We're going to pretend that the extended break didn't happen.

Goliad Texas - New Years Day

Pretty sure I read someone where that someone shouldn’t ever re-introduce themselves, when journaling online.

The intent last year was to figure out a way to stop posting on Instagram completely and return to writing here, on this specific platform to not only share thoughts but also share photos.

Instagram however proved to be an easier medium to do those very things last year and I opted to chase down various interests, which took me away from seeing that thru.

2026 has reared its head and with it, a new set of resolutions is afoot. To recap 2025 quickly - I committed to reading 24 books and managed to read a total of 25. I even joined a book club along the way and made a few “book friends” along the way.

There were a number of other peaks and valleys I could go into, but let’s just say that 2025 took a toll on me. Creatively speaking, it was a wildly successful year of output. I had some photos I took on display at the Contemporary Art museum. I got a chance to be a speaker on a local Texas Public Radio program called - Worth Repeating. Most importantly, I also got a chance to write an essay and have it published on TruchaRGV.

Dad/Mom/Me - Circa 1978



Doing a lot of those things while also trying to stay gainfully employed nearly killed me. I felt like an exposed nerve and felt the need to push people away so that I could find the space I needed to push and propel myself forward.

Internally. I know there’s a need to re-explore and reclaim some stuff that I have been putting off for a very long time. I’m electing to lay low this calendar year to focus on writing, general health and oversee some creative endeavors.

I was gifted a camera last year. A little “congratulations” gift from my mom after my photos were shown at the Contemporary. I’ve been toying with this idea of doing something that revolves around the number 12. The only contributions I will make on social media this year will be 12 entries, based on 12 random subjects. Of which, I only have one figured out and I need to get down to the RGV to complete that at some point.

Outside of that, I intend to complete 52 Saturday matinee movie viewings this year. Kicked this off the other day by screening Marty Supreme. I found an app called Letterbox and I’m going to attempt watching “a movie a day” again. I tried this a number of years ago and nearly lost my mind. I got to the month of April and I wanted to avoid movies all together.

I avoided TV and Movies almost all of last year to focus on reading, so I feel a little better equipped to see that out.

In addition to that, I intend to randomly journal on here at least once a week. 52 random entries that may include half ass attempts at little short stories. I started one earlier this evening…. I googled a random writing prompt and the wheels came off that bus very quickly.

More soon.
Ro

1/52

Thought Crimes

From afar, I thought the book cover was the EXACT same thing.

How many times do you find yourself committing a “thought crime”? An illegal act that happens within the confines of your head? This abstract thought was something I had flopping around in my head for a good part of the week while reading the book TAMPA by Alissa Nutting.

This book was kinda recommended to me by way of my hairstylist Jenn. She’s one of the few people I interact with that voraciously reads and recently told me about a Facebook-book-club that actively reads Thriller/Head Warping books. The book that everyone in her club was talking about a young woman/teacher that is on the hunt to groom a 14 year old boy.

Jenn didn’t know much about the book but was curious to see why it caused the feeling of shock & awe amongst her book club friends. At the time, I was in the process of reading a book called Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler and found myself wanting to abort the read completely. I snapped a photo of the TAMPA book and mentally kept a note to myself to revisit after reading some other books I had earmarked around the house.

“Actively” reading in 2025 wasn’t something I intended to increase or do, but it’s been an outlet of sorts as I tackle the chore of journaling. It’s a healthy escape from a lot of the noise that is going around me in work and life. I said in passing that I’m “quiet quitting life” and sticking my head in a book. Anyhoo, after reading a pair of Chuck Klosterman books, I felt the need to immerse myself into a fictional novel.

Let me start out by saying that TAMPA is a book the reads and feels like a number of other books I’ve read in the past but it roots itself in the active act of statutory rape. When the book starts there’s a character by the name of Celeste Price, who is unhappily married to a police officer. She decides to become an English teacher and admits to secretly being a hebephile. By inserting herself into a setting with pubescent children, the book begins to painfully explore a multitude of thought crimes. I say that because the Celeste thinks long and hard about whom to select for grooming. For a little while, she seemed to dismiss many of the students. The mental acts she envisioned and physical acts she does onto herself in the classroom were so extreme that I thought the book was going to be an exercise in committing thought crimes.

Thats not at all what happens. She finds a student and begins to groom them. Celeste is very aware of what she’s doing and I recall her admitting to having an unhealthy hunger that cant be tamed. The last third of the book resolves itself a little quickly and in my opinion a little awkwardly. More awkwardly is reading something like this and having to be careful discussing it. One person I know, went out of their way to confirm that this wasn’t a genre of literature that I enjoyed reading. I assuredly said “No.”

In my head this little novel was like listening to a record with heavy SATANIC overtures when I lived with my parents. Not entirely sure why that helped me get thru the reading but that’s kinda what it felt like. It felt like I was holding onto something that I shouldn’t have for a fleeting moment of time. Ave Satanas.

30 Years of Waiting

OK.

I held onto this thing for 30 years and it was blank.

I’m admittedly a little annoyed about having to re-write my journal entry this morning. A couple of weeks ago I came across a very reasonably priced - recapped Apple Macintosh Classic II computer. In my home office, I have a number of boxes that contain random things but one thing I’ve held onto for years is a 3.25” Floppy Disc that I seem to recall purchasing my senior year of high school. I didn’t label it for one reason or another, but have managed to never lose in the numerous moves I’ve made in my lifetime. I was certain that the disc would have some old papers, HyperCard work or some digital journal entries I may have penned as a teen. In my mind, I would eventually get the stuff off the disk and my opportunity finally came to fruition this week.

I inserted the disk and discovered it wasn’t formatted for a Macintosh computer. This meant I probably formatted the disc for a PC and it dates back to my freshman year of College. I secured a disk drive by way of amazon, loaded the thing onto a PC and discovered the disc was empty. I’ve been holding onto a translucent disc for nearly 30 years thinking it was a artifact with something sentimental on it.

What I can tell you is that the disc works without issue. I formatted the disc and used it to potentially transfer a journal entry I wrote on the Classic II. Quickly learned that OS X hasn’t supported these files or disc reading since 2006. I am the proud owner of a relic that runs System 7 that has a reliable disk drive I can’t transfer data to and from without utilizing some of its local network functions that I’m not going to fully explore.

But I digress. The Journal Entry that I’m not going to fully re-write this morning was an exploration for the affection I had for the Mac Classic II. In Junior High, the school I went to had a computer lab that was filled with these things. Twice a week, we would be collectively gathered to get some reps on computers. When I got to high school, the Science Academy of South Texas was fully stacked with Macs for my entire tenure. They were aware that lots of the kids didn’t have computers at home in the early 90s so they had a program where you could check one of these things out at our school library. At the end of the day, you would show up and get one of these things in a portable looking backpack that looked a lot like a YETI cooler.

I vividly remember visiting a Mac Reseller in Harlingen Texas in the early 90s and visiting the store with my parents. They admittedly blushed at the price point and we made our way down to Service Merchandise to purchase an IBM PC that ran Windows 3.1 & DOS.

I wouldn’t own my first Mac until I got to college…. I wouldn’t own a Mac Classic II until I nearly turned 50. Vintage computing may seem cool, but I liken it to taking in stray cats. I would highly advise that you don’t do it.

Fresh Design

The Cowboy

I sat down with the intent of writing a little blurb about a trip I took to Pleasanton Texas this morning, noticed an issue with my Instagram feed and I somehow lost a number of blog posts I’ve been working on in 2025. I believe the template I’ve been using is no longer supported by the Squarespace - so I’ve selected this one.

Gonna Insert some photos of said trip until I sort things out.