Technical Chaos

Blog

  • Sometimes, Showing Up is What Matters

    It’s June 16th, 2025, current mood music is a daylist from Spotify entitled ‘happy folk van life’ (whatever that means), and I’m hanging out in the new apartment waiting for the internet installer to show up within the hour timeblock that the auto-caller commented about. Isn’t technology grand?

    A bit has happened since April, as it tends to do. I have a new puppy who hit 14 weeks last Saturday, and now has a vet appointment at 10 am this morning thanks to drinking rainwater from the yard and having expected side effects from the experience (for three days running now).

    Between the new apartment and getting things for both dogs (because the 2 year old would be very put out if I got the baby something and not her), I’m fairly sure this is the poorest I’ve been in my adult life when I’ve had a job. I had to ask Dad for some money to buy deodorant this weekend. That’s how bad the finances are currently. Which means Mom will be covering the puppy vet visit. Again. Like she did last time when said puppy broke her toe. That I still owe her for.

    The bright side of this is that I’m doubling down on making a budget out of sheer necessity now. Dropped a few streaming services after being honest with myself about how much I actually use them and with a promise to my future self that should finances improve, we can look at adding them back, or rotating them. It’s been a long time coming, really.

    Till next time,

    -Thistle

  • Hello world!

    Hello world!

    That’s what it all starts with, right? In coding your first program is always a Hello world! to get you used to the basics. It is also (at least in my experience) an intro to how fiddly the language will be later on. If the basic program is a little complicated? Whoo, you’re gonna have fun later on.

    I suppose this is where I introduce myself. I go by many names across the years and landscapes I’ve wandered, but you can call me Thistle. This is my little slice of the digital landscape that I’m finally setting roots down in and making choices about. Thistle’s also the most private name I have that’s mine. It’s my own little identifier in a collective I’m a part of, and if you know, you know. If you don’t know? Well, that’s alright too.

    I could spill out my entire life story here, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned the value of boundaries and secrets. Privacy is an important aspect of life, especially nowadays.

    As it stands currently, it’s April 8th of 2025, current mood/music is Japanese Lo-Fi, and I’m winding down from a day of decently productive studying. Study for IT certifications, remember you have an unused domain name and website hosting that has been sitting fallow for a bit, and one thing leads to another.

    I’ve never been much of a journal person. Sure, I liked buying the fancy notebooks and journals back when I was younger, but I’d never use them. I needed to save them for the perfect time, otherwise I might ruin them with something silly. Older me, thankfully, has realized over the years that tools are meant to be used, and the notebooks I’ve acquired over the last few years are nicer than the ‘fancy’ ones of my youth, though not as showy. I’ve also gotten into fountain pens and inks with the understanding with myself that no matter what I get, it has to be able to be used.

    I suppose this will be my small creative outlet out there. Something under my control that I don’t have to share if I don’t want to. I think everyone needs something like that – a space to call their own. And considering my current life stresses, virtual is one of my few options at the moment.

    Stay safe out there.

    -Thistle