A Long Weekend’s Worth of Stuff

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

This past weekend, a whole lot of people I know were down in Atlanta for DragonCon. It’s an event I’ve been numerous times before and is always an amazing adventure.

I haven’t been there in four years now.

Finances and schedules have kept me from being able to make it back.

This year a bunch of people I know went for the first time.

I’m amazingly sad that I couldn’t be part of that.

Bringing new people along was always a huge joy. Watching them acclimate to the distinct atmosphere of a major gathering of nerds, geeks, freaks, and general fandom weirdness rekindles all sorts of memories and feelings of my own first time.

A lot of other people I know were off on other holiday-weekend-related adventures. End of summer trips, weddings, that one last excursion to the beach, the renaissance fair. I don’t really have a vacation. I have a day off I don’t get paid for. I haven’t had a real vacation… since DragonCon 2010.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to say differently some time before the next decade is over.

Hopefully.

Until then, I just keep pushing onward.

Since that’s the most sensible thing to do.

Lots of feed items spanning a wide variety of entertainment and interest. (Not quite as wide as, say DragonCon, but still a nice collection of stuff, if I do say so myself.)

Here’s the feed.

Some Classics, Russia on the Move, Angry Game Trolls, Hello Kitty, and a Very Happy Porcupine

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

So I’m slowly coming out of my avoidance pattern for real news. It’s just been too much that’s too bad lately

In the time I have been actively avoiding some news, it seems that things have continued to be absolutely insane out there.

There are Russian troops fighting on Ukrainian soil, against Ukrainians. That’s potentially a very bad thing. Especially since Russia just keeps saying “Oops! Didn’t notice we crossed the border there.. sorry, we were just looking for a bathroom or something…”

Closer to home, threats of violence against her and her family from angry gaming trolls have (again) disrupted the life of a noted critic of sexism in video games and other entertainment. Yep, the best way to prove that you’re misogynist dicks is to totally behave like misogynist dicks.

But, there’s also a super happy porcupine… and some Marx Brothers… so, check that out, too.

Anyway, my brain’s about to shut down for the night.

Here’s the feed…

Bits of Nostalgia and Nature, Some World News, and a Really Big Wombat

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Full day at the office followed by a full evening of more work on a freelance project I had hoped would be much further ahead than it is now.

This whole “burning out” thing happens much more quickly than it did 20 years ago.

What’s up with that?

Oh, yeah… human… aging… right.

Can’t run on fumes anywhere near as well as I used to. Especially now that everything I do is so much more complex than, well, anything I used to do.

So, because of all that, you get the big wombat picture.

Because that’s exactly what I needed to see first thing in the morning as I sat down at my desk.

A big, smiling, virgin wombat.

Just. Because.

Yeah, there’s also important news in the feed (like what’s going on in France right now… and the EU as a whole). And some other nostalgic stuff (it being back to school time and all).

Here, take a look for yourself at the feed…

 

Good Ol’ Al, Water Woes in Detroit, Old Blood, Workplace Hijinks, and Some Good Ideas

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’m really not sure where my evening went.

I got home and sat down in front of the computer. Watching the piled up YouTube videos from my feed, and started working on a few different things. At some point I know I made it through another episode of Salem on Hulu…

But, really, I don’t have a whole lot to show for whatever work I did. That’s one of the more frustrating things about the work I do. The progress is sometimes utterly invisible until right near the end.

Then everything suddenly pops right out.

It’s a bit disheartening at times and utterly frustrating when trying to prove that there’s actually things being done (to yourself or others). Sure there’s code and a few adjusted things here or there, maybe a new piece of content (Hey! That’s something! Right?)… but, ultimately, nothing that looks all that impressive.

Regardless of what effort was put into it.

All the planning and experimentation and research just kind of is. Not flashy, not always in a form that anyone would actually understand even if you could show it to them. But it’s there… and its important… and, some of it, at least, is now more done than it was before.

I think.

This is a problem that I think is somewhat unique to writers and coders. Visual artists can end up with sketches and piles of crumpled paper covered in attempts. People building physical objects end up with scrap material and prototypes and callouses. Those of us who just type? We have hours of “lost” time… and then we have a finished, working, project.

Usually just in time to have revisions that need to go into place.

Come to think of it, my day at the office was exactly like my evening at home.

~sigh~

I think I may need a vacation…

On with the feed…

Science, Aliens, Sexism, Stupid Application of the Law, and Buzz Aldrin

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’ve been fiddling with websites all day–first at the day job and then after I got home.

But, pretty much every site I have my fingers in is up to date now. So, that’s good.

Sadly, this is the only one of my own sites that gets regular content these days. (And, really, calling some of this intro text “content” is really a stretch… and the FB feed reposting doesn’t count at all.)

I have a plan for tomorrow’s feed… I should have pre-loaded everything, but I haven’t. So I’m just going to be winging it tomorrow between crunching through on projects. Y’know, just like normally do. But it’ll be more frustrating, because I do have a plan I’d like to carry out.

Ah, well, my own fault for not budgeting time better.

Onward with today’s (surprisingly short) feed… (I must have really been busy)…