Internet, newsletters, design, music, etc.
I planned on visiting one park, but the highway was closed off, so I just kept driving. Eventually, I saw a hill and some fog, so I drove towards the fog and found this park.
It was wet, cold, and gross, perfect for keeping other people away.
I’m also a sucker for views without much of a view. Overcast sheets of nothing are good for my soul.
Tell me you don’t care about people with mobility issues without telling me you don’t care about people with mobility issues.
I just don’t get how businesses and municipalities are okay with this. Forcing anyone with a mobility issue to have to leave the side walk and go into the road.
Oh, and what if there are cars parked there? Then what?
The biggest benefit of deleting your social media accounts is having more time for adventures. This includes the planning and doing and the editing (this image is a still from the video I shot).
It reminds me of when Merlin Mann got out of the productivity game, with stepping away from 43 Folders.
I’m pretty sure, if I remember correctly, he said something at the time like, “yeah, we’re being so productive, but what we making?”
Getting off of social media is great, but then what?
Minimalism was a thing for me in 2009.
I loved the idea of owning “just enough.”
I also remember all the questions, the naysayers, the “yeah, buts.” A lot of people in the replies asking about the best lightweight shirt, or how many socks to own.
But there comes a time when the questions are a stall tactic.
There’s a time to do your research, sure. Buying anything for $1,000, it pays to look at some reviews and YouTube videos, but at some point, you’ve got to make a move, which then puts you on the hook.
When I hit the road as a bike nerd in 2010, I heard some naysayers on a bike forum or two (the internet was much smaller back then), but fuuuuck off, I was living my dream while you were posting comments on the internet.
Did I do everything right? Nope. Did I post some pompeous shit? Hell yeah, I did.
I did stuff and learned from it, a constant cycle of learning, figuring things out, adapting, and getting to the next challenge, writing the next chapter.
The online chatter is noise, and the noise goes away when you build up a nice strong sense of self by doing whatever the fuck it is you want to do.
Spent the afternoon trying to make some shots of me “ascending” into the heavens, as part of my Social Media Escape Club newsletter series.
I’m happy I got something to work with, and think I did okay for my first time really trying to “make” a photo.
I am joyously filling up this space, this site, this blog.
I’m writing freely here, as nothing gets sent to anyone (I’m pretty sure). Apologies to those who may read via RSS.
Moving photos from Flickr has been fun, too. Revisiting so many memories from my time living in New York City.
And to think I have these images and brief bits of text dating back to 2004. Freaking 20 years of writing, and photos, and adventures.
This site covers nearly half my life. That doesn’t even make sense.
Going back to 2004 on my Flickr account has thrown me for a loop. I mean, between that time period and the tens of thousands of photos I have in my Photos app, it just made me realize how consistent I’ve kept with photography. Not in a grand way, by any means, but I’ve always messed around with cameras.
In the 90s I remember shooting shows with my little point and click Kodak (got one on eBay last year). During my Bike Nerd days I had a Canon PowerShot SD940IS and Canon PowerShot S95 (see ’em here).
Got a Nikon Z30 because I’ve wanted to make videos but found I’m loving taking photos with it even more. Even the iPhone 14 Plus has me shooting more, and being more mindful when out and about.
Thought this photo was fun just because of the wall of green ends so abruptly with that blue sky.
An almost 10 minute video of exploring abandoned ski resorts and breathtaking scenery. Exactly the sort of video that makes me want to sell everything and travel the world.
In 2010 I left my apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with my bike and what I carried in my bag. I rode my single speed bike up the GW Bridge, and made my way to Rutherford, NJ to crash with a friend.
I miss that shit.
(thx, Norah)
WordPress is telling me I’ve published 1,000 posts.
A few hundred people a month read things I write here.
No likes, no comments, no “engagement.” Just me posting for the sake of posting. It’s a digital journal of sorts, I guess.
I’ve been publishing things on the internet since 1995 or so, which is about my earliest memories of the “commercial web.”
I had a Packard-Bell computer that I bought at Sears on credit, and it was about $3,000. Had Windows 3.1, and I think I had mIRC on there.
Met a lot of people via #pasxe.
We’d find out about shows like that back in the day. We’d make plans there to hang out and meet at diners. Then AOL Instant Messenger came along and fucked everything up.
I’m so frustrated by all the platforms these days. The tie-in. Streaming music services where you rent music. My Photos app has over 300GB of photos, and my new laptop has just a 512GB HD. I moved my photo library to my external HD, but now it won’t do the iCloud Photos thing.
This is why I go for walks. Today I walked about six miles, spread across three jaunts. “When in doubt, go for a walk” is my mantra for 2024.
I knew I had to finish today’s newsletter, but also knew I needed to get outside for a walk first. Like
Dan Blank said today, “the real magic comes slowly,” and moments like this keep me going.
