What I’m Doing Now
Updated November 22, 2025
I’ve been my Mom’s caregiver since 2017. Mom’s 100+. She broke her hip in 2020 and taking care of her has of necessity been my primary activity since then.
In Progress
Converting my sites from WordPress to static sites or to newer, simpler platforms. Not going to finish anytime soon.
Projects
- I’ve started planning for 2026.
- Working through online subscriptions and media plans, and reducing them even more than last year.
- I’m going to be more deliberate about logging birds as I see them in 2026, using a Field Notes notebook, and stickers.
- Mom has expressed a desire to track-and-sticker birds in her own notebook.
- We’re working on clearing “stuff,” so Mom can enjoy giving things to people now.
Technology
I am learning to use Alfred on my Mac via the MacSparky Alfred Field Guide online class, and lots of reading and experimenting.
I bought a cheap Instax Mini 3 printer, designed to print credit-card sized low-resolution photos from smart phones. I planned to get one “later,” but the price was too good to pass up. My plan is to use it for analog journaling, though probably not this year.
Current Media
- Still enjoying Celtic music Internet radio Thistle Radio with Fiona Ritchie via Soma FM. I I’m streaming via Apple Music and iHeart Radio by telling/typing to Siri: Play radio station Soma FM Thistle radio.
- Also enjoying the new-to-me human-curated Celtic music channels on AccuRadio.
- Still missing Archie Fisher, but grateful for his music.
Reading
- I am re-reading the previous three J. P. Mallory books before reading Mallory’s recently released The Indo-Europeans Rediscovered: How a Scientific Revolution is Rewriting Their Story. Mallory is the only archaeologist I know of with a solid background in Celtic and other early I. E. languages.
- I am taking a break from reading productivity books until 2026. I’m reading about productivity as research for my own book (not about productivity). I mostly hate productivity books.
- Still reading lots about Stoicism, and finding reflections in pre-1700 British literature.
- In addition to the primary sources (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca) I’ve read:
- Brian Inwood’s Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction. ISBN: 978-0198786665. Of necessity, a brief overview but very thorough given its scope, with useful bibliography.
- Donald J. Robertson’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, ISBN: 978-1250621436.
- Some might find Robertson’s Stoic-inspired CBT-influenced workbook Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life ISBN: 978-1473674783 helpful. It’s both very structured and very simplified. I suspect that the Stoic Week I participated in owes quite a lot pedagogically to Robertson’s Stoicism and the Art of Happiness.
- Epictetus is a bit of a dick. Some of his rhetorical techniques are a bit too similar to those of cults. His point is clear, and better expressed in the Enchiridion. This is not surprising.
Current Obsessive Passions
- Stationery, particularly notebooks, fountain pens, and ink, and both woodcase and mechanical pencils. Currently inked: my Lamy ABC fountain pen, a Pilot Custom 74, and a Lamy 2000, as well as pencils.
- Bird watching: I saw a small clutch of Eastern Bluebirds at the birdbath. The first Grey-eyed Juncos of the season arrived in late October.
- Working on using a smart extension cord for the heated bird bath. I want to avoid the icy patch of the patio by the outlet. Almost impossible to keep that corner ice-free because of the roof and bushes.
Previous Now pages, AKA then.
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