Another short thought plus a look back at a couple of cuts

Bloviation and hydration, how can you pass it up?

Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash

I wrote this on LinkedIn on an impulse and decided to send it out here. And the picture is for those with fond memories of hammering out a story on an old-fashioned typewriter, where you could have at the world with thunderous percussion.

I see a lot of people telling others how to write so as not to look like the work is a product of AI. Many of these, oddly, look similar. A sentence per line. Writing tends to be short, with a string of certain statements.

Here's another idea. Learn how *you* write. There are good practices in writing techniques and having the basics down helps provide a stable foundation. But lean into your natural expression. We're all brought up differently, a combination of nature, nurture, locale, what we read, sounds we hear. Pare away the extras that have been put upon you (and extra could mean dictums to write shorter than you think, which may make sense at some times but not others). Let you come out.

Will it act well for the algorithms? Eh, maybe not. But those keep changing. The more you try to turn yourself into a product to progress more smoothly through the grind, the less you are you. Be yourself and find your honest and natural audience.

A tale of two cups

In January 2024, I wrote about coffee and drinking implements. I wanted to touch on two of the mugs I had written about.

The Corkcicle Commuter Cup remains my favorite for drinking coffee on the move, whether hot or iced.

However, there is one consideration you should add. The lid doesn’t disassemble for ease of cleaning. Soaking the lid can help. A small brush to get inside through the open bottom is a good idea.

Then there was the Stanley Advances H2O Quencher 40-ounce.

I still like it … except for the handle having fallen off. Far less securely attached than I might have expected. My hand is large enough to hold the now strangely symmetrical vessel. But yours may not, so try before you buy and don’t rest easy in online descriptions.