I listen to several Relay FM podcasts, which keeps me engaged in a sphere of technology personalities. They kept me up-to-date on the exodus from Twitter that this region of internet culture experienced, and their settlement into Mastodon.
Read MoreBad Handwriting and Journaling
I was recently in San Diego and decided not to fly with a fountain pen.1My cohost Grant enlightened me when I had my first fountain pen leak that unless your pen is completely full (or completely empty), the change in air pressure will cause a mess. So when I sat down to journal I was back with my original roller-ball Retro 51 Tornado, and my handwriting was awful. It helped me realize how intentional I still am while using a fountain pen, and how that encourages better journaling sessions.
Going back to a traditional pen kicked my brain into a rapid jotting gear that spewed rough characters and jagged sentences all over the page. These entries were initially shorter and had reduced impact. Once I realized what was happening, I took additional care to write slowly and focus on my handwriting. This had a knock-on effect of making me think intentionally about my day and allowing the journaling sessions to improve.
That slow, methodical version of journaling happens naturally with a fountain pen partially because I’m still not totally used to using one, and because the ritual of opening up my journal and uncapping the fountain pen puts me in a mindset that encourages a distraction-free space that declutters my mind. Realizing that, I want to find other proxies for this effect when I’m traveling so I can make the most of that fifteen minutes in the evening. I’m not yet sure what that will be, but it’s good to have a clear sense of a problem I want to solve.
- 1My cohost Grant enlightened me when I had my first fountain pen leak that unless your pen is completely full (or completely empty), the change in air pressure will cause a mess.
Dean Town
I’ve been working on learning Dean Town by Vulfpeck on guitar. It’s been a great experience because it takes me back to when I was first working on playing an instrument, both excited by each little step that showed I was better than before, and amazed that anyone could play what I just did so much faster. I want to savor those experiences more.
That being said, the song is an absolute jam. Go watch the original version, and their performance at Madison Square Garden. I’m not sure I’ll ever have the technical chops to play it at speed but I enjoy the process of getting a little better.
Let Hobbies be Hobbies
I am thrilled when I try a new hobby. I’m sure part of that is the hit of getting to buy a few new things, but I also appreciate the initial challenge and the excitement of any initial progress. Yet I often drop hobbies if I feel I can’t devote enough time to become “good” at whatever skills it involves. This post is a message to myself that sometimes a hobby should just be a hobby.
Continue reading “Let Hobbies be Hobbies”Baseball Ramblings to Begin the 2023 Season
A few days into the 2023 MLB season has me thrilled by baseball, and I have a few short thoughts and links to share.
Continue reading “Baseball Ramblings to Begin the 2023 Season”2023: Year of the Future
Did I act today in a way that tomorrow’s retrospective would find acceptable, even helpful? Have I established routines and approaches to my life that I can reap next year? These kinds of questions are both common and important. I plan to keep these front of mind for my theme, Year of the Future.
Continue reading “2023: Year of the Future”When the Moon Hits Your Eye
Driving south offered the perfect view of the evening sky. I first noticed the red-orange moon rising to my left, hovering just above the Wyoming plains in the distance. It looked unreal, as if someone had set it there for me to reach out and grab. Somehow the moon looked to be angled ever so slightly, as if it were a flat circle that had rotated just a little to make it clear that it had no depth.
Out the window to my right were larger hills, small mountains, behind which the sun began to set, casting its warm glow across the horizon until the separate rays met at the moon.
It was a glorious half hour of a long drive.
The next morning I left at 4:30, and for the first time on a road trip had a full moon shining overhead as I drove west. Freeways in the middle of the country so rarely have any lights, except at exits if you are lucky. The moon was comforting, guiding my way until the sun came out from behind me a few hours later.
It’s moments like these where I have the smallest appreciation for what celestial bodies meant to our ancestors even a hundred years ago, let alone thousands when they were worshipped as entities to be appeased.
Permission to Relax
Immediately after coming back from my honeymoon this weekend, I came down with a bad cold. (COVID test was negative, so just your regular funk.) I’m trying to be better at balancing pushing myself to hold to expectations I set regarding my various hobbies and side projects, and giving myself the leeway to relax and take care of myself. Last night, Grant and I recorded a shorter episode of Comical Start without any comics, and I barely did any editing. And for this week, I’m writing this post as a stopgap.
Things should be back to normal next week, but it feels good to allow myself the room to do what I need.