Another of those days where I couldn’t sleep the night before. Couldn’t get to sleep, woke up insanely early, couldn’t get back to sleep, and after a while, just got up and stumbled into a day. Which feels like an unkindness upon myself, given that it’s tomorrow that I really have to get up early to go throw some forms into the bureaucratic machine.
Inputs
1: Watched a PBS special, Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed The World, on the invention of the airplane. Some of it was familiar to anyone who caught the American version of the invention of powered flight, with the achievements of Orville and Wilbur Wright highlighted. However, I was totally unaware that a form of powered flight was developed decades earlier, by Alphonse Pénaud, who went on to sketch out a rather advanced version of a powered airplane with folding landing gear. After not finding backing for his plans, he ended up taking his own life at the age of 30. Yet another reminder of the thin edge that genius and mental difficulty ride along, and the thought beholden to “What if?”
2: Watched the conclusion of the semifinal games in college football last night. After prior years of blowouts and what felt like inevitable coronations, it was thrilling to watch two games come down to a final play, where either side could have triumphed. College football has its problems inherent with the exploitation of the labors of young men, and yet it still allows them the stage and the capacity to perform incredible acts to the largest audiences. It’s a thoroughly American tradition and one I continue to love, and will miss after next week’s championship concludes.
3: The Dan LeBatard Show returned from Winter break, and so I caught the first segments of the week. It made for a solid accompaniment as I thumped my head against my desk trying to learn new things. A continual source of joy and amusement is an important thing, especially as Winter has finally arrived here in the North.
Projects In Progress
Webapp: Still investigating things, mostly to try and figure out how to correctly host the whole kit and kaboodle. The thing I thought worked one way doesn’t seem to, so now it’s learning more about the implications and setups of various cloud providers. A simpler man would outsource these bits, or buy into something more turnkey. I am not that man. Progress continues, if not apace, then by paces.