Category: Scarred Brain murmurings

Again. So I do what I do.

Listening to this.

Obviously, this has been an absolutely crazy week in the world, and I don’t see things really calming down news-wise.

I will say “rest in peace” to Larry King.

Since about Thanksgiving I’ve been listening pretty attentively again to Mike O’Meara, and have a temptation today to pay for his bonus show….largely because I’m so against giving money to Patreon. I’ve been listening to Mike on and off since uh, 1989? I disagree vehemently with his political allegiances, but I do enjoy his product, and appreciate that he doesn’t do Patreon.

I’ve not checked to see what the status of this is, but that was kind of representative of why I refuse to send anything through Patreon. Ever. There’s other things that I’d like to support, Quilette, Bridgt. Sorry. I’ll buy stuff from your advertisers, but nothing directly through your give-me-money service.

But there’s ways to get around the people who are trying to stifle things.

It’s not easy, but I’m still trying to find freedom.

I dunno.

And given all that went on earlier this week, I suppose I should be thankful that things are now calm.

Listening to this.

Words are really failing me, really, but I think things could continue to stay calm.

Forgive, and move on. I understand that that’s difficult, but it’s what needs to be done.

I’m writing, because that’s what I do.

1. Have you ever used a dating site/app?
   I started dating my wife in 2006. We got pretty serious very quickly. I’ve not looked back. There were a few I’d done before then, but I’d pretty much given up on finding anybody by the time I met her. So. 2003, maybe? I can’t imagine what dating would be like these days.
2. If you could live anywhere other than where you live now where would it be?
   I’m not even sure at this point. Many of the things that attracted me to moving where I am now are just gone. With the COVID lockdowns, I really wonder if there’s anywhere where I could go at this point. One of the podcasters I listen to quite a bit has gone to Mexico. If you’d told me three years ago that Mexico would sound the least bit attractive, I’d have said you’re completely nuts. Same goes for Texas and Florida.
3. Do you recycle?
   Where I can.
4. What is the weather like right now, as you write this?
   It’s winter, but it hasn’t gotten really that cold very long yet.
5. What was the last video you watched on YouTube?
   I think I pulled up “Spaghetti Cat (I Weep For You)” trying to make sure I had my audio devices set up correctly. But, for the most part, I go out of my way to avoid anything from Totes-Didn’t-Used-To-Do-Evil Co.. And that includes YouTube.
6. Write a news headline about your life.
   You Thought You Knew
7. What does the fourth text message in your phone say?
   It’s a notice from FedEx. No, it’s none of your business. (And I don’t remember what it was, anyway….)
8. How many states have you been to?
   I don’t know, and I’m too tired to count. The only Pacific state I’ve visited is Washington, but I’ve been to many of the others.
9. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre?
   The Big Lebowski.
10. What was the last movie you watched at home?
    It’s December 30th; It’s A Wonderful Life
11. Do you daydream?
    Rarely.
12. Where was the last place you went?
    Given the lockdowns imposed by Governor Hoodor Blackface, and my own worry about catching the COVID, I think it was probably to Georgetown for my last infusion.
13. What was the last show you watched an episode of?
    Jeopardy! Just before the webinar I watched tonight.
14. How many other countries have you traveled to?
    See the question on the states. I think the last time I counted, it was like thirteen.
15. Have you ever given someone a fake phone number?
    Yes. We had this mentally-lll woman who’d call the radio stations, and inquire about our commercial order. “Did someone call and tell you to play it in that order?” Normally, I’d say “no,” but after about the fifth call from her, I said, “yes,” and gave her the number to the local weather service temperature reporting. Her husband called later after she’d caled about it, and explained what was going on. I apologized, and hope she got the help she needed.
16. What is something you are relieved about right now?
    That this year is almost over.
17. What do you think of the Kardashians?
    I really don’t think about them unless someone else brings them up.
18. So far today how much have you gotten done off your to-do list?
    A lot of it, but I’m on vacation, so I haven’t been doing a ton.
19. Have you been in the hospital in the last 24 months?
    No.
20. Spring, summer, fall or winter?
    Fall.

Three days more of work, then no work until next year.

Maybe.

I, because I am who I am, will monitor things, and be there as long as there’s still mutual desire.

But I’m finished, and I really can’t bring myself to care about much of anything. I did get this from someone who’s actually been reading what I was writing.

But I’m finished with this year, really. Kind of appropriate background music.

What can I do, more, to get away from the craziness? I don’t know, and I’m not really thinking clearly.

I started to lay things out specifically, but I’m not sure there’s a real reason to do that.

Though, if everything goes well, it’ll be a late ending on Wednesday, and I can just step away.

News.

Last night, during our weekly pandemic get-together, there was a lot of discussion about what’s going on with the whole SolarWinds thing.

This was in my go-to online news feed when I’m writing.

The news source gets the conclusion wrong, I think, but I shouldn’t expect more, really. This shit is confusing, and you’ve got competing groups who don’t want to change what they do once they’ve become accustomed to operating in one way.

That goes to politics, too, I guess. The article is irresponsible, but it makes the fifty-something editor feel warm inside.

I’ve been spending a lot of day so far continuing to piece together my writing bits for next month.

I also signed up for a ProtonMail account.

Seeing what’s happened over the past two weeks with tech editing make me feel very uncomfortable with what’s going on with “Big Tech” lately.

Twitter suspended the New York Post’s account for posting a story that was potentially-damaging to the Biden campaign.

Looking right now, just after 1300EDT on Saturday the 24th of October, and they’re still suspended.

So start your own Twitter. Start your own Facebook.

I don’t have the resources.

They also don’t have the resources to block everything forever.

The tagline of this site is Everything Gets Deleted Eventully.

Yes, it does. But everything can come back.

Search your own name in one of the search engines. and enter your name in quotation marks.

Bing shows me, as I’m signed-in to Office 365 with my corporate account; had to do my timecard. DDG doesn’t show me on the first page of results. The totes-didn’t-used-to-be-evil engine doesn’t show me on the front page, either.

Five years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case.

I’m listening to the clearly-Canadian Texas Senator, Ted Cruz who’s talking about this on his podcast.

But by putting things somewhere outside the control of the tech oligopoly, and the US government.

It used to be that if you searched for me, you’d find things like interviews about Slashdot’s tenth anniversary in the NYT.

But even with the mass deletions, I do refuse to be permanently-erased.

I’m probably not going to have a legacy through posterity, but somebody, somewhere, might find what I’ve created.

Whether it’s of any value to anyone is unimportant.

So I write. It’s what I do. It’s something I still can do.

Or is it government?

Today’s news is that President Trump has COVID-19. That is on the heels of Ralph Northam also has it.

One flaunted his sparing mask use. The other wore his as a badge of honor.

Both got the virus.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s no omniscient answer?

I come back to, “Government Doesn’t Work.”

Buy things that support the science that’ll knock this out. Pray if you believe in God. (And understand that belief in God doesn’t preclude science….so says the guy who’s entrusted his complex medical issues to a medical center at a Catholic university…)

Per last entry, I’m seriously limiting Facebook access.

Im happier for it. I did end up checking in yesterday, because I was concerned about my oldest friend’s family. No news, but I did see that I had a message.

Email.

Fuck Zuckerberg, his content moderation, and data mining.

I did watch The Social Dilemma.last weekend/early this week.

You can leave. To quote a former company slogan, “Just Do It.”

And I’ve gotten disrupted by the news of Ron Paul’s live steam stroke.

But it leads me back to what I was about to say about the cesspool that is Facebook.

Yes, I plan to revisit more frequently after the election.

And I will be “unfriending” people liberally.

If you’re not offering anything other than annoyance, I don’t have time for you, and I will eliminate you from my experience.

Background music is this. (You’ll need to click the link because I’m consciously avoiding the totes-didn’t-used-to-do-evil company and its video site…)

I was messing around in the sewer that is Facebook more lately. This was largely in order to get my fantasy league up and running, but that’s finished, so why stay? I will miss looking at some of my favorite podcasts’ private groups. “Blue-pilled” friends’ posts about the various conspiracy theories too nutty to even make CNN, on the other hand.

The place is a wasteland, and I’m going away again.

Maybe I peek in periodically, but probably not.

I plan to write here in November, perhaps despairing about whichever of the two major parties’ candidates garners a sufficient plurality to be president. (And if it’s not the guy from his basement in Delaware, the posts about how by voting for someone other than him, I’m voting for Trump…)

If I miss out on something you think is very important, my cell number has been the same since 1999. My email address is still sean@757.org.

Adiot.