Forgive me - I’ve chosen to be lazy with this one today.
[Read the “Bullet notes from my desk” at the bottom of this post for more thoughtful/personal pieces, as well as a brief update + reasoning for why this edition is the way it is.]
I’d be sharing a number of things from ‘round the Net I’ve found fascinating and just plain cool.
Analog Sea - An offline journal with this one-page website. I wrote about them in “Contemplation”.
The Wheel of Co-Creation - An interactive “wheel” of information and thoughts from the people at MIT on co-creation as artists, engineers, and creatives.
James Cook - You can draw with a typewriter. Er…maybe not. But James can, and does. Proof:
Wormhole - This takes home the “coolest app name” award. I happen to LOVE earthworms. Well, so do the folks behind this “simple, private file-sharing” platform, which creates encrypted links for files that automatically expire.
Dead Man’s Switch - If something bad bad were to happen to you without warning, wouldn’t you wish you could say the things you’d forgotten to say when you were alive? That’s what this email switch is for - it sends those messages to those people for you after you’re gone.
Offliberty - From their “About” page: “If the Internet bus visits your village only once a week or your grandma doesn't let you use Internet more than 1 hour a day - Offliberty is for you.”
Explore the above to your heart’s content.
That’s it for today! :)
Odelia
Quote for the week
Something that impacted me in some way the past week, and think is worth sharing.
“A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you something.”
– Bill Bernbach
This week’s word: “Astrophe”
Since the start of 2024, I’ve begun a project of writing 7 poems each week, using for my prompt an entry from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. I share the best from said project in this section.
astrophe
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek. Depending on how you slice it, astrophe could mean a couple different things:
- a/strophe would be the act of not turning, or
- astro/phe, the act of turning to the stars.Reader Krokonil suggested an alternate etymology, from Greek astron "star" + atrophy, the wasting away of muscles or organs due to lack of use or trauma). "For us the stars are wasting away, because we will never reach them."
***
Here, yet...
Tend to think of myself as
A big, freaking deal -
That all I see is all, and
Nothing beyond is real;
but then the stars appear
A million miles away
And I'm at a loss for what
To think, feel, say.
This world so vast and full
Of itself, twice over
One can't help but dream, build,
Continue to explore.
Yet in the rare silence, one
Still thinks one hears -
A lilting melody so faint, the
Music of other spheres.
Speak of glory, fame, renown
Within this existence;
Point to grandeur around us,
Exult in abundance.
Yet look up - curious, humble
At the worlds above
And dare to say, repeat again
"This - here - is enough."
***
Find me outdoors
Photos and/or thoughts during my off-grid project.
I’ve been slacking off more than I’d be happy to admit - off-grid percentage total hovered around 45% this week, with the other 55% taken over by dates + outings with friends and family, the cold, weak-minded and smooth-brained excuses, and schedule conflicts with the outside world.
But I did manage to snag a picture of Rags mid-yawn, and a peek at my sleeping/reading/writing area. (As you could tell - it’d be a bad idea for you to try and sneak up on me while I’m inside…)
Give this a listen
The rawness of his voice backed by such rich instrumentation…a performance that stays with me.
Bullet notes from my desk
The past few days have been more draining, messy, and annoying than usual. For the first time in two years, my dog isn’t feeling well - he has a serious infection of some sort, and getting it figured out and healed isn’t turning out to be as simple as using the herbal remedies I already have on hand. I’ve also overbooked myself between exam prep for students, family outings, upcoming travel + events, deadlined writing projects, as well as other things… I’m learning to ride the rapids - if not with a smile, at least without a grimace. Two more weeks to go, for most of these demanding tasks!
I caught myself wishing I was with someone else at a meet-up with a friend earlier this week. (By “caught myself”, I mean recognizing the thought, taking it captive, and laying it aside without emotion as soon it surfaced.)
A month or so ago, such a thought would have lingered in my mind, leading to a fractured focus on the person before me at the moment and perhaps a mess of conflicting emotions building up over time. Yet due to the standards of being and doing I strive to hold to - especially the first two on this list - I have the duty and power to invalidate such a desire and give the person I was with my fully attention. It’s powerful how much power the principles you hold to have over you - to the point of filtering and alerting you to thoughts you may have simply sat with, indulged in, or even hung onto before owning such principles for yourself.