Category: Personal Reflections

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

Reflections on the day 

Carl Setzer

I’ve been thoughtful today. Yesterday a friend had a “small” stroke. He’s not much older than me, so there’s that sobering element. I’m thinking about the fragility of life, and similar things. And I’m grateful that “small” seems to be accurate. 

Greg is known by many as Papa Greg. Partly for his wisdom, partly because he holds love in the highest regard. It shows and he’s loved on return. Watching his Facebook feed fill with well-wishes truly was delightful. 

I try to live my life this way. To have love so central that it exudes from my being. 

It’s heartening, in the end. Especially as he’s chatting with us on Facebook again. 

Life moves and changes. It is the way of things. 

My poetry site has been making me proud

Carl Setzer

I created this site a couple of years ago to be a focus for my poetry.

I didn’t think too much of it at the time. Just was following the advice to focus your content. My writings scatter across many interests, so I broke apart my stuff into more focused sites.

Well, A Poet’s Journey has done quite nicely. 1266 subscribers, and the most stable/solid stats (sessions, pageview, etc).

Funny that another experiment, Not Just Seattle, has taken up most of my vanity SEO. The Carl Setzer who opened a brewery in Beijing, getting featured by Fortune magazine, amongst others, has the lion share of SEO for my name. But my Keller Williams Realty page, and Not Just Seattle are on page 1 as well.

As of today, my namesake page, CarlSetzer.com, is on page 3. Crazy that an experiment took over the whole thing! And the site that’s getting the most action is down on page 3.

 

Well, yesterday’s weather in Seattle was quirky as heck

Carl Setzer

Yesterday’s weather was certainly quirky. Earlier in the afternoon, it was nice enough in Marysville to get a 20 minute walk in. As my weight’s been creeping up, this was quite welcome

Not too much later the thunderstorm rolled through. My son and I planned to hit the gym, but the weather knocked the power out there. So, we went out for a little ride.

Now, it had cleared up as we were gearing up. But it started to pour as we headed out. We opted to keep going. It was my son’s first real rain ride.

I’ve become a fair weathered cyclist over the years. So it was nice to get out and get wet on the road. I love riding so, and need to get back in the saddle more.

I want to push my fitness higher again. Not get my fitness back. Rather, adapt and create a new life, with a solid center of fitness.

Besides riding, I want to get into kayaking. I’ve a fair amount of experience on the water…and I want more. I’ve dreamt of riding rivers; rapids as well as exploring the shores of the Columbia. Well, and many others. Oh, something else I want to try on kayak: ocean riding! Imagining cutting through the surf, riding the waves…yeah, that sounds cool. Just got to avoid pissing off the surfers.

Also, during the winter I want to get deeper into cross-country skiing. That’s one I really miss.

So, my mind’s afire with outdoor ideas. Should be a fun summer!

Strangeness surrounds us

Carl Setzer

Strangeness surrounds us
So much unbelievable
Such a crazy life

Working Past Exhaustion: A Recipe For Mistakes

Carl Setzer

Oh, the frustrations of long, long days!

I generally work normal work hours. Sure, at times I’m on my computer on weekends or after hours. But I’d be doing that anyways.

However, I’m taking an evening class right now. The class meets one night a week, so that demand isn’t that much. But after an 8+ hour day, a 3 hour class can get wearying. And the class is mostly sitting in front of a screen, which is what I tend to spend all day doing.

Tonight, by 8:45, I was pretty much toast. I hadn’t noticed it until I saw several dumb mistakes. And those mistakes caused me the aggravation of redoing about a 1/2 hour’s worth of work. Fortunately, it took less time to re-do than to do originally. But that means extra work, needless extra work.

I was clever enough, though, to see that and, after fixing the mistakes I’d made (at least I’m pretty sure I fixed them), I opted to stop.

At times, when effectiveness hits the floor…and punches right on through, any effort at all will be counter-productive. That’s a hard lesson to learn, internalize, and keep in mind regularly. I, too, suffer from the mindset that “if I only worked harder/more/whatever…”.

I know that sometimes the only way to be effective is to stop and rest, get my head back together and then restart.

It’s just living it that’s the challenge.

The future of video content

Carl Setzer

Just spent a moment exploring what’s available on YouTube, content-wise. Now, I love YouTubers like Casey Niestat and the like, but I was thinking about professional content. Things like Star Wars Rebels, movies, and other stuff. I was pleased by what I saw. 

A nice thing about purchasing content through YouTube: it can be watched on any device. Apple tv, Android devices, and, I expect, even my kindle. I hate having my videos and music held hostage by platform idiosyncrasies. And I hate Apple’s unwillingness to play well with others. 

Anyway, I’m thinking that YouTube might be the way I go to buy Rebels season 4. It’d be cool if I could burn the movies and such to DVDs. But I won’t hold my breath. 

I think I might have seen a glimmer of the future. If so, is pretty bright for YouTube. For now, at least. 

Life and Death and Youth, or Life In The Military

Carl Setzer

Once, I was a sailor, young and foolish.

Looking back I’m truly stunned at what I operated, and the responsibility in my hands. Mistakes had truly life and death ramifications, and I hadn’t no sense of the seriousness.

Everything from nuclear power-plants, torpedoes, big-assed firearms, weapons of all stripes including nukes, operated and maintained, mostly, by teenagers and youngish adults.

I read a post recently that reminded me of my time in the service. And, really, for the first time seriously considering what the heck was going on while I was a young man.

To be honest, there are times that these thoughts terrify me. And yet, I remember back, back to the youthful poor decisions, impulsive and rash actions; through all of it, we managed to be serious enough about our responsibilities that no one was hurt.

Perhaps I, too, don’t take the capabilities of youth seriously. Especially my own.

The importance of the arts

Carl Setzer

Each creative act
Exploring beauty’s boundaries
Brings more light to being