Posts in category "Random"
Protected: Revealing Underwear
Life Is Pain
Sometimes, you stab yourself in the hand with a point, but it’s not sharp enough to break the skin.
Sometimes, the blood comes to the surface, and this is as much of yourself as you can show the world.
Sometimes, the pavement is covered in snow outside, and you can drive over 100kph in one spot before the traction kicks in.
Sometimes, you scare yourself with your recklessness.
Sometimes, you realize that life is pain.
Sometimes, you have nothing left but numbness and resolve.
A Blogger Passes On
Many years ago, I received an e‑mail from a reader named Winston Rand, looking for some blogging advice:
Jeff,
I have been to your equivocality site numerous times over the last couple of months and always come away impressed. Having visited many other “blogs” — God how I’ve come to hate that term — I keep coming back to yours as my gold standard. Been thinking of starting my own, even have 2 domain names paid for, but being an engineer and an IT pro, I’m too hesitant to start until most of the answers are quite clear. That is a strength as well as a failing…
In my quest, I’ve looked at many different blogging tools, hosting sites, etc., and am still not sure which route to take. My temptation is to say to hell with all of them and just post my stuff using static html pages (Dreamweaver) since I’m not really interested in feedback or comments that much. But I do like the ability to easily integrate calendar, archives, and other features that most of the blog packages seem to include by default. And who knows, one of these days I may care what other people think of my work.
Among the popular packages, I’ve got it narrowed down to WordPress, Moveable Type, and SquareSpace, but I’m wide open to suggestions and recommendations.
Could you share your thoughts on what you use and recommend? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Keep up your excellent work! I look forward to seeing more of it.
I steered Winston towards WordPress, and soon after, he started his own blog at nobodyasked.com. Over time, he developed a significant readership, as he would write quite lucidly about politics, humour, and the occassional geek talk.
Although our blogs covered different things in a different style (Winston called it “[spinning] in a slightly offset parallel universe” when describing my blog in his one-year anniversary post), we would check up on each other now and then.
During one of my last visits, I found out that Winston has died after a 38-hour illness and 3 surgeries. While I never really knew him in person, I still feel like someone close is gone.
And I wish I could explain why.
The Measure of a Man
I’m still not sure if I feel like a man.
I always imagined that it’s a mindset you suddenly develop (or a way people view you) once you have kids, or pass 30, whichever one comes first. There’s this idea stuck in my head that adults are these people who don’t have fun. They don’t watch (and enjoy) stupid movies, or play Warcraft, or talk on the phone for hours. It’s probably from growing up with my parents, who never did anything that made them laugh or smile. Or maybe I’m having too much fun and freedom to really feel like I’m grown-up.
There was definitely some point between getting my first job and house, and now, that I started to feel like an adult. It was never a distinct line though.
It’s still foreign for me to say that I date women, as opposed to girls. To think I’ll ever grow out of saying that is very strange.
For now, the only thing I do that makes me feel like I’m a man is when I’m paying and filing my bills.