Journal

The closest thing to the O.G. “Blog” – daily happenings, minutia, and quick thoughts.

Seriously?

It seems like I’m asking that rhetorical question on an almost daily basis. I ask it when hearing about the latest victimization fad or while watching society becoming more and more brittle. I ask it as we combat racism, intolerance, and fascism by using racism, intolerance, and fascism without a hint of irony or self-awareness. I ask it every time I come across the general bitching by every tribe about how bad things are in what is, by almost any objective measurement, the best time in human history to be alive. So given that opening paragraph, you might be surprised … Continue reading

Who Can It Be Now?

Every now and then I “get serious” about making this site a little better and ticking off some of those “I should do that some day” boxes. After the GDPR went into effect, we all started getting those wonderful cookie pop-ups on every single friggin’ web site. You know the ones “We use cookies. If you use this site, you’re agreeing to this.” Never mind that they probably already set the cookies. At least some sites give you the ability to turn some cookies off, notably the tracking and advertising ones. Before we go any further, let me be very … Continue reading

Lynn

There is no way to write what needs to be written today, what should be written today. I have no words adequate to convey the tempest of love, grief, happiness, sorrow, gratefulness, and numbness that are all raging within me. We meet people every day. Most of these meetings are short-lived and have little impact on our lives: a quick wave to a neighbor, a “pardon me,” to a stranger at the store. Many are routine parts of everyday life, whatever that means at a particular moment in time. We don’t remember the majority of the people we’ve met in … Continue reading

Older Than The Planets

Dad, The Bringer of Age

I’ve had this idea in my head for a few years now, and my father’s 80th birthday seemed to be the right occasion to try and make it happen. My original plan was to do a complete a cappella recreation of the original score, but that turned out to be far beyond my vocal talents, technical ability, and available time. The approach to my initial idea was to load in one of my favorite performances of Mars, tempo map it, then record all of my own parts. The tempo map was key because it would allow me to do some … Continue reading

Enjoy the Challenge

“That was easier than I thought it was going to be.” I actually said that after completing my brother’s birthday video. I meant it, but it does gloss over some pretty major things. This post is mostly for me to remember some specific details, but also for those who may want to know how much (or how little) effort was required in remaking Enjoy the Silence, one of Depeche Mode’s most iconic videos. Leaping Into the Void Mary (mostly) convinced me to do this project while we were chatting before bedtime on December 15. As usual, once an idea grabs … Continue reading