diary

Distraction-Free

I have mentioned a couple times a new podcast i have discovered about minimalism (the first good one out there) by a filmmakers named Matt D’Avella, & his podcast “The Ground Up Show” (or Ground Up Podcast, i forget) is super-good and he makes YT videos, too, about minimalist living and what he has discovered since becoming minimalist. I keep looking for something to disagree with him about bc so many minimalist people on YT are doing it for clicks. It has almost become clickbait. But his videos seem p legit. I definitely have gotten a lot out of them (& i have already been minimalist for 8+ years!).

But the point of this blog post is to remind myself, really, that i have to really remain distraction-free during this time in my life when i am focusing on getting this e-book published and later, a physical copy. Independently “marketed” (or promoted or whatever) and independently distributed, independently designed (check!), independently edited (check!), and doing everything w/o Kindle, iBooks, anything. I want to retain all the rights, money, everything for this e-book. Not because i am greedy (I’m not), but because i simply cannot stand Amazon services & because i want this to be 100% readable anywhere you can read an ePub file format & i want to have the pride in saying i did all of this myself.

How have i gone distraction-free?

As i have mentioned in blog posts before, i deleted:

• Google
• Gmail
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Amazon
• everything else that could take me off the course of what i need to be doing

I still consume media, of course. I’m not just sitting here bored all the time. I listen to podcasts, watch (not signed-in) YT videos, get a handful of e-mails (v few) from ProtonMail, and, what many would consider the biggest distraction of them all, I still check Twitter about 10 times a day.

70% of my day is spent tethered to my Raspberry Pi PC & working on the e-book. Takes time. Time-consuming, actually, but that is the point. I already earned my Writing Research Methodologies certificate last week, so i don’t have anything stopping me from going forward w/ the e-book i have been wanting to publish for over a year.

I will continue to be conscious about what i do with my time and i will continue to find ways to eliminate distractions,

That all for now :)

thinking of stuff to do...

there isn't a lot TO do until i get the cover art thing figured out for the ebook >:(

I know the service i used before was buried in a forum w/ some weird name for the website, so, i doubt i am going to find that again & i cannot do what i need to do locally, on the RPi bc the Calibre app i would have to install will not install on Raspbian OS for some reason (even though it is running on Debian, which this app requires). #fuck

So, back at it

Adding cover art

....is a pain in the ass on RPi. Esp when you have to rely on online ePub converters or whateverthefuck. You couldn't convince me that Google is not deliberately suppressing these resources from their search results in favor of everyone just want to “quit” & go publish on Kindle or whatever.

Fuck. That.!

So i have to find a solution to this problem bc i added all the Copyright info to the first page of the book and that HAS to be included when i am ready to release this to the public. The ISBN and all that can come another time, but not the Copyright info.

So, that is where i am at right now. Coffee is done.

Be back in a bit!

T minus one hour before i head out

Can’t wait to see the ‘rents house after only visiting it once in the past two months (that is how long dad has been in the hospital).

He looked comfy in his usual chair when i FaceTime’d the mom a little bit ago. Copper (my sister’s dog) is over there, too. And that is awesome bc i love dogs.

The STLWX is p good today (overcast but warm) and all is good in my neck of the woods. I think i am going to tether to the RPi later on & get some other design-related stuff done on the Littered Thoughts website. As as i can for now, anyway. The “soft launch” will be the first week of May (reviews submitted or not). Very proud of that book. And also i have to get the publisher info on a page (the last page) and get that into the ePub file. I would do that right now if it weren’t for the fact that i am leaving in about an hour.

Life rules.

Good (early) morning

I slept like a baby. Now i am making fries & enjoying this STLWX.

I have nothing mythical to write about right now, just saying hi.

:)

No Nexium for today :(

They didn’t deliver it & idk why. Granted, it’s Monday. Their busy af. But still they could’ve called.

I am going to have to get it tomorrow BEFORE 3 PM because i am going to the ‘rents at 3 o’clock & i will be hurtin’ for certain before then w/o a heartburn med. Plus, we are making all kinds of awesome food at the ‘rents tomorrow, so, i don’t want to miss out.

Pain in the ass.

But, on a lighter note; the STLWX is fucking amazing tonight & the breeze coming in through the sliding glass door is fucking awesome & it stopped sprinkling &....yeah. Awesome.

I really wanna open “On War” tonight & start chipping away at that book because it is a fascinating read (according to like, everybody) BUT, i have the e-book stuff to deal with, so i am going to focus 100% of my time/energy on that project. #priorities

Not long before i can “soft launch” the Littered Thoughts site & make stuff happen.

Good times

Be back in a bit!

So it is a nice day, for sure.

The STLWX turned out to be just right considering it is overcast af. Gotta make a trip to the grocery store in a bit for foodskee & then i am basically calling it a night. Haha. I can’t go right now though because i am waiting for medications to be delivered. I can’t miss the Nexium delivery bc i will be in hell if i do. As for dinner, idk what will be on the menu. Probably a mini pizza (bc i am hooked on pizza (gonna try to change that)).

Loving this breeze.

Standing desk is bae

OK, so it is not really a standing desk. It is a 40+ year old dresser that has been in the family longer than i have and it is tucked into the corner of my living room (by the sliding glass door) atm and this is where it is going to stay. I loved using the banister as a standing desk at my old apt & this rig is even better. Sits a littttle lower so my neck is at more of an angle, but the bonus of this rig is that it is incredibly shallow & narrow, so i am not tempted to lean on the dresser itself (bc there is simply nothing to lean ON). I also really like being near the door for this epic STLWX that is going to be coming up. STLWX isn’t too bad today, either.

All is going well. Be back in a bit!

Aaaaand i fetched a pop

A lot of caffeine today, i must say

And after being distracted for the billionth time w/ this annoying af screensaver, i finally set it to simply display a blank screen instead of moving images in the settings + put a PW on it so it is more “secure”. Good times. Now i have less worry about this RPi. It is a good little machine, i like it a lot. It barely sips energy but if you play a YT video or something, it will heat up to 300% & even w/ heat sinks on there, it still fries the processor (I know, this is the second Pi i have owned).

Brb

This coffee is delish

And i am feeling very good right now. About....everything. Life is good. :)