My daily journal for March 2023. Check this post daily for new updates.
Sunday, March 26th, 2023:
5:25 AM CST – Listening to Keith Urban on Spotify, and packing my gear for morning commute.
5:45 AM CST – My gear is almost packed up. I’m just waiting on my phone to finish charging so that I can pack my charger and cable.
5:53 AM CST – Phone is charged. All gear is loaded in my ride. I’m ready for my morning commute when the time comes. I had a great productive night. I got two new drafts started, and some downloading of Billboard Magazine pdf files from the 1990’s that I’ve been collecting. There has been a lightning storm all morning long at the facility, but no rain.
6:02 AM CST – My twitter account is currently suspended (again lol).
2:36 PM CST – I have rested (somewhat – for the amount of time that I could get today). I am now back in the swing of my normal routine from where I left off this morning. I have some ideas for some new blog series posts I’m considering to start. Maybe I might start them today. The first idea is a mini photo gallery series of some of my favorite photos on Unsplash. I often use stock photography from Unsplash, and I see so many amazing photos by other photographers. I think a gallery series would be a fun way to feature other photographer’s work, especially those who contribute so many great images that anyone can freely use in their projects. The other idea I have is to start a blog series featuring interesting statues and monuments. We’ll see how these ideas pan out in the coming days.
3:23 PM CST – I’VE LOST SOME HEARING – Since Tuesday evening, on March 14th, 2023, I’ve been experiencing some trouble with my hearing. It started out from waking up with mild cold symptoms (slightly irritated sore throat, minor sniffles, and occasional coughing). The symptoms weren’t bad enough that I thought much about it. I just thought I was experiencing the symptoms from having had the air-conditioning turned on when it wasn’t really needed all day, and I had been breathing cold air while I was sleeping. Shortly afterwards, my ears started feeling like they were closing up. I thought I just had dirty ears. So I went to the store and bought some over the counter basic cold medicine in case I might actually be getting sick, and I also bought some Q-tips for my ears. By the time I got home that night, my hearing was starting to sound muffled in both ears. So I used the Q-tips, and I fear I may have inadvertently made the issue worse by using them. You’re not supposed to use Q-tips to clean your ears as they can push earwax into your ear canal and clog them up. So not only were my ears already having an issue, but I probably made it worse with the Q-tips. Note that I have used Q-tips for years when cleaning my ears and never had an issue. I went to the store again the next day and bought a kit for ear cleaning that has special sticks and ear drops that I’ve been using. 12 days have past since the initial symptoms, and my hearing is muffled in both ears, and high pitch sounds (like beeping noises, and smartphone alarm sounds) are barely audible. I can barely hear my kitchen timer beeping, and only if I am close to it. I continue using the ear drops to see if this will unclog my ears and restore my full hearing. I am trying to give this time to clear on it’s own before I worry about trying to seek medical help. I can still hear voices as long as I’m not far away from the person speaking.
3:49 PM CST – I GOT A JBL PULSE 4 – Just bragging a little bit. I finally got myself a JBL Pulse 4 bluetooth speaker recently. I have been wanting a JBL pulse speaker ever since the first one came out. I got a great deal on it too. It was on clearance for $99 plus tax. It’s a great speaker, and I love it. There is a JBL Pulse 5 out now. It is next on my want list for bluetooth speakers.
4:19 PM CST – SOUP TIME – Currently enjoying a bowl of Campbell’s Chunky Creamy Chicken & Dumplings soup. Will probably eat a few of these through the evening. I don’t think I’m really in the mood for anything heavy to eat tonight.
4:59 PM CST – NOTES TO SELF – I still need to write an About page for my website. I also still need to post my website directory.
5:19 PM CST – A POSSIBLE NEW ZINE COMING – I’m considering the idea of starting a new monthly zine. This zine would contain my monthly journal writings, along with some blog post content. I need to come up with a name for it, and hash out all the content I want to put in it. This will of course be a digital pdf zine, and I will make it available in my ebook store (at least that’s the plan for now).
6:02 PM CST – A POSSIBLE NEW ZINE COMING (UPDATE) – I have put some more thought into this new zine project. I’ve decided that it would consist of two parts. There will be a section for my writing, and then the other section will be for my photography. I will publish photos in this zine that are not available on my website. I have yet to come up with a name for this project, but I already have some photos, and my writing is underway.
6:51 PM CST – 12″ CLASSICS – Currently listening to a great playlist on Spotify called 12″ Classics. It has a lot of songs from the 1980’s that are long play versions. Here is the link if you would like to check out the playlist – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXbNxO0uJPyJ9
8:20 PM CST – I’m in an unproductive mood. I hate when this happens, but I’m tired, so I should take that as a sign to chill out I guess. Also it has been raining, and that has affected my motivation. I do have some AI art generating on Dezgo for a collection I’m building, and I guess I could declutter some photos off of my phone by making some collages for ebooks. I guess this won’t be a totally unproductive evening maybe.
Monday, March 27th, 2023:
2:27 AM CST – Through the night I’ve been a little more productive than I had expected I would be. I managed to finish editing (making collage images) a new set of photos to go in my photo gallery. I also started working on another set, although I don’t expect to finish it before my morning commute. I have also created at least a couple of dozen new martian alien AI art images. It’s raining currently. I have started packing up my gear for my morning commute in a few hours. I will keep my laptop on for about 30 more minutes to generate some more AI art. I spotted a new favorite content creator on Unsplash. His name is David Clode. Check out his work here – https://unsplash.com/@davidclode
3:04 AM CST – HEARING LOSS UPDATE – Through the night I have been listening to music. My hearing is still muffled, but at least I can make out the music quite normally. It’s just coming in lower than normal. I had my JBL Pulse 4 speaker on 50% volume all night which I suspect is mildly loud under normal hearing conditions. I would describe the sound as hearing it at what I suspect 40% volume or lower would sound like, but I’m not sure since I haven’t yet heard the speaker with my normal hearing. Throughout this week I will continue using my ear drops and see if my hearing gets better. I’m going to shut my laptop down now to get ready for my morning commute.
4:55 AM CST – MADONNA SONG BY SONG EBOOK – I have just discovered that the Madonna Song By Song book by Mark Andrews is available as a Kindle ebook. I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time. I think I’m going to buy it right now, and spend some time this week reading.
Photo credit: David Thrift, taken at West Overlook Viewpoint, at West Point Lake, on Thursday, May 5th, 2023 at 6:58 AM CST.
Buy My Ebooks:
Find and purchase all of my ebooks here in my ebook store at Gumroad. You will find my MUDPIX MAGAZINE photo ebook series which features hundreds of my outdoor photos taken at Lake Harding, and West Point Lake in Alabama and Georgia. You will also find my Encyclopedia Of Wikipedia (great for Wikipedia buffs), and also my UNSPLASHED photo ebook series, a free ebook series, which features photography from great photographers at Unsplash. Your purchase of my ebooks and support of my work is very much appreciated!!

My Top Used Tools For Productivity:
My Arsenal is a list of apps and software I use to stay productive. Give it a look. You may find something that helps you with your workflow.

Most Recent Open Tabs:
Explore my Tabs page for links I’ve recently explored.
Follow Me On Instagram:
Connect with me on Instagram here @dtpiix for random outdoor photos in the Southeast Alabama and Southwest Georgia area.
Get The Latest Issue Of My MUDWALKER NEWSLETTER:
In April 2022, I began writing and sharing my newsletter, titled MUDWALKER. This newsletter comes with my latest site updates, and also lots of other content such as links to useful & interesting websites, music lists, resources, and more. It is a free pdf published monthly between the 1st and 5th of each month (sometimes earlier depending on my schedule). You can get the latest issue here.
Lists:
A large part of what makes DDAVIDD.com a great resource for information, are the lists I write and maintain. Check out the lists below that may interest you.
Podcast Spotlights (in planning coming soon):
Podcast Spotlights are a new thing I started doing in September 2020. I have to admit that I don’t listen to many podcasts myself personally. If I do listen to one, it’s usually the Armin Van Buuren’s ASOT (A State Of Trance) podcast. My Podcast Spotlights are a way for me to connect with more favorite Podcasts, while also highlighting some that you may enjoy. See the list below of the current Podcast Spotlights. UPDATE: Apparently I deleted the posts for this segment of my website. Perhaps I had a change of focus. Maybe I’ll bring the spotlights back at some point.
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