Woof, it’s been over two years since I last sat down to write something. That’s not too great. I’ve got a few items in the hopper that I’ve thought to capture, but I just haven’t done it. It’s easy to get in a rut, yet far harder to escape it.
I’m definitely ready for the seasons to change. I don’t necessarily have an issue with winter, and the image I selected to include with this post is a gorgeous one. It’s not as if this winter has been longer than previous ones, either. I didn’t go on vacation anywhere warmer to break up the monotony, so that might be part of it. I’m ready for the time change in two weeks, too. I still don’t care for the change itself, but it definitely impacts me a little bit when sunset is at 4:30 in the afternoon during the depths of winter.
A couple of random things I’ve done or noticed over the past two years:
If you use two spaces after a period, everybody knows you’re old. That’s how I was taught in typing class: two spaces between sentences makes for better legibility in a world of fixed-width fonts. And I still think it does, but then again I’m typing this in an editor right now. Seems nobody really does it anymore, and I realized I was one of the few I saw doing it. Hell, I was even twitching a bit when I saw others who weren’t doing it. Once I connected the dots, I decided I need to stop doing it, and that took me quite a while to break myself of doing. You can still see it in the commits for this site, but even Hugo knew to strip that out when publishing before I did. That’s dispiriting.
I’m far calmer than I was 20 years ago. Even 10. I’m not entirely sure how much that version of me would recognize current state. It’s not just the aging, although that’s absolutely a part of it. Maturity (argh wait, that’s just another word for aging isn’t it?). There’s a few other things, not all of which need to be discussed here. An interesting observation is that I can crank up music that I identify with and it all comes right back, although somewhat muted. Annoyance, rage, distress, sadness, energy. Turn on some Linkin Park, especially the first two albums? Oh yeah. There you are, my slightly edgy and cantankerous old pal. Feels familiar.
Speaking of Linkin Park. New lead singer? Nope. Absolutely not.
Where in the hell does the time go, anyway? Why does it seem like there’s such a marked difference on how time passes when you’re working versus when you’re not?
A drabble is generally defined as a fictional story that is exactly 100 words. I never knew that, I might have to give that a shot.
It’s far harder to observe people when you’re working a remote job.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
– George Carlin
It is apparently impossible for me to post something on this site without digging into the plumbing. Article forthcoming, but what should be a single commit for a new post is already at least 8 deep as I retrofit things. Extra fun fact: I wrote this hours ago, yet I’m still going!