David Siskind | Sunday, 29 March 2026
I’ve been brewing a few cups of coffee daily in an Aeropress for more than 15 years. This morning, for the first time, I peered into the side of the cylinder as I pressed the plunger. A new gaze in a new direction - new information. Despite thoroughly mixing the fine espresso grind just before inserting the plunger, there was a visible schmutzdecke on the filter at the bottom of the cylinder and a relatively clear layer of water above. I had always thought that the coffee layer took more time to form and imagined a suspension of grounds moving downward slowly. It’s not what’s happening. I can’t un-see it. My new understanding is bound to affect the way I push the plunger one way or another. I assume this is often a part of learning a skill. Knowledge of cause and effect, developed over time, brings context to movements. Despite my newly embraced soft-quiet-gaze and emphasis on cues and context in the peripheral field, If I didn’t have knowledge derived from watching others, learning from videos, and my wandering eye I don’t think it would work. A corollary to the parable about the blind monks and the elephant might be that the sighted story teller doesn’t see the whole elephant clearly either - unless having examined the parts and imagining them as they look at the whole.
Earlier today in the park, practicing while listening to a discussion on YouTube about the effects of AI on the monetization of news-gathering - was reminded of an earlier “article” on the collapse of CBS television ratings in the three month Bari Weiss era (who cares) and impulsively made a phone call to Jackie to discuss ... all while making 30’ false casts. But I had reached my limit. My loops were fine but I was having trouble concentrating on what I was saying. My speech was halting with long pauses. It’s kinda like the walk/cast warm-up or cool-down drill Paul recommends - a stress test of the “automaticity” or “fluency” performing the learned skill. I’m not there and I can feel it on the water.
I only got out to fish once this week - to the beach. The conditions seemed ideal - warm clear water, manageable surf, but my home stretch was still devoid of big crab beds and I didn’t see any corbina as I walked. I prospected for perch and possibly halibut but nada. I never got to the river so I’ve yet to see what a 20 foot leader brings to the drag and drop. Time is running short. There are only four possible fishing days before I leave for NY for a couple of weeks. I’ll try to visit a beach further north Tuesday where I hear the crabs and corbina are already present (interesting) and to fish the river tomorrow. Today is No Kings 3. I’m deciding as I write whether to go all the way downtown to LA City Hall or to go more locally to West Hollywood.
These No Kings demonstrations are not huge (certainly not as impressive as the 2017 Women’s march where we had 750,000 people show up in downtown LA - remember the pussy hats?) but supposedly are important in the aggregate according to Harvard prof Erica Chenoweth. She says that mobilizing 3.5% of the population in such events is an inoculation against fascist success. I don’t know about that but certainly there is value in keeping people engaged and hopeful. The attack on Iran appears to be a big mistake. Still the regime continues to threaten Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland. WTF? What world are we in? Who would think this is a good idea? Can we all just get along?
PS - I never got out to demonstrate. My elderly cat had a seizure and I rushed him to a vet. He’s fine.
Cheers,
David Siskind