Life is too short to be serious all the time.
September 2024
Snack.
When I was a young lad I would make my way over to Grandma and Grandpa Country’s house for my after school snack. This was easy to do, since they lived next door. I’d usually hang out with Grandma Country until Dad returned home from the family business. Grandma and I would watch “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” together, I’d have a few of her most excellent cookies and a glass of milk, and while she was usually busy going through her afternoon routine, she always had time for her only red-headed grandchild.
All of this was 50 years ago, but I am fortunate to have a retired husband that’s usually home in the afternoon who makes a nice snack for me as I work my way through my workday in the home office. While I don’t have milk and cookies for snack these days, mostly because of my contant eye on my health and well being, he knows how to make snack time interesting and appealing for us middle aged guys that watch our gut and “Bewitched”.
Plus, he does such an outstanding job with the presentation.
New Week.
The week is off and running and I’m feeling pretty good today. The workday has been productive thus far, I’ve been feeling creative with photography and videography today, and since I had a good night’s sleep, I didn’t pass out on the couch during my lunch hour.
These are all good signs.
I’ve been shying away from social media for the past couple of days, outside of sharing the link to my latest video and a few witty remarks on the Fediverse. Too many people are in such a state about the upcoming U.S. Elections. I know I could easily get into a similar state if I started wallowing in the muck, so I’m trying to stay clear of that sort of thing. I’m fully comfortable with my voting decisions, which are based on my personal moral foundation. Love + Labor = Life. Do the right thing.
I’ve resurrected the MarsEdit application on my Mac, which encourages me to blog more and scream into the social media void less. At one point I thought about moving this nearly-quarter-of-a-century old blog to a new platform, but I don’t want to risk losing data, formatting, and the folks that still stop by. So I’m content with leaving things just as they are for now.
It’s easy to ignore the noise that is complaining about tech companies if you go out and create instead of consuming all the time.
Life shouldn’t be all consuming.
Night Cat.
I am amazed at the quality of night shots with my new iPhone 16 Pro. As I type this entry I can barely see Truman sitting on the garage roof about a yard away from me. I pointed my phone in his direction and hit the button, and this was the result.
Caturday.
Truman enjoyed some sunbathing for much of the week. With record temperatures in the Sonoran Desert, he enjoys the sun from air conditioned comfort. Don’t we all.
RIP Dame Maggie Smith.
Last night I dreamed about a scene in the latest “Downton Abbey” movie. It was the scene where Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, passed with her family at her side. The role was famously played by Dame Maggie Smith.
This morning I learned that Dame Maggie Smith has passed.
A tremendous talent with a formidable presence in anything she was in, I found her fascinating. She kept much of her life private. In what I’ve seen in interviews and the like, she seemed like a delight.
She will be missed.
Here’s a clip from “The Carol Burnett Show”, with Maggie Smith as a teacher dealing with Carol’s famous “Eunice” character.
Sunset.
A snapped a photo during our walk the other night. I’m really enjoying the camera on this new iPhone 16 Pro.
The Truth About Billionaires.
I’ve been a fan of Adam Conover for years. Here he talks about the truth around billionaires and how things are going things these days.
Simpler.
I stumbled upon this screenshot in my iPhoto Camera Roll today and it gave me a feeling of nostalgia.
Not only has tech appreciably changed in the past 12 years, but how much has the world changed in the past dozen years? How much has our approach to technology in our lives changed during this time frame?
The usual social media suspects are present: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. This screenshot evokes feelings of fun when I think of these social media services back then, not the absolutely awful crapfest they’ve become today.
I miss the relative innocence of 2012, when we thought the world was going to end on the Winter Solstice because of Mayan Math and every move wasn’t being mined by corporations that told us to “Lean In”.
I need to find a way to find that simplicity again.
