I'm sitting in a Starbucks here in Cebu, Philippines. And there's a young person using an Apple Pencil with his iPad. I have an Apple Pencil for use with my iPad, but I tried it once and it just felt difficult and uncomfortable. I asked him to tell me about how he uses it and what he thinks about it. He said the same thing a couple other people told me about the Apple Pencil – that once you get used to it, it's life changing. He's obviously a smart guy as he's in school and studying medicine. I am motivated when I get back later this week to commit to using the pencil with my iPad at least once each day. What is it about sometimes being either stubborn or unwilling to try something new the older we get particularly with new technologies? Are you this way with any either technology or tool you want to use but haven't really learned how to use it? (BTW) I uploaded my newest video on the channel using only the Filmora app on my iPhone. I LIKED it.

So I just signed up for some new courses in Davinci Resolve and as part of those lessons, you get lifetime access to their 'Community'. Well guess what they run this community in? Skool. I thought that was a cool cross over. So if you are interested, it's one of the better Davinci Resolve teachers out there, Casey Faris. Over at GroundControl. They of course have a Black Friday sale up and active right now in case you need some training courses. I do recommend Casey's tutorials. But anyway, just something interesting that just happened.

If you celebrate Christmas or decorate for the holidays there’s obviously only one answer 🌲.

This is probably not the post you think it is. I’m curious who identifies with it. I spent last week moving, downsizing from a 2br/2ba to a 1br/1ba apt. I didn’t waste any time sifting through things, just gathering stuff up and moving it, although I did take some to storage the first day. I finished up late Friday night and ended up just chilling out on Saturday, I was just so sore and exhausted. Sitting there sipping coffee, I realized that my new place looks like a hoarder lives there. I’ve got all this stuff that I tend to collect and hold on to thinking that I might use it again someday. “It’s for the future!” I tell myself. In fact, my storage locker is full of stuff “for the future “. It was in that moment I realized THAT FUTURE IS HERE, RIGHT NOW! And guess what? I don’t need ANY of this stuff today! I’ve spent 40+ years as a programmer and that’s over. I’m done with it. So I have no need for the dozens of software books. All of the things I’ve collected up thinking “this is something interesting that I’ll dig into someday” is never going to be used. I have no kids or grandkids who are going to want to dig through it, and my siblings are more likely to just have someone haul it all away when I die. It has lost its usefulness to me or anybody I know. My intent here isn’t to sound sad or depressed or even unhappy; rather, this realization is actually quite freeing! I mean, there’s a “future” I’ve been planning for, and now that I’m here, things don’t look anything like what I expected. I’ll be 70 next year and I’m not looking for another career or long term project, but something that inspires me and lets me spend the rest of my time here coasting downhill and doing some things that benefit others based on things I’ve learned and experienced in my life, without sounding preachy or like an old fart spewing out advice like a bad case of diarrhea. This is something NEW, something I never saw coming or planned for. (Actually, have collected some stuff that applies here.)

I like that title… Because it's a fact. In eight days. I think I'll make it my next title for the YouTube video I'm planning to shoot and release by Tuesday. It infers that I'm leaving forever, but really it's only for about 20 something days. And actually, this post is about the new technology I purchased specifically for this trip. Meta ai glasses. I'll be giving my reasons again in another video as well as what it was that excited me on using this technology for my channel. Hands-free video and photos are two reasons. Here is a pic. I took this morning of the blooms from this cactus using the Meta glasses. Good enough, I think! On the side, these blooms only bloom at night and for about 24 hours.