It’s dark. And my son is still in the backyard getting ready for tryouts next week. Trying to make the high school JV lacrosse team as a 7th grade goalie.
Sitting on a bench on the Horseshoe and A SQUIRREL JUMPED ON MY KNEE and then took off. I think he was as startled as I was.
Enterprise has me in their system as “Roberta” instead of “Robert A.” They just called asking for Roberta, and were very confused.
Almost as funny as how Pet Smart has me in their system as “Bub” instead of “Bob.”
Today would have been my mom’s 80th birthday. Thinking about her today.
After two weeks of kids being sick and snow days, today I have the rarest of occurrences… a normal day without a single scheduled meeting. If you are looking for me today, I’ll be at my desk getting things done.
Big party at Craft and Draft Irmo to celebrate their 5th anniversary. That’s right, the opened in January 2020 right before COVID shut the world down. So glad our favorite local bar is still thriving.
Parasocial
In one of my early grad school classes, we had a conversation and some readings on parasocial relationships… mostly one-sided relationships you “build” with people that you watch on tv, listen to on the radio, or subscribe to their podcasts. We think we know these people. Maybe at some point we met them, but our real “relationship” is surface level. We might know their favorite athlete or actor, but have no idea what their spouse’s name is.
Six years ago, I wrote a blog post encouraging people to ask “why” they post to Facebook? I reread it last night and at the end, I found this gem:
Now the hard part: Start asking “why” before you post? Understand the impact of your words before you comment. Or like. Or share. In all likelihood, this exercise will cause you will post less. Comment less. Like less. That’s okay. The only person who will get upset that you are using Facebook less is Mark Zuckerberg. (And honestly, he’s too busy trying to collect all your personal data to notice.)
Still true today. And not just for Facebook.
Iconfactory’s Tapestry is nearing release. I love being able to scroll through a unified feed with Micro.Blog, Bluesky, YouTube, RSS feeds and more. I’m so impressed with how it’s come together and steadily improved during the beta process.
For a class research project, I’ve been reading some journal articles about how to build more positive social media platforms. Sadly, I’m not sure it’s possible. I admire the people who are legitimately trying, though.
Had to take a few more pictures of the snow before it melts… the park behind our house is beautiful when blanketed in snow.
A little snow in Columbia, South Carolina is a big deal.
If the Bills win, it will set up a battle between Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and Hailee Steinfeld’s fiancé.
Helping my 7th grader understand linear regressions for his algebra class… I suppose this is normal? I was much older when I learned how to do linear regressions. As in, grad school.
Just ordered a custom Timbuk2 backpack to replace my 12-year-old custom Timbuk2 messenger bag. The messenger bag is still in good shape… pretty impressive for over a decade of daily use.
Reflections from 1.19.2025
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page. My first “Now” update of 2025. The start of the year has been chaotic. Cold weather and threat of snow, but only a couple of flurries. Then, last week, both kids had the flu. The semester started and I’m taking two classes. Work remains busy. Tomorrow is MLK Day and it’s a holiday for us. Hoping to use the day off to recharge and reset.
Enjoyed Star Wars Skeleton Crew. Fun show. Loved the 1980s Goonies vibe and would love more Star Wars like this.
I’m going to get a Micro.One subscription for my dad. He wants a place to share family geneology, stories and pictures and I think Micro.One is perfect for him.
My wife and I are making some changes around the house. Mostly rearranging existing furniture and cleaning out stuff we don’t use. But every time we make an improvement, we see something else that we need to tackle. It’s a seemingly never ending upgrade cycle.
People are talking about the “new” Honda logo that is used on their Honda Zero electric car prototypes they showed off at CES, but in reality, they announced that logo quietly last year.