I am trying out the Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. I like the idea of how if you set it for 7am, it will start looking for a good time to wake you starting at 6:30 depending on your sleep cycle. I’m trying to get away from using the snooze and this is an interesting alternative. I’ll let you know how it works after I’ve given it a few days.
Anybody else hate being on the internet on April Fool’s Day?
What’s your favorite cocktail?
Margarita for me please. If I make one at home I use the following recipe:
1 ounce lime juice (freshly squeezed. I’m not a savage)
1 ounce simple syrup (You can adjust this to 1/2. I just like things sweet)
1 ounce triple sec (60 proof if you can find it)
1/2 to 2 ounces tequila (Patron is nice but too expensive. I usually go with Milagro blanco or 1800 silver. Whatever the brand it has to be 100% blue agave)
Shake with ice and pour into an ice cold cocktail glass. I don’t bother salting the rim.
Blogging is a weird hobby. You post links that interest you, maybe make a comment or two about it and go about your way. Then one day you wake up and see that somebody has commented on one of your posts. The next day you have another person. The day after that a few more people and so on until you reach a point where you realize you have an actual audience. This can be very scary. Especially if you’re not used to writing to more than one person or to people you have friended on a social network. Every word you write, every link you put up, every typo is under scrutiny. If you’re lucky and can build your audience slowly, you learn to let the criticism roll off you. That’s something that must be unique to this hobby. Stamp collectors don’t get flamed when they buy a shitty stamp.
The flip side and the one I experienced so much more than the criticism is that you have a chance to meet so many wonderful people who would have been impossible to meet if not through this medium. And the chorus of your comments elevated this from a silly hobby to something that I couldn’t do on my own.
When I quit on Thursday, I thought I would be able to walk away without looking back. But two things happened that made me rethink things:
1. Your touching comments and emails that I started receiving right away. I really had no idea how many people were still visiting this site daily and enjoying it. I’ve read every comment that was left and responded to every email. They made a difference. (Hey Google, are you listening? We really fucking like Google Reader!)
2. I STILL HAVE SHIT TO SHARE! I realized this over the past few days when I was going through my RSS feeds and finding stuff I would have usually posted and had nobody to show except Mrs. C and Cynikitty. And both of them objected at being dragged to the computer every time I found a cat picture or a Christian acting snotty.
So, I am happy to announce that this blog is now reopened for all of your linkage pleasure. Feel free to place bets on how long it will be before I close up shop again.
Honestly though, I’m happy to be back.
I started this blog just shy of 10 years ago as a way to share some of the links I was coming across. I never expected anybody to actually read it, let alone take the time to comment.
Over the past year I’ve noticed that I don’t have the same desire to blog as I once did. I see no reason to keep doing something out of habit when the passion is gone. The time has come to close it down. I will keep the archives up for as long as I can.
I want to thank everybody who has participated in this blog in some way, whether it was a comment or an email to me. You have made what was just a silly hobby into something special that I will always cherish.
Update:
Thanks to everybody for their well wishes. You guys have really touched me. Who knows but maybe I’ll grow bored of the blogging retirement home and come back. For now though I just need a break. If you want to touch base from time to time I may use Google+ more than I have been over the past 2 years and perhaps I’ll use this blog’s twitter feed for something more than just echoing the rss feeds.
What are you reading? I’m currently in the year 1934 of William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Don’t spoil the end for me in the comments.
For the past few years, I’ve been keeping a list of the books I have read during the year. A bit bored today so I figured I’d update the list. You’ll notice that during the fall I went through a Stephen King kick that took me through the rest of the year. I had read his early works back in in high school and had love it then. I thought I may not enjoy it as much if I reread them as an adult, especially since I haven’t really cared much for his more recent work. I was wrong. His early stuff still captivated me. I have a feeling that sometime after Misery came out in the 80s, his editors gave him free rein and the quality declined.
Faceless Killers 1/1/11 – 1/4/11
The Dogs of Riga 1/5/11 – 1/12/11
Boardwalk Empire 1/13/11 – 1/17/11
The White Lioness 1/21/11 – 1/24/11
The Man Who Smiled 1/31/11 – 2/3/11
Sidetracked 2/6/11 – 2/10/11
The Fifth Woman 2/12/11 – 2/19/11
One Step Behind 2/19/11 – 2/23/11
Firewall 2/24/11 – 3/1/11
The Pyramid 3/1/11 – 3/6/11
The Comedians 3/12/11 – 3/15/11
Atlas Shrugged (went Galt at page 674) 3/16/11 – 3/23/11
Pawn of Prophecy 3/24/11 – 4/3/11
Cat’s Cradle 3/29/11 – 3/31/11
White Teeth 4/3/11 – 4/4/11
Queen of Sorcery 4/4/11 – 4/9/11
Haiti 4/3/11 – 5/3/11
Magician’s Gambit 4/10/11 – 4/13/11
On The Beach 4/14/11 – 4/16/11
Castle of Wizardry 4/16/11 – 4/20/11
Enchanter’s Endgame 4/21/11 – 4/28/11
Guardians of the West 4/28/11 – 5/1/11
King of the Murgos 5/2/11 – 5/9/11
The Serpent and the Rainbow 5/3/11 – 5/6/11
Demon Lord of Karanda 5/7/11 – 5/15/11
Sorceress of Darshiva 5/16/11 – 5/18/11
The Seeress of Kell 5/19/11 – 5/20/11
Riders of the Purple Sage 5/21/11 – (didn’t finish)
Fuzzy Nation 5/24/11 – 6/2/11
Shane 6/3/11 – 6/3/11
From the Ground Up 6/5/11 – 6/5/11
The Mysterious Affair at Styles 6/6/11 – 6/11/11
Kindred 6/12/11 – 6/14/11
With the Old Breed at Peleliu 6/21/11 – 6/24/11
Cryptonomicon 6/28/11 – 7/14/11
The Winds of War 7/18/11 – 7/29/11
War and Remembrance 7/30/11 – 8/9/11
Tomatoland 8/10/11 – 8/11/11
Titan, Life of JD Rockefeller 8/11/11 – 8/15/11
The Eyes of the Dragon 8/15/11 – 8/21/11
Zodiac 8/21/11 – 8/23/11
The Beekeeper’s Lament 8/23/11 – 8/26/11
The Gunslinger 8/23/11 – 8/26/11
The Drawing of the Three 8/28/11 – 9/8/11
The Waste Lands (didn’t finish) 9/8/11 – 9/18/11
John Lennon, The Life 9/17/11 – 9/23/11
Reamde 9/20/11 – 10/10/11
Carrie 10/17/11 – 10/19/11
The Shining 10/19/11 – 10/21/11
The White Mountains 10/25/11 – 10/26/11
Rage 10/27/11 – 10/28/11
The Long Walk 10/29/11 – 11/3/11
City of Thieves 11/3/11 – 11/7/11
The Running Man 11/8/11 – 11/9/11
Firestarter 11/9/11 – 11/16/11
And So It Goes, Kurt Vonnegut Bio 11/16/11 – 11/27/11
The Dead Zone 11/19/11 – 11/28/11
Cujo 11/28/11 -12/1/11
The Spy Who Came in From The Cold 11/29/11 – 12/4/11
Christine 12/4/11 – 12/7/11
Pet Sematary 12/8/11 – 12/14/11
The Tommyknockers 12/17/11 – (Didn’t finish)
God is Not Great 12/20/11 – 12/24/11
The 2009 list is here and the 2010 list here.
How are you doing?
No, seriously. How are you? I’m exhausted. You can see this reflected in how little I’ve posted lately. I can’t even gather the energy to post a Caption This. And I’m just posting those. MacCrocodile and Dale do the heavy lifting on those.
So regular commenters and lurkers alike. How are you?
I started this blog 8 years ago today. Sheesh, I remember when all this blog consisted of was links to various websites that amused me. How things change.
