Wordle 204 3/6

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I really nailed this one!

Played King of Tokyo. So much fun! Our 6 year old loves to SMASH.

Wordle 203 3/6

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I got lucky.

Finished reading: The Highly Sensitive Person by E. Aron 📚 An insight into a personality type that might generally be labelled as shy. I see many links between HSP and Autism. The book’s best work is done early; the final third lost me. The interminable fixation on a review of one’s childhood was overdone.

On another day that saw us over 40°C, this iced tea was a refreshing beverage.

I’m a Blogger? I’m a Blogger.

I don’t consider myself to be a ‘blogger’. Yet if I think about it, I’ve had some kind of blog actively running for large portions of my life. Just off the top of my head, I’ve had Blogger, Movable Type, Wordpress, Blot and Micro.blog. On the private side of the equation I’ve also got years worth of entries stored away in Day One.

Unfortunately some of those posts are lost to the annals of time - which I am sad about.

But based on the evidence of use, I am a ‘blogger’.

Can we have a Blog-only Search Engine?

Search Engines and SEO Spam - Initial Charge:

What I think I want is a search engine that only gave me results from small, independent weblogs.

More often than not I just want to find information from a normal person that’s writing about something because they care deeply about it. And that’s very difficult to find in search engines today.

I want the same thing that Mike Rockwell at Initial Charge wants: a search engine focused on nerds who blog about stuff they love. Topics could be far and wide: sport, IT, doll collecting… I don’t care about the topic, but I want to be able to find stuff only from people who are passionate about the topic - not trying to sell something.

Subscription Services

It’s that time of year when many are making lists and undertaking audits of their subscription services.

I had an old list in Dynalist that was almost complete. I’ve updated it and moved it into Craft, where I will attempt to maintain it over time.

Facebook’s Role in Capitol Attacks

Om Malik:

Instead of using technology and starting to flag downright criminal behavior, the company hums, and haws. They don’t need an oversight committee — they need a moral compass.

Am I being silly to suggest that Facebook and Purdue Pharma have much in common?

Deleting Social Media

Colin Devroe is quitting social media:

I also spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling tweets, clicking links, reading threads, and darting between subjects like a kitten chasing a laser.

I love this analogy.

I think the cumulative effect on my brain since 2006 has been that my ability to focus has been effected. Not that I can’t focus. I can sit down and get into flow on a programming project more often than not. But when I’m still, when I’m idle, when I feel like I could be bored at any moment I grab my phone and scroll through Twitter which sends my mind into overdrive on a million topics, timelines, thoughts, and emotions.

I don’t think this is good for the human brain. I know it isn’t good for my brain.

My only social media now is Twitter, and that is curated to deliver NBL basketball and little else. I deleted Facebook and Instagram ages ago, and do not miss it.

Focus is a superpower. Best not to give it away easily.

It’s been cool to see a whole bunch of development happening on and around the micro.blog platform over the past few weeks. May the momentum continue!

Cribbage night @tinyroofnail

I created a castle lady with wombo.art.

I’m on a The Wallflowers music kick tonight. Listened to the new album. Now back on the classic Bringing Down the Horse - released in 1996. I remember buying the CD and this album is embedded deep in my memories. 🎶

Go home ants, you’re drunk.

Self-Reflection

Today has been one of thought and self-reflection.

There are many parts of my self that I’m not entirely happy with. Are we ever happy with ourselves? Probably not. Nevertheless, making an effort to do better must be a form of self-improvement in its own right.

My effort ties in neatly with a new year, but this hasn’t anything to do with New Year’s Resolutions. This is more about me trying to become a better version of myself, irrespective of the time of year. The helpful thing about early January is that I’m not working, which frees up time for self-reflection.

Today I have done some brainstorming. I pulled out my (almost unused) Theme System journal and transitioned my thinking into a theme for the upcoming season — because a year is too long.

I hope that applying focus to my theme will lead to self-improvement. I’m trying to confront my weaknesses head on and deal with them. What weaknesses? Let’s just say that being the son of a father who had mental health challenges, and being the father of a son with autism, mental health is an issue I deal with on the daily.1

I can’t change who I was yesterday, but I can strive to be a better version of myself tomorrow. Hopefully this time of introspection and thought will lead to personal growth. The good thing is that it certainly can’t make the situation worse.

When I was a young boy who didn’t want to fall asleep, I would listen to talkback radio: specifically 6PR 882 AM. The evening shift featured Perth radio legend Graham Maybury. I even called in to the show a couple of times, as a kid, such was my devotion. Most nights, at midnight when the show came to an end and I had stayed awake listening, Maybury would play the song, One Day at a Time. This song helped soothe my mind. Now, 30 years on, I think it still holds value.

  1. Mental health still has many stigmas associated with it, so if this makes you think less of me, read it as such: being the son of a father who had diabetes, and being the father of a son with diabetes, diabetes is an issue I deal with on the daily. Problem solved. ↩︎

I’m well out of practice in dealing with people in a group social setting. An opportunity for improvement.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009 - ★★★½

It's only been on my watch list for a decade, and finally I've seen a typically enjoyable Wes Anderson movie with its delightful art direction and distinctive stable of actors. A lovely movie.

The most epic Jenga game I’ve played. Considering Benji, who just turned 6, was one of the three players — and he didn’t lose — makes it that much more impressive.

Return & Recycle Apple Gear

I tried to return a bunch of old iPads and MacBooks to Apple today. I got $50 for one old iPad. Potentially could have gotten more but the others I’d forgotten to charge and couldn’t be bothered about it, so I returned them for $0. They wouldn’t take the Macs in-store but coming home, I’ve discovered I can get $110 each for two 2013 MacBook Pros. Two older machines are recyclable only. To my mind, it’s all free money!