Tag: Internet

Read, Read, Read

There are things that school can’t prepare you for. There are challenges that no lesson you’ve learned will make you ready to face. There are everyday struggles that are mere myths in childhood and imposing realities in adulthood.

Schools don’t teach everything. They’re meant to prepare kids to thrive in life, but schools are remiss in important things, like how to budget money or how to replace a flat tire. Practical things, things that we end up learning through other means. That we all too often end up having to learn on our own.

Isn’t it amazing, then, that we live in a world where such information is so readily available? In the second it takes you to pull out your phone, thousands of years of knowledge is at your service. We carry around the weight of history in our pockets. We can read. We can read everything. How to take care of your car, how to fix your computer, how to paint your bedroom, how to fix a broken chair. So much knowledge, so much teaching, and we barely have to look very hard for it. We just have to be willing to read.

Say what you will about misinformation and gossip online, but facts, the useful kind, are just as easily found. So read. Read everything. If in doubt about how to cook a meal, read about it online. Curious about the history of the city you live in? Read up on that, too. Read, read, read.

And if you’re concerned about possible misinformation, then read about the same subject in different sources. Use your head. Figure things out. We aren’t being kept in the dark as much as we might think. A lot is online, enough to make the Library of Alexandria look like the preschooler’s section at your local bookstore.

Don’t know what the Library of Alexandria is? Guess what? You can look that up right now!

And if you aren’t one for the Internet (although, seeing as how you’re reading this blog, well …), there are still plenty of options. Libraries, bookstores, garage sales, hole-in-the-wall shops. Books are still everywhere. Buy some, read them, learn, grow. Reading is learning. Learning is independence.

I’m completely biased in saying this. I’m a writer and reader. I love words. Though I grew up loving the tactile feel of a book in my hands, I recognize how useful the Internet is for learning stuff that isn’t just silly and random. There is so much to learn. So much of it can be found for free. You’d be surprised how much of it is just there. Not hidden, not obfuscated. It’s out there. We just have to be willing to look.

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Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

Ye Olden Internet Days

Do you remember life before the Internet?

I certainly remember life with less Internet, though I’m not quite old enough to remember a time predating it. I grew up in the days of dial-up when going online meant not being able to use landline phones (I remember those, too) and television had no online connection. In fact, quite a few things weren’t online. Phones weren’t, cars weren’t, watches weren’t, heck, even there wasn’t even Wifi.

Streaming certainly a thing. Once upon a time, watching Netflix meant having a physical copy mailed to you to rent and return. Speaking of TV and movies, you watched them on a channel, stuck a cassette into a VCR, or went to a movie theater. This was the days before YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. There was MySpace, but I never used that so I can’t say much about it.

I do remember early Internet sites fondly, for some reason. Wikis didn’t exist, so people made websites more or less from scratch. Fewer templates, though there was AngelFire and similar tools. No Wix or WordPress yet. Fan sites looked unique. Silly, too, at times, especially compared to today’s sleek designs. Graphics weren’t a big thing, so a web page was mostly a bunch of text and a few pictures. And we were happy with what we got, you young whippersnappers!

Anyway, I’m not that old, but technology has a habit of making you think you are. It moves very fast, and in another thirty years, we’ll probably look at today’s Internet as something akin to the abacus. Or maybe we’ll go back to using the abacus because our calculators keep spitting out ads after every sum.

Yeah, we didn’t get many ads back then, either. Heh.

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Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

“Hermes is not having the best time. He walks a fine line, and his duty as messenger of Olympus weighs heavily on him. Being a god in the modern age means living in a world that no longer believes in gods. How much can one deity accomplish when no one respects him anymore? And why do his instincts tell him that he, the son of Zeus, is losing favor with his own family?

Tensions abound. The upstart Young Gods play dangerous games using entire cities as their boards. Formless monsters strike from the nighttime shadows, terrorizing hapless mortals. Agents of rival pantheons scheme to thwart Olympus’ designs. In the thick of it all, Hermes does what he does best: trick, lie, and cheat his way to victory.“

When I Was Born …

… the world changed forever.

The Berlin Wall came down. I’m fairly certain this was a direct consequence of my birth.

The original Michael Keaton Batman movie opened in theaters. Also a direct consequence of my existence, no doubt.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid also opened in theaters. I claim direct responsibility for the Disney Renaissance, thank you.

The first commercial internet service providers became available. Because of me, of course.

Can you guess what year I was born?

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life. With a dash of dry humor.

Taking A Risk

What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to?

I’m not much of a big risk-taker in general, but then again, everyone’s definition of “risk” varies. What’s mundane for you can be nerve-rattling for me, and vice versa.

A friend of mine runs a podcast and has invited me to join it one day. For me, that’s a risk, not because I really stand to lose anything, but because I’m the nervous sort. Podcasts aren’t the same as public speaking, but they are public, and I’m neither the most photogenic nor the most outgoing person. The risk, then, would be the risk of me making a fool of myself across the Internet, or the corner of it that listens to my friend’s podcast, anyway.

There’s a lot of fear, there, but that’s what makes it a risk, right? And maybe someday I’ll muster up the courage to take him up on his offer.

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.