Another way to use this space: as a public, wholly owned commonplace book collecting noteworthy social media posts.
To wit: these two Threads comments copied here; the socials are helping me redefine my faith in ways arcane theological tomes and banal “Christian living” bestsellers cannot.
I came across a Threads post mentioning Lucy Lawless. I never watched “Xena: Warrior Princess,” so whenever I see her name, I remember this one SNL skit where she did a bang-on Stevie Nicks impression. I can no longer listen to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac without thinking about burritos.
Rewatching scenes from the last episode of “Ted Lasso” season 4. It just dawned on me who Tanya Reynolds (Alice) reminds me of: the late, great Shelley Duvall. A muted, less eccentric Shelley Duvall. That’s still a compliment.
Since I’m populating this space again, it’s time to re-identify myself. From a Threads post I uploaded a bit ago:
I’m perennially on the lookout for fellow fans of
In addition, I explore (in my head, anyway)
I also nurse a lot of disgust with the ways I’ve wasted my life up till now. After I turned 60 in March, my sense of mortality intensified considerably.
Even with – or perhaps because of – all that, I remain a barrel of laughs.
I generally use spaces like this for stream-of-consciousness ruminating and publishing updates on my life for the handful of people who wish to keep up with me. I had a Substack newsletter for a while – after I was laid off in March 2025 – but became disenchanted with the platform as well as annoyed with the marketing and self-imposed deadlines involved.
This looks like the making of a new “About” page for this site.
Noodling around with some of these “My 9 [fill in the blank]” things going around. First off, music – the hardest list for me to whittle down. (And for the record – pun unintended – that seventh one should be “Township Swing Jazz! Vol. 1,” but I couldn’t find the cover.)
Huh. This space is still here.
I’ve been thinking about ditching Micro.blog. I’ve long since stopped posting anything to its shared timeline because the “community” has become largely insular and uninspiring, and its user-friendliness as a customizable blogging platform is lacking. Unless you’re a coding nerd with lots of free time, it’s not for you.
That said, I’m probably lodged here for the long haul because of sheer laziness, and I need space for posting. At 60, it feels like time is too short to bother downloading my data here, exporting it to a new platform, and starting over. At least for now.
I can think of a few people in my world right now.
I need to watch “The Big Lebowski” again.
I don’t always enjoy my birthday, but I do appreciate that it falls on International Women’s Day. And this year is my 60th, which also dredges up mixed feelings, especially as it precedes the anniversary of my first ever layoff.
That said, I will mark this event today with family, the unhinged Pixar beaver movie, and Indian takeout. And then I head to my favorite Franciscan hermitage for a couple of quiet days this week.
Thanks for being here for me this past year of weirdness and upheaval.
Welp, I’m a week late in starting my first #100DayProject. But it’s a nice way to start one of my favorite months of the year.
I found a box of 100 blank business cards and decided to attempt doing something with those. It’s been a while since I created anything, so I’ve reverted to my old collaging habits with scraps and stamps and stickers.
I’m clearly rusty, but it’s nice to have fun again. But I have 90-something more days to play with other media or ideas on these things. It’s nice to have a distraction to look forward to.
I will be spending a penitential Lenten Friday afternoon watching an anime movie about Japanese horse girls. Pray for me.
Is sushi supposed to have a ton of mayo and enough cream cheese to choke a bagel?
Also, I think the crunchy topping may have been Funyuns. Which I think is the name of one of the historic Edo period dynasties.
Happy Lenten Friday.
Been largely static for the past few weeks. Didn’t bother with a newsletter last week, and I spend much of my mornings in bed with abdominal cramps. My right hip and lower back hurt. Minimizing caffeine in case that’s aggravating gut issues.
A post on Bluesky pimping a former freelancer’s workshop triggered me this morning. The freelancer went ballistic on us a couple of times with angry emails after getting negative feedback on their work, even sending ostensibly whistleblowing complaints to the agency we were contracting with.
In short, that person is nuts, and yet they’re working somewhat and I’m not.
It’s been almost a year since I was laid off. I’ve been up and down about it. I’d like to think that recalibrating and recovering from burnout would take less than a year. Yet it feels like I have yet to recover much at all. If anything, I’m in even more of an existential crisis than I was a year ago.
Who am I, really? I mean, almost all the people who told me who or what I should be are dead. And I’ve effectively cut out of my life whoever else insists on telling me what to do with myself. I’m not sure I’ve ever taken the opportunity to really decide for myself who or what to be. And on the verge of my 60th birthday, that’s an overwhelming feeling.
This Peacock live stream makes me wish I could catch the CBC Olympic coverage like I did two summers ago during a Detroit hotel stay.
NBC just reminded us that Snoop Dogg will be making an appearance with the Jamaican bobsledding team. Of course he is.
Based on the wrapped-in-aluminum models bearing the names of the countries, apparently the theme of the Opening Ceremony is “hostage situation.”
Bleah. Riding a writing wave in the wee hours took me down. Hoping the antibiotic I just took will help.
Currently preparing for a client meeting later this afternoon with the soothing sounds of Olympic curling on my PC. Never has the sound of sweeping calmed my soul so much.
I once interviewed with the Post’s online operation. Worst interview of my career; I was catatonic during most of it. Fortunately the Tribune came along and I landed there.
The Post’s demise is a gut punch. Finally pulled the plug on all my Amazon subscriptions. Done with enabling crap like this.
Finally got to a dentist today for The Toothache of All Toothaches. Now amped up on antibiotics, Tylenol/codeine, and generic Ora-jel. Whee.
Anticipating a 2-tooth extraction in the coming weeks.
Happy February, friends! 😬
Just watched: “Arco” (2025). Phenomenal and sad look at humankind’s near future, with a kinder and more peaceful look at Earth beyond that. 🍿
I really didn’t need a toothache this weekend.
Got an unsurprisingly bland homily proclaiming a generic “Christ is the answer” at Mass, but I did appreciate the mention of “from Minnesota … to Venezuela” toward the end.
Still a lot better than the guy at our former parish who quoted Candace Owens from the pulpit. 😐
You know it’s a postseason Sunday in Chicagoland when an entire family in matching Walter Payton jerseys comes up for Communion and the priest ends Mass with “Go Bears!”