Free Spirit
Thirty one days ago I decided to write a post to this website every day in August, hence- BLAugust. But didn’t you post only photos or quotes on some of those days, Chris? Yes, because this site has my name on it and I was busy re-decorating a master bedroom and bathroom.
Have you heard about the Internet Archive? I have but somehow always forget that it is available. It is a library of books, software, music, websites and more. A perfect blend of old and new knowledge. This is truly a national treasure.
Did I mention websites? It’s true- the WayBack Machine deploys spiders across the world wide web to take snapshots of websites. They send them out everywhere and my old websites were caught at least two times a month. This is how I discovered a problem with my own personal archives.
There are missing records.
I verified this when I searched the Archives Page on my own site. From September 2013 until November 2017, FOUR YEARS of my writing cannot be found.
I did a cursory search on one of my hard drives just for the year 2015 that turned up 37,000 results, none of them were my writings. I’ll need to check the rest but for now I am bummed. No idea what happened but hope I can find them, post them, back them up online and in print.
She is seventeen years old today.
Damn.
Bring back job interviews that consist of only 1 interview
It has been a full month since I told my phone carrier I want to remove the data package from my mobile plan. The monthly bill for just talk and text is $20 monthly.
To prepare myself for this, I ripped a lot of music from compact discs, then realized Apple Music has download features so I did that to all of my playlists. Next, I downloaded an offline version of maps so I can still navigate around this new area. The same goes for other media such as podcasts and e-books.
Truth time- the first week offline I was reaching for the phone to look something up but was unable to. Time to panic? I did, but got over it quickly. I cannot send or receive photos via Messages app, again, just text.
Sure, I am not able to use the Geocaching app to discover hidden caches, but eventually I’ll get another hand held GPS unit for that. No e-mails either, but wait, is that so bad? It isn’t.
I may be “off”, but I am content for now.
I just wrapped up a sobering re-read of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. A cautionary tale of what happens when books are outlawed and burned upon discovery by firemen. This novel carried more weight for me today, then when I first read it back in junior high.
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door…Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
This completed book takes me to 18 out of my goal of 24 novels read in 2024. Only 6 more to go for the next four months. Hell, I’m sure I can beat 24 and go to 30 by then. But then my desire is more than a goal because there is too much out there I want to consume. None of these include all of reading I have done from the RSS feeds, Substack or magazines offered in the Apple News app!
On the last day of 2023, I mapped out which books I wanted to read this year and it fun to see how it is flexible. The titles changed based on whimsy, discovery, availability and finally, how one book’s theme can affect the next pick. Example- I’ve read mostly fiction this year but have a desire to switch to non-fiction for the next one.
My issue with non-fiction books are that the recent offerings are lacking. I don’t care to read someone’s opinion on a war, politics, historical biographies with “new” information to sway my bias. Self-help books are en vogue for a few months but cannot stand tall over time due to another new craze on the topic.
Under the Library page of this website is a list of the previous readings for the past few years. At the top it will say “Currently Reading.” This is blank for now, purposely.
My child starts her senior year of high school today.
Damn.
I am designing a stamp for later when I am able to mark up one of my books and send out on stationary to a pen pal. Not sure if I am happy with this proof or not.
