Journal

Send To Print

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Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.

– Carol Burnett

The first 35 of 3,287 pages to print this website are complete, hole-punched and placed lovingly in a three-ring binder for safekeeping.

Right away, I noticed there are formatting issues such as a small blurb of an article takes up only 10% of the page. Wasted space. I had to discard of three blank pieces of paper as a result.

So re-formatting, or allowing the printer to cover both sides of the page, for example could help save space, ink and money.

As first-run test print, I am pleased to see a small portion of my written words on a black and white paper as opposed to a screen.

Self-Publishing: Angkor

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Since the early 1990’s I have had a fascination with the ancient Khmer Empire in modern day Cambodia. There is a story there waiting to be told. Over the years, I have researched and tried to keep up with the archeological news. Four years ago I offered a hypothesis regarding the Angkor Wat temple complex and another temple in the mountains to the north. I haven’t read or heard anything related to it so I still make my claim here.

In the meantime, I have decided to do a re-write on a story I started years ago regarding this area and its hidden secrets. The original ideas were too grandiose in my head and it was a challenge to sort it all out. I’ve kept some main ideas but simplified it somewhat. Also made it more relatable and relevant.

When wrapping up a chapter in my writing software (Ulysses), I noticed a feature that allows me to publish in various formats. “What the hell” I thought, so I exported my draft (NOT a final release) in the e.Pub format and figured why not, and sent it to my Kindle.

Moments later I was reading my own writing on an e-book reader!

This was a fun discovery and encourages me to keep going, press publish and read in its entirety. Someday.

Orion

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Recently, a review for the constellation of Orion’s Belt only gets three stars. Another review says it is a “waist” of space.

Siri told me this joke early this morning and what was the very first constellation I see immediately after? You guessed it. Had to grab a shot of course.

I wonder what the universe is trying to tell me today? Is it written in the stars?

Bird-Brained

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Relocating to Florida has introduced me to a wide variety of new sights and sounds. This area is rich with diverse animals and birds from all over the place.

Recently I discovered an app from Cornell called “Merlin Bird ID”, that allows you to record bird calls and helps you identify what you are hearing. You can also upload an image of the bird you just captured to identify as well.

I’ve captured 15 species so far including osprey, burrowing owls, great horned owls, egrets, black-crowned night herons, ibis and more.

Each bird listed in the app will give you a synopsis of the species that includes other user’s audio recordings. I like to play them at full blast for the birds around me by way of communicating. It’s probably gibberish to them, but may be enough to draw them closer just out of their curiosity. I need some binoculars!

Cape Coral is home to a whole parliament of burrowing owls and the community goes out of their way to protect and care for them by placing signs and even wood perches for the owls next to their hollowed out homes in the ground. Eventually, I’ll convince T to do the same here at the house. That way I can set up a remote, wireless trail cam to view them any time and not disturb the owls.

Polaris Dawn

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After a two hour delay, the Space-X Falcon launched at 5:23am from Kennedy Space Center carrying four civilian crew members into the highest orbit ever. There, they will perform some of the longest EVA tests. Again, as civilians- impressive.

Screenshot from Space-X prior to liftoff
Crappy photo I shot from 220 miles away

With my sleep now ruined, I’ll publish this and try to grab a little more.

3,287

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That’s how many pages I need to print from 24 years worth of writing on this website. Printing them from the library and over time may be my best bet I think. Let them worry about the paper and ink costs.

Neuroplasticity

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What am I doing? Why did I start an online course when my brain is already overwhelmed with these other self-inflicted endeavors?

Fortunately our brains have the ability to change, grow and reorganize its neuron pathways to make new connections and remap from how it previously functioned.

Does this explain why my head hurts right now?

Intro To Digital Humanities

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Did I just enroll into a distance-learning course from Harvard at the last moment? Verification complete- the course starts today, September 5th.

Welcome!

Introduction to Digital Humanities will orient and train you in a wide variety of digital tools and techniques that allow humanists and social scientists to ask new research and teaching questions and make new claims using data.

The course will teach you:

  • What the term “digital humanities” means in different disciplines.
  • How common digital tools work and examples of projects using them.
  • How various file types can be used to create, gather, and organize data.
  • How to use command-line functions to analyze text.
  • How to use free tools to create visual text analysis.

I did the same thing nine years ago when enrolling for courses at Stanford. What have I done? What I always do: I am doing it because it stimulates my brain and I enjoy it.

A Look Back

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Once again, I find myself working behind the scenes of this website. This time, I am organizing the backend, the stuff that no one else sees. I am also wrapping up the migration of writings from my previous sites into here for posterity. Such as it is.

It’s been fun to look back and see the previous designs of this site in all of its iterations. I’ve learned a lot, experimented quite a bit, and still have a ways to go. Nowadays, I care more about substance than style and will make an effort to keep the experiments to a minimum. Until then, here are a few screenshots of this site through the years. I wish I could have done the same during the early years.

March 2011
May 2012