Chris

For The Record

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While driving through the hills of Cincinnati, I came across a record store and decided to pop in to see if there were any good deals to be had on jazz, blues or classic rock albums. Then I remembered that my recently re-acquired record player doesn’t spin effectively. But while I was there, I was reminded of how much I missed album covers. Just like the recent post about book covers, I find the cover art on music releases is a lost art form. So I got to thinking what were, to me, some of the most iconic album covers of all time? Well there is a chore, trying to figure that one out but I did manage to come up with a few. And who knows, maybe when I get back home I can find a vintage record player to spin those classics on.

Side Note: This article was originally published on 2023/10/10 from my old website.

Side Note II: I’ve moved away from expensive LPs to more cost effective and better quality compact discs.

Judging Book Covers

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Meandering through a bookstore is inspirational to me. The thrill of discovering a new title can lead someone down a large literary rabbit hole. But there is something to be said about browsing the eye-catching cover art. Sometimes the cover is the best part of a book. when other times, a profound cover can make or break a book sale. 

I find that the more artistic, brilliantly designed titles are the ones who have been well written, whereas if the artwork looks cheap, than the book is a bomb. Over the decades it gets easer to discern. See for yourself. 

While perusing the bookshelves I began to notice different patterns of artwork on the covers and snapped a few, knowing I would probably never read them. I also get into a habit where i snap book covers to remember which ones I want to read in the near future.

Side note: It was great while it lasted but the free access to the Brooklyn Library membership has expired. Thanks to my intrepid mother who discovered options to temporarily add other library systems so I now have access to the Houston, San Jose and Tulsa public libraries.

Side note II: This article was originally published on 2023/10/09 from my old website.

Asides

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I am experimenting with a sort of short form writing called an “aside,” here on the website. These are designed for quick thoughts as opposed to long form posts.

I wanted to sort and categorize these in to an individual page but haven’t sorted out how to tweak the Php code just yet for fear of breaking it.

For now, if interested, you and I can just click on the “aside” tag or category and it will pull up and display as well.

The idea being similar to social media posts like Tweets but it is anti-social.

I’ve also sorted out how to do this remotely from my mobile device for even quicker thoughts.

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Woke up this Monday morning to a thick layer of ice over everything and not having to go to work.

Behind The Wall

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If you know me at all, you know that I have always been a fan of public art, especially mural or wall art. From early on we’ve been painting in caves, on the ceilings of chapels and now on city streets. Big cities like Houston have art initiatives and institutions that support local artists to come out and create these murals to beautify city streets and create outdoor museums for everyone.

I won’t name the institution here but I do appreciate their work for the community and also discovery of these works with an interactive app that provides a map of installations and allows you to scan the art and it will provide backstory and artistic bios. Love to see it. I wish I could do more with my images of murals. Inspiring. 

You can see these images and more on the photography website.

Behind The Wall

by

If you know me at all, you know that I have always been a fan of public art, especially mural or wall art. From early on we’ve been painting in caves, on the ceilings of chapels and now on city streets. Big cities like Houston have art initiatives and institutions that support local artists to come out and create these murals to beautify city streets and create outdoor museums for everyone.

I won’t name the institution here but I do appreciate their work for the community and also discovery of these works with an interactive app that provides a map of installations and allows you to scan the art and it will provide backstory and artistic bios. Love to see it. I wish I could do more with my images of murals. Inspiring.

You can see these images and more on the photography website.

New Year No New gear

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A new year means a fresh start with new goals. In addition to the 365/2024 photo project and 24 books read in 2024, I want to add another resolution: no new technology. I am confident that all of my hardware will not need to be replaced or upgraded. Now, if anything should happen to a device, I’ll have to make an exception. As for now, I am content.

Hard Reset:

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"version": "2023.12.31",  "configurations":      "type": "node",      "request": "launch 2024.01.01",      "name": "Launch Program",      "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],      "program": "${workspaceFolder}\\app.js"

Debugging, in computer programming and engineering, is a multi-step process that involves identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem and then either correcting the problem or determining a way to work around it. The final step of debugging is to test the correction or workaround and make sure it works. 

This is the last day of 2023 and tomorrow begins the hard reset, or rebooting the system for a fresh start. After that I will begin to run some routines to help debug my personal operating system.

There are a few known issues, or bugs in my personal life that I need to identify, isolate and correct the problem.

Bug #1: To maximize system performance, I need to focus on the overall health of the personal operating system and that is to stay physically fit. Sure, the outdoor work that I do does help but there is more I can do. Time to access the walking and yoga sub-routines. These will both be done on a daily basis. Yoga in the morning to stretch out and purposeful walking for cardio. 

Bug #2: Nutrition is a crucial component to all of this because I have not eaten well the last quarter of 2023. 2024 will be a rocky start since I will be traveling for work but I will be mindful and look for healthier food options.

Bug #3: Smoking pipe tobacco and drinking alcohol is inserting bad code into my system and so, once again, I will work towards debugging those substances to enhance system performance. 

Each month, and the corresponding day, I will run a systems diagnostic and report on either the overall performance or list any bugs that may still need to be addressed. The first diagnostic and reporting will be done on February 2nd or 2/2. The following will be on March 3 or 3/3, etc etc until December 12 (12/12.) Then one year from now on 12/31/2024 I will run more more systems check and prepare for another hard reset. 

Inputs

Other applications will be used to maintain the mental health of my personal operating system such as:

  • Reading
  • Creative writing
  • Journaling
  • Meditation

Overall, these benchmarks for analyzing and evaluating overall performance will help maintain my personal operating system for years to come.

Website Refresh

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Aaaaand to ring in the new year I have done a little redecorating to the website by adding new layouts, fonts and colors. The colors are lifted inspired by the Mercedes Formula 1 team colors

#111111

#C6C6C6

#00A19C