Since I’ve gotten a few messages lately asking if I’m still alive (a not unreasonable question given our current pandemic era and my age), I thought it was well nigh time to answer in the affirmative.
It’s been very obvious that, with only a few scattered exceptions, I haven’t really been tending to my websites, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for at least the length of our global infection. The “‘rona” is actually the least of my excuses. I don’t think I’ve contracted it, I have minimal contact with people, I’m vaccinated, and I wear a mask with little complaint (only when I’m heavily exerting myself). So, if not that, then why?
The biggest reason is just enjoying the excuse of taking a break from it all. I’ve been running sites under the cjcs domain for almost 25 years, websites in general for longer than that (back when it was just HTML — no version numbers, yet), and BBSes for a decade before the Internet went public. I’ve posted a lot during that time and been administrating for just about as long. It kind of gets old.
Speak of getting old…there’s me. I’ve got more than six decades in my skin. Staying on the cutting edge of new tech doesn’t seem as important to my life as it used to. So I don’t much venture away from the few social networks I mentioned above. With the newer venues, I know I’m not in the target demo and I’m OK with that. While I did start playing on computers over fifty years ago, they were very restricted and a far cry from being as powerful and versatile as even my phone is today. While I started on computers when I was still in single digits (a rarity back in the day), I didn’t grow up with computers like today’s youth have grown up with computers. As a result, staying connected isn’t as much a part of my perceived quality of life as it is for more recent generations. Again, that’s fine, but it does mean I don’t get particularly anxious if I’m not posting new content.
As I watch the content of others, especially on YouTube, I can’t help but empathize with the tyranny of staying current. During the height of one of my other blogs, I was posting 3-to-5 500-1,500 word articles every day. It was all about getting visitors and ad revenue. Eventually, I’d pretty much said everything I wanted to. Since I didn’t want to just repeat and repost, I pretty much stepped away. Sure, when I watch various YouTubers, with their play buttons in the background, and enough money flowing in that they can really up their content game while still earning a living, I get a little envious. But then I think of all of the time and effort it takes to plan, record, and edit the content (or manage employees) — and that’s without even adding in the threat of copyright strikes.
In terms of my own content, I do want to post more articles and videos more frequently (I don’t think life will permit me to be regular with it). Articles are easier than videos. Writing is my natural communications medium. I did it before I made money from it, and wrote even more once I was experienced at the professional level. I do get muzzled a bit by the reality that the Internet never forgets. One needs to be somewhat mindful of the intent and perception of their words. As a result, my draft-to-published ratio is 4 or 5 to one at this point. It really should be higher, but I’m less driven to poke the bear in a blog than I might have been a few decades ago (not that I was a magnet for controversy in any case).
As for videos — honestly, the handwriting thing overwhelmed me. Never mind the equipment issues/expenses that cropped up. The fact is that handwriting is not my area of expertise. I did grow up in an age when handwriting was still important, but I’ve always felt like I was overstepping whenever I posted a handwriting video. I do have that skill but I’m not convinced there are others better able to teach y’all. Maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, I also have the issue of having very little room to make these videos — I’ve damaged equipment because of it. It’s also why I don’t really do speed paintings — I just don’t have the room to set up the cameras to do it.
So, I’m left in a quandary about what to post, especially with videos. At the moment, I have no plan. I might just post miscellaneous videos from time to time. (And this is on the CJ’s Creative Studio channel; on my personal channels I’m even more at a loss.) When time allows and/or I have interesting enough content, I’ll post something either here or on the appropriate social network. I suppose a FAQ for some of the more frequent handwriting questions might not be a bad idea.
That’s pretty much it. I’m not dead. The sites aren’t dead. In fact, there might still be a bit of life left in all of us.
