A few Measly Steps a Day

Hi D, try this site for making a wild computer generated artist statement: 500 Letters - Generate your artist biography

Just used it to create a statement about a fantasy company for a training project. This is what it spewed out:

Pr!meme
Pr!meme (°2010, Austin, Texas, United States) is an artist who works in a variety of media. By parodying mass media by exaggerating certain formal aspects inherent to our contemporary society, Pr!meme makes works that can be seen as self-portraits. Sometimes they appear idiosyncratic and quirky, at other times, they seem typical by-products of American superabundance and marketing.
His artworks often refers to pop and mass culture. Using written and drawn symbols, a world where light-heartedness rules and where rules are undermined is created. With the use of appropriated materials which are borrowed from a day-to-day context, he touches various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matter can be recognised, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation and the investigation of the process of expectations.
His works are saturated with obviousness, mental inertia, clichés and bad jokes. They question the coerciveness that is derived from the more profound meaning and the superficial aesthetic appearance of an image. By using popular themes such as sexuality, family structure and violence, he presents everyday objects as well as references to texts, painting and architecture. Pompous writings and Utopian constructivist designs are juxtaposed with trivial objects. Categories are subtly reversed.
He creates situations in which everyday objects are altered or detached from their natural function. By applying specific combinations and certain manipulations, different functions and/or contexts are created. Pr!meme currently lives and works in Global.

A buzzword generator, only much more sophisticated!

I might be coming to a good writing place. But the question, "Am I any good?" keeps popping up.

On an entirely different subject - I often bury kitchen scraps in the back yard and let them turn into compost. In one of these piles, tubers are growing, and the leaves of the plant look like those of a potato. The tuber looks like a Yukon Gold potato. So I pulled one up and cooked it. Question - What looks like a potato, has the texture of a turnip, and tastes like - nothing? I threw most of it away, but if I don't show up for awhile, you'll guess what happened.

Hi Support Forums, D—keep the toxic hotline near!

Rolling slowly into my next writing assignment, another grant proposal. This one a lot shorter, simpler, and flexible than the last. I like this trend.

Our Kitchen Aid freezer starter slowly warming up, so we went after 8 years of accumulated dust around the coils! Turned off the circuit and pull it away from the walls, opened the back plate and vacuumed in a very cramped space with coils out of reach for complete cleaning. It's now back on and we'll see how it freezes. Hope to dodge a visit by a tech, so the next day or two will tell.

Not much time or energy for more personal stuff. Oh, saw that Sprint is being killed off by T-Mobile and beginning to prepare for what that will mean for my flip phone pay-as-you-go-a-very-low-monthly-service. Virgin Mobile sold to Sprint, then VM/Sprint was no help transferring my active phone and account to their system, so moved to Tello. Seems Tello is challenged by this shift, so next might try US Mobile.

Funny, when I put my numbers in for my now dead phone into Tello's "use your own phone" page it showed up available. Sprint/VM/T-Mobile missed their chance. But I'm such a small market, they could care less, just like they're acting.

US Mobile seems to have the lowest rates, including pick your own plan for $2 for 100 minutes; $3 for 150 minutes. And choice of ATT or T-Mobile networks, to boot!
Revu2

Still alive. And I still say it looks like a potato.

I'm getting together in person with my book club and one of my writers' groups. And we're going to have a barbeque on the Sat. before Father's Day. It feels weird. Good, but weird. I'm so used to not doing anything, that acting normal feels abnormal.

Your friend.
Me.

Hi WWW,
D, enjoy the change.
Steps today: slowly get into this grant. Sorted through some papers and realize I'll have to reprint one of the other grants. Nothing's like flipping through paper when looking for a section of text. Or for making margin notes.

I'm going about it with a alter-tasking approach, do as much as feels right, when energy wains, shift and do something else. So far, put in half an hour and had a flash of text come to mind. Grabbed my USB recorder, and got it "laid down." Also along the way found several other docs that may prove helpful for speeding the work..
I have 3 questions (all multi-part), so will address 1 every 2 days. A good pace to get ready for a call with my client who is handling the budget and pacing questions.

Article: Forget Focus—Here’s When Task Switching Makes You More Productive

Some tips I caught:

1. Four hours max on the most intense daily goal. This is my limit, often I'm clocking out at about 3 hours.
2. Intentionally switching tasks is productive if each task gets our full attention.
3. Chip away at boring but essential stuff during switching times.

And making this note was my intentional switch for now.
Revu2

I think I've always switched tasks after about two or three hours. I never thought about it.

Today, I went to the magic all-you-can-eat Indian/Pakistani restaurant, and worked like crazy.

Wed, 6/9 - a bit behind the pace I thought I could hold, but nothing's doing. Fatigued. Know from laying down for a few minutes ... only to awaken 4 hours later.

Adding some sleep aid tinctures (valerian & St John's wort) to my last sips of water and hope to put down some quiet ZZZs and get back into this tomorrow with more vim.

Plus, spoke to a potential new client this morning. I'm pre-vetted by the county and will draw twice my customary rate, if approved.

Pending developments,
Revu2

I'm glad things are going well for you. I'm plugging away at the writing and ignoring the marketing. I'm heading for a part of the story where I'm vague about the plot line. Hopefully it will clear itself up as I approach the tricky part. I'm planning a back-yard party and barbeque on the Saturday before Father's Day. More steps.

Off the intensity of the past 5 weeks for a refreshing rest. Rained in today, so just read idly and napped.

Don't know, D, if you keep a dream log, but as you approach your murky section your dreaming mind might hint at ideas.

I know mine does. Most times I sweat the approaching hard stuff, but most times I get a bit of support during the night.
Happy writing,
Revu2

Hi world. 5 worrisome, wearying weeks wind down with the end of my edit/drafting duties on the latest grant. Curious how I will relax with Monday being a working day with several necessary things to do.

I'll just have to find out. There's a month of all sorts of things I've put off, some duty, some pleasure, some social.

Plus the piles of books I've collected from the free libraries. And books I've pulled from the public libraries.

Soon, I'm off to sleep, perchance to dream,
Revu2

Made it to Friday. Mostly a drifting week and have an acupuncture appt this afternoon. Theme: fixing fatigue.

Otherwise, several open due projects, as always. Keep putting off when I'll seriously take them up. A good sign as it shows rest remains a priority.

Plus, a "heat bomb" rolling through with temps as high as 100°F/38°C the next 3 days. Good thing we have many fans in working order.
Revu2

HI, Rm

I've been curious about St. John's Wort. It's an antidepressant, I know. I thought it was a stimulant rather than a sleeping aid??????
I've been going out more. Eating at restaurants with friends and family. I had my first back-yard party last week. Fun. Remember the fixing the swing saga? My son-in-law and my grandkids sat on it swinging and laughing and eating. I'm so glad someone got some enjoyment out of it besides me. The big plus is that it forces me to clean up the house and garden. My housekeeping became very lax, I have to admit, during the COVID months.
As for my writing - it's moving along. Every so often it has to pause when I hit a snag in the plot line. I've decided to focus more on typos. In the past, I've left them to the end figuring five or six, or fifteen rounds of editing with take care of them. That doesn't seem to work, as I still find typos and eventually just say, "it's good enough." I'm going to try aiming for perfect in the beginning and see what happens.
I've joined "Hanging Out" again. I'm not getting as much out of it as I did the first time around, but it's still fun getting a snippet of Barbara Sher and a computer chat afterwards.
That's all for now. Happy Stepping.

Nanowrimo starts tomorrow. I'm excited. I'm writing some each day, and I like where i'm going with it. Hope the world out there does too.
Otherwise - I'm catching up on all the medical appointments I've been putting off last year. Yes, it does seem as if I should be all caught up with them right now. Not the case. In August, I'll start physical therapy for my stiff knee. I need a shingles vaccine and the bridge in my mouth came loose again. I think there's more, but I'm too lazy to get up and look for the doctor list. Also, I need to get someone to replace the line from my house to the main sewer, and I need to get my stove fixed.

On the fun side, I have a couple of parties coming up in my back yard. Also, the gym has reopened, but I'm leaving that for a bit later.
I'm easing up on my social life for the next two weeks. At my book club we were all happy to be back in action. We hugged and had a good time. Then my flight attendant friend told everyone that she didn't believe in taking the vaccine. Oy vey! So I'm wearing a mask everywhere, using sanitizer, cutting back on things like going to the gym and visiting my MIL (nursing home.) It's probably overkill. It's not as if she was sick. But geez! Flight attendant! it makes me think twice about taking a plane ride.

Hi D, and The World Wide Web. Parties be good. Our state (WA) just today lifted the last restrictions for vaxxed folk. Interesting to hear your friend the flt attendant won't vax. Some businesses are requiring it—get ready courts.

My city's Parks Dept is putting our weekly bridge game in the Japanese Gardens because our regular place will be overrun by kids. Further away for me, but manageable. Already plotting beautiful trips through the arboretum by bike to get there drenched in sweat.

I've fancied an ambition to interview someone, and now, with time opening up, I'm getting moving. Ordered 3 of his books today. Interesting, the Kindle price was 10% (marked down) of the used book price. Still, got the books because I have challenges getting digital books to bookmark and highlight in a way that feels intuitive.

Our freezer's motor is kaput. Called the repair folks and they may come mid-week, next week if all the parts and service hours align.

I'm a subject in a medical research study and they've had a lot of problems. Let that not be an omen for the freezer.

Revu2

Good luck with your freezer, your interviews, and your research study. I've been reading about your heat wave. What's with that??????
Me, speaking of heat waves, I might be going to Washington DC.
Other than that, I'm writing up a storm.
Take care,

I had a backyard party with one of my writing groups. Yay! I have a second one happening next week.
Here's an issue I'm grappling with right now. I have a lot of friends who are great people except for some quirk that drives me crazy. Usually it's that they talk non-stop or that they are control freaks. Here's the thing. They are good people otherwise, and I don't want to throw away friendships because they're not perfect. So I'm trying to 1. accept and find ways to deal with the issues in such a way that I get to enjoy the good things about these people. and 2. make my feelings known in such a way that doesn't hurt anyone. Not an easy task.

Meanwhile, I'm having fun writing. I looked up Louisiana accents on the Internet and found a couple of helpful You Tube videos. Amazing what you can find.
Jody might get dumped into a swamp. And she might go over to the dark side. I'm posting that info, because Jody lead a life so much more interesting than mine. And because writing about Jody and talking about her gives me ideas.
. I'll be going to my all-you-can-eat- Indian/Pakistani restaurant, and hopefully I'll figure out what to do with Jody.

Take care.

Swoosh, more life happens.

So thrilled you had a successful party. Social gathering building momentum all around.

Freezer: new compressor and some other parts. Still within their 10 year parts warranty we didn't know about. No warranty on the service.

Sprint phone. Got a message last week that Tello needed me to change my phone to one that works with T-Mobile. Did so surprisingly fast, but considering I've idled several hours looking at phone the past year, not really.

Going with the Alcatel Go Flip 3 "feature phone." Activating and porting went amazing well. Had the idea of moving my 32GB mini disk into the new phone and it imported all my saved contacts.

Tested the sound and it's great. What's also interesting is that it uses wifi for calls when it can, so I don't spend minutes since I pay as I go.

It has a few other perks, which I view with caution as I want to be alert and attentive when I'm about.

Now, what do I do with the two prior flip phones? Sometimes I use them as timers/alarms.

I guess I've needed to catch up on rest as I've been napping/sleeping more than usual.

Enjoy all you can Pakistan and write like the wind.
R

Resting feels so nice. Just keep putting off the non-resting stuff. Still, a busy week.

Teeth cleaned. Always stressful, but I managed. They staff ask, "how are you today?" Not a great beginning. While in the chair I began to think what else might they say? A. Hi John, i hope the commute wasn't too bad. B. Hello again. Have you been managing the [recent weather conditions or season] ok? C. Miss you. Anything sparking joy of late?

On the way home the car stalled when I shifted gears. We've been suspicious something might need checking. So, rather than risk another stall I called for roadside service. Five (5) hours later, a tow truck arrived and took the car, and me, to a new garage for us. The next day I got a call. They found nothing wrong. Went to pick it up. NO CHARGE. I said, you guys really know how to build your business.

Oh, I just got a new flip phone active on Sunday and was testing to see how long the charge lasted, naturally, when I had this stalling problem.

Other than that, nothing much of note.
Revu2

5 hours!!!! Eek. Was there some sort of disaster in Washington that I'm not aware of that might have caused the delay? (My inappropriate sense of humor at work.)

Me - I'm hitting a lazy streak - which is too bad because there are things I should be doing. My writing - I almost like where my plot is going, I have Jody in a tight spot - and - a not-very-interesting way to get her out. There has to be something better, but I don't know what it is. Meanwhile, I think I insulted a friend. We both have fragile egos, and I think I may have done a number on hers. Not on purpose. She pointed out that my indenting is inconsistent. I told her that I was copying some of the books I've read. She apologized and said she'd quit commenting on my grammar. I don't want her to stop. She catches all my typos and other mistakes. That's valuable. And I don't want to lose a good friend.
I think I'll go shopping.

Hi world. The backstory on the other side of the text messages is a carefully kept secret of State Farm. My own assessment is they should contract with several tow companies and, like the ambulances, the first company to the client gets the business and the rest get nothing. What they do now is send to one company that is overwhelmed (more cars out breaking down, lower staff due to covid, yada yada) and so there's a delay. THEN SF asks another tow truck to come help.

The good side is that I have found our new mechanic!

Bridge playing two days in a row! Rusty as a vintage iron nail. So these games are my spring training to shake me awake.

Tomorrow brunch, then getting our small deck ready for repair/resurfacing.

Mon - Wed, the actual work.
###

I wonder what other tow services do. I think one hour is the longest I've ever had to wait.
My friend who is an English professor and who has helped me with typos emailed me. She had misunderstood my comments, she wasn't offended, and she'll continue catching my grammar and spelling mistakes if I like. Yes! I like. Sometimes it pays to look for the good.

I do hope that today ends my lazy streak - in writing and in life. One of the hazards of retirement.

Happy you & your friend worked things out. Keep writing.

Ay, I wasn't calling a towing company, I called State Farm insurance, and they called the towing companies. The competition, AAA by name, has it's own fleet of contracted trucks and makes a point of quick service. SF contracts out, as I mentioned, and their bot said lower staffing and higher demand than staff on hand could handle would mean delays. They thought 2 hours, and couldn't get the est. time of arrival right. Kinks to work through, for sure.

ST's system is broken, clearly.

I suffered a tiny bit from it, but a First World concern. Given that it's road service, my first time in 15 years calling on it, I'm good to let it go. If they ask, I'm happy to help them refine their communications. Not holding my breath.

Also, we pay $9 a year for this coverage, vs a 2-person membership $101 for AAA. Assuming with adjustments for inflation an average of about $70-$80 saved per year for 15 years left $1050 to $1200 in our pockets.

The only change I would make is to keep my phone charged so I can keep calling back. My partner picked this up for me from home and this shook something loose and the truck finally arrived.
Revu2

Good news, of sorts. SF customer service rep called and took my details. At the end of the chat, he said SF was giving me a $50 VISA balance.

Very good. Pays for this coverage for 5 years.

We've finished our deck work, so tonight putting stuff back on it.

This weeks goal is to enjoy an online conference I signed up for and help a friend get onto an app I recommended to her.

Revu2

Dealing with a repair. I have a rolltop backpack with vertical zipper on the front pocket. The zipper broke. Two requests from repair places turns out it'll be at least $65 to replace it.

Put on the solution-searching hat. Velcro! bought very thin dual sided (one side the hook, other other the loop) but my glue failed me. Cost $6.59.

Mosied over to Daiso $1.50 store and got half-inch tacky backed velcro. With tax: $1.65.

The glue failed again. Went to Tandy Leather and bot their leather cement. $16.50. But I only used maybe 12¢ worth. The glue is holding.

All totaled: 6.59 + 1.65 + .12 = $8.36.

Now, the bag looks different. Rather than a flat zippered front it's got a new ridgeback look. And it works to seal the pocket. My Dear Partner can only see it's not flat, not like the original bag. I just tell her I might be the first to kick off a new fashion.

Ah—some people, just refuse to enjoy the flow of innovation they're drowning in it's from someone they live with every day. Let an "artist" or a "designer" do it, well then it's great. Sigh.

Revu2

Ingenuity! I get it.