Category Archives: random_stuff

Oct27

Minimal Mac | The funny thing about vampires…

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Minimal Mac | The funny thing about vampires…

According to lore, they have to be invited in. Within the sacred space of your home, they can not harm you. They can not suck one drop of your precious life-giving blood unless you open the door and invite them past your threshold.

If your time, your attention, and your purpose are not the very essence of what life is, then what is? If where you commit your time, attention, and purpose is not sacred space, then why isn’t it? And if those items that seek to take from those things are not vampires, then what are they?

Most importantly, why are you inviting them in?
-- Patrick Rhone, Minimal Mac
Jun25

New shoes

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New shoes
My new shoes.

I needed new shoes. I don’t own many so when I say ‘need’, I do mean need.

I had proper bad weather shoes and a pair of awesome teva sandals that I loved wearing during warm weather. The sandals had one big issue: my insoles don’t fit. I have special insoles, specifically made for my weird feet to help prevent pains. The few times I wore my sandals this year I ended up with hurting feet — even after only two hours. So I went on a mission to get other summer-y shoes. These will fit my insoles, didn’t cost a fortune and I like them because they look a little weird.

Also, they look great for drawing.

Nov1

The no-experiment

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The no-experiment

I've not felt well lately, very tired and stressed. Part of this comes from having a lot of appointments scheduled. A big part of it however comes from wanting to do to much. I don't want to do extraordinary stuff -- although for my condition it would qualify as such. I want to do stuff other people consider normal.

  • Walk the dog for an extra long time.
  • Buying groceries.
  • Hanging out with friends.
  • Visit family.
  • Go to the movies.
  • Randomly hop into the car with TG and go for a nice beach-walk.

All of these things require planning on my side, which also sucks up precious energy.

A couple of days ago I read Michael Nobbs' new book Sustainable Creativity in which he discusses the importance of learning how to say 'no'. For some areas I know when to say 'no': I can easily say it when I don't want to do something, or I don't have the time, or I have other plans. But at those times when I don't have plans yet, I really want to do it and think I have the energy, I won't say no. And this backfires. I rarely do have that much energy, and end up canceling many things. This does not make me happy.

Tonight I watched the movie 'Yes-man' and it gave me an idea. What if I say 'no' instead? I have things planned (and one not-yet-planned-but-sorta) and won't precancel them. I will not make new plans however, excluding the ones where I go to the hospital (or other medical stuff) or where people come to my house (less tiring).

This may sound a little drastic, but I gave it some thought and it seems like a cool experiment. Worst case, I'll feel bad the day after for saying 'no' and then I'll have learned I said 'no' to something that matters to me. In a way, this will force me to re-evaluate things that matter to me most, and these may or may not include the things I think matter the most.

It will also, hopefully, give me some practice in saying 'no' when I do think I have lots of energy (but actually don't and I end up wasting all of my reserves).

I have no idea about how long I want to do this, considering a month or perhaps until New Year

May14

Camera stuff

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Camera stuff
sx20is_586x225.jpg

My camera has started to break down. I currently have a Canon Powershot A620 and it served me well for nearly four years. Currently, the memory-card bit doesn’t work properly. The card doesn’t click in and if I take it out the camera doesn’t recognise the card half the time I put it back. I’ve dug up the cable and now get the photos from the camera by the cable (a nuisance).

I looked into other cameras and now have my eye on the Canon Powershot SX20 IS. I like Canon, and have had a few in the past and like the menu and the way it works. This model seemed a good step up from the A620 but not yet as massive as a DSLR. I don’t have anything with DSLRs in general. And knowing me I’ll get sand on the sensor on the first day and ruin the camera because it scratches.

I won’t buy it just yet, probably in June.

May7

The dangers of nature

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The dangers of nature
Little bastard.

This morning I woke up with a bit of an itch on my torso, right by the lowest rib. I scratched, it felt funny; I scratched under my shirt and felt a little lump that I hadn’t felt before. Immediately, I checked it out and noticed this little tick, moving legs and all, stuck in me.

The idea of this creature having dug its head into my skin freaked me out a little. Last Tuesday, however, I found the tick-remover I wanted for a while and purchased that. After a minute of slightly freaked out searching for it I found the set, and tried out the small one. It wouldn’t fit, so I used the bigger one.

It worked as expected and much easier than the other tick-removers I have. It did hurt when I twisted the little bugger out (a bit of a burning sensation) and he insisted on trying to keep digging back in, but I won and flushed him down the toilet. I suspect it hitched a ride on Nano and then landed on the sofa where it secretly attacked me.

I’ll have a blood-test to check for Lyme’s disease in a month or two, as it doesn’t always give that specific rash (should I get a rash or any other weird complaints, I’ll go to my GP immediately of course). The spot feels a bit sore, like a bruise, which I hope goes away soon.

Now, if only I could shake that itchy feeling I’ve had all day. Brr.