Every once in a while I
come across something that I just really want. Recently, CASIO announced a special
edition Stranger Things watch. I absolutely don’t need it. The watch on my wrist has lasted me for years and
will likely outlive me. But...I really want that watch.
Things like that are distracting. I’ve been getting distracted a lot lately. If you want to see an
excellent example of me being very distracted, read my latest blog post detailing my never ending descent
into the rabbit hole that is AI. It involves such geeky stuff as ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, and the
generative fill feature in the beta version of Photoshop. Like I said. Distracted. Very, very distracted. As
an afterthought, I’ve placed some links in the "My Notebook"
section regarding AI so that you, too, can be
distracted.
In addition to the blog post, I’ve added a section called “Stuff Nobody
Wanted,” where I will post various
things that I’ve written that have not proven useful. I started with a very short story that I submitted
years ago for a writing contest. I’ll add more stuff over time.
That’s about it for today. Hopefully, it won’t be another six months before my next update.
* * *
17 January, 2023
I realize that this is the time of the year where I’m supposed to write about how much hope I have for the
new year and how I am putting my best foot forward. This year, however, does not feel good. It
feels dire and threatening, if anything.
That said, I’ve been attempting to prioritize my life differently in an attempt to keep moving forward.
Those changes will undoubtedly be reflected in this site and its contents.
* * *
6 July, 2022
Hi, there! I’ve added a bit to the site over the past few days. My wife and I had some business in Tokyo a
couple of weeks ago. I’ve written some about it in the blog.
Also, I’ve added some web development resources to the notebook
section. As I slowly add to this site, I realize that a lot has changed in the world of web design and
development since I taught myself HTML the first time around. That was HTML 2.0, if you can believe that. It
seems like a long time ago, now.
You’ll also notice that the “Projects” section of the site is
now live. There’s not much to it, yet. I hope to be adding more to it soon. Other changes to the site are
more “behind the scenes.” So far, I’ve hand coded this entire site. I’m trying to adjust the code to be more
easily accessible and to get parsed better by search engines. Believe it, or not. I actually upload changes
almost daily. A lot of it is just code changes as I learn how search engines utilize and prioritize pages.
Also, even though this site is hardly what I would call “design heavy,” I still find myself making little
tweaks here and there to make the site accessible over the widest variety of devices possible.
I don’t watch a lot of television, these days. I did watch season four of Stranger Things, though.
What a ride. I can’t wait to see how they wrap things up in season five. I’ve had so much fun just watching
the characters navigate through and experience the mid 1980s. That was a very fun time for me. If you
haven’t seen it, you can binge watch all four seasons on Netflix. Cancel all your appointments. It’s worth
it.
* * *
26 May, 2022
Woohoo! Two updates in the same month! Don’t get too excited, though. I’ve just added the "My Notebook" section and a very short blog entry.
I hope to grow the notebook section over time with all kinds of content. A large part of it will be
information that I’ve researched for various writing projects. Some of it will simply be links to places
around the web that I find interesting or useful.
There’s not really any more updates on my end since my last post. I spent way too much time, yesterday,
watching and reading about the shooting in Texas. I will say that I have been amazed how quickly everyone
from the president on down managed to make it all about politics. Wherever you are in the world, hug your
kids and be safe. People suck.
* * *
24 May, 2022
This update is a short one. Work continues on with the story I mentioned in my last update. Also, I’ve went
ahead and started “The Blog.” Feel free to check out my first
entry. Some days will be more creative than others. As I’ve mentioned before, the purpose of the blog is to
force me to write more often. I think of it as a sort of warm-up to writing on other projects.
I’m trying to catch up with the current requirements of creating web pages. The whole “responsive” thing is
a bit overwhelming at this point. I apologize if this site isn’t pretty on whatever version of iPhone
released this week; but, I’ll get better.
* * *
16 April, 2022
Today, I finally put something up on the “About Me” page. I’m not
exactly a young whippersnapper, as they say; so, I glossed over quite a bit. I also felt that there is
simply a lot about me that just isn’t very interesting.
As I tried to remember all of the things that happened before breakfast, though, I realized there are quite
a few situations that I’ve wound up in over the years that might qualify as strange. I intend to begin a
blog on this site soon, and will likely use some of those situations as fodder. My blog will be a selfish
one, as I intend to use it as a way to make sure that I write something regularly.
Current writing projects include a story about a young man who finds himself in a strange situation. His
seemingly mundane life turns out to be a lot more interesting than he thought possible. The story begins in
a small town in the woods during the 1980s. I’m only about ten pages into it; but, let’s just say it’s
holding my interest.
Aside from that, I’ve been gathering all of my notes and projects from over the years to see what still
resonates enough with me to attempt to revive. I’m finding that reading my writing from years past is a lot
like hearing my voice in a recording. I don’t like me much. I think I’ll even take some of the stuff that I
submitted for publication early on that got rejected and post it on this site so others can not like me
much, too. Tomatoes are a nickel at the door.
* * *
28 August, 2021
I know you don’t need me to tell you; but, the world is kind of a messed up place these days. As a news
junkie, I’m having a bit of a hard time focusing on anything else. Between the shenanigans in Afghanistan,
COVID-19, and a myriad of other issues...it’s just getting harder to be creative. Or is it?
Maybe this is the time to simply dip into something darker. I look around, and I realize how desensitized
we have become over the years. When I’ve written, in the past, there’s always this nagging thought. Is my
writing acceptable for my mother, wife, or daughters to read? That might sound silly; but, the thought is
real.
Times have changed, though. If you’ve watched the nightly news over the last couple of days, you’ve seen
bloodied bodies floating face down in a sewage trench outside an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. If you’ve
watched an evening drama over the past couple of years, you’ve seen more skin and sexual deviation than
Playboy ever showed you.
That said, maybe some of my first instincts as a writer that I’ve held back on over the years might not be
as dark and taboo as I thought. Maybe it’s time to remove the filters. Let’s see.
