Let me say this before I go any further: 2020 has been a raging dumpster fire. Between the pandemic, the election, the injustices against people of color, the wildfires in California and Australia, the last 12 months have been full of misery, anxiety, anger, sadness … every emotion imaginable, though not many of the good … More The new year won’t change things unless I do the work
I am not trying to bury my head in the sand or ignore what is happening in the world around me. Not exactly. I’m reading/watching the news more than ever the last few weeks. No, I’m not ignoring what is happening, I’m just trying to escape the noise. Early in October, after a week or … More Stepping away from social media
I have felt tired and grumpy. I have felt sad and angry. I have felt confused and embarrassed. I have felt lazy and unproductive. Every year is full of a wide range of emotions. It might be your best year ever, it might be your worst, but you surely felt many things regardless of how … More Remember to feel gratitude
I’m sitting at my desk, which isn’t really a desk, but a folding table I set up along a wall in my bedroom. On top of that desk, there is an iMac and a MacBook Pro, a mouse and a track pad, a wireless keyboard, two pair of headphones, a dictionary and an AP Stylebook, … More Trying to kickstart a habit
The Captain America sticker has a few ink marks on it and and the edges are a little frayed. It is not quite final battle of Avengers: Endgame battered, but it was a lot shinier when I stuck it on the cover of my 2020 bullet journal. That bullet journal, which is actually a black, … More Jot it down
Bloggers note: I wrote this post originally in January, but never posted it for one reason or another. I haven’t posted anything to this blog since earlier January. Am I reviving it? I don’t know, maybe. To update this post, I’ve read some of those books on those book shelves, including the Mickey Mantle and … More The books on the shelf
When the coronavirus started to shut down life as we know it and we were told to stay home as much as possible, I read a bunch articles, received a handful of email newsletters and watched a crapload of videos warning me not to waste this time. One author/philosopher actually created a course to help … More The story of wasting quarantine
I was awake when my alarm went off at 6:45 a.m. and I thought to myself, “Why did I think it was a good idea to set an alarm for 6:45?” I didn’t hit the snooze button and try to fall back to sleep, though. Instead, I picked up my phone as I rolled out … More Seeing the world in a different light
It usually starts some time in November when I take Stephen King’s memoir/instruction manual “On Writing” off my book shelf to re-read it. I’ve read this book toward the end of the year each of the last three or four years because I enjoy the way King tells his story and I hope it will … More You win some, you lose some
Last year I had the best intentions. I started a new blog. I set big lofty goals. I was motivated to be more productive and more creative. And I fell flat on my face. Yes, last year I fell into the same trap many of us do. The calendar was about to flip, the new … More No goals, just habits
Scott Martin 