Open Mic Planning

First Published: 2023 August 4

Draft 1

Apologies in advance, this is me using the need to blog as an excuse to plan my next open mic.

As I mentioned, I need to come up with a setlist for an open mic. I want to start learning more music as well, so hopefully I can.

Right now, I’m thinking the following songs:

• Jonathan Original One¹

• Jonathan Original Three²

• Ring of Fire³

• St. Olav’s Gate⁴

• Fisherman’s Wharf⁵

• I will follow you into the dark⁶

• Maid on the Shore

Now, that may be far more or less music than I need. I think that starting with Maid on the Shore makes the most sense, if only because I know that song like the back of my own hand.⁷ From there, St. Olav’s Gate has a similar love lost, though far more consensually. The love segues into Ring of Fire nicely. From there, doing my first original could be fun, since it’s about heartbreak. My third original could follow that, because that’s the opposite order as last week. Assuming I still have time, I will follow you into the dark is better right now than Fisherman’s Wharf, so I’ll save Fishers for last.

If I still have too much time, Three Fishers is great⁸ If that still isn’t enough music, I guess 45 Years is always a staple, or I could try Til Forever Falls Apart, depending if the friends I hope to show up do show up.⁹

• I made a lot of figures!¹⁰

• I made far less progress on entropy. I’m run down after this week. I still cleaned a little, just only slightly more than the mess I made.

• Blogging streak continued.

• I did not write today¹¹ 2/4+

• I wrote a sonnet last night. I’m beat, so I’ll skip it tonight¹²

• I wrote my first journal entry in the morning. It was weird.

• Shoot! I really need to transcribe the song that I sang to myself.

• I stretched less than before, though it was still nice.

• I am now I think five for five not being in bed early enough this week. Hopefully that trend starts to break.

• I did not do a rosary this morning because I knew that I would be doing one during an adoration hour tonight. That was a mistake, the morning rosary really helps me center my day.

386/158

Lemon Wine Starting and Ending

First Published: 2023 August 3

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Huh, apparently my post in June about lemon wine never posted. Anyways, it’s finally finished. It was almost certainly ready well before I ended up finishing it off, but I was busy and so gave it some extra time.

In the initial recipe notes, I said that I would dry hop it, which I no longer plan to do. I also said I would use three quarts of lemon juice, which ended up not being true. I saw a video discussing oleo citrum¹, and thought about how that could be nice in lemon wine.

So, I ended up peeling six lemons, getting about 4.5 ounces of lemon peel, which I mixed with around that much citric acid, let sit, then blended with the juice from the lemons.² That mixture went into the reracked lemon wine along with stabilizers. I then waited for a bit as I cleaned kegs and found access to CO2 again.

It is now safely inside of a keg, and has been receiving fantastic reviews. I’m really happy with it, and used the dregs from reracking to pitch the next set of lemon wine, which is my laziest attempt yet.

In short, the new version is just the entire 10 pound bag of sugar that I normally use for both fermenting and backsweetening at the beginning with no inverting. I then filled water, trusted that there would be sufficient nutrient, but repitched yeast just to be safe. It’s fermenting away, so I trust that it will go well as well. If so, I plan to dry hop it.

• Made a few figures for the Pleiades³ and added a few lines of text. It’ll need to be done much faster moving forwards.

• I spent ten minutes cleaning this morning and made nice amounts of progress.

• Blogging going well.

• Finished today’s chapter of the book⁴ 2/4+

• Wrote a sonnet yesterday, plan to write one after this.

• Wrote two letters! And posted three⁵

• No work on song, whoops. Should really get on this.

• Stretched for a few minutes this morning, following part of my old diving routine.

• So yeah I’m not prioritizing it as well today.

• Did a nice chapel rosary. Then went and did a corporal work of mercy⁶ and spent time praying at adoration and after. The rosary was far less intentional than yesterday, but growth is almost never straightforward and continuous.

395/63

Open Mic

First Published: 2023 August 2

Draft 1

Assuming my last post about open mics was the last time I went to one,¹ I haven’t been in about two months. I’m glad that it’s been long enough that the staple songs I mentioned no longer feel stale. In particular, Maid on the Shore was everyone I polled’s favorite song.

I had planned on it being like most open mics I’ve gone to at the bar, where I have ten minutes, though finishing early is encouraged. Instead, I had fifteen and a generous fifteen at that. It was fun!

I played two original songs.² I then played Three Fishers, because I love the picking pattern. After that, I made a joke about having time and played The Rose.

By that point I really thought I should be done. I wasn’t which meant I had to start thinking of songs I just know on a deep level. Maid on the Shore is one of those, so I played it.³

Even still I had time! So I finished with 45 Years, which was a little low for me where I set my capo. C’est la vie, live and learn.

I’m very excited to go back next week. I had initially planned to play accordion, but my accordion is out of tune sadly. So, assuming I don’t figure out how to fix it yesterday, it looks like another week of guitar. I suppose I should start thinking of a setlist.

Maid on the Shore deserves an encore, I think at least. I’ve only ever done Treaty⁴ on accordion, but I think it could work on guitar. If not, You Want it Darker maybe? What did the Deep Sea Say is a song my band did, so that could be fun. I Will Follow You Into the Dark is another option, though I’d need to be better at the chords for it. Til Forever Falls Apart also maybe belongs.

My two originals should probably get some more love/playtime too.

• I did minimal work on presentations, though I did finish one that’s due Friday.

• I made progress against entropy! It is nice being able to see more of my floor.

• I blogged yesterday and today! wow a streak

• I finished the chapter of Jeb! I’m also starting another. Total this week: 1.4/4+?

• I wrote a poem yesterday and am going to write another after this post.

• I wrote and posted a letter!

• I did not work on my song, though I meant to.

• I stretched this morning!

• I am out too late again, though it was a friend’s birthday, so I feel less than bad about it.

• I did a rosary in the chapel this morning! It was hard to stay focused, but easier than historically, which is nice.

457/33

Monthly Reflection

First Published: 2023 August 1

Draft 1

Woo! Another month passed. It hardly feels real that it’s been a month, but what a month it’s been.

I gave three talks in state parks, signed up for another four(?), and very recently was reached out to for another two talks this fall about the eclipse! I went to a conference. I went to a mission trip. I rediscovered my love of pinball.

I finished the first book in my web serial. I finished the first batch of lemon wine for the summer!¹ Last night, I made it back to an open mic for the first time in a while.²

So: looking back at my goals.

• Make my home clean again and invite a friend over. I have actual time in it this month, so that should be easier.

  I don’t know why I thought I was actually at home this past month. By the 19th I had spent a total of four nights in it. It was a packed month. Home is cleaner, though still too cluttered.

• Continue blogging/find a way to do it during my conference. I know I won’t have time for it next Thursday, because I’m volunteering.

  I did not blog anywhere near as much as I would have liked to, but I did at least get seven in last month. That’s more than half of June.

• I’d like to exercise more. Ideally daily, but

  I exercised nowhere near as much as I in theory want, for all that I don’t feel like I was particularly sedentary. I am far stiffer now than ever before in my life, though, so morning stretching might need to return at a minimum.

• Once again, I’d like to develop a sleep schedule that gives me enough and gets me up early (6am)

  Sleep schedule was generally pretty 6am centric. I don’t think all of the breaks were my fault.

• I’d like to make more time for prayer, or at least be more intentional about my prayer

  Prayer was not as intentional as I would’ve liked, but it’s a journey.

• I absolutely need to get five chapters ahead, if only because I want to start monetizing.

  I am just under four chapters ahead right now. That’s better than nothing.

• Doing some sort of poetry each day seems like a doable goal, if not a low bar.

  I wrote maybe three poems.

• I would like to get through my stack of letters³

  I think I’m through every letter I meant to write at the start of July. My list is now only five long.

This upcoming month I’m excited for:

• My birthday!

• Giving five talks in state parks

• Sharing lemon wine with friends

• Finishing my stack of letters⁴

• Starting to do open mics regularly again

• Staying up on all of my book clubs

• Making progress on research

• Monetizing my story?⁵

Using last month’s goals and the excitement as a way to generate a list of goals:

• Finish my presentation on the Pleiades.⁶

• Make my home clean again. It was at the start of the summer, so I know it’s possible.

• Blog more. Last month I wrote 12 percent less⁷ than in June, which I think is mostly a lack of blogs.

• Stretch daily? I think that would be good for me and probably doable. I’ll need to stretch after this, which is less than ideal since it’s already past my bed time, but eh.

• Sleep enough and have a sleep schedule based around waking up no later than 6⁸

• Be more intentional about prayer. I think one thing that could help is making an actual commitment to doing a rosary at the chapel before work every day, on the road days that I’m not in Madison, before Mass on Sundays, and during a walk on Saturdays. That’s at least a little bit I can do, though today it will have to come after stretching.

• Get further ahead on the book. In particular, I’d like to set the goal of more than four chapters a week.⁹ That seems both very doable¹⁰ and helpful to me.

• Write poetry every day. I need to remind myself that I like the way I am more when I do more poetry. I do, so hopefully this works.

• Finish stack of letters, and maybe think of more people to write to? Otherwise, start journaling during my morning time?

• Write a song. I loved premiering my new song last night, and want to do that more.

So, my daily reflections will look like:¹¹

• Did I work on presentations?¹²

• Did I make progress against entropy in my home?

• Did I blog today/yesterday, depending on when written?¹³

• Did I write book today? How many chapters am I at this week /4+?

• Did I write poetry today/yesterday, depending on when written?

• Did I write a letter/journal today?

• Did I work on a new song?

• Did I stretch?

• Did I prioritize sleep?¹⁴

• Did I pray the rosary? Was it intentional? Did I prioritize other prayer today as well?

As an example:¹⁵

• Didn’t do much work, honestly.

• Slight progress against entropy.

• Blogged today, forgot yesterday/got home well past bed time and fought my keg.¹⁶

• Wrote about half a chapter today .9/4+

• Will write a poem after this

• I did not write a letter or journal today.

• I did not work on a song.

• I will stretch.

• I tried to prioritize sleep today, though I’m not by writing a poem and stretching after this.¹⁷

• I do not think I’ll be awake through a rosary today.

Reflecting

First Published: 2023 July 30

Draft 1

Prereading note: this is incredibly rambly, because it’s A: being written at the speed of thought, and B: intentionally longer than I generally make musings.¹

So, I’ve realized that I’m feeling really self introspective right now. There are a number of reasons, I’m sure. I’m aware of at least a couple, though.

I took a long nap earlier today. I don’t know whether it’s the exhaustion which requires a nap or the act of napping, but I find that my days spent after a nap are much more inward facing² than the norm. More than that, though, when I woke from my nap, I realized that nothing on my to do list was actually something I needed to do. That was really freeing, because it let me ask myself whether I actually wanted to do what I had said.

In a number of cases, I did. I wanted to exercise, though I really did not³ want to run. Instead, I found an online yoga class, which was probably a better use of my time.⁴ I wanted to eat, and so got to be mindful about what I cooked. I did actually want to write a chapter of my book, though I did not want to write two.⁵ I wanted to write a letter to a friend, and now I’ve written it.

Of course, that is another reason for my introspection. I tend to write my letters first thing in the morning,⁶ in part because I find that the walk to work helps to recenter me. Without that centering, I was forced to sit and be with my thoughts. I also wrote a short journal for the first time in far, far too long. It was a short musing, but it was good for me to get back into the practice, at least a little.

Also, despite the fact that I went to Mass and then brunch with friends, the rest of my day has been spent in isolation. Especially since the nap somewhat reset my sense of day, I really feel like I’ve been alone this whole day. Interesting, unlike other times that has happened, I do not feel bad about it.⁷ That’s likely due to the yoga, since staying in is extremely correlated for me at least with not exercising.

And so, with the perfect storm of everything leading me into reflection and nothing preventing me from posting a musing, it seems appropriate to muse on reflecting. This post could equally be about musing, or about the purpose of this blog. I opened my journal entry with “Dear Future Me,” which I know I’ve talked about before as my primary intended audience. By explicitly framing it, though, I realized that there are a number of questions I have for my future self.⁸

It really made me think about what changes I’ve gone through in my time being explicitly introspective. I’ve come home from a time abroad. For all that it was absolutely a real experience, it does often live in my memory as somewhat of a hazy dream. Even when I read my explicitly chronological musings, I find that I disbelieve the chronology of my time there.

After that, I really began doing research far more legitimately.⁹ A summer spent bonding with other chemists really made me realize that my passions were best served going into chemistry, rather than¹⁰ music.

I lived through a massive pandemic.¹¹ During that pandemic, I only just missed the second most destructive storm in American history.¹² I moved to a new place, further from my family than I ever had been for an open ended period of time.¹³

I started dating someone seriously for the first time in my life. I started a band. I got a Master’s¹⁴ Degree. I became a PhD candidate.

I have gone through half a dozen journals, changing my penmanship in each. Within those journals are an interesting cross section of my life. Entire courses of notes are contained within them. Other courses are completely removed from them, because I decided to take notes on other platforms.

There are poems and songs aplenty, for all that I don’t ever plan to revisit most of them. I do often think about the fact that I used to be able to write a sonnet a night without too much thought. What happened in my life that I feel busier than I ever have before, despite doing what feels like far less?

In college, I maintained a high GPA while taking overloads of courses, doing sports and music, and having a social life. In graduate school, I no longer take classes, I don’t do any explicit sport or music, and I feel like my social life is nearly nonexistent. But, I do also write a book now, which is gradually becoming less weird for me to claim.

After all of the writing advice that my father tried to instill in me, I stopped writing in a five paragraph essay mode. Of course, that meant that I began having far more paragraph breaks. For a while, I think likely due to the book I was writing, that meant that I would write paragraphs all of three sentences each. As I become¹⁵ more aware of that trend, I’ve tried to buck it.

And yet, what’s the point of everything that I do? In five years, I will likely never revisit my journals. In ten years, I may forget that I ever had a blog. If I have children, my thoughts at a time before they existed might be a comfort to them when I’m gone. Of course, that presumes that my journals will even survive that long.¹⁶

What about the book that I’m writing, though? I enjoy writing it, at least sometimes. I like the nice comments that I get.¹⁷ I know that there’s the whole “not every hobby has to be money producing to be valuable,” but I still sometimes wonder about the value of my book. My journaling and blogging, at least, help me reflect explicitly on what’s going on in my life and hopefully¹⁸ lead me closer to G-d and an eternity in His loving embrace. Writing my book does not make me feel holier,¹⁹ which probably isn’t great. On the other hand, writing my book does make me write more. And, at least²⁰ 879 people enjoy the book enough to follow it. I suppose that making other’s days brighter is worth a lot.

When I look back at myself this time next year, what will I wish that I spent more time on? I have to imagine that it will be similar things that I wish past me had spent time on now. I wish that I would have practiced art, though I can never really explain why. I wish that I would be better at organizing. And, despite the fact that one of my most common compliments²¹ is that I am good at keeping in touch, I wish I did better at that.

So, where does that leave me? I’m not totally sure. What I do know is that, for all the choices past me made that I’m less than thrilled about, I can’t deny that I ended up where I feel like I should be. The people I’ve met throughout this journey remain important to me.

Oh, I just realized I never posted yesterday’s post. Whoops.

• I cleaned a bit today, though not as much as I had wanted upon waking. I at least feel more ok with the fact that I have higher priorities right now than decluttering.

• I blogged today and yesterday.

• I did yoga, and will do a self guided stretch after this.

• I went to an improv show last night, so slept in this morning.²²

• I went to mass, and will plan to pray a rosary as I drift off again

• I wrote two chapters yesterday and another chapter today. That means that I’m four ahead, which means that if²³ I manage to write two tomorrow, I will finally be five ahead.

• I wrote an aggressively bad poem. That is still better than not writing a poem at all, though, so I’ll be happy with it.

• As mentioned, I wrote a letter. It was probably one of my less coherent letters, which is a shame.

1381/267

Book Review of Maus

First Published: 2023 July 29

Draft 1

Maus is a book that I feel like I’ve always known existed. Despite that, I do not believe that I read it before this year. I can be honest with myself and admit that a large part of the reason I ended up picking it up is the fact that schools are replacing it in their curricula.

For those who don’t know, Maus is a graphic novel about a man’s experience interviewing his father about surviving the Shoah.¹ The Jewish people are represented by mice,² Germans are represented by cats,³ and Poles are represented by pigs.⁴⁵ Some see the choice of animal characters as a way to make the horrors seem more abstract, in a way that humans would not. I can’t find anything explicit about why he chose to use animals in the novel, and so I’ll just accept it for the literary device that it is.

Being semi-autobiographical and written in two parts separated by a vast gulf of time, the story drives you to keep turning the page. The first book sets the framing as a man interviewing his father⁶ about his experiences. The first book covers from before the war until his father is sent to Auschwitz. There is an element of dark humor in the way that dramatic moments within his father’s younger life⁷ are interjected by the reminder that the book is telling the story of collecting the story.⁸ After revealing something horrifying about the war, the book will cut back to Art’s father complaining about something minor in the present of the book.

Around two months after reading the collected version, the opening of the second book sticks with me the most. It is a panel with a plethora of labeled numbers. A few jump out immediately: the number of Jews who died in the Shoah, the time since the last book was published, the time since his father died, and the time since his daughter was born. Because the book is now being written also as a memorial to his father, a third timeline is now explicitly introduced to the story.

Book two of Maus is the story of someone realizing that they have lost a relationship with their now dead father while listening to recordings of their interviews about his time in the Shoah. Where the first book emphasized that Art’s father had some ridiculous complaints, the second highlights how much his father was trying to manufacture reasons to see his son. Interjected between scenes of the abject horror of a concentration camp, the framing of a strained relationship of father and son becomes all the more heartbreaking. More, scenes where his father scrimps to save every last piece of money or food become far more reasonable when he discusses how that tendency is one reason⁹ that he was able to survive the horrors he did.

The book is a fairly quick read. If you haven’t read it, you should. The fact that it is being banned or even restricted is horrifying to me.

I cannot think of anything else to say about the book, if only because I lack the words to express the way that it made me feel. Most books that I read do little to affect me mentally or emotionally. Those that do tend to tug on a single chord of my heart string or line of thought that I can identify and follow and recognize. Maus hit me and continues to hit me like a tidal wave.

¹⁰

Mission Trip Recap

First Published: 2023 July 27

Draft 1

At the beginning of the month, I volunteered for a local mission trip. For those not in the know, mission trips are often experiences for middle and high school aged youth to travel somewhere, do nominal service, and pray about it. I¹ tend to take issue with the fact that they often require very expensive travel and that they do minimal actual good. Likely to help combat that trend, my local diocese has a program which does most of those same elements but locally in the diocese.

It was a really incredible event, for all that it was a bit of an accident.² Over the three days that we were there, we helped maintain the diocesan offices,³ helped a family with a newborn to maintain their home,⁴ and then finished the lawn work that other groups had done for a woman with advanced MS.⁵

I, along with another leader who had not done this before, were responsible for shepherding some middle schoolers, directing them in their work and making sure that they were safe and engaged. It was a shockingly easy job, especially compared to the horror stories I had been told.⁶ On all three days, we finished every task well ahead of schedule, which was a really nice feeling.

As mentioned in one of the footnotes,⁷ the third day was the one that I felt best about. When we were packing up, the woman made her way to the front of her home for the first time in weeks. She teared up upon seeing all of her hedges neatly trimmed and the detritus in her lawn cleaned up. Knowing that trimming a hedge, something that is not difficult for me, means so much to someone who cannot really made me reflect on the many blessings I’ve been given.

Of course, being a Catholic camp, there was a lot of time for prayer. We had Mass every day, and I was even asked to do the readings for the first day’s Mass, which was really nice, if incredibly stressful. It is also a camp, and so there were bonding activities, and time for the kids to play.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and I really hope that I’m able to do it again next year. I’m sure that there is more to say about the experience,⁸ but I think that this is enough detail for me to recall the event later on, which is one of the primary goals of this blog.

• I cleaned the smallest possible amount. I did move a friend out of their home, though, which counts to me.

• I did blog today⁹ and also did the day before. I think I’m getting back into it.

• It was¹⁰ far too hot for me to feel comfortable exercising outside. I did spend two or three hours this morning moving a friend, though¹¹, so I think that counts in many respects.

• As with a week ago, I set my alarm for half seven and woke at six. I’ll still be rising earlier tomorrow.

• I made it to the chapel for a quick prayer this morning, and I did night prayer tonight after the theology discussion I went to.

• About halfway through a chapter, which I think is as much as I can do tonight. I’m beat from the day¹²

• I did not do poetry today, but I did think about the nature of language and poetry, which is close enough to me

• I again managed to write a letter. That’s really nice, for all that the explicit goal for the month was empty my pile. The fact that it’s nearly doubled feels a little unfair to me.¹³

611/168

On Writing Again

First Published: 2023 July 26

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Wow one month to the day since my last post on writing. I guess I should look at what I thought then, before entering into what I wanted to write about.¹

I still use Stimuwrite for my writing, and it remains a really good motivator. It’s somehow good enough that it’s kept me going this whole summer. I am absolutely more efficient with it now, because the numbers going up give me dopamine rushes, which are really nice.

I am still absolutely atrocious at writing poetry.² I should figure out why that is. I’m sure that it has something to do with my lack of schedule anymore, but that’s just an idea.

I have continued writing letters to friends, which has been great.³ I’ve stopped counting those words in my word goals, which feels healthy.

I also have absolutely not been journaling in the slightest. I don’t really think that’s an issue, though, because I haven’t felt particularly disconnected from myself lately. I think the grounding of writing to friends helps a lot.

Interestingly, every sentence in this musing, other than the first, begins with the letter “I”, and almost all of them are the word. I guess it is a self reflection, so that makes some amount of sense.

Anyways, on to the real content of this musing. I recently got a fountain pen, and have been using it for the analog writing I do. It’s an interesting transition, for a few reasons.

First, it’s a little thicker than the utensils i’ve been using lately. Despite being labeled as ultrafine, it’s still about thirty percent wider than the nibs I’m used to. It’s also a lot heavier than my pencils and pens, which is a welcome change, though one that takes some adjustment. Getting ink to run has been a little more difficult than expected, though I’m hopeful that will change in the future. All in all, I’m very excited to see what comes of my new writing implement.⁴

• I cleaned a fair amount today, though that was mainly because it was necessary to clean space in order to move the things I needed to move. I also washed some objects that had an indeterminate need to be washed, though since I plan on using them soon, it’s likely good that they’re clean now.

• I am about to write a chapter, which I began this morning.

• My last musing’s Tuesday next has come and past, and I have not made time for exercise. I guess that’s something I need to start slotting back in.

• I woke up at six and immediately returned to sleep, which is a choice.

• I have been listening to CCCiaY, though not today. Prayer has been slipping again, so I should probably try to pray tonight before bed.

• Today’s chapter came up on time, and I need to write Friday’s now. I did write the first few hundred words of it for today’s chapter, before realizing it was best served as a cliffhanger.

• Once more, today will be a day without poetry.

• I wrote and gave a letter today. The friend appreciated it, and I heard that another letter was delivered, and yet another was appreciated as well. I also addressed around five new ones since my last posting, which means the pile is in no risk of emptying.⁵

554/121

Conference Recap

First Published: 2023 July 20

Draft 1

Once more, I’ve made it back from a conference where I didn’t blog at all. This is the other important conference my group goes to. It happens¹ bidecadally², which means this is likely going to be the only time that I attend it. In part because I was exhausted from beforehand, I don’t know if I retained as much science at this conference as I would have liked. But, I do absolutely think that I had a lot more professional networking than I expected to

This conference was for the entirety of my³ field. There were two poster sessions and otherwise almost exclusively invited talks. The talks really ran the gamut for the entirety of the field.

External to the explicit conference but related because I was there at the geographical location in the specific time, I also had some fun experiences. They took us on a hike to a national lakeshore.⁴ I bought two supplies for brewing.⁵ I also learned⁶ that I love pinball. I don’t really know what to make of that.

• I did clean a little. More importantly, though, I made minimal mess, which means that I’m further ahead. A lot of that comes from closing a few cabinets that I perpetually leave open.

• I wrote another chapter today! I did minimal poetry, though I am ok with that.

• I’m accepting and embracing that I won’t really have time to exercise before Tuesday next.⁷

• I set an alarm for half seven today and woke up around six anyways. I’m now getting to bed too late, but will still be up bright⁸ and early.

• I listened to more CCCiaY, and I managed to find time to go to chapel to pray a rosary. It was really nice.

• Today’s chapter was still longer than normal⁹, but shorter than yesterday’s. I’ve finished the first arc in my story, which is funny, because it took twice as many chapters as expected.

• I’m not going to write explicit poetry today.

• I wrote a letter and posted it. I remembered one person I was supposed to address a letter to, addressed it, and hopefully am not forgetting anyone. I also queued another letter to be addressed and then written.

366/68

Universe in the Park Part 3

First Published: 2023 July 18

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The time between UitP posts is decreasing. Thankfully,¹ I’ve got a fairly long break before the next one.

This past trip was two State Parks, one of which I spoke at last year, and the other of which I had never been to before. The talks contained identical slides², but some lovely people³ who went to both said that the content of the talks was wildly different. There were fewer questions, though the attendance was worse than before, so that makes some amount of sense. In defense of the world: the first talk happened just after a thunderstorm that took out power in the entire area and downed a tree near where I was speaking. The second talk was double booked against a number of concerts.

I still had a fantastic time, though. I got to spend time beside a fantastic body of water.⁴ Both nights managed to clear up in time for star gazing, which means that I went from being one in four talks successfully stargazing to three of six. One more and I hit a majority.

Iteration continues to be true, and I’ve now done four of nine for the summer. There’s a tenth that remains tempting, and a tentative winter talk, but those shall come or not as they’re meant to.⁵

For monthly goals:

• I did not clean much today, though I’m about to do a bit.

• I wrote a whole chapter today, this post, and yesterday a song draft.⁶

• I still haven’t been as active as I’d like to, but wow am I exhausted.

• I woke at six today, which was fantastic. Tomorrow I hope I can do the same.

• I did CCCiaY on the walk to work today, and I’m planning to do a rosary tonight.

• I wrote a⁷ chapter today, which was great. If I can keep this up for the rest of the month, I’ll be ahead.

• As mentioned, I wrote a song yesterday. I’ll hopefully remember a poem tonight.

• I wrote a fourth letter and posted them all today. I’ve forgotten entirely who one of the people I promised a letter to was, which is a major shame. I will keep hoping to find them.

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