Columns by Year

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2024

#451 - XoX

  3 minute read

Bit of this, bit of that.

#450 - Nouns

  4 minute read

Things are good.

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2023

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2022

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2021

#410 - Start Again

  9 minute read

When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it.

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2020

#401 - AIM Revisited

  9 minute read

An updated look at Aaron Information Management

#400 - 20x20

  7 minute read

A Celebration of 400 Posts & Look at the Times.

#394 - iOS is Android

  6 minute read

A recap of Apple’s 2020 WWDC, plus other stuff (like usual)

#390 - My Notes

  7 minute read

A quick look at my new notetaking system.

#389 - Quarantine

  7 minute read

Don’t waste this opportunity for introspection, learning, and personal development.

#387 - I’M AN ADUUULT

  3 minute read

It’s been a little bit. I’ve been incredibly focused.

#386 - Data Journal Pivot

  4 minute read

January’s 30 Day Challenge was to refactor the old “Life Tracker” into the “Data Journal” component of my new overall system. I wasn’t sure how much effort t...

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2019

#384 - 2020 is the Future

  7 minute read

Doesn’t it seem like 2020 has always been “the future!”. Technically as of this writing that’s still true… but almost assuredly for you reading this it is no...

#383 - Mailing List

  1 minute read

This Column exists mostly as a test of the new mail letter. Thanks to Google Plus shuttering its doors and my recent switch of hosting platform, I didn’t rea...

#381 - Atomic Habits Review

  4 minute read

Oh hey. I’m writing. I’m also watching “Frozen” for the first time in forever. Disney Plus is incredible and an absolute no-brainer as a person with a very y...

#380 - Quick Simple List of Good Habits I Suck At

  2 minute read

It’s been a while since I’ve written. I have had a lot of heavy trains of thought in that time. Daunting ones that would take a lot of time and energy to wri...

#378 - Apple Ecosystem

  6 minute read

Last November I bought an iPhone. I spent much of the previous 10 months adapting to both it and the Apple ecosystem. If you had my browsing history (say, fr...

#377 - 30 Day Challenges

  10 minute read

In late 2013 I watched a TED Talk that changed my life. Attributing a life change to a TED Talk feels somewhat embarrassing in 2019, but it happened to me. T...

#376 - New Column!

  3 minute read

I said I was interested in changing up The Column. This is me doing that. For future reference, this is the first post I’m writing after my move from Blogger...

#374 - Feature: Google Lament

  7 minute read

Motto: Okay Google... what's your goal here?IntroThis post is going to be an expansion on something I wrote about in Column #354. It will (hopefully) complet...

#373 - Simplicity & Embracing “Good Enough”

  6 minute read

Motto: Keep It Simple, StupidI suck at what I'm about to write about.An overarching theme for most of my posts lately (and because my writing so closely rela...

#372 - Gillespie Summer Vacation 2019

  2 minute read

Motto: This is essentially just FacebookMy little family unit just took our first 3-person vacation... and we liked it so much we decided to go for immediate...

#371 - AIM Immediate Followup

  3 minute read

Motto: Cause Nothing Ever Stays "Good Enough"I left the last post off saying I'd write more about Notion. This is going to be that + me revisiting notetaking...

#368 - Feature: Whole30 Review

  10 minute read

Motto: You can probably just stop reading here, too.Today is day 30 of our Whole30.If you don't know about Whole30, it can be summarized pretty simply as a (...

#367 - Short Book Review: Broken Angels

  7 minute read

Motto: You can probably just stop reading.This post is not for anyone. I wanted to write it, though. TL;DR - I read two books, one was good, one was not. Als...

#366 - Feature: Google Takeout

  9 minute read

Motto: Google is GodThere's a Google product you should know about; it's called Google Takeout. It is not a food service, so don't get excited. Don't ma...

#364 - The Engineering Binder (Working Title)

  4 minute read

Motto: Free the BeastI want to write a book. I don't to write a book so that I can "I'm a guy who's written a book", but because I have something have I...

#363 - Time & Date

  3 minute read

Motto: This Column was Meant to be about Many TopicsI have been thinking some about how stupid our conventions are for times and dates. I wonder if I could c...

#362 - Things I like. Things I don’t.

  1 minute read

Motto: Do You Have Any Apple Fritters?I read an article (like this one) about a psychology study in which the takeaway was: telling somebody you were going t...

#361 - In which Aaron Complains about Routine

  3 minute read

Motto: OH BOO HOOYou ever fall out of your groove? It's funny how doing one little thing can start a domino effect. I didn't feel like cooking, so we at...

#360 - Tech Ecosystem Mixing & “Okay Google”

  2 minute read

Motto: Oh Boo-HooI've been first-world struggling lately.Five and one-third years ago I wrote a Column about technological ecosystems. This is that table, up...

#359 - Retrospective

  3 minute read

Motto: This Should have been Column 365. Shucks.It's 2019. It's the start of a new year and a chance to take a fresh look at life.I already have my obligator...

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2018

#358 - More iOS vs Android Thoughts

  9 minute read

Motto: THOUGHTS! OPINIONS! WORDS IN AN ORDER TO CONVEY MEANING! This post is literally only about my continued review on iOS vs Android. I thought of more s...

#357 - We Scene a Movie

  1 minute read

Motto: Just one. That's all it takes.I, Aaron Gillespie, self-proclaimed best-guy alive, along two other best guys alive, started a movie podcast! It's calle...

#355 - Representative Cross Section of the Column

  3 minute read

Motto: I VotedI hated economics in school. It was a boring subject. The study of supply and demand was too demanding. Interest rates didn't interest me. The ...

#354 - King Dad & Fallible Google

  4 minute read

Motto: Mic Check One Thousand Two Hundred TwelveI have a kid. He's really cool. He sleeps a lot. He eats a lot. He's very large for his age. His temperament ...

#353 - Lyrics to No Song + Hollow Knight

  3 minute read

Motto: This is Shooting-From-The-Hip Poetry at Its NothingestBefore we start - expectations be framed.Each bits of this is self-contained. I've wri...

#352 - Make Stuff

  2 minute read

Motto: Hamburgers are Fun on a BunFile this Column under "Aaron tells other people what they should be doing", which I realize is too common of a theme.You k...

#351 - Self Help (Yourself)

  5 minute read

Motto: Make HappyI write the first half of this Column from a position of privilege. Actually I write every Column from that position, now tha...

#350 - Fatherhood

  2 minute read

Note from the Future: I’ve decided to remove my kid’s personal info from this post

#349 - Sixth Second-A-Day

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: Life, One Second a TimeI had a kid. I'll write about that next time. It's tough to try to get everything I want to say about that together and typed a...

#348 - Last Post Pre-Baby

  2 minute read

Motto: Let's Get It Started In HereOur baby is going to be induced two days from now. Tomorrow we go in for pre-induction medical magic. That means basically...

#347 - Thirty

  2 minute read

Motto: Optimism Meets Realism Meets WritingFifteen million seven hundred sixty-eight thousand minutes!Fifteen million seven hundred sixty-eight thousand ...

#346 - Marvel in Media & Upcoming Dad Transition

  3 minute read

Motto: Do the Thing the Person You Want to be Would Do - and Eventually that will be Who You Are.Does Anyone Remember When I Used to Write Everything in My B...

#343 - The Parable of the Rowing Machine

  4 minute read

Motto: Everybody Needs a HobbyI have put a lot of the three major resources into crafting a home gym. I'm proud of it and it's one my favorite things about m...

#342 - Time, Energy, Money (mostly time)

  3 minute read

Motto: It Makes a Fool of Us AllLife seems to me like a series of choices about what to do with your resources. Mostly those resources fall into energy, time...

#341 - Aaron Explains Income Tax

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: GET READY FOR FINANCE, BABYTaxes are needlessly confusing. At least that's how I always found them to be. Some relatively simple jargon like "deductib...

#340 - Definition Vs Usage

  4 minute read

Motto: I don't know why she swallowed the flyI'm literally not talking about the widely-recognized abuse of words like "literally". This is less of a Buzzfee...

#339 - Five Years Tracked

  5 minute read

Motto: Gentleman on the Streets, Freak in the Spreadsheets The Life Tracker. It was never given a better name - but it started with a worse name. If y...

#338 - Avengers: Infinity War (No spoilers)

  4 minute read

Motto: Balance to the UniverseI've been unable to write this column for the past 50 hours since I watched Avengers: Infinity War for the first time. My brain...

#337 - Apple iCosystem

  2 minute read

Motto: girl scout cookies are a treat, boy scout popcorn is an obligationFirst, because I never do, here's a short poem:Running through the forest.Dodging tr...

#336 - Memes & Pictures and Previews

  1 minute read

Motto: Shooter McGavin was in an episode of Star Trek: The Next GenerationI haven't written much lately cause I've been busy.I rewatched Thor: Ragnarok. I th...

#333 - Just Press 3 for a While

  5 minute read

Motto: Don't say cheese, just smile. Life is Good. This is the kind of stuff I think about.What is "smart"? What makes somebody smart? Is it just.....

#331 - No Zero Days, Escape Rooms, Podcast Count

  2 minute read

Motto: Adept at being IneptThis isn't going to be fun to read, but It was fun to write. I'm not writing about any of the things that have happened latel...

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2017

#330 - Christmas 2017, Resolutions for 2018

  5 minute read

Motto: 2017 is 99% complete & I'm 100% ready for 2018 to start.Christmas has come and gone. Gifts were given. I gave Melissa a back & neck massage th...

#328 - Feature: The MCU, Revisited

  18 minute read

Motto: What a Marvelous ContinuationPreface:Nearly 4 years ago, I wrote this long post about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as it existed then). In...

#327 - You Lack Discipline

  3 minute read

Motto: Discipline Beats MotivationLately I have had trouble doing new Aaron things.The ideas haven't gone. It's the follow through. I sought to remedy this s...

#326 - Not a Good One

  2 minute read

Motto: Some Handsome HandI don't like this post. You should skip it. I'm not saying this to intrigue you into reading further. This Column was supposed to be...

#325 - Loops

  5 minute read

Motto: Round and Round We GoRoutine.Imagine life without it. It would be chaos. Everyone has routines they go through every day. You do the same things in th...

#323 - Remembered Stuff I Forgot

  3 minute read

Motto: I Forgot to RememberLast time I wrote about stuff I had been putting on the back burner for a while. I forgot this stuff.SCIENCE AND HUMANITY AND STUF...

#322 - Fixing Sports, Definitions, Pictures

  4 minute read

Motto: DC, KC, ABQ, and stuffPart of the reason I don't write "Features" all that much anymore is that they take me a LONG time, and they push out other thin...

#321 - Stocks, GoPro, Nintendo Switch

  6 minute read

Motto: I wanted to Share this with youThe Stock Market doesn't make any sense, I can't believe it's a thing. It seems to me like a form of gambling, tha...

#320 - My 28th Year

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: 365 Out of 31536000 Seconds Last Year Let's get right to it. I've been doing that for 5 full years now. It would take 40+ minutes to watch all 5 ...

#319 - Limited Choices

  5 minute read

Motto: Let the Chips Fall Where They MayI have ecosystem anxiety. A long time ago, I jumped into the Google ecosystem with both feet. I even went so far...

#318 - A Series of Disassociated Thoughts

  3 minute read

Motto: The words need to fit together. The paragraphs do not.Writing.Every time I start a Column it starts with the single word "Writing". I go in and change...

#317 - Internal Dialog, but Written Down

  5 minute read

Motto: After Writing All of This I Realized Most of it is EmbarrassingHello internet. I'm writing this in my basement on the couch, waiting for Shadow of the...

#316 - Good Mood Rant

  6 minute read

Motto: Hello! My Name is... Mr. ComplainerI'm in a good mood. I've switched NSAIDs and my back feels great. I've had some great times over the past week and ...

#314 - 1592653589793238462643383279502884…

  2 minute read

A motto: TomatoIt has been a while.Have you ever been too busy living life to live life? I have been seizing the crap out of the day, every day. Since I last...

#313 - A Great Time

  4 minute read

Motto: Balance in the ForceThis post will serve as the "yong" to the previous post's "ying". First I'll start by saying I'm back on prescription anti-in...

#312 - Undifferentiated Spondyloarthropathy

  10 minute read

Motto: No shirt. No shoes. No thanks.Columns will go on as long as they have to.This Column was supposed to be a "fun" one, cause I feel like the last one I ...

#309 - Intent: Android

  4 minute read

Motto: Sentences that Begin and End with the Same Word are My Favorite Sentences.Before this 30 Day Challenge I wouldn't really have understood the title I u...

#307 - MCU Lows, CostCo Challenge

  5 minute read

Motto: Dr. Jan ItorFollow through... follow through is the topic I want to talk about for this Column.Actually let's talk about something else.It goes withou...

#306 - COMEBACK CITY

  2 minute read

Motto: Think Outside the Box, but Color Inside the LinesThe title of this post is not a reference to the Super Bowl. I didn't watch it. I have heard how it w...

#305 - Sketch Comedy

  6 minute read

Motto: I Guess Ryan Gosling is OkayThis year I am back to my 30 Day Challenges. They bring a variety to life that I quite enjoy. I missed the feeling that th...

#304 - 2017 is a Prime Number

  1 minute read

Motto: New Year, Same General IdeaThere's not much time to write this. My laptop is dying. It's already fairly late.Last year my resolution was to run 12 "ch...

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2016

#303 - Checking in on the 2016 Resolutions

  5 minute read

Motto: the word “Pizzazz” has never been played in a game of Scrabble<div style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" st...

#302 - The Bones of a Column

  1 minute read

Motto: Hey Google, tell me about my dayI'm just going to post this as is - everything in italics is how my Posts start, before I fill them out with words.Goo...

#301 - A Lot on My Mind

  3 minute read

Motto: I'm Here to Make a BargainI have had a lot on my mind lately. An almost inexplicably large amount for a person whose so far into the steady-state port...

#300 - Short & Sweet

  2 minute read

Motto: THIS IS SPARTAI've written 300 of these. That's a round number which seems significant. It's not, though. If humans had 12 fingers instead of 10, I'd ...

#299 - Homegym + Andromeda + Luke Cage

  2 minute read

Motto: Upon this rock, I will build my church.If the motto is sacrilegious, I apologize. I'm not referencing Matthew 16:18, I'm referencing Ultron. Ultr...

#298 - Same Old, Same Old, Different New

  6 minute read

Motto: WHOA IS ME!This Column will have some of the same old stuff I usually talk about presented in the same old ways. It will also have some different new ...

#297 - Building Stuff/Aaron’s Desk

  3 minute read

Motto: Mr. Handy Man CanMy grandpa was a carpenter. My dad builds stuff. It turns out I build some stuff too.Am I great? No.Am I capable?Arguably.My who...

#296 - More Eclectic Thoughts than Last Time

  5 minute read

Motto: Labor Day = Don't Go to Work? What?Last Column was very... focused. This time the glasses are coming off. Things are going to be nice and out-of-...

#295 - I’M AN ADUUUULT

  3 minute read

Motto: WELCOME TO MY NATION OF ARTICULATIONI'm an adult, dude.I'm sitting at the table in my kitchen, the one that used to be my only table. I own a table. I...

#294 - My 27th Year

  4 minute read

Motto: Jason UnbourneI haven't written in a while because I haven't had internet in a while. Melissa and I are moving to a full-blown house in less than a we...

#293 - One Big Chicken

  2 minute read

Motto: Is the "Of Pisa" really necessary?Stuff's happening. I'm very likely buying a house. Melissa and I will quickly become homeowners. LIVING THE AMERICAN...

#290 - Post Vacation Life

  3 minute read

Motto: Meet Dr. TryhardMelissa and I took a long vacation. For photos, see Facebook. If you don't know me well enough to see my Facebook, that's too bad. I'l...

#288 - Everything is Awesome

  3 minute read

Motto: and now, for something completely different!My wife's name is Melissa. She and I met 6 3/4 years ago at KU in training for our new job. I was fairly r...

#287 - Re: LAX (don’t do it)

  3 minute read

Motto: This post started so positive, then went down in flamesI wrote the majority of this post a week ago, but then lost internet connectivity and had to pu...

#286 - Meet Me in St. Louis

  2 minute read

Motto: What's Left to Write? (this is a very similar pun to the one I made 4 Columns ago, sorry)I'm writing this from a hotel in St. Louis. Melissa and I are...

#285 - Batman Vs Superman Vs the Trailers

  4 minute read

Motto: :-(21 hours ago I walked into a theater to watch one of the most anticipated movies... ever. The levels of hype varied from source to source - but all...

#284 - General Life Update

  3 minute read

Motto: lightly flavored carbonated water ≠ sodaHI!I don't write as much any more. That's just the way things are, and the way they will likely continue to be...

#282 - Monitor & Videogames

  1 minute read

Motto: Writing WrongsThat monitor situation I talked about in my previous post got resolved. I successfully returned the 4K monitor, lessons learned. Earlier...

#281 - New Monitor’s Resolutions

  3 minute read

Motto: Rambling for Rambling's SakeYesterday I bought a brand new 28" 4K Samsung computer monitor.Today I am writing this Column on it.Tomorrow I'll be retur...

#280 - Good Routine ⇾ Good Life

  6 minute read

Motto: Set Achievable Daily Goals and Achieve Them DailyI've struggled not to start every Column I've written over the past few months with "everything is re...

#279 - A, L, B, U….. QUERQUE!

  2 minute read

Motto: Baskin Robbins always finds outI spent a couple of nights in Albuquerque earlier this week. It was my first time (in memory) down around that state. T...

#278 - One Thousand Days

  1 minute read

Motto: I have two on-going projects over 1,000 days old because I've only ever had two good ideasThis post going to be very short. I just wrote and published...

#277 - Year = Year + 1

  4 minute read

Motto: 2015 was cool. This Column is going to be written over the course of a few days. There's too much going on for me write now. I'm at the Hill house. A...

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2015

#276 - THINGS ARE STILL GOOD

  2 minute read

Motto: BUM BUM BUM, BUM BUMBUM, BUM BUMBUM, BWAM BWAM BWAM BWAM BWAMBWAM, BWAM BUH BWAM. DUHHHH DUH DUH DUH DUH DA DUHDUHDUHTo set the scene: I'm watching a ...

#275 - THINGS ARE GOOD

  1 minute read

Motto: IN AND OUTThis is going to be a super quick update before the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. midseason finale. I'm very excited for that.I'm very excited abou...

#274 - Vacation: Full Stop.

  5 minute read

Motto: Hi guys!I had a week vacation. Although I went into the week with some loosely-defined goals & objectives, when it came time to put the wheels on ...

#273 - 30 Day Challenges are Challenging

  2 minute read

Motto: I have half an hour to write thisIt's the beginning of the month. That means I'm transitioning between two 30 Day Challenges. Here's where I reflect o...

#272 - Android TV Experiment

  3 minute read

Motto: Well That's Disappointing In 2014, when Google announced the Nexus 6 that was a huge personal disappointment, they announced a few other things that ...

#271 - 2045

  3 minute read

Motto: GREAT SCOTT! Yesterday was “Back to the Future” day. That is popular knowledge right now. I’m not stating that not so much to inform you now, but mor...

#270 - #HYPE

  2 minute read

Motto: GET ON MY LEVEL The initial reviews for the Nexus 6P are coming back. I'm buying into the #HYPE. Initial. Reviews. Are. All. Positive. Seriously....

#268 - I Forgot to Name

  2 minute read

Motto: IT MIGHT SEEM CRAZY, WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY... I’m about to write something I promised myself I wouldn’t ever write:“It’s been so long since I wrote, ...

#266 - Simple Writing About My Big Week & Phone

  3 minute read

Motto: Simply Perfect I am writing whole piece this using only the ten hundred most often used words. I am doing this because a guy whose work I enjoy did t...

#264 - Maths: Dimensional Analysis

  5 minute read

Motto: Knowledge = Voltage × Current! This column is going to be fun, but first you've got to earn that fun through some learning. I'm going to start this ...

#262 - Tablets, Movies, a Case for No-Name Actors

  3 minute read

Motto: Cross another off the movie bucket list I want a tablet, but... Tablets are the most fun pieces of computing tech out there - even if they may be th...

#260 - New Look & Phone Tree Rant

  3 minute read

Motto: If Not Now, When? Hey, this looks different!Yes, I've slightly changed the look & feel of the Column to celebrate my move from aarongilly.blogspo...

#259 - Follow-up to My Previous Post

  2 minute read

Motto: I found a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-fa...

#258 - Feature: Notetaking Platform Anxiety

  12 minute read

Motto: Writing for Me, by Me Melissa is going back to grad school, she's taking her Mac Air & iPad with her & utilizing Microsoft OneNote. While she...

#257 - Four Great Days

  3 minute read

Motto: The Theme is "Worlds"... which Passes as a Theme I Suppose The past 4 days have been awesome. Here's why, with pictures & captions! Melissa and...

#256 - Tech News

  3 minute read

Motto: Google's Indexing the Internet, AlphabeticallyI'm embarrassed by that motto.Trebuchet is my favorite font. Presuming your browser didn't hijack my typ...

#255 - He’s a Twit

  2 minute read

Motto: Twitter sucks #ProbablyJustJealous I don't have a Twitter. I don't like the idea of a stream of small text posts. So here's everything I would have tw...

#254 - My 26th Year

  2 minute read

Motto: 14 million 208 thousand 480 minutes! 14 million 208 thousand 480 moments of rife! 14 million 208 thousand 480 minutes! How do you measure, m...

#253 - The Video Everyone’s Waiting For

  1 minute read

Motto: Get really excited. Here it comes. You excited? I turned 27 yesterday. That marks my 27th* year on this earth, and my 3rd year's Second-A-Day video. ...

#250 - Life Tracker Refactor

  6 minute read

Motto: Diagnostics, on a Personal LevelBecause I anticipate this is a boring subject for many/most of you - I've included a TL;DR just above the Top 5 to whi...

#248 - Column Without Typing Anything Fancy

  2 minute read

Motto: This Post Brought to You by ABCDFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></div>Last night I told a group...

#247 - I’m Annoying

  3 minute read

Motto: I’ve got a long way to go<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></div><div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'...

#245 - Not Your Usual Column

  2 minute read

Motto: Take a jaunt. <div>This post will contain nothing about Marvel, coding, Life Tracker, second-a-day videos, Google, technology, or me. It wi...

#243 - Short Post - Meta, Google I/O Hopes

  2 minute read

Motto: I think Parcheesi is a cheap, unpleasant, and blatantly inauthentic game <div>I am writing this on our porch. We really like our place. Even aft...

#242 - Feature: The Life Tracker

  9 minute read

Motto: This Column May Set a Record for the Greatest Number of "I" Uses. Not proud. This Column is going to take a deep dive “Inside Baseball”. Moreso t...

#241 - Colorado Vacation

  2 minute read

Motto: I Might Be Inclined <div>Melissa and I are back from vacation. It was great.I’m sitting at the table. It’s late at night. Melissa is grading. Th...

#240 - Not in My Experience

  3 minute read

Motto: I'm going to call Ratcatcher to trash this Copper <div>This is likely the last post I will write before Melissa and I go on our vacation to...

#239 - 1 Down… Many to Go

  3 minute read

Motto: You Can Survive Anything for Just 10 Seconds! <div>Melissa and I went on our first real bike ride yesterday. We went on a 2.92 mile jaunt around...

#238 - Print “#238”

  1 minute read

Motto: Zen Mode Engage<div>I have decided to learn more about computer science. I’ve done some “coding” for several years, but it’s pretty much always ...

#237 - Social Networks, Fitness

  5 minute read

Motto: You Don't Exercise because You Have Energy, You Exercise because it GIVES You Energy <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; m...

#235 - New Place

  3 minute read

Motto: Right about now, the funk's your brother. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Seve...

#233 - Time is Dumb & Phones are Dumb

  6 minute read

Motto: This Turned Out Longer than I Expected <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Convent...

#232 - Mostly Updates to Projects

  2 minute read

Motto: Your Projected Projects Project Your Identity <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">...

#231 - Notes from the Previous Two Weeks

  3 minute read

Motto: Bill Plates - President of Macrohard <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">My 30 Day...

#230 - Failio & The Perfect Bag

  3 minute read

Motto: Get Over It, Dude <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">January 2014 Melissa and I did the Paleo + CrossFit 30 Day Challen...

#229 - Why Doesn’t Everybody…

  10 minute read

Motto: The Desolation of Smug <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This post is going to come across as snooty, maybe, but I don...

#228 - Windows 7 Ate 9

  4 minute read

Motto: Vegas is Paying Out Big Money to Some to Some Lucky Betters This weekend I built a computer. Let me answer some anticipated questions: Q: Why did you...

#227 - Feature: A La Carte Television

  6 minute read

Motto: Liberty and Monarchy, that's my Free King Motto <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Because I sorta w...

#226 - Build It Yourself

  3 minute read

Motto: Coincidental Minds Think Alike <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">If it’s been a...

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2014

#224 - Disney, Android Wear, and LoTR/MCU Actors

  3 minute read

Motto: Two Kinds of Nerdy Will Battle in This PostI realized the other day that the Disney company is killing it in terms of content - especially content in ...

#223 - This is Going to Be Difficult to Read

  less than 1 minute read

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><...

#222 - Two Two Two

  2 minute read

Motto: Optimis Divisible Only by Himself and OneThe thirty day challenge I embarked upon for the month of November was simple - live on a budget. I wanted to...

#221 - According to the Rules

  1 minute read

Motto: #hashtag <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I write these posts according to my own (previously) unw...

#220 - Reminder: Two Part Movies are Cheap

  4 minute read

Reminder: Include a Motto <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I haven’t written much lat...

#219 - Brief Selections from My Moleskine

  1 minute read

Motto: Just Cause <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I love a good notebook. If you have a notebook, you ca...

#218 - $1500

  3 minute read

Motto: Consumerism at its Finest <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Whoa! Dude! There’s ...

#217 - Short Google Fit Rant

  3 minute read

Motto: Google Fit, Not Quite Fit for Duty (HEADLINES, SON) <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This entire update is about Goog...

#213 - The Avengers Trailer

  3 minute read

Motto: No Strings Attached <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Being a critic is not one of my skills. Howev...

#211 - New Stuff: Impressed/Not Impressed

  8 minute read

Motto: I Like These Oddly Formatted Columns. Expect More of Them.ImpressedRobert Downey Jr. is rumored to be joining the cast of the upcoming Captain America...

#210 - Just a Theory

  3 minute read

Motto: Tonight's a Twofer <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I have a theory about stress, not all types of...

#209 - Life: The Guide

  3 minute read

Motto: Tangent <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Systems analysis - that’s got to be a passtime of mine. ...

#208 - To Whom It May Concern

  2 minute read

Motto: I Like Posts Like This <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">If you’re reading this, there’s a zero percent chance any of ...

#207 - What’s Next

  5 minute read

Motto: The Quantified Masses, The Hunt for Ripped October, The Yes Man Cometh, All Other Potential Names <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-b...

#206 - First Watch Update

  2 minute read

Motto: Focus, by Marc Jacobs <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I’m writing this post in...

#205 - Life Tracked

  10 minute read

Motto: Aaron, Meet Aaron <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This post is going to be long, but it’s kind of a big deal. Hopefu...

#204 - Winfield

  1 minute read

Motto: My Grass is Blue <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><pre style="line-height: normal; white-space:...

#203 - Moto 360

  4 minute read

Motto: Infall Klocka <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Two weeks ago I wrote about how excited I was for ...

#201 - Feature: Thought Experiments

  8 minute read

Motto: "What running features should each Column have?" Five months ago I wrote a feature post titled "Minimalist Thought Experiment". In that post I gave a ...

#199 - Feature: Tech Setup

  12 minute read

Motto: I wrote this on a laptop <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I’ve been interested in consumer technol...

#197 - September and “Less Projects”

  2 minute read

Motto: "September" is an anagram of "Mr. Best Pee" <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I...

#194 - Tireless Writing

  2 minute read

Motto: I'd make another wheel-based pun, but I won't because I'm 3/4ths tired. <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0p...

#193 - He’s Coding

  5 minute read

Motto: Clean your weight, deary <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This post isn’t a feature. It’s mostly a...

#192 - Feature: Dominion

  19 minute read

Motto: Hello Melissa! Hello Danielle! This post is not for everyone. The first part is for everyone who's at all interested in this game I've been playing a...

#191 - Fruition

  4 minute read

Motto: No Half Measures <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Let’s take a quick look back at Column #175 - “L...

#190 - My 25th Year

  3 minute read

Motto: It's My Party and I'll Cry to Make a Throwback Joke <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div><div style="line-h...

#189 - The Month of Many Challenges

  2 minute read

Motto: No hablo Espanol <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This is going to be a short and sweet Column. T...

#187 - LightWORKS

  3 minute read

Motto: IT'S ALIVE!!! <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This is a continuation of my previous few Columns. Re: Linux & vi...

#186 - Fitness Baseline

  3 minute read

Motto: Bro, do You Even Lift? (or run? or stretch?) <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I...

#185 - Editor Rant

  5 minute read

Motto: This is a Column for Me, Not so much You <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><pre style="line-heig...

#184 - Writing for Writing’s Sake

  1 minute read

Motto: This Column is about Nothing <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">This is the first...

#183 - Lonesome George

  3 minute read

Motto: The Tyrannosaurus Wrecks His Car <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Despite the t...

#182 - 30 Day Challenges are Not Dead

  4 minute read

Motto: Matt Cutts I've been lazy with the 30 Day Challenges lately. I'll admit that. But I have not given up on them entirely. They've definitely been in the...

#181 - More on My Computer Reset + Portal

  2 minute read

Motto: Now I'm thinki0 0ng with Portals. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">So. It’s been a week since my last post. Why...

#180 - Google I/O 2014 & Computer Reset

  5 minute read

Motto: El Google Google I/O happened. I had to work during most of the keynote, but it was still fantastic.Here's the changelog:Material Design is Google's n...

#179 - Feature: Transportation

  12 minute read

Motto: Cars Go Fast <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">This Column is long, but I think ...

#178 - Linux & “the Cloud”

  5 minute read

Motto: Open is as Open Does <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This Column is about computer stuff. It is g...

#176 - Feature: Gone Pro (or Insane)

  6 minute read

Motto: The World's Most Versatile Column <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text...

#175 - List of Projects

  7 minute read

Motto: The Project Project is Projected to be a Success <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;"&...

#174 - The Walled Garden of Eden

  3 minute read

Motto: WWDC stands for Wow. What a Developer's Conference <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Everything I’m about to say might...

#173 - MCU Revisit & Other Superhero Universes

  4 minute read

Motto: #ItsAllConnected <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">If you don’t care about Marvel Comics, this post...

#172 - The Ring

  2 minute read

Motto: 7 Days (equals one week!) <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I’ve been married fo...

#171 - The Greatest Week of My Life

  13 minute read

Motto: Whoa. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Just to set the scene properly for your ...

#170 - The Greatest Day of My Life

  2 minute read

Motto: Have You Ever Had a Perfect Day? I had a perfect day. It happened about 3 weeks ago.Melissa and I were married on Saturday the 3rd of May in Lawrence,...

#169 - Wedding Talk

  3 minute read

Motto: That's MR. Gillespie to you. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">The original titl...

#168 - The Wedding at the End of the Tunnel

  3 minute read

Motto: Details Details Details I sometimes have a tendency to get excited about something, then forget that anything exists beyond that thing. I was excited ...

#167 - Feature: Password Security

  11 minute read

Motto: My Heartbleed's for You <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The motto is not grammatically incorrect....

#166 - Attack Mode

  3 minute read

Motto: So Much to Do and so Little Time <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Writing Columns is something I d...

#165 - Multimedia Solution

  3 minute read

Motto: I Just Want to Play What I Have on What I Have <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">There was a time w...

#163 - The Buzz Heard Around the World

  9 minute read

Motto: I Hate Getting My Hair Cut. <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Yesterday was the worst day I’ve had ...

#161 - Writing Wrapup

  3 minute read

Motto: Give it a Break Already <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">My Feature on constrai...

#160 - Feature: Constrained Writing

  6 minute read

'Tis in a Motto: Ottoman I Sit <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Writing with constrain...

#159 - Future Tech & Android Wear

  3 minute read

Motto: Watch What I'm About to Do Here <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Predicting the future of technology has been a stapl...

#158 - Lists.

  3 minute read

Motto: If you are listless, you lack energy or enthusiasm. Prepare for energy and enthusiasm. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"&...

#157 - GoPro Basketball Video

  1 minute read

Motto: En Route, En Queue, In English <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As Danielle pointed out to me this...

#156 - Showered and Writing

  2 minute read

Motto: Feel the Love I'd like to start this post by saying wedding showers are awesome. I suggest you have one as soon as you can. I have access to all sorts...

#155 - I Thought it was Funny

  2 minute read

Motto: It's All Good (Except for the Bad Stuff) <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">When I was in middle sch...

#154 - Advantages & Android Wear

  2 minute read

Motto: The Point of this Post is to Make You Hate Me <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">...

#153 - Man Week

  1 minute read

Motto: It's What You Make of It <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Melissa is in Wichita...

#152 - Continuing Education

  1 minute read

Motto: Not Sure <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I have no plans for this post. It’s 10PM. At some point in time over the pa...

#151 - Feature: Fonts

  2 minute read

Motto: It's not what you say or how you say it; it's what it looks like. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This Column is mos...

#150 - Meta Cheese

  2 minute read

Motto: It's Good for You <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">One hundred fifty. I’ve written one hundred fif...

#149 - Today’s Writing Exercise

  2 minute read

Motto: Seriously. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I’m sorry if my “write every day” g...

#148 - Mission: Impossibly Convenient

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: When "Running to the Store" is Literally Possible <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I’ve lived in f...

#147 - Toshiba Chromebook

  2 minute read

Motto: Writing about Chrome, in Chrome <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">A couple of months ago I wrote ab...

#146 - New Rotation

  1 minute read

Motto: The Times, They are a Changing September 2012 I started my first real job. I entered into an engineering technical development rotation program. For ...

#145 - Feature: Minimalist Thought Experiment

  3 minute read

Motto: This Line Doesn't Really Need to Be Here. <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I was going to preface ...

#144 - 30 Days, 3 Books, Google Storage

  3 minute read

Motto: Reading is for Nerds <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Yesterday marked more than just the first day of a new month, i...

#143 - Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

  1 minute read

Motto: I just now learned Timbuktu is a real place <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div><div style="line-height: 1...

#142 - Products I Like

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: Fight Club Reference <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div><div style="line-height: 1.15;">The following ...

#141 - Ad Nauseum

  4 minute read

Motto: I'm Really Proud of the Title of this Post, Too On the first of this month I wrote about my experiences while on a Paleo diet. I mentioned that I fel...

#140 - From 25.0 to 25.5 Video

  2 minute read

Motto: We're Going Through Changes <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">One week ago was 2...

#139 - A Eulogy for Thor

  3 minute read

Thor Odinson Gillespie: 09/01/2013-02/05/2014.Yes, that was his name - and yesterday Melissa and I had to take him to see the vet for last time.October 13th,...

#138 - The End of the Paleolithic Era

  10 minute read

Motto: I'm Really Proud of the Title of this Post <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">Mel...

#137 - Post about Posts

  1 minute read

Motto: These Mottos Do Not Accurately Reflect Anyone's Actual Motto <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-hei...

#136 - Chrome, in All It’s Forms

  4 minute read

Motto: Boldly Going Where Chrome has Gone Before Chromebooks are specialized laptops that run Google's Chrome OS. For those of you who don't know about Chrom...

#134 - A Menagerie of Goodness

  5 minute read

Motto: Mod podge <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I keep a backlog of ideas for the co...

#133 - 6 Days of Paleo & an Intro to CrossFit

  2 minute read

Motto: Sugar, Replaced by Spice, is not quite as Nice <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">...

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2013

#131 - Save the Date Video

  less than 1 minute read

Motto: In Two Weeks, Someone Will Make a New Year's Resolution Joke with the Punchline "1920x1080" I wrote one post in the past month. If you asked why that ...

#130 - Feature: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

  12 minute read

Motto: What a Marvelous Accomplishment Preface:<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Before I get started I’d like to let you kno...

#129 - 24th Year Swell and Engagement Photo

  1 minute read

Motto: the Approval of Random Internet Strangers Three months ago, I put this video on YouTube:Up until 14 hours ago, that video had been watched 232 times. ...

#128 - Nexus 5, Android 4.4, Battlefield 4

  5 minute read

Motto: EVERYTHING IS SO NEW AND SHINY I took a week off. Life happens. I’m going to make this update into 3 short updates in one.<div dir="ltr" style="mar...

#127 - October Project Ended 4 Days Shy

  3 minute read

Motto: If you can't eat it you don't need it. I’m ending the October Project a few days early. First I’m going to post the picture you’ve probably already no...

#126 - Late is Better than Never

  2 minute read

Motto: I wish they played basketball in the NBA <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I’ve ...

#125 - The Mighty and the Mischievous

  1 minute read

Motto: He then let out a mighty, roaring mew <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Melissa and I each got a ki...

#124 - Mid-October

  2 minute read

Motto: the Fattening The October Project is half over. Brief recap - I'm doing a month long project that can basically be summarized as "Eat more, workout mo...

#123 - Disc Golf Video (and a Column)

  1 minute read

Motto: Owed In Son Today is Monday. Today is not Sunday. I didn’t get my workouts done consistently last week. I’m going to lift as soon as I post this. Th...

#122 - Make-up Post

  4 minute read

Motto: Darn the Bad Luck There <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div style="line-height: 1.15;">I got sick. It ruined ...

#121 - Future Projects

  3 minute read

Motto: Otto Octavius was in a skydiving accident. Sadly, he's now an octoplegic. <div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div st...

#117 - Minor Changes

  1 minute read

Motto: I Hate Writing about Writing. This Motto is Writing about Writing about Writing. Metametawriting.

#102 - List of Words

  2 minute read

Motto: You with Your Long Words and Your Short Difficult Words

#100 - One Hundred

  1 minute read

Motto: Things are Crazy, and Crazy is Good

#99 - Feature on Tools

  4 minute read

Motto: A Tool is Only as Useful as Its Operator’s Ability to Use It

#93 - Cousin Week

  4 minute read

Motto: Too Much of a Good Thing is a Great Thing

#87 - Google I/O

  7 minute read

Motto: 3.5 hours of completely undivided attention

#83 - One Week Tracked

  5 minute read

Motto: “If I had an hour to save the world I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute finding solutions”

#81 - Back to Normal

  4 minute read

Motto: Just a Normal Day at the Office (Chair)

#79 - Pros & Cons

  10 minute read

Motto: Mottos are good for intros, but can be vague or confusing

#73 - Lots

  4 minute read

Motto: I’ve got nothing to say - but I’m going to say a lot

#70 - Pi Virus

  4 minute read

Motto: My health? It’s gone viral.

#65 - The Adventures of Aaron

  8 minute read

Motto: For your treatment I prescribe several highly concentrated doses of life.

#61 - Movie Mode

  3 minute read

Motto: Throwing Everything Possibly Deep at a Wall to See What Sticks

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2012

#48 - is a Weird Post.

  1 minute read

Motto: Prevention is 16 times more effective than cure, by weight.

#46 - Early Morning Thoughts

  4 minute read

Motto: “That which goes up, must also come down” is a wildly inaccurate statement.

#44 - Master Tech Comparison Column

  21 minute read

Motto: Pick your poison… and by poison I mean most interesting and useful thing in the modern world..

#39 - Tech Cool Down

  3 minute read

Motto: The word “Sasquatch” is somewhere in this sentence, see if you can find it!

#33 - One Week of Work

  3 minute read

Motto: I sat in the theater of Looper with a camera. I looked at myself in the camera and watched myself watching myself watch myself watch Looper.

#32 - Work in the Morning

  1 minute read

Motto: The next step. (watch yourselves, he’s all deep and stuff)

#26 - Employment

  2 minute read

Motto: You know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when things go “according to plan.” Even if the plan is horrifying!

#24 - Practice

  1 minute read

Motto: Practice makes perfect.

#20 - Metawriting

  2 minute read

Motto: Knowledge comes from experience. Experience comes from doing things.

#17 - Amy’s Wedding

  2 minute read

Motto: Upping the Entertainment Value for My Lovely Audience

#15 - Jelly Bean

  3 minute read

Motto: My phone is running Android 4.1, you jelly?

#11 - Good weekend and notes

  3 minute read

Motto: I keep looking up the definition of insanity, it always says the same thing

#10 - Quick. Then Redone.

  1 minute read

Motto: This is a vacation That’s what I’m calling it at least. A vacation after school before getting my first big boy job. I’m not sure what that job will b...

#7 - Futurama

  2 minute read

Motto: Productivity schmoductivity

#6 - Time.

  3 minute read

Motto: Bwhaaaaaaaaaam

#2 - Officially Blogger

  1 minute read

Motto: These “numbers” have been wrong for about 10 years

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