Doh. My Series 4 Apple Watch is now Vintage. Only another year or so before it’s obsolete.

I send you these wishes for your new year, that you will feel safe, secure and seen. And that you will be able to help others feel safe, secure and seen.

Just saw the memorial segment on CNN’s New Year’s Eve show. I’m old enough now that I know of most of the people who they featured.

Boom.

I love the low-key “Let me tell you the correct pronunciation of the word you just used” that Jeopardy hosts do.

As an Animal Crossing veteran [I don’t want to admit how many hours], it’s fun to use the Dream function to tour other Islands at random. I happened on one today that validated some of my own design decisions. But also I was judge-y. My house had more rooms. My museum is more complete. Etc.

Looking West on Margaret Street on Saint Paul, Minnesota’s East Side

A little fog this morning

I know.

I know.

The reason why my chats and emails and posts all seem the same is hurry.

First, I’m usually writing in a browser (as I am now), instead of a proper text editing tool. I don’t have a workflow more sophisticated than Get The Idea Out And Hit Send ™.

Secondly, while I do one or more cursory re-reads, I’m operating from what I know I intended to write, which is often different than how my fingers hit the keys, and different still from assumptions that autocorrection tools make. I don’t always see what isn’t right until I see what got published or sent.

Thirdly, I want to strike while the iron is hot. The inspiration to write a post doesn’t last long. And the germ of the idea that generates the post, if otherwise undocumented, may not come around again for a while. Even if it does, it will be subject to the filter called The Moment Is Gone.

A long time ago, I spent time with my mom in research libraries looking at microfilm and microfiche, looking for records proving lineage. On one side of the tree we were building were real and true blood ties. On the other, the lineage of the man who adopted me as his own and gave me his family’s name. I grew up in a blended family. Both sides contain some of the best humans I have ever known.

Even the history of a family name itself is fascinating. We believe we have discovered the origin in a place in what is now Poland. We have also developed relationships with folks in Europe who are actively seeking the diaspora, who wonder why so few in America seem to care.

I have even had the privilege of being on the ground in Sweden, with a large extended family and having the sensation of a strange place feeling at once comfortable and familiar.

But there was a third axis missing and a window possibly closing, which represents my lineage through my birth father. We are not close, despite his efforts. And I admit feelings of regret all the while acknowledging that I’m trying to protect myself from more pain. In a very real way, I already lost him once.

So now, after so much time has passed, I am going to try to reconnect and attempt to carry forward what I can.

Meanwhile, because I am an introvert, I have been researching my genetics directly as it is not nearly so emotionally fraught.

The results are both more and less specific than I hoped. My recent genealogy is European. Full stop. But I expected results to be more concentrated in Sweden or Germany than they are. At the same time, more of my genetics are continental European. The surprise for me was the Polish and Russian. A sort of relief comes from knowing I am genetically related to people who lived in the same part of the world that my family name comes from.

Where family lore is concerned, a great-grandfather who came to the USA in the 20th century always claimed he was descended from Viking blood. What I have learned via 23andMe is that I share one or more segments of DNA with human remains from several Viking Era archeological sites ranging from Dublin, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, the Isle of Mann, the UK, and Denmark. These are remains not necessarily associated with local populations, but more so with trade or battle. It’s not proof of lineage, mind you, but fascinating all the same.

Another thing that DNA testing does is share how you may be connected genetically with others who have used the same services. Even inside of that relatively small slice of humanity, there are thousands of people alive right now, internationally, with whom I share small segments of DNA. And that is a sobering connection to all of humanity.

Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea!

Santa Claus Is Back In Town sung by Elvis Presley

The Venn diagram of the music I like and the music any other human likes will have some narrow overlap. My experience tells me you would rather tell me about the music you like. Anything I share in return is too weird. There a very few individuals who are as curious as I am. I adore them.

I’ve talked a lot about how music is a time-travel machine.

Today what hit me while working The Re-Rip Project and the compilations of various EDM genres is how long I spent preferring electronic music at 120 BPM or faster. For about 15 years it was my thing. It seemed like a reasonable place to end up after listening to 80’s synth-pop, and a little Acid House, New Beat and Industrial.

From my contemporary reading of Mondo 2000, Rolling Stone, and Wired, I was aware of the developing Rave Culture and Club Kids. But it wasn’t until the Cool World movie exposed me to a few early Moby tracks that I dove in head first.

It was probably the one time in my life when I felt in tune with something cool happening in pop culture. Before long the record store I worked at had a Techno section next to the Imports. Techno came and went, Acid Jazz and Trip-hop and Chillout all tried to happen. The term Electronica gave way to EDM. I passed through Trance and Jungle and Breakbeat and Garage and Dubstep sub-genres before I found Chill and Downtempo. Then I stopped working at places that carried music and major retail stores stopped carrying anything but Top 200 charting artists.

I still enjoy electronic music in doses, but I have no idea what the kids think is cool anymore, or if it’s even a thing.

Also I signed up on Discogs. They have cover art for all of the obscure stuff I own.

Forgive me if I remember stuff wrong. Also Douglas Coupland is way overrated.

I’m confused. If I meet the requirements to generate a passkey, why do I also need to enter a one-time password or confirm in an app on another device?

Seeing others work on their online presence inspires me. Have been looking over my stuff and fixing some details.

Signed some Christmas cards today. I swear a good third of them look like I have not mastered fine motor control or have not learned all of the letterforms—as I approach the sixth decade of signing my name.

Went to Apple to have them repair my iPhone. Have been living without the back camera for some time. But increasingly it was more and more troublesome. Thankfully, I was covered by AppleCare and it’s all over but the restore.

Watched the first two episodes of Agatha All Along tonight. Looks like a fun series. I’m hooked.

Sometimes changing your blog theme is the right amount of fun challenge.

In the long list of headlines that make me feel old:

The first Lamborghini Countach was made 50 years ago

I was made more than 50 years ago.

Image Playground categorically refuses to deal with the fact that I have a full beard and will not accentuate it. But it will try to render me with a goatee or terrible mustache or some small amount of growth that a young person might consider “trying to grow a beard.”

When your collection of stuff reaches a certain point, you realize you’re a curator, conservator, docent, archivist, guard, exhibition designer, etc.

All Of Us from Spoke’s album “Done”. Also appears on the album All We Need Of Hell

Watching The Song Remains The Same for the first time. I was 8 when it was released theatrically.