Category: Personal Reflections

Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection

An Update

Carl Setzer2 Comments

I’ve been thinking about something of a rebrand. Basically, want to align different elements of my web presence with elements of my life. The professional side, the poet, and, well, everything else. What I’ve decided is to distribute my content across three sites (I already held these domains)

CarlSetzer.com has the most SEO for my name, so I wanted recruiters and those looking for freelance talent to find me and my professional content quickly.

CarlSetzer.net started as a poetry site, so it’s really just coming back to the beginning. I just brought over all the poetry I’ve written over the past few years to get this page up-to-speed. This will tie into most of my social media accounts as that mostly been poetry.

NotJustSeattle.com fits me as someone who considers himself a lifelong Seattleite, but who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and spent a lot of his childhood travelling the country. I’ll figure out this page soon and start updating with energy.

I’m not planning on porting my subscribers over, but am amenable if that’s what you want me to do. If I did that, I guess I would bring everyone over to CarlSetzer.net, and most of you seem to have connected with me over my haiku. Let me know what you think.

So, I’d love it if you popped over to the other accounts and subscribed. It’d mean the world to me. With all this, I’m planning on relaunching my haiku a day series on CarlSetzer.net. Come and join me there!

I love this little video featuring Charlie Mackesy’s work

Carl Setzer1 Comment

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“Kind.”

“I believe that you bring to this world things that no one else can. So hold on.”

May you find your value, my friends.

This video is built upon the work of Charlie Mackesy, and it was my introduction to his work. I see great value in exploring it completely.

Are you familiar with his work? Let me know your experience.

A wrenching story highlighting the importance of vaccines

Carl Setzer1 Comment
hands with latex gloves holding a globe with a face mask

Today, I came across this story via LinkedIn.

“A brief, shining time: One of my sons died of a disease that later became vaccine preventable. But now that and other vaccines have been struck from the recommended list for children.”

As a dad, there’s nothing more brutal than the thought of my son dying. Ms. Dalstrom Anderson’s story brings those feelings to the fore, taking my breath away. I also feel her pain and frustration at the “current environment,” which is undoing the work of decades of vaccine research.

It’s my hope that this reminder of the human cost of this attitude is real and awful.

Please give this story a read. I deeply believe it’s worth your time.

Thoughts on Yearly Goals and Resolutions

Carl Setzer2 Comments
close up photo of yearly planner beside a pen

A blogger I respect, Pooja with Life’s Fine Whine, posted a few days ago a review of 2025: How Many Of My 20025 Goals Did I Keep? For most of my blogging tenure, I have not posted such things. The closest I can find is this one, from 2015, “Growing Healthier“, where I express my concern with my weight (Follow Up: I was successful with getting my weight down 20 lbs, though I recognize that I have more work to do).

With that, I’m wondering if I might find some value in doing so. For instance, have any of you found the public accountability helpful? How many of you have posted either your yearly plans or an evaluation of your year’s results per plan? I do make plans and evaluate things, so creating a post would be relatively easy.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Haiku: December 29, 2025

Carl Setzer
within the night’s song
silence flows through the darkness
deep into the soul

Tonight’s Haiku: December 8, 2025

Carl Setzer

the wind’s aggression
flinging branches to the earth
this winter’s darkness

Blog post: twenty years of a blog

Carl Setzer2 Comments

I launched this blog twenty years ago today. It’s rather mind blowing to consider how much has transpired over that time. George W. Bush was President. I still worked at Starbucks, and have had 6 other jobs since. I’ve moved once. I’ve gone through multiple stints of unemployment. A lot of my life has gone into this site.

This site started as a Blogspot page. Years ago, I migrated to self-hosted WordPress. Mainly, I became concerned about the number of services Google has abandoned. Also, WordPress was becoming a key player in the website ecosystem. Having skills and understanding in this system would be powerful. I’ve LONG aspired to move into web development. And here we are.

I’ve moved from executive support to general administrative support to project coordination to tech support and data analytics and management. I’ve documented so many changes in the tech scene, in Seattle, and wrote so many haiku. I’ve evolved, changed, and grown and failed.

I’m glad you’ve come along for the ride. It’s been fascinating. I’m still growing and changing, and my blog will evolve with that. I’m exploring how I want to evolve. One of my goals is to be better at proactivity. To have a plan and a direction. I want my blog, and connected social media to support all this. We’ll see what comes of all this.

So, thanks for reading. I appreciate your support and presence.

“Leaving a Legacy”, A Book Review By A Friend

Carl Setzer4 Comments
silhouette of man

I’ve thought a fair amount about the ethics surrounding wealth and the acquisition of wealth. My friend Roy’s look at this book on this subject gives me a lot to think about.

“Leaving a Legacy: An important new book by Johann Kurtz”.

When I think about the wealthy (and other community leaders) I admire, there’s a grace and decorum attached. I don’t admire, much less respect, the bellicose bullying that many with privilege resort to.

I’ve known Roy for years and always find his insights worthwhile. So, not only do I recommend this specific Substack post, but I’d also recommend subscribing.

A Thanksgiving Mediation or XKCD Making Me Cry

Carl Setzer2 Comments

I’ve been following XKCD for, well, decades. Over the years, I’ve seen many friends not get the privilege of growing old. For me, this is a powerful gift and one that I don’t ever intend to take for granted. Perhaps the most powerful Thanksgiving sentiment I’ve ever felt.

For those of you in the US, may you have a blessed and rejuvenating Thanksgiving. And for the rest of you, may the reminder of this week set you up for continued growth and progress.

Update: WordPress reminded me that this is a series and I’ve written about past iterations. Check this one out: I Love XKCD!

Is it just me or does Iggy Pop look like a White Walker?

Carl Setzer
box with brain inscription on head of anonymous woman

As I’m listening to a 70s Road Trip playlist on Spotify, up popped Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”. Me being me, I Google him to see what he’s up to nowadays. This is the first picture that came up for me:

Iggy Pop

Now, for some deeper insight into how I see the world, I couldn’t help but see how much he looks like this White Walker from Game of Thrones:

Yeah, yeah, I’m kinda weird, I know.

In case you don’t know this song:

And here’s the playlist if you’re so inclined:

Anyway, enjoy your Friday!