Journal

The Blog Is Best

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It is widely accepted that the first blog, or web log, was created twenty-five years ago. A lot has changed over the years, but of course, the blog is still the best way to express yourself on the World Wide Web.

Forget Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. You may build up a big following, but those platforms can make you and the content you created disappear. What do you have to show for it? Nothing. There is zero control. You may earn some kickback from these platforms, but you are still their slave working on their land.

Here, on your website, on your land, you are in charge. No censorship, no algorithms, no advertising and the ability to connect with genuine people.

The thoughts, photographs, art, music that you share on your website do not have metrics tied to them in an attempt to place value on them. When I post a photograph, I do it for me. I don’t need 1000 generic heart emojis inflating the ego. Thumbs-up emoji is worthless to me if you are scrolling a feed and approving other’s work as well.

The Blog

Much like electronic mail, and text messaging, the blog has been around longer than any other www platform. The blog is a pillar and a foundation for the internet as we know it. The blog is the penultimate method for publishing and sharing whatever you want. The barriers have been broken down, so everyone with a connection can create their own home page. There are paid and there are “free” options, you can post from a mobile device or a desktop computer. Share your words, videos, music and more instantaneously.

Set up your own home page as soon as possible, send me the hyperlink, so I can follow along if I want to. Build on your own land, then provide your hyperlink to others, then alert them that you are deleting your social media accounts. Happy blogging.

Travel Thoughts

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Travel has always made me reflective and last weekend was no different. I think of behaviors that need to change and to try something different.

  1. What needs to be changed?
  2. When will I say no to that unhealthy habit?
  3. What can I start today?
  4. What can I stop today?
  5. What needs more reflection?

It’s always amazing to me how travel puts your life into perspective. Do more of this.

Keep Going

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I think I need to keep being creative, not to prove anything, but because it makes me happy to do it… I think trying to be creative, keeping busy, has a lot to do with keeping you alive.

Willie Nelson

It is difficult to ponder, but I’ve been thinking of a time in the future where I no longer own a smartphone. Even more difficult to think about, is no longer sharing my life on the World Wide Web. Granted, both of those scenarios are much further down the road, but they have been on my mind. The spark for those thoughts comes from having a presence on multiple platforms, thousands of followers, and then realizing that it matters not. There was a time when I did care to interact and share ideas with my network of friends, some were IRL, most were social media. It has presented me with numerous opportunities to meet physically, to share ideas and share some commonality out there.

A lot of us have worked out that social media is no longer relevant, but where do we go to have our voice heard, if that is still something we want? The feelings go toward, “If I don’t have an online outlet to plug into, do I even exist?” If so, what’s the point of writing if no one is around to read it?

Social media is dying, and this is a good thing. Social media has been dead to me for quite a while, and not soon enough. I’ve been around long enough to see countless changes, some good and mostly horrible. People look at me with amazement when I tell them, no, you cannot follow me on Facebook because I am not there. “I like your photos, what is your Insta?” “I don’t have an Instagram account, but here is my website” and they are all of a sudden disinterested. Am I left behind?

Before the social media platforms we only had SMS texts, e-mail and our self-hosted websites. All was well and good. But stop to think, if social media was so great, why do these trios of basic communication still exist? Because we have control over what we choose to send/receive. We have control over our websites. I vowed a long time ago not to use tracking tools, or advertising. Who did I think I was anyway?

Good website owners write for themselves. However, being human, we do like some return on our efforts. Websites and blogs exist to be read. I write for myself to remember, to learn and to grow. Sometimes people join me and I am grateful. If I were to shutter this website tomorrow, would anyone notice? I would, and after twenty+ years of self-publishing I’ll keep doing this, probably for another twenty years.

Not for you, but for me. Thanks for reading and sticking with me.

The Apple Polishing Cloth

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It’s a cloth. With an Apple logo on it. It cleans Apple devices. I paid $20 for it. Although I must say, it IS better than your average microfiber polishing cloth. Announced in October of last year, it finally became available.

No-Go On The Crypto

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After recently investing in cryptocurrency, I’ve looked at the markets and the charts and decided to cash out. I invested a few hundred dollars and have a net loss of $4.17. I wanted to see what the hype was about only to find out that it was just that- hype. I was on the fence about keeping some coin in but received email from the broker that profits are low due to [insert geopolitical excuse here.] Well that was what cryptocurrency was alleged to prevent- outside influences. Supply and demand was the rule, now we see it isn’t so. If you don’t get in on the ground floor then chances are, you missed opportunities. But that is what market speculation is. It was a fun experience but I’m out.

I’ve also shuttered my NFT photo collection auctions as there was little traffic or interest. Again with the hype. Unless you have a massive following online ( I don’t anymore,) than you’ll see little interest.

Once again, the promises of something new, better, decentralized and hyped out of proportion are undone by greed, scams and government regulations. It was fun.

Things To Do In 2022

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Because we are constantly striving to improve all aspects of our life, here are some more areas we could all work on, starting with me.

  1. Reclaim your time and attention
  2. The year you finally decide to get fit
  3. Time to tackle the other “F” word – finances.
  4. You can do anything, not everything
  5. Tender-loving self-care (TLC)
  6. Better sleep and more naps
  7. Fill up that journal
  8. More writing
  9. Return to nature
  10. A good playlist
  11. Read, then read some more
  12. Install the Geocaching app and go explore for treasure
  13. Redefine success
  14. This time you are going to do something about it
  15. Take a hike
  16. More cooking, less dining out
  17. Work on the posture, stretch, breathe, save your eyes from the screens
  18. Delete your social media
  19. Enjoy a healthy social life
  20. Cancel most of your subscriptions

Maximum Effort

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Airplane Mode – Switch on for limited distractions

Bust A Move – Stand up, walk around at least twice an hour. Get the blood flowing, oxygen in your lungs and clear your head.

No News Is Good News – Blissfully ignorant since 2016.

No Social Media- Blissfully ignorant of the ignorance.

Nutrition- Take out the sugar, fake sugar, bad fats and carbs.

Walk With Intention- Many problems solved with a good walk.

Workouts- Daily. Alternate and change them up to keep it fresh.

Stick With It

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This post is a reminder to me and/or anyone else who can glean something from it. I find my interests go through a lot of ebb and flow, and occasionally this can be discouraging. However, I also find myself returning to some of those interests and that is encouraging.

You are an artist

How is it that people, especially photographers, don’t refer to themselves as artists? If you can pick up a pencil, a paintbrush, a camera, a musical instrument, etc. you’re in the club. Get over the imposter syndrome and just create for yourself. If other people enjoy it as well, then bonus. Success, legitimacy and “likes” are for those seeking attention.

Take Risks

There will always be a knowledge gap, challenges, risks, and even fear. Use all of that to take advantage of opportunities to create.

Delete Your Social Media Accounts

Remember those “likes” that I referred to previously? Ditch ’em. Your creativity is not beholden to others scrolling through their feeds.

Gear Doesn’t Matter

Use what you can, master it. Then consider upgrading.

Share Your Knowledge

Pass on what you have learned rather than hoarding it. Knowledge is beneficial for everyone.

Stick With It

I mentioned before that I’ve been shooting for forty years and I still haven’t figured it out. The moment I stop believing that is the moment I’ve lost the point. I want to continue to explore and create, and I have a long way to go.

Stay Curious My Friends

The desire to keep practicing is to keep learning and wanting more. There will always be more. This is the best reason to stick with it and create.

Photography 2022

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If I stop to think about it, and I have, I realized that my passion for photography goes back exactly forty years. Damn. It all started when I received a Kodak Disc camera as a gift back in 1982. This thing was so easy to use that a child could do it. Pop the disc in, snap, take to the one-hour photo booth, buy more discs when you are there and then enjoy the prints. Well, then the Minolta disc came along shortly after and wow, my first upgrade. This thing had a handle that you could also prop up to use as a stand and a tiny mirror in the front. So let’s all blame Minolta for the selfie trend starting back in the early eighties. My high school had a photography class complete with dark room and print lab. Loved it until it was time to play football. Thereafter, it’s been a few point and shoot cameras until 2001 when I bought my first digital camera. So yeah, you can say I’ve enjoyed photography for quite a while. So, why stick it out this long?

The Kodak and Minolta Disc cameras circa 1982

As much as photography has been a part of my life I still feel like a poser or a wannabe although I’ve been published in books, magazines, websites, sold my work, organized and hosted two photography conferences in two major cities, owned my own business, and participated in two art shows. I do have some laments:

  • No prints on the wall
  • No photo books on the shelf
  • No decent organization to the archives
  • What’s the point of all these photos if they are buried in a hard drive?

These will all change this year starting with the Archives. Organized by years, finally, I’ll need to go back in and cull the duplicates and delete the undesired photos. Then, add geotags, face recognition, and keywords for better sorting and search. Then and only then can I begin to think of hanging prints or publishing photo books.

My photography means a lot to me and now it is time to completely enjoy it.

Social Anxiety

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There are a lot of people out there who are re-thinking their social media use and I think this is a good idea. It’s taken a long time but the realization that prolonged exposure to these platforms are not good for your mental health.

I got out a few years ago, because of the stupidity of it all. There is nothing of value there unless there are legitimate, supportive conversations. You know, dialogue as opposed to ”Look at me and my best life!” Well even if we wanted to see you at your best life we couldn’t thanks to the manipulation of the data and the way it is presented to you. And you’ll be hard pressed to even see that because of the pervasive, irrelevant advertisements.. No thank you.

So I am glad to read that attitudes are changing and people can slowly start to recover their IQs and have the ability to hold actual conversations in real settings. I’ll touch on this more because I have a lot to say and not enough energy to articulate at the moment.