected deliveries, reduced usable quantities and unnecessary replacement orders.

Good handling procedures help protect products throughout the supply chain. Suppliers and hospitality buyers should also communicate clearly about packaging requirements, delivery conditions and acceptable product standards.

Reducing avoidable damage can help businesses get better value from every order.

From Growers to Wholesale Markets: How Fresh Produce Is Sourced

The journey of fresh produce often starts with farmers, growers or importers.

Growers harvest products according to their maturity and intended market requirements. Some produce is sold through wholesale markets, while other products move through specialist distributors or direct supplier arrangements.

Wholesale markets play an important role because they bring together different products, suppliers and buyers in one trading environment.

For hospitality businesses, wholesale suppliers can provide access to a wider selection of fruit and vegetables without requiring individual restaurants to purchase directly from numerous growers.

The Importance of Grading and Quality Selection

Not all produce is suitable for every commercial kitchen.

A restaurant preparing premium salads may require visually consistent salad leaves, tomatoes and cucumbers. A kitchen producing soups, sauces or cooked vegetable dishes may have different size and appearance requirements.

Grading helps classify produce according to relevant quality characteristics, including:

• Product size and consistency.
• Ripeness and maturity.
• Appearance and physical condition.
• Freshness and firmness.
• Suitability for the intended use.

Clear specifications help suppliers understand what buyers require and reduce misunderstandings when orders are fulfilled.

Choosing the Right Wholesale Supplier

A suitable wholesale produce supplier should understand the needs of commercial kitchens.

Restaurant buyers should consider product range, sourcing arrangements, delivery reliability, order flexibility, communication and quality control.

A supplier that offers a wide selection of fruit, vegetables, herbs, chillies, garlic and salad products may help businesses coordinate more of their fresh produce purchasing through one relationship.

However, businesses should always assess whether the supplier can meet their actual volume, quality and delivery requirements.

Fresh Produce Handling and Storage Before Delivery

Once produce has been sourced, careful handling becomes essential.

Fruit and vegetables can deteriorate if they are exposed to unsuitable conditions or handled incorrectly. Some products are particularly sensitive to temperature changes, moisture loss and physical pressure.

Appropriate Temperature Management

Different fruits and vegetables have different storage requirements. Some leafy vegetables benefit from refrigeration, while certain tropical products can suffer chilling injury if stored too cold.

A suitable storage process should take account of the product type, maturity, intended storage period and supplier guidance.

Businesses should avoid assuming that every fresh produce item can be stored at the same temperature.

Proper Packaging and Handling

Packaging helps protect produce during storage and transportation. Suitable crates, cartons and containers can reduce crushing, contamination and physical damage.

Products should be packed and stacked according to their characteristics. Delicate berries, for example, need more protection than firm root vegetables.

Careful loading and unloading are also important because repeated handling can increase the risk of bruising and damage.

Managing Ripeness and Shelf Life

Not every fruit or vegetable should be purchased at the same stage of ripeness.

Some products may need to be ready for immediate use, while others can be purchased slightly earlier in their ripening process, depending on the kitchen's requirements and storage arrangements.

Restaurant buyers should consider expected consumption, delivery frequency and remaining shelf life when placing orders.

This helps avoid purchasing quantities that cannot be used before quality declines.

Transportation and Distribution: Getting Produce to Commercial Kitchens

Transportation is one of the most important parts of the fresh produce supply chain.

Even high-quality produce can lose value if it is transported under unsuitable conditions or delivered too late.

Suppliers and distributors need to coordinate vehicles, delivery routes, loading procedures and customer schedules.

Temperature-Controlled Transportation

Some fresh produce requires temperature-controlled transportation to help maintain quality during transit.

Vehicles should be appropriate for the products being carried, and loading arrangements should reduce unnecessary exposure to unsuitable temperatures.

It is also important to recognise that different products may have different temperature requirements. A single temperature setting is not suitable for every fruit and vegetable.

Delivery Scheduling

Restaurants often work with limited storage space and fixed kitchen preparation schedules.

Receiving produce too early can create storage pressure, while late deliveries may delay preparation and service.

Suppliers should coordinate delivery windows with the customer's operational requirements.

For example, a restaurant that prepares ingredients early in the morning may need its produce delivered before kitchen preparation begins.

Clear ordering deadlines and regular communication can make these arrangements easier to manage.

Last-Mile Delivery

The final stage of distribution involves transporting produce from the supplier or distribution facility directly to the restaurant or hotel.

This stage is particularly important because it connects the supply chain with the actual kitchen operation.

Accurate order picking, suitable packaging, careful loading and reliable arrival times all contribute to a successful delivery.

A well-coordinated last-mile process helps ensure that the products received match the quantities and specifications requested by the customer.

How Restaurants Can Manage Fresh Produce Deliveries

Hospitality businesses also have responsibilities once the produce arrives.

A structured receiving process helps identify problems early and ensures that stock records remain accurate.

Check Product Quality on Arrival

Staff should inspect deliveries for visible damage, freshness, ripeness and suitability for the intended use.

For example, salad leaves should be checked for signs of wilting or deterioration, while berries should be inspected for crushing and spoilage.

Compare Deliveries With Purchase Orders

The delivery should be checked against the original order to confirm that the correct products, pack sizes and quantities have arrived.

Missing items, incorrect substitutions and damaged products should be reported to the supplier promptly.

Store Products Correctly

Once accepted, produce should be transferred to appropriate storage areas without unnecessary delay.

Staff should follow product-specific storage guidance and maintain clean, organised refrigeration and dry-storage areas.

Maintain Stock Rotation

A suitable stock rotation system helps kitchens use older stock before newer deliveries where appropriate.

Regular stock checks also help managers identify products that need to be used quickly and adjust upcoming orders accordingly.

These simple procedures can improve inventory control and reduce avoidable produce waste.

Common Challenges in the Fresh Produce Supply Chain

Fresh produce procurement involves several challenges that hospitality businesses should consider.

Seasonal availability: Certain fruits and vegetables may become harder to source at different times of the year. Restaurants should remain flexible and discuss suitable alternatives with suppliers.

Price fluctuations: Weather conditions, harvest volumes, transport costs and market demand can influence wholesale prices. Regular price reviews help buyers understand changes.

Supply interruptions: Transport delays, crop problems and supplier shortages can affect availability. Alternative sourcing arrangements can reduce dependence on a single supply route.

Inconsistent quality: Differences in grading, ripeness and product specifications can lead to rejected deliveries or additional preparation work. Clear product requirements help address these issues.

Delivery coordination: Poor communication between buyers and suppliers can result in incorrect quantities, missed delivery windows and unnecessary urgent orders.

Addressing these challenges requires cooperation between suppliers, wholesalers, distributors and hospitality purchasing teams.

How Technology Can Improve Fresh Produce Supply Chain Management

Digital tools can help businesses organise purchasing information and improve communication across the supply chain.

Depending on the system, restaurants and suppliers may use digital platforms to manage:

• Purchase orders and delivery schedules.
• Supplier details and product specifications.
• Current prices and order histories.
• Inventory levels and replenishment requirements.
• Delivery confirmations and discrepancies.
• Purchasing expenditure and supplier performance.

For example, a restaurant manager can use purchasing records to identify which ingredients are ordered most frequently and whether delivery quantities match actual kitchen consumption.

Better information can help businesses plan orders more accurately and communicate requirements more clearly.

Technology is most useful when records are kept up to date and employees follow consistent procedures.

The Role of Fresh Produce Wholesalers in Hospitality Procurement

Fresh produce wholesalers connect commercial kitchens with a wider network of growers, importers and distribution services.

They help hospitality businesses source different types of produce, coordinate purchasing requirements and arrange regular deliveries.

For restaurants, hotels, cafés and catering businesses, working with a suitable wholesale supplier can simplify purchasing and reduce the need to manage numerous individual sourcing relationships.

When choosing a wholesale partner, businesses should assess:

• The range of fresh fruit and vegetables available.
• Product quality and grading standards.
• Sourcing transparency and product origin information.
• Delivery frequency and geographical coverage.
• Order accuracy and flexibility.
• Communication and issue-resolution procedures.

The right supplier relationship should support the kitchen's operational requirements while providing dependable access to suitable fresh produce.

How ES Connect Supports Fresh Produce Procurement

Managing fresh produce sourcing involves more than finding products at wholesale prices. Hospitality businesses need to consider supplier reliability, product specifications, delivery arrangements, quality and overall purchasing value.

A structured procurement approach can help businesses review these requirements and organise their supplier relationships more effectively.

ES Connect's fruit and vegetable wholesale sourcing for hospitality businesses is relevant to restaurants, hotels, cafés and other hospitality operators looking to manage their fresh produce purchasing.

By focusing on supplier sourcing, purchasing requirements and supply chain coordination, hospitality businesses can work towards a more reliable process for obtaining the ingredients their kitchens need.

Conclusion

The fresh produce supply chain involves several connected stages, from growing and harvesting to wholesale sourcing, handling, storage, transportation and final delivery.

Every stage can influence product quality, availability and purchasing costs. For restaurants and other hospitality businesses, understanding this process makes it easier to identify potential problems and work with suppliers more effectively.

By choosing suitable wholesale partners, establishing clear product specifications, coordinating deliveries and managing kitchen stock carefully, businesses can improve the way they purchase and use fresh fruit and vegetables.

A reliable supply chain is not simply about moving produce from one location to another. It is about ensuring that suitable ingredients reach commercial kitchens in the right condition, quantity and timeframe to support consistent hospitality operations.

Washing dried, flight over, sat at my desk in a different location carrying the seeds of a different stance, I re-read the piece I wrote above.

I have written before on Defining Sentences that device that literary critics (and AI too now it seems) love to use; to identify a phrase or a sentence to which they can point and declare “this is what the story, essay, polemic, whatever, revolves around. And I have explained my own rebellious nature and how I seek to de-focus this. Because it is one thing to be focussed in the written expression of the thought. But that does not mean that the thought itself is focussed. And that very lack of focus needs to be protected. There is frequently a reason for it. Even now I know there is another note destined to follow this on “Anchor Points”.

Never-the-less I am nothing if not an essayist and must confirm that the first person educated (if I may use the word) by my writing, is me. So today I walked back through the note on “the mimicry of uncertainty” and here is what I found:

The note is not about AI trawling my work, but about intellectual honesty and the apparent performance of it. That's why Orwell entered my head so readily, occupying my attention because he represents a competing account of what intellectual honesty looks like when confronted by disappointment.

Orwell has been much on my mind lately, not because I disagree with his commitment to honesty, but because I am increasingly persuaded that disappointment can masquerade as honesty. To lose faith in a possibility because one has witnessed its failure is not necessarily realism. It may simply be another form of injury. An essayist must remain open to what remains unresolved. As I have written elsewhere there is always value in negative results

The whole piece seems to revolve around this: It remains an unresolved ache. The whole piece appears to turn on that idea. Elsewhere I say ...to endure a life of open wound and not collapse into cynicism. That feels like one of the underlying propositions of Essayism. The cynic closes the wound. The essayist keeps it open. Not because suffering is noble, but because closure too quickly becomes blindness. The essayist remains susceptible to surprise, disappointment, contradiction, wonder and connection. There is a cost to that susceptibility, but there is also insight.

The machine cannot live with an unresolved ache. The road-layer must pave it. The formulaic essay must convert it into a takeaway. The cynic must explain it away. The essayist, by contrast, carries it forward.

That's why I suspect Orwell and the AI essay ultimately occupy the same place in my argument. Both are, in different ways, examples of the urge to escape uncertainty. One escapes through disenchantment, the other through optimisation. The essayist's task is to remain present to it.

Overall, the note reveals something rather interesting: my criticism of AI is not primarily technological. It is ontological. The machine's failure is not that it lacks information. It lacks a lived history through which one thing unexpectedly becomes another thing. It cannot stand beside a washing machine and find Leicester, Mondragon, worker ownership, Orwell and the nature of essayism already waiting there.

That, I think, is the deeper argument beginning to emerge beneath the surface of this possible essay.

So the Notebook is becoming more than the sum of its parts. (Now my brain is off exploring the quintessential. STOP! Get back to the task in hand.)

When I began, I was simply looking for a friction-free surface where I might assemble a few notes on Essayism, in public. The first reason was that, after more than a decade or two of essaying, I had finally given myself permission to describe my disposition publically, as that of an essayist. The second was that there is a peculiar accountability in sharing one's thoughts with others. I “own” them. I become much more attentive to the care with which I express them. It sharpens my performance of good faith. The words chosen better represent the thought than the sloppy scribble in a Moleskine while sitting at the back of a bus.

In the early days, I found my posts attracting three or four readers. So I did not distress myself when I returned to a note to amend it or add an addendum. It did not seem significant. Now it has become a habit. And I was about to make a significant amendment to an early post when I noticed that my posts now receive anything between 150 and 200 readers. Should the quantity of readers matter? Probably not. But the notion of repeatedly presenting an incomplete thought has nagged at me a little. So, some changes.

1: There is now a FAQ. If you have arrived here recently, you can now take a look at a few short paragraphs that I hope address the inquiries of curious minds as to what I am doing here.

2: I've created a Google search box. The menu item for it sits both in the header, alongside the FAQ, and in the footer. At the moment, the search incorporates both this site, The Essayist's Notebook, and the wider Essayism.org. At some point in the near future I may have to separate them. But the point is that, for now, you can type in a keyword, a concept, or a fragment of a title and probably find something somewhere across the two sites.

3: Amendments and Updates. This is a significant structural change, and the search option facilitates it well. Rather than add to, or silently expand, an existing note, I will create a new note that links to the original. It will flow into the wider broadcast mechanism and readers such as yourself will be alerted: there has been an update to the thought.

That's it. A bit of housekeeping that shows some courtesy to you, the reader, whom I have to thank for providing the accountability I was seeking.

It's been a while, and it's also been a recurring theme in my life recently. It seems I am very good at starting things, but then I lose interest in them after a short while. Maybe my mind is just like that: starting new things, but never finishing them.

I do want to do better here and keep writing what's on my mind. However, maybe not make it a daily thing, or try to convince myself it should be. Putting pressure on myself for things that make no sense to pressure myself for is senseless, if you think about it.

This isn't only something I am dealing with in writing, but also in a lot of other aspects of life. I pick up hobbies it seems like every single week, but then I never see them through. I lose interest almost just as fast as I gain it. Learning to play guitar, a new language, some AI coding stuff, or an idea that pops in my head. Been there, done that, a million times.

I must not be the only one dealing with this, though; I guess in today’s day and age, it’s also very easy to get constantly distracted by something new and shiny. Then, after a couple of days, something new and shiny pops up again, and the cycle continues.

Today S, T and I Planned to play the new overwatch drives. We got hard shit on every single game. We changed roles. We changed heroes everything. We ended up like two wins eight losses. S finally called it and got off to go to bed, and then T and I went on an eight game win streak. S wasn’t doing bad at all, it is honestly pure luck and we kept playing with the same people and we had really good synergy, but it’s so fucking funny to me.

An American Conference Game.

My Friday's game of choice finds the (3-4) Tulane Green Wave football team traveling to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to play the (1-6) Charlotte 49ers in an American Conference game scheduled to start at 6:00 PM CT. I should be able to listen to at least the first half, and maybe the whole game before sleep takes me away.

And the adventure continues.

Meer en meer zijn het Graaiend in afvalbakken Ieder blikje telt.

i didnt write yesterday because i have a big surprise to tell you, well, if im being honest. ive always come up with random surprises that shock us both. but this one is rather unexpected. i’ve fixed my sleep schedule. yes. you read that correctly. my sleep schedule. fixed. im just as surprised as you are, believe me. its quite amusing when i think about it. a few days ago, i was here complaining about insomnia, then sleeping at nine in the morning and waking up somewhere around seven in the evening, generally behaving like a creature that has no business being awake during daylight. id spend the night staring at the ceiling, then spend the day sleeping through whatever unfortunate responsibilities i had. a rather impressive arrangement, really. one id been committed to for quite some time. but now? gone. fixed. usually, fixing my sleep schedule requires more effort than im willing to put into most things. but, miracles do happen. actually, now that ive written it down, im less excited about it. thats disappointing. i had this lovely little surprise sitting in my head, and now that ive spilled it all over this page, it feels rather ordinary. maybe i should have kept my mouth.. well, in that case. my hands shut. a rare much rare opportunity wasted on an audience that doesnt even pay admission. anyway, i guess thats enough writing for today. i have nothing left to report.

Sincerely, Who might ruin his sleep after this.