Oh hey, the YouTube music app which I've mostly hated since its latest update has a playlist called '00's Indie Scene. Was this indie music? I know most of these songs. I don't remember being in the indie scene. Is this app stretching the truth here? I'm pretty sure most of these songs were on the popular radio stations, or at least used in movie trailers. Maybe that's it. If your song was used in a non-blockbuster movie trailer or technology commercial, you're indie. Mystery solved, next!

And I, myself, have been wondering many things. 

While I was streaming, someone brought up cancel culture and I said it doesn't really exist, but I didn't elaborate on it or think much about it further. It's one of those moments where I say something, and I'm pretty sure there's a reason I hold that particular view, but I can't recall the reason. It makes me wary.

I think it's because I was thinking about how job applications ask you if you're a convicted felon and how that's been around ever since I've been applying for jobs. I think the main reason people see this thing they call cancel culture is because people have become "content creators" and they are the product, and the specific content you're creating doesn't really matter because in most cases, your value to the company is based on ad revenue and how you build their brand. 

There's some nuance, I suppose, in which platforms may not allow you to use their services to broadcast yourself, but in our current system, it's a cost-benefit analysis. If you're costing more than you bring in, so long!

It's interesting though, that people who decry cancel culture and I probably agree in the broad strokes that a system in which people's livelihood has become dependent on their perceived personally-held beliefs is a concern.

And that it doesn't matter if it's correct; if it's believed by the "voting bloc", that's the behavior you have to factor in, as a company.

This isn't a bug; it's a feature. So now it's something I have to consider when I broadcast my game play on Twitch. That and not ripping a big fart while my microphone is live. That's just not the kind of humor I'm interested in.

Sometimes, I feel a strange malaise. Usually right after I've helped someone who has a more serious medical issue that involves me having to perform a relatively mundane and/or bureaucratic task. 

Like I shouldn't be complaining when other people have it worse.

My life is relatively comfortable. A few aches and pains; hardly anything that rises to the surface of my thoughts. 

It's National Novel Writing Month, aka Nal-Vel-Ing-Onth. What a world of possibilities! Let me check my recent notes on possible stories. (It's a list of ideas for stories that I feel only I could tell.) Hmm...we've got one here about me running into another me (think teleporter-accident clone, so one person diverged at a certain point but neither is actually the original). It's a comedy. The comedy comes from both of us definitely believing the other should not get to exist, but we don't want any collateral damage so we still have to live our lives and get our stuff done without anyone else noticing what's going on.

The other story is Titanfall 2 fan fiction, basically the story campaign for a hypothetical Titanfall 3. 

Because I like robots that can be our friends. Also after years of playing the game, I'm not entirely sure which side is supposed to be the bad guys. Both factions seem pretty content to expend massive amounts of treasure on military campaigns in order to pay less taxes or something. I don't think I'll tackle too much there; we just need a plausible reason to fight and this one is depressingly more than plausible.

We'll see what happens. There's time, of course. I tend to be pretty scheduled out, time-wise. Working, walking, whining. Takes up almost my whole day. There's always the weekend, when I'm not working. Maybe. Maybe. 

Another beautiful day. I got up on time, or I tried to but a bunch of dogs were standing on my chest and legs. The morning was crisp, and the bamboo was waving green and leafy in the breeze. One of the puppies spit up in the kitchen, but I didn't step in it. 

I've been a little lazy about my walking. I'm trying not to be. So far, so good. 

It's not cold enough to wear my coat, but hopefully it will be soon. It's a big grey coat with a hood. So cozy. 

I just squashed a massive mosquito that was flying wobbly away, having drunk her fill of my delicious O-Positive blood. I don't feel itchy anywhere yet, but in time the properties of the saliva will cause a violent itching and swelling. I mislike mosquitoes. I will admit they are an important food source, and pollinators, so I'll leave them be. For now.

I dreamed of a large, two-story house in between a triangular intersection. It was apart from other houses, in a little island of green space. It had no driveway, as it would have led right into one of the streets. I don't know what the dream real estate market it is like, but if it's like the waking world that house would still sell pretty easily, even if you couldn't park your car there.

Went out on Saturday night for Jake's bachelor party. It was great because we didn't do anything crazy. We went to a few bars, had craft beers and cigars, listened to some music, saw the city.

The worst thing that happened was some mild difficulty locating a speakeasy, which is rather the point of a speakeasy and is to be expected.

There's a mildew smell in the office. I wonder if that's something I should be concerned about.

"Hey!" I shout. "If there are any mind-controlling fungus back there, you better not try anything! If you take over my mind, you gotta take over all its problems, too! No take-backsies!"

 Rebuilding the habits time. Put on a groove, like "I Won't Be There" by Skinshape, and start thinking out loud. Talking to me, talking to that empty coffee mug, talking to that empty UPS box, and wondering what they would say. 

This last vacation was not particularly productive. Pleasant though. 

And perhaps only a little crazy. 

The weather is cool and I want to put on my long grey coat and walk around. Maybe I'll do that tonight. Try to walk all 3 dogs at once. If only I had a sled; they could pull me. 

Oh, I fertilized my bamboo. Little bit of composted steer manure. Good thing we have the puppy gates around the plants or the dogs would help themselves to a stinky snack. And the poor bamboo would get no nitrogen. 

I wonder how my nitrogen levels are? Probably pretty good.