Gonna pack up my two-steppin’ shoes And head for the Gulf Coast plain Gonna walk the streets of my own hometown Where everybody knows my name. – Nanci Griffith, “I Wish it would Rain” I typed the above lyric from memory. Admittedly, that recollection has been made sharper during the week since Nanci Griffith passed away. I’ve been listening to her music a lot, and I produced a radio remembrance about her. But I think…
Category: Random Personal Nonsense
Pandemic Feels
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
On some level, it’s true. We are all supposed to be practicing the same measures to keep ourselves safe. But what I learn when I talk to people in those little video squares on my computer is that there are a lot of ways to feel and be right now, and that, well, I haven’t heard exactly the way I feel expressed out there. I don’t have kids. That’s the first thing my work colleagues…
Web Heroics, Catching Up, and Doing it Live
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Random Personal Nonsense
This Web site has been under the weather for awhile. I’ll play the hero and tell you that I wrestled t to the ground, pummeled the mySQL database and made it do my bidding. Then I reassembled these pages from the ashes of mixed metaphor, backed it all up and went on about my business. A consequence of the site’s troubles is that I haven’t done many updates here. I’m making Parallel episodes. I went…
See What’s in My Non-#WWDC Bag
Posted in Access and Disability, New Media and Tech, Podcasting, and Random Personal Nonsense
I won’t be at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, or WWDC, this week like all the cool Mac kids. I make part of my living doing something other than reporting about Apple, so this is my lot. I’m not complaining, but it’s times like this when I am forcibly reminded how different my day, and often my relationship with technology, is from those developers, writers and podcasters whose bag packing lists I see online. Yes, I…
“The Possum Story”
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
In 2006, a weird thing happened at our house. I included the story on my former eponymous podcast, in the middle of an episode called Mystery Sinus Theater. The photo also made the local paper as part of one of those sights and sounds of Christmas photo thingies. Front page, baby! I subsequently made a Facebook post that I share each Christmas Eve. Because I’m not as good at social media as I think I am,…
Update: Now with a dramatic reading, as heard on NosillaCast #606, at about the 30 minute mark. Thanks to Allison for the opportunity to relive high school poetry interp competition. Lots and lots of people have asked if I bought a new MacBook Pro; the one with the dongles and the touch bar. And then, I couldn’t sleep. So I wrote a poem. I Did Not Buy a MacBook Pro When I’m on a podcast…
Try, Try Again
Posted in Classic Film, and Random Personal Nonsense
I have always intended this blog to be a place to collect the work, and other creative projects I make. I created categories and design elements that would make it possible for someone who shares my interest in accessibility, podcasting, or cocktails, to follow just the posts and plugs for those topics. But some projects got more attention from me than others, and a few simply taunt me from the sidebar. Now i’m enlisting you…
The One iPod Touch Fangirl
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Random Personal Nonsense
This week’s announcement of faster, more colorful versions of the iPod Touch was met with: a) rapture b) sophisticated market analysis c) indifference Actually, the answer is d) scorn. You see, the lowly (that one always hurts) iPod Touch is not perceived as an aperitif for those wishing to sample the iOS menu. Nor is it the logical landing place for someone who prizes small, elegant things. It is also not a cost-effective way to get…
Wag a Long Tail: Pondering How to Write about Old Movies
Posted in Classic Film, General Store, and Random Personal Nonsense
A few weeks ago, I updated the categories on my little blog. I wanted to give some love to the various long tails referenced up there in the tagline. OK, so write something, already! I’ve loved classic film since high school, when I…that’s a blog post I’ll write later. Suffice it to say, old movies have been an obsession of mine for EVER. And, like most hobbies, or fandoms, or relic-worship topics, the Internet has…
Me on the Tech Doctor Podcast
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, Pods and Presos, and Random Personal Nonsense
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of being a guest on Robert Carter’s Tech Doctor Podcast. It’s a weekly show focused on technology and blindness. I’ve corresponded with Robert before. Turns out he is a listener to Shelly’s Podcast, and a fellow Texan. It was nice to finally meet him. Along with his co-host, Allison Hartley, Robert and I had a wide-ranging discussion of my career, low vision, the Macintosh/iOS, and the book I’m…