2024

One of those days where I’d love a little weed to take the edge off. But no, that’s illegal here. Meanwhile, I can go buy a cart load of cigarettes and alcohol, consume it all in one day, then head to the casino and gamble away my life savings. No laws against any of that.

3 countries and 4 border crossings today. Parked by a golf course that made us want to take up golf. Cycled along a river through the Cerdanya Valley. Snacked on a hillside as the sky turned pink and orange. Drove home tired. Ate dinner while watching Dr Strangelove and marveling at George C. Scott.

One of those days where everything seems to go wrong. The bed breaks. I forget to add water and destroy the pot. I spend seven minutes recording a screencast that doesn’t record. Plus I’m still a bit sick and my bowels aren’t behaving. On days like this, the challenge is to still be kind.

Two years in Andorra and my Spanish still sucks. It’s by design, since I’ve intentionally been devoting time to other priorities, mainly business. But easy to forget that and feel frustrated with my slow progress. Like on that call today, hung up on her in the end, my brain having a little tantrum.

Leg cramp woke me up, couldn’t get back to sleep, but loving la madrugada, energy flowing, mind buzzing. I’ll probably be a zombie later today but fuck it. Right now I’m obsessed with the idea of having a personal website again, like the old days, might even register this domain I have my eye on.

Just watched Labyrinth for the first time. Not a great movie, but it reminded me of David Bowie’s lifespan: 1947-2016. Born right after WW2 in a rich country, died before Brexit and Trump, and a celebrated musical genius to boot. If I had to trade a lifetime with anyone, Bowie’s would be high on my list.

Ended up testing out 9 video editors, had them all create a short from the same source material. Four of them were pretty good, although some are billing me for 7 hours, others for only 2. Also, must resist picking the style I personally like the most, better to pick what’s likely to do best online.

Finally landed a backlink I’d been chasing for months, on a DR91 site. Took about 8 hours up front, then lots of follow-up. The first contact was ignoring me so I tried his colleague and she came through. I often think it’s the tedious, annoying shit like this that ends up making a big difference.

A lot of people, when they don’t understand something, get angry at that thing, feel it’s wrong somehow. Learning to code helps with that. I’ve had many experiences getting angry with code, convinced the error didn’t make any sense, only to later realize it made perfect sense and my lack of understanding was the problem.

At a school music recital in a small Spanish town, kids as young as 4 performing on stage. There’s one kid following the beat of a completely different drum. Making up his own moves, facing away from the audience for long stretches, lost in his own world. I’d love to know how his life unfolds.

Spent the last six months reading Peter Grainger novels. Finished the 18th and final one last night, about extracting a young woman from an island cult. Easily the most books I’ve ever read by a single author, and I enjoyed every one. I hope those books have made him rich. He deserves it.

Thinking to buy a Mac Studio in the coming weeks. It’s an expensive machine, but a laptop just won’t cut it if I’m serious about getting back into video. And I have to be serious about that. I reckon it’s the best way to stand out from competitors and all the generic, AI-generated content.