I’m staring at my blog right now. You ever do that? Look at something you created and just stare at it in wonder? I often times will look at my blog or my YouTube page and think: “I made that!” It’s a good feeling, but not one you really remember until you’ve created something. It floats out of your consciousness, replaced by the lazy monkey in your brain that I talked about before.

So, September has been a total bust when it comes to reading. I just have not been able to settle my attention enough to actually get any reading done. I wrote back at the half way mark, that I was hoping to catch up. That did not happen. Not at all. I’ve opened a couple books, but I don’t think I’ve read a single page.

I’ve read some fanfiction, but I can’t seem to settle on a book and actually read it. So, I’m challenging myself. From October 1st (tomorrow) to October 31st, I’m going to strive to finish every book on my currently being read list. Right now that consists of:

It’s not like I don’t care about what goes on in the world. I do. But I don’t care about your opinion. It’s not personal, it goes for both sides of the political aisle. I think both sides are full of zealots who would watch the world burn if only they could be proven right. And the thing is, if you’re one of those on the far right or the far left, and you can bring yourself to be honest about it, you know I’m right.

I’m writing this as there is about 1 minute left in the Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia Eagles game. I’ve been an Eagles fan for almost 30 years. I’ve loved sports most of my life. I’ve never been very good at watching my teams, however. I watch, but it doesn’t feel healthy, so I often have to look away or go to another room. The anxiety of being a fan is real, and isn’t something I really enjoy, despite being a huge fan of a lot of teams.

Sometimes, I feel uninspired. Okay, so often times, I feel uninspired. My inspiration or as I call it my “idea generation mechanism”, often only functions in spurts. I’ll go days without thinking of anything new to write about or make a video on, and then BAM! 20 new ideas, right there in the inbox. Then I’ll go without again for days on end.

It can be a bit demoralizing, because on those blank spots, it feels like nothing is getting accomplished. So, as time has gone on, I’ve found the best way to spur idea momentum. I just have an idea. That sounded dumb, but if I can poke and prod my brain into having just a single idea, even if it’s an idea I had before, I often times can spur it into having another and another and another. My entire personality is built on this idea, really. I’ve talked before about how I’m a creature of habit, and that my inertia is set to 0 unless something kicks me into motion. (Not a science guy, so may have used the wrong word there). If I can get my lazy ass to do one thing, I can often prod myself into doing everything I need to do. Once I get the process in motion, I’m good as gold.

I waste a lot of time on YouTube. I’m not proud of it, but I figure as long as I get my stuff done, I’m okay. I watch some very odd things on the ‘Tube, but lately, I’ve gotten into watching people farm. I’ve never worked on a farm before, nor I have I really ever wanted to, but I’m utterly fascinated watching other people do it on YouTube. First off, I had no clue there was so much tech involved. Oh, I knew about tractors, but some of these things have more monitors than I have. The water pivots have cellular technology! My dumbass thought farming was a quaint thing that existed in the same way it did 100 years ago. Now that I think about it, I know better, but I’ve never considered all that goes into it before, not had I thought that farming too had been taken over by the tech industry.

Since the last time I wrote about my updates to the blog, a lot has changed, even if it doesn’t look like it. The menu above has undergone some work. Now it is responsive, has a nice drop down menu that also works well on mobile, and looks a little better in light mode. Oh, yeah, there’s light mode now. If you’re on desktop, there is a button on the upper right that will give you a nice light mode if you want it. I’ve also made it so that it should remember your choice (that took some doing).

Back in August, I participated in Blaugust, an event where the goal was to write every single day during the month. I had a blast, and wrote all 31 days. Back earlier this year, I did a little self-created thing where I wrote for 30 days in a row. I had a great time then as well. I really actually miss challenging myself to write on this blog everyday.

So, I’m going to start up again. Even if I only write 100 words or so, I’ll be able to say I wrote something. Even if I just share a link to someone else’s blog. It still counts. My goal is to do this through the end of the year. This one counts as #1 for September 24th. I may come up with a counter to put on the about page or something like that.

The title really says it all. I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have a dog in my life. There’s just something about dogs that only bring joy and happiness. Not many things in the world are like that. Even the most annoying of mutts will bring a smile to my face, and that joy is priceless.

I know there are cat people out there, and I love cats too, but dogs are different. They offer companionship when you’d otherwise have none. They offer love and compassion when you need it most. When you’re sad or when you’re happy, your dog is there for you.