Category: Gist of It All

My commentary on life, writing, making art, and blogging.

A Grumble Post

Sometime in March, my Facebook page stopped showing my WordPress posts feeds. I haven’t found out why, but both FB/Meta and WP/Jetpack tell me everything is in working order at their ends. (Does anyone else smell something rotten in those answers?) After I was unable to resolve the problem, I changed the name of my … Continue reading A Grumble Post

My Early Years

I recall when Nike introduced their Just Do It slogan. It caught on like wildfire with my friends and me—most of us educators. Another saying from around that time was the Latin Carpe Diem, which translates to “Seize the Day” and was a reminder for us to live each day to the fullest and appreciate … Continue reading My Early Years

Criticism

Over the years I’ve learned that there are some commonalities between being an artist who paints landscapes and wildlife, and an author who self-publishes his books. First, obviously, is that I “self”-publish my art as well as my books. But more importantly, both my art and my books go into the world and are judged. … Continue reading Criticism

Lucky 13

The WordPress team let me know yesterday that I’ve been blogging with them for 13 years. Blogging with WordPress actually began in January 2011 while I created my pages. I called my blog “Creating New Worlds” and published my ABOUT page and my first post on February 17th. My blog has gone through several changes … Continue reading Lucky 13

Three Days Later

It’s three days after my birthday and I’m quietly reflecting on my mom’s birthday. Her birthday is today and she would have been 85. She was 17 when I was born, after her doctor told her she couldn’t give birth to any children. We proved him wrong that day. My earliest memories of my mom … Continue reading Three Days Later

My Birthday Again

It’s my birthday today. I celebrated it early this year by taking advantage of the unseasonal springlike weather this week and getting together with my 89-year-old dad on Thursday morning, getting a birthday haircut at the barbershop that afternoon, and eating a birthday fish dinner yesterday. Some gifts from my wife came earlier in the … Continue reading My Birthday Again

Back On Track

Sometime at the end of October and the first of November of last year, Microsoft made a major automatic update to their Windows 11 program that crippled my two-year-old laptop and left it limping into December and the first couple weeks of January until it crashed and died. That left me with my phone to … Continue reading Back On Track