J.P.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The city side of my family was big into bowling. Grandparents and great uncles and great aunts all participated in bowling leagues. Grandma City was often found on the “Davenport” on Saturday afternoons watching people bowl on the television. It was a way of life.

My work sponsored an employee bowling tournament in the spirit of team building. It’s an interesting thing, building a team across several continents in places where there may not be another employee from the same company for more than a hundred miles. In these Work From Home instances, we were encouraged to take half a day off and go bowling with our family. To enter into the tournament we needed to take some photos, submit our scores, etc.

Earl and Jamie went bowling with me and we had a really nice time. I thought it would be dead on a Monday afternoon but half the lanes were in use. I’m not much of a bowler, but I did my best.

Earl and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to Phoenix yesterday. We did some shopping along the way, stopping at the outlets outside of Tucson and enjoying the autumn weather.

Last night we went to a local brewery for supper and then out to one of the local gay clubs where I watched people do their gay thing. I didn’t talk to many people, other than my husband and the bartender, but folks around me seemed to be having fun. I did too. I’m happy as an observer.

We’re headed back to Tucson in a little bit. This adventure has been fun and my head is in a good place.