I have watched my life burn to the ground and started again from scratch many, many times.

I believe in second acts and second chances.

I want to say this clearly for anyone who needs to hear it: it is possible to survive radical, unexpected and unwanted life changes, to start again, and to build a new life that is worth living.

I bet my fiancée that this picture of our cats could get 10 billion boosts on Mastodon.

She said she doesn't believe me. She said there's only 13 million accounts on Mastodon. She said there aren't even 10 billion people on Earth. She said it concerns her that I struggle so hard to comprehend large numbers.

Let's prove her wrong everyone. Boost away and show her just how awesome the Mastodon community is.

Looking back on 2024 I'd say my most memorable moment was the April total eclipse. I planned to drive to Carbondale, IL to see it but I had not planned on literally a million other people planning the same and being on the same highway as me trying to get there before it began. I got close, but after creeping along at 5 mph for the final couple of hours the eclipse was about to begin and I would miss totality if I didn't get off the highway. I ended up exiting I-24 onto IL state hwy 45 north of Vienna, IL and drove a short way until I saw a pull-off at a highway maintenance facility with a salt dome. (In fact I just found it on the map at 37.43396, -88.89366.)

So I pulled inside the fence at this facility, parked next to a large tree a distance from the buildings, and got out a sandwich to eat as I watched the spectacle. As the eclipse began in earnest, I didn't see any of the highway workers but a loudspeaker at one of the buildings began blasting out Pink Floyd's The Great Gig in the Sky. Hearing this sound floating over the countryside as the sun disappeared was the most surreal moment I can recall in I don't know how long. They then played Any Colour You like on the other side of totality. Once the big show was mostly over I got back in my car and began an equally tortuous journey home, reflecting on what an unbelievable stroke of luck it was that I didn't make it to my intended destination and instead ended up sharing a dreamlike moment with some Illinois highway workers who truly understood the assignment.
#eclipse #PinkFloyd #2024

While we are all discussing a health insurance system that murders 60k Americans per year for profit, I would like to remind everyone that this reporter released the Panama Papers, exposing a global network of tax dodging by wealthy people. No wealthy people went to prison, but she was murdered.

Not enough of us got angry about that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_Caruana_Galizia