Looking over the past few entires, it seems I’m in the habit of starting things, and then not following through. My “Social Media Roundup Sundays” fizzled out almost as soon as it started. Shortly after that first post, I decided social media does me more harm than good right now (I get so worked up over anything political), so I opted to just step away. Unfortunately I had to reactivate my Facebook account as one of the pieces of software I purchased only uses Facebook for support. Twitter/X is just a shit-show on fire, so staying away from that mess just makes sense.

But I digress. Looking back over the past year, it would seem the only consistent posting I’ve done is when I did the 12 Days of Creativity Challenge. It was a creative challenge to create a more-or-less complete track. I stuck with it (mostly), documented my progress, and had a track to submit at the end of the challenge.

I’ve decided to do similar, so I’m going to start gearing up and taking a stab at NaNoWriMo. During the month of October I’m going to work on outlining a story idea. I have a few bobbing around in the wetware so I’m going to see if I can settle on one to flesh out a bit more. Then, come November, I’m going to attempt the goal of a story of 50,000 words within the month.

A daunting task to be sure, but hey... it’s time to set myself another creative challenge. Why not scratch that itch with something, well, challenging?

Wish me luck!

I've been wanting to write, to play music, to create, to do something that I can look at and go "Wow, I made that. Amazing".

I feel stopped up. I tried creating some music last night an managed to accomplish a bit of a tune that I didn't hate. I haven't listened to it again yet, so we'll see if I still don't hate it next time.

I've been wanting to write as well. But I sit down and just blank out.

I need a creative-inducing laxative or something.

I have an odd fascination with how people get the job done. In that I mean, what their tools look like, what their process is, even their work spaces.

One of the feeds I look forward to reading the most is from Uses This. Their typical interviewee is usually in the tech sector, but there have been several artists, writers, and performers. I’m drawn to their tools of choice, be it Windows, or Mac. The peripherals they use, and the hardware and software they can’t live without. Some list cameras, and even games they play.

Uses This recently featured Kris Howard, and she offered up a lengthy interview. Which I loved of course. In the Who are you, and what do you do? section, I learned in one quick paragraph that she’s working for Amazon in Germany (which she and her partner relocated to in August 2020 from Sydney Australia), that she’s a huge Roald Dahl fan, and that she’s an award-winning knitter. She’s also been blogging for 20+ years at https://www.web-goddess.org. So, naturally, I went down that path and discovered she’s posed naked (along with 5000 other people) for Spencer Tunick. Some people really put it all out there.

But back to the tools. For me, it’s a captivating look into what is typically a non-conversation piece. At work, there’ll be tools that are suggested, and workflows to follow... but that’s about as far as the conversation goes. Someone will ask what my hobbies are, and I’ll say music. But I don’t typically say “Oh, I love playing around in Logic Pro X or sometimes Bitwig, while other times I’ll grab my PRS SE 24 and plug it into my Fender Mustang amp and then play along to some Blues backing tracks on YouTube. It’s not a typical every day conversational topic.

By the way, there are some really smart and hella-creative people out there. Call it a side benefit to being glued to the Uses This feed. I’ve learned about various conferences, and podcasts, and hobby projects (one person is a member of of the WesterosCraft project team that is slowly recreating the entire world of Game of Thrones in Minecraft) that I didn’t even have a clue existed.

Heck, one gal is even into group hugging. I mean, how cool is that?

Finally saw The Perfect Storm last night. Gail loved that movie so much when she saw it in the theaters, she bought it as soon as it was available on DVD. It's rare that I buy a movie I haven't seen before, but this was a good one. I really enjoyed the story, and the special effects rocked.

After work I get to go to Maryland: First, to pick up a treadmill from my office spouse Heidi, then to my friend Jon's. Mostly to stop in and say hi, but he's also going to loan me all of his darkroom equipment. I've been wanting to get into photography for awhile, however, I've just never had the resources. Jon's a font of resources though. I have his helmet, along with his Dazzle, and now his darkroom equipment. Maybe he should just move in.