Just looking through my old posts... I got an umbrel a while back, and set it up with Bitcoin Node (core). There were some recommendations posted to me for Start9. That's a bit of a regret, as Umbrel seems to be gently in bed with core. Regardless, my umbrel runs bitcoin knots, just on the principle of the thing. I don't like the way core is censoring people, and I'd rather have less spam if possible. Aside from that, it's just good to remove a point of centralization (reliance on bitcoin core devs). #bitcoinknots #knots #nodes #umbrel #start9

#nostr Here's the thing about nostr. I started many moons ago. I posted a few posts. I mostly stopped posting. During the elections last year, I started an X account. Algos got me addicted, and I scrolled and scrolled when I had some bored free time. Got to be too much so I blocked it with my porn blocker. No more X. Nostr - user engagement is relatively low because no algos. Good. The thing is, I basically don't post, because it takes energy and I want less social interaction in my life, not more. I just want to read something interesting sometimes. Nostr is nice. It's the way social media should be - there when you want it, but it doesn't demand and devour your time. I don't use X anymore. I use Nostr once every few days to see if anyone is saying anything interesting. Otherwise, I don't think much about it. THAT IS GOOD. Most of my energy is spent working with my hands to make beautiful things, and working with people I care about, teaching ancient music. I don't need a time suck. Social media should be a once in a while thing. Nostr is good. It's like smoking a pipe instead of Marlboros. Just aromatic tobacco, there when you want it, to relax. No addictive chemicals added to make it burn faster and make you desire more. Just the stuff that God made. Puff, puff. Nostr. #music #shakuhachi #tobacco

Woke up on my birthday, thanked God for giving me another year to live. Read my Bible before everyone else woke up. Ancient kings did well as long as they loved God, but often got fired up with pride or lust and destroyed what they had built. Nothing lasts forever. Even Bitcoin, or whatever we're excited about at the moment, will fade away. That known, things are tools, good in their own way, in service of life and love, things that last forever. I pray that my first longing will always be what drives me, that my desire for God will be what I wake up to, so that I'll be a good husband, father, and friend. I know I'm loved, and I'm grateful for everything in life. #Bible #birthday #goodmorning #Bitcoin #love #family

Shakuhachi and Bitcoin I'm probably the only Shakuhachi maker / teacher that accepts Bitcoin (though my friend @Tairyu Shakuhachi may have brought the number up to 2...), but I want to go a little further back into history to find connections between this ancient Japanese flute and Bitcoin. Interestingly - the shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute that was popular with wandering Buddhist monks during the 1600's. Some players were likely Christian samurai as well, fleeing persecution. The government at the time was leaning heavily towards the Authoritarian / Totalitarian side of things. There was a system called "tonari-gumi" in which you had a small group of people who you were responsible for, i.e., you had to spy on. If anyone was out of line (against the government, etc.), you had to rat each other out. These were the people living right next door to you. Kind of like social media today - the weakest members and sociopaths had an open invitation to rat out and cancel anyone who was on the side of freedom or truth. So you can't really speak your mind. You are incentivized to lie. Shakuhachi found a sort of solution. No words, just sounds. True sounds (hence 本音 Hon-On, the name of my studio - it means "true sound" as well as "what you're really thinking / feeling"), seeking truth and communicating feeling one tone at a time, using the unique colors that come out of an imperfectly round stalk of bamboo. Most pieces are not musical in the modern sense. They are sonic prayers. The titles are themes, usually Buddhist, so that they serve as meditations on a concept - Yoshiya explores identity (to me, it echoes God's approval of Jesus - "You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased." - at his baptism). Takiotchi explores death and impermanence (the title suggests a waterfall - to me, the sweat and tears of Christ as he decides to go to his death on the cross. I appreciate these things as a Christian, and this fits just fine. Buddhists of the time would often help and hide their Christian friends, so that they wouldn't be killed. Shakuhachi players were a community of Buddhists, but it's likely that Christians were often welcomed or hidden among them as well. The shakuhachi monks - called komoso, and then komuso - were later allowed to travel anonymously between prefectures, though travel was heavily restricted for most. Maybe this is because they were spying for the government, which would be unfortunate - but regardless, even non-spies were given some degree of anonymity and freedom. Speaking your mind, seeking truth, appreciating privacy, cherishing freedom - all things that are generally appreciated by bitcoiners, and now Nostr. It's a good place to be. #shakuhachi #Japan #music #hitoyogiri #flute #Buddhism #Government #Totalitarianism #Christianity #philosophy #komoso #komuso