This is my first post of the New Year.
Here.
Planning two weeks off gave me the impression that I would be super-productive and that I would write, read, play, and focus on some new things. Instead, I watched a lot of television, sat on the floor with the dog for hours at a stretch, and bounced between lazing around to eating back to lazing around.
It was not a total loss. I needed the break.
I did set my mind to the purposelessness of the last year though. I got to thinking about all the pointless work that I didn’t accomplish, and as I’ve done in years past, I vowed to focus on new projects and new things.
Blogging was high on that list. More blogging. Because as decidedly untrendy as it is right now in the era of tiktok superstars and youtube channels, I am very cozy in spilling words into the internet and I think I can keep focus on it for a while.
But I had this dilemma.
I want to write serious, long-format, in depth and wordy things on this space. And weeks can go by without me having anything long-format-worthy to write about. Also, long-format takes a long-time to put together. It is a worthy goal, yes, but it simply does not allow me to push forward with the catharsis of free-form blogging that I am aiming for.
I’ve tried this sort of thing in the past.
A couple years ago (and this links back closely to how I wound up owning the pixelazy.ca domain) I decided I was going to do a daily photo with some associated blogging. I would be a daily photographer and write about technique and style and… blah blah blah. That worked for about two months.
A few years before that I concocted the idea of long-form blogging around randomized topics. I had an A-list and a B-list and by merging one idea from each (at random) I could write some long-form bit of inspirational text about whatever poked through the veil of that mashup. That was swell and I held on, again, for a couple months. But it was hellalotta work.
Four days ago on January 1st I kicked off a different daily blogging project. See, I own this other domain where I had planned to write about cast iron cookware (long story involving beer, but read the “about” page if you are interested.) I didn’t ever do much with it, but I own the domain: castironguy.ca
So… what to do with a domain where I claim to be a guy who is really into cast iron cookware??
Here’s my take.
After all, what better single object to sum of my philosophy of life than a beautiful piece of iron that improves with care, attention, and food.
What I’ll be writing here on this blog may not be exclusively about cast iron cookware, but it will certainly come up. Maybe it even all connects back somehow. And I suspect the type of people who would be interested in reading my ramblings, likely are the same folks who cherish a good camp cookout, too.
The Cast Iron Guy
Over there I will write, simple short and daily, about things that inspire me to be positive, live well, eat good, and be the best sort of person I can be.
Over here I will write, less frequently and as the mood strikes, about things that I create, learn, play, think about, read, and work on.
It is a blogger divided.