toroidalcore

I still have a Christmas tree up. It's the beginning of April, and the ornaments are off. It's an artificial tree, with clear lights. Most of them – a few bulbs have gone out, and I replaced them with colored lights.

It's late, and I have it on while watching TV. This is why I've left it up, as a soft light source for the room. It complements the night nicely.

I often stay up late, something I'd like to not do as much. But it can be nice at night.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

I have a pro/con relationship with clutter. My home can be tidy when things are organized, but when I start working on something disorder creeps in. I maintain some level of clutter, but it takes a while for me to restore it to a more clutterless state.

The clutter is sort of like a mental block, or it can be. It makes me put off doing something about it, because then I'd have to remember how I had everything before. Or, God help, if I introduced something new that wasn't originally part of the clutter ecosystem. Then I have to reevalute how things were previously. This all makes it difficult for me to step out of my routine, and do new things... Because the clutter is in the way, if only because the fact that I should do something about it takes up mental real estate.

On the other hand, I usually get clutter because I have actually been doing something. And if it's the right circumstance, it can keep me on track, in a weird way. A simple example is building a project on a table in the basement, and having everything out – it's right there where I need it, as opposed to digging through a shelf. Yes, I could organize things better, and that is a longer-term goal. However, despite mental blockage, I do appreciate things being in a state of flux sometimes.

Part of this is exhaustion. It can be difficult to work on something like tidying up or making progress on a project when I just got home from work and am tired. I'd rather be making dinner or playing with the cat. And then when I get time I'd rather be doing other things. But when I can get into decluttering, that in itself is kind of a project, and sometimes I do keep at it.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

In the process of living life, you create. Maybe mundane things, like documentation for work, order while you clean your house, or footprints when you go for a hike. Something that wouldn't have come into being if you hadn't been there initiate it. Other times you deliberately create, perhaps as the main focus of your job, or just for fun. It could be building something, composing a song, or writing a blog post.

I think it's good to be able to do this, and stand back and appreciate it. For similar reasons to why it's good to get up and walk around after you've been sitting for a while. Creation is one way to recognize that we don't have to just take what the world throws at us, and conform to it. We can have a say as well.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

I'm going to head out and see my town's St. Patrick's Day parade, which is held earlier in March. It's a gray weekend, drizzly, with ice-crusted snow still on the ground. Still, it should be fun, nice to get out.

Spring is getting closer, even if we still have the chance of winter weather. Actually we got a pretty bad storm last April, so it can happen. But I'm about ready for sunnier days and warmer weather, and festivities are a nice touch.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

My garage needs cleaning. I've accumulated things there, Christmas lights, gardening tools, plastic totes, things in need of storage but not quite organized yet. It's not a big garage, but there's a good amount of space I could reclaim.

I might get a shelf. I might need some more totes, the original idea was to organize things that way. I think that the lights might take up at least two large ones.

I've thought about making a little work bench for out there. My main work area is the basement, but it would be nice to have one with a light in the garage too. For spring/summer/fall, mostly, since it's cold out there now.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

Home can be many places. A permanent residence, a former permanent residence, just a place you feel comfortable at, perhaps one you frequent. It can be several of these.

It's nice to seek out now and then. Even when you feel at home in one place, in one sense, it's nice to try a different one. Maybe one is no longer real outside of your memories, or it never truly was home in the first place.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

It's not spring yet, but it's getting close. It's been warmer some days, unseasonably almost, but when it gets warmer midway through or at the end of winter, it makes me think of spring. There's a smell to it, of vegetation appearing from underneath a blanket of snow and seeing a clear sunny day for the first time in months. There's something about walking around outside in a light jacket, or perhaps just a sweater. And then just the light itself, even if it's a little cloudy out, to remind you that the days are in fact getting longer again.

I like the winter time, the holiday season, snow (hopefully, a tasteful amount), Christmas lights, visiting family, etc. There's a coziness to winter that I enjoy. I hate to say that the change to spring brings hope, because I don't necessarily think of the darker months as miserable. But it certainly feels like things are starting up again.

I started a new job recently, back in the late fall really, so while it doesn't align perfectly it is sort of timely. Something about this year feels like it will be a refresh I need. Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe next winter/spring.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

George, my cat, is upside-down on his perch right now. It has a cylindrical cubby hole, and he likes to claw his way in while swatting at a feather on a fishing pole or wand. He also gets in and curls up and sleeps. The perch is kind of a cheap one, and it should probably be replaced soon, but he's gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

I'm lucky to have him. He was a stray from my neighborhood I adopted about four years ago, and he's been a lot of company. He likes to hang around me when I'm home (and he's not napping), and he's happy to sleep while I'm at work. Sometimes he wants me to throw one of his ping-pong balls, or run him around, other times he's happy to sleep on a nearby pillow while I work. (Sleeping is a recurring theme with cats as you may be aware.)

My parents lost two of their cats last year, within a couple months. They were both getting up in age, but it was still a shock. They were two I'd known growing up, and while I haven't lived with them for a while it was still hard on me.

We're lucky to have them. I get that pets aren't for everyone, and some people prefer dogs or the company of some other creature. Those with a furry companion, enjoy every minute you have with them. Give them a hug.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

Like a lot of people, I sit in a chair much of the day for work. Not always the same chair, sometimes I sit at a bench instead of a desk. In that case, I'm not always staring at a screen, but there's usually one nearby.

I try to get up and walk around. Sometimes to the bathroom or the vending machine, other times to somewhere else in the building, just to walk. I think it's important. Home or at work, moving around is good.

I'm not as active as I'd like, but I try to move. Humans are adaptable creatures, but we weren't meant to stay still all day, every day.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town

I have a nice table in my kitchen near the window, with a pillow for my cat to curl up on. I often sit there to work from home, or work on some other project on my laptop. I can easily go make tea or coffee if I want, start the laundry, etc.

Now, I'm out at a coffee shop. It's in the evening, and I just wanted to get out of the house. No big reason, it's just a change of scenery. I don't do this often, just once in a while on the weekends.

Sometimes it's nice to have a new place, and a little bit of background noise.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town