OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

I can’t believe it worked!

What i'm listening to:

Is That All There Is?
Peggy Lee
Is That All There Is?

I remember reading this book when I was young.

I can reread books, because I do tend to forget (or miss) a lot of details. Yet this one…

Considering my love for dogs, and my relating to Billy and his love for his dogs…

I know I’m going to be bawling like a li’l girl with a skinned knee.

Pro tip: Don’t go into a holiday weekend on a island resort with less than ⅛ tank of gas.

What i'm listening to:

Lights
Ellie Goulding
Bright Lights

If you’re not drizzling honey on your pizza, you’re doing it wrong.

Just saying.

Originally, there was a feature in the iPod that possibly made it smarter than any Apple devices since.

Yet, it’s been gone for a long, long time.

My beloved third generation iPod has the ability to affect dynamic playlists—on the fly. Seriously. My iPod nano, which isn’t much newer, lacks this same feature. And anything with a touch screen? Forget it.

I’ll explain: within iTunes, I can create a smart playlist that will consist of the last forty songs played.

For the doubters, this can be useful. Sometimes, we’re away from paper, or driving, or otherwise unable to simply jot a note—and we must rely on our memory to retain it.

We get to where we’re going... and, of course, the thought is gone.

Music affects memory. And if you’re a playlist hopper, like I am, it might be hard to remember what you were listening to when you had that particular thought.

However, if you have a smart playlist on your iPod that magically replays the last forty songs you listened to—without a computer, or the internet—perhaps you have a shot of reviving that memory.

Ask how I know.

Anyway, as I continue lamenting the loss of usability and innovation in Apple products, I recalled wanting to write about this for some time.

Funny how memory works, isn’t it?

What i'm listening to:

Tomorrow
Madi Diaz
Phantom

Last week, Tara and I had a conversation I can’t seem to shake.

Apparently, she doesn’t understand me...

I was at the laundromat, waiting for a load of clothes to dry. Which isn’t so bad. Anymore, I find I enjoy any opportunity to simply sit with no obligations.

I sent her a picture of one of the industrial clothes washers doing it’s job, to which she replied she was thinking about me.

Teasing, I mentioned I appreciated (formerly) having a washer and dryer of my own—adding on that this laundromat has an ice cream shop inside, for while you wait.

I guess it’s the best ice cream in town, which explains the continuous parade of pretty girls passing through eating their ice cream cones.

Confused, she commented that I don’t understand why she schools, and she doesn’t understand why I leave a washer and dryer to go to the laundromat.

I reminded her that my washer and dryer is nearly eight hundred miles away.

And she responded, “Yes, I know. Point was that you left that behind.”

So, I told her, “I guess we can just sit in appreciation that we confuse the shit out of each other.”

“Exactly,” was her reply.

I couldn’t help replaying the conversation in my head. Over and over. It’s a perfect illustration of the difference in our mindsets.

One thing going back to university has in common with owning a washer and dryer is: both restrict your movements.

I’m not going to lie. I’ve been particularly disapproving in my comments regarding her return to school. I don’t understand it. At. All.

When we talk, she’s envious of my life. My adventures. My freedom. Freedom from responsibility. Freedom from obligations. Freedom from relationship (at least with those who’d restrict my movements).

Yet, she’s afraid of the unknown. This, I understand. All too well. It isn’t that hard to walk away from life, responsibilities, obligations. Then again, it isn’t that easy either. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not so much. Trust me, I understand her trepidation.

For most of the time we’ve known each other, I’ve been comfortably trapped in a mediocre existence. Just like so many I know back home.

She still can’t believe I escaped. She still believes she can’t escape.

Interesting.

Nevertheless, I’ll keep inviting her to come see me. And to write. And to keep a presence in my life.

We understand each other better than she realizes. I don’t think we confuse each other. At. All.

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a late adopter... and apparently I didn’t wait long enough.

I’ve been on a bit of a fitness kick in my developmental journey. As such, I finally found a reason to get an Apple Watch.

Sorry, not sorry... I don’t like it.

Apple has fallen a long way from the iPod, iPhone glory days. One of the things I always raved about my iPod is just how intuitive it is.

It’s a device I could hand to my grandfather, and within seconds he’d be listening to music. So simple, you hardly need to figure it out.

Fast forward to the watch—the SIXTH iteration—it is still not ready for prime time.

This device is not intuitive. At. All.

I recall my complaints about the iPod touch when it came out, most of which were apparently not original as they were eventually addressed.

However, the iPhone has evolved to the point it is barely intuitive. Since Jobs, I have had to Google what to do on Apple devices too many times to count.

I don’t understand how people simply LOVE their watch. I don’t.

Again, six versions in, I’m sure my submitted feature requests will fall on deaf ears, but this is what I see as missing on my watch:

1. Why bother putting album art from music on the watch at all, if there’s no way to make it the default view? Plus, why make us jump through three hoops to view it... only to make us back out to actually use the music app?

2. Faces. The original iPhone had the ability to submit apps and to change your wallpaper. Granted, a face is a li’l more involved, but one could conceivably build one the same way they’d build an app. In fact, the screensaver I use on my trusty MacBook is simply an “analog” clock.

   Also, six iterations in, there should be MORE options. A. Lot. More. I, for one, would like to see one I’d call Minimally Retro. It’d feature the 80s style digital watch numbers in white on black. And nothing else. Since there are variations of faces, I could see adding the “complications” as options around these numbers.

   Is there a face that only shows hands? No other markings? That’d be elegantly minimal too.

   I’m scratching my head as to why this doesn’t exist. The design of the hardware is screaming for this as an option. Yet, end users cannot even submit designs. I understand the values of the closed ecosystem, yet there are great designers that do not work for Apple who could submit great faces.

   Perhaps Apple is skittish after stealing the Mondaine Swiss clock face for the iPad a while back?

3. There needs to be an override for requiring the watch to be charging in order to sync. Assuming the device would “just work,” I put it on, fired up my favorite trusty running app, and was about to head out the door when I was informed I needed to set it up through my phone... which I was about to leave behind.

   So, I stopped, the app on my phone “sensed” the watch’s presence and led me through the steps to set it up.

   Then. Nothing.

   Wait. Nothing.

   Ah, okay... I took off my watch, put it on the charger, woke up my iPhone, and voilà. Again... for small bursts of data (or power users who KNOW what they’re doing), it’d be nice to have to option to sync without external power.

4. Finally, why does it take. so. long. to. sync? Can’t we use WiFi when connected? Like the AppleTV? Overnight is a bit extreme for a couple of gigs of music.

   Reminded me of syncing my original iPod nano on my iBook G3.

We’ll see if I warm up to the watch over time. These notes are from the first twenty-four hours...

What i'm listening to:

good for you
Olivia Rodrigo
SOUR

There was this li’l movie in 1980, maybe you’ve seen it.

Caddyshack. I’ve probably seen it a hundred times.

It’s the only time Chevy Chase was truly funny (fight me). But I digress.

Anyway, this last time I watched the film, a line leaped out to me. From the best scene in the movie.

For me, there’s a subtle perfection in everything I do.

What an incredible mindset to have!

I still don’t understand.

How does a pebble end up in your shoe?

And another? So many...

I don’t want to stop to “take care” of it. How do runners manage this?