May and I recently traveled to Minnesota for a family gathering. We were there to memorialize a recently passed cousin of mine. While we were there it slowly dawned on me, I was one of the oldest people in the room. It had also been about a decade since the last time we were up there. So a lot of the faces I was seeing looked too old. Kids had grown, young adults were now middle aged with children of their own. There were several that I hadn't seen since far earlier. One young woman I hadn't seen since she was a toddler. A few I hadn't seen since I was a toddler.

We mostly avoi... [More]

My phone chirps, then dings. My phone then rings and messages are everywhere. The chirp is the text message reminding me I have an eye appointment. The ding is the email reminding me of the same appointment. The ringing was also them, and they left me a nice message, reminding me of my eye appointment.

The Information Age has entered it's Overnotification era. My phone dings again, then yet another time. This time a popup from my security app telling me one of my cameras has a low battery, followed by an email telling me the same thing. I decide to try to suggest to the securit... [More]

I have just arrived home from the long awaited RavenCon, which is now in my neck of the woods. From now on, this is my home con.

Michael Pederson put together a decent convention in the face of far too many hardships over the last few years. Not to get into details, but the vast majority of people would have folded under the pressure. I heartily applaud his efforts.

Looking back I recall my trepidation at attending, and indeed, I managed to infodump my sadness upon Gay Rinehart before I could hold my tongue. The man is an angel, though. Instead of placating me wit... [More]

I amaze myself with my ability to remain quick witted and funny during meetings. To bring smiles and laughter to people. Even I find myself enjoying the interactions. Yet when the meeting ends, the screens go blank, it all evaporates like a fine mist on a hot summer day, and I am left empty. It's the emptiness that comes from loss. Personal loss. My Mom, My Dad, and Aunt, two first cousins, and the son of another cousin. All taken by Covid in '20 and '21. I sit here writing this dreading the long awaited memorial for one of my lost first cousins. He was the one who had also been one ... [More]

On January 1st, I wrote. Today, I wrote more than yesterday. It's progress.

After my last blog post (posted originally back in May and reposted later), my mother did pass away. 16 weeks later, my Dad followed her, and 8 weeks after that, we lost my cousin. He had been my best friend in high school.

It felt like the world was coming apart. Like my family was dissolving. Covid-19 has taken at least six people from my family. These last three hit me the hardest. So when you see me arguing with people about getting their shots, just know that it comes from a place of pain and... [More]