Another month with not many photos taken–although I did better in January than I did in December, when I took exactly ONE photo all month (hence, no post). I shall try to do better.
January 2023 in Photos
Author: Jon Williams
November 2022 in Photos
Back to Blogging
I started my first blog all the way back in 2004—January of 2004, in fact, so we’re closing in on 19 years ago. In those days, I had a pretty fair amount of time I could dedicate to writing, so I posted there a lot for about a year. Then circumstances changed, I had less time, and I posted there less and less. I wouldn’t say I ever entirely abandoned it, but if I ever had any regular readers, their opinions may differ. But it was always at least in the back of my mind.
Fast forward a few years. I’m not exactly how or when Twitter entered my consciousness, but when it did, I was intrigued, mostly because of its implications for my blog. Part of the reason I felt like I didn’t have time to write is because I tend to write long (see: this post). If I signed up for Twitter, I figured I could throw a widget up on my blog so I could post little micro updates in between my infrequent longer posts. So in January of 2009 I became a member of Twitter, hoping to use it primarily as a supplement to my blog.
Well, of course it didn’t exactly work out that way. Oh, I added the widget to my old blog, where it still resides to this day, and I’ve put out plenty of tweets, but not with the frequency I thought I would when I started. There’s too much nuance in most things for me to be satisfied with just a 140-character (later 280) thought, and while I was aware of the “Twitter thread,” it seemed to me to be less optimal than a blog post. So, you know, I did neither. But it was a great place to toss out cat pics, sports takes, and Wordle scores.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t use Twitter very much. While I wasn’t much of a poster, I’ve always really liked hopping on to read it. As blogs fell off over the years, Twitter was a great way to read people’s thoughts on the goings-on of the day, more or less in real time. Probably the most prominent example I can think of was the night Osama Bin Laden was killed—I watched the news coming out as it unfolded on Twitter, and I woke Brandi up so we could watch President Obama’s address. That was a big deal, but it was also great for everyday news stories, sporting events, pop culture events (I couldn’t wait to hop onto Twitter after episodes of The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones), etc. And you never knew when you’d come across something random that would make you laugh hysterically or lead you into some rabbit hole. Just like blogs used to do! Twitter was definitely my social media addiction.
But then Elon Musk bought it. I wasn’t thrilled about his plans to allow “absolute free speech” that would permit misinformation and abuse to proliferate without consequence, so I was wary of what his leadership would bring. Then the whole thing blew up about charging users to be verified—the whole idea of verification was to help ensure users that information was coming from an account that was actually who it claimed to be. It wasn’t a status symbol; it was a public good. But that’s something that Musk and other billionaires don’t seem to understand. So he sought to commoditize it, right before an election no less…and that was kind of it for me. I haven’t been on Twitter in almost two weeks. And that was before he fired or lost almost his entire staff, putting the stability and the future of the entire platform in doubt.
I haven’t deleted my account or anything, and I’ll probably go back to it at some point. Maybe even today! For most things I use it for—sports, pop culture stuff—Musk being in charge and his approach don’t even matter (I was really tempted to hop on last night for ridiculous hot takes on a Cincinnati Reds trade, but I held off). But for news and anything remotely serious, I think we would all do well to take anything on there with a large grain of salt, until and unless the verification issue goes back to the way it was. I mean, it isn’t like misinformation wasn’t a problem before, and if anyone can pay for a blue checkmark and claim to be whoever…it’s a nightmare. And that’s assuming Twitter survives in the long term, which is by no means certain at this point.
All of this is to say, with the uncertainty surrounding Twitter, and all the people who have left whether it survives or not, I’m really hoping blogs will make a comeback. I can’t imagine they’ll ever return to the prevalence they once had, but you never know. As for myself, I’ve been playing around with this new one and trying for a while to get it off the ground, so I’m going to try to be on here more often. This format really does suit me better, anyway. I just need to remember that every post doesn’t have to be a full-on essay; just a paragraph (or even a line or two) is fine sometimes.
October 2022 in Photos
September 2022 in Photos
October 2021 in Photos
Pandemic Dispatches: Notes on Now
- I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to put together a post with tips on working from home. I know a lot of people have struggled with the transition, and I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I thought it might be helpful. But everything I wrote came out seeming obvious, and therefore king of patronizing. That was absolutely not my intent, so after several attempts, I scrapped it. Instead, let me just say that I’d be happy to offer my thoughts to anyone who might still need them. We’ve all been doing this for a while now, but if you’re still having a rough time and want some pointers, feel free to hit me up at jon@thecommaphile.com.
- With that out of the way, I want to start by saying that I’ve been impressed with the way Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton have led Ohio through this crisis so far. They shut things down early, when it wasn’t obvious that it was necessary, and it seems like that has really helped the state keep the spread of the virus mostly under control. I didn’t vote for DeWine, but so far he has been the leader Ohio has needed.
- That said…DeWine has indicated that businesses can start reopening beginning May 1, which is next Friday. For one thing, I feel like this is too soon in general. Cases are still increasing (granted, at least in part due to an increase in testing and not necessarily due to an increase in spread), and personally I would have felt better if he would have extended the full stay-at-home order even until May 15 before beginning to loosen restrictions. Part of my objection is because he hasn’t yet announced any details (supposedly coming tomorrow); it seems to me that it would have been better to wait to announce a reopening date until you could announce details at the same time. I feel like too many businesses are champing at the bit to get started as early as possible, and people are stir crazy and ready to get out of the house, and so many will try to get back to their routines without taking proper (or any) precautions. Already it seems like a lot of people have taken his announcement as a sign that they don’t have to stay home or practice social distancing anymore.
- And yes, I realize I’m coming at this from a position of privilege. Brandi and I are both still working. Would I feel this is premature if one or both of us were laid off? I can’t say, especially since I work from home anyway. I imagine I’d be ready to get back to work, but that’s easy for me to say since I don’t have to go anywhere and risk myself or anyone else. Suffice it to say, I feel for those who are out of work and either haven’t been able to get in touch with the unemployment office or don’t quality for payment for whatever reason. Balancing that against the possible sickness and loss of life that may come from reopening too soon is a difficult task. I don’t envy Governor DeWine and Dr. Acton in that—there are no easy answers here.
- Getting away from the potential reopening of the state…one thing I’ve really loved that’s come out of this is all the ways artists and celebrities have found to reach out and entertain people as they stay home. I’ve been a fan of singer-songwriter Edwin McCain since I was introduced to his music in the fall of 1995—honestly, my fandom merits (and will receive) a post of its own at some point. He’s been going live on Facebook every Monday evening, playing his hits, deep cuts, covers, you name it, all from his basement. Watching him each week has been so much fun, singing along and posting song requests in the chat and hoping he’ll see them (it’s all about the timing). I’ve also been obsessed with the National since their version of “The Rains of Castamere” played over the credits of a Game of Thrones episode in 2012; they aren’t live-streaming, but each Monday they’re posting some concert footage on YouTube, and watching that has been great as well.
- What else are we doing? Well, let me start with what I’m not doing, at least not very well, and that’s reading. I’m normally an avid reader, but COVID-19 has put a real damper on it for some reason. I have the new Colum McCann novel, Apeirogon, from the library (I checked it out before they closed), but I found early on that I don’t have the bandwidth for reading anything new right now. I’ve been rereading old favorites instead, starting with Microserfs by Douglas Coupland and moving on to The Stand by Stephen King. Yeah, I know; reading about a pandemic during a pandemic seems counterintuitive, but it’s one of my absolute favorites, and honestly, it’s been cathartic. What I love about the novel (the uncut version, at least; I have a copy of the old abridged version, but I’ve only read it once, and it was a long time ago) is that it’s so rich. Seeing all the characters at the beginning in the middle of their lives before the shit hits the fan is so reminiscent of how everything seemed so normal about a month and a half ago until everything stopped. Luckily, the arc of the viruses diverged at that point; instead of killing 99% of the world’s population, COVID-19 has just ground the economy to a halt and brought a whole lot of assholes out of the woodwork. At any rate, the reading is good, it’s just so much slower than normal right now. I still have 700+ pages left to go in The Stand, and that’s a bummer, as the new Stephen King book should be showing up on my doorstep tomorrow. Whether or not I have the capacity for that is something that remains to be seen.
- So, I ask again, what have we been doing? Brandi has been playing Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch, and while I don’t partake myself, I find myself utterly charmed when I watch her play. I’m playing a lot of Star Wars Battlefront II on PS4. I have both Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) just waiting for me, but you know…familiar is working better than new for me right now. At least, that’s true for books and video games! In certain circles Brandi and I are known as “TV people,” and sure, we’re watching some reruns of Futurama, American Dad, and Santa Clarita Diet…but we’re also working our way through Star Trek: Voyager (currently in Season 3) and What We Do in the Shadows (just started Season 2). We just caught up on Miracle Workers, a delightful absurdist comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi, and we also just started Westworld. (And while we have HBO, I’m determined to start The Wire.) So obviously TV is working for me in ways that other media aren’t.
- Winding this down by getting back, just briefly, to the working from home thing…the biggest point I wanted to get across is that it’s difficult to operate at peak efficiency right now. Even though we’ve been in this situation for a while now, and even though the day-to-day hasn’t changed that much for some of us (like me), there’s still a lot of weirdness going on and it weighs on everyone in different ways. So be sure to give yourself a break if your brain fuzzes out sometimes, or if things that normally work for you don’t for some reason—and be aware that other people are going through the same thing, and give them a break, too.
Pandemic Dispatches: Reading Recommendations
Call it a lockdown, a quarantine, a shelter-in-place, a stay-at-home order…what it comes down to is that we’re all going to be spending a lot more time at home for the foreseeable future. One of the things I like to do when I have a large chuck of time is to sit down with a good book. Now, I know that for many people, reading is a type of escape that works best when they avoid anything topical. If that’s you, I regret that the bulk of this blog post is not for you. If, on the other hand, a novel about a global pandemic sounds like just the thing right now, I have a handful of suggestions.
THE STAND, by Stephen King
King is the master of horror, and what’s more horrifying—especially right now—than a widespread and deadly disease? One of his best-known books, The Stand is about a plague that wipes out 99% of the world’s population. The first half of the book details the world’s descent from normalcy to cataclysm. It then moves onto the aftermath, in which survivors mystically divide into two new societies for an apocalyptic battle between good and evil, with all the toys of modern society (the 1990 version of it, at least) ripe for the picking.
This is one of my favorite books of all time, and as I think of all the things I want to say about it, I realize that it may merit a post of its own at some point, say after my next re-read. As it relates specifically to current events, King himself has tweeted that the coronavirus is nowhere near as serious as “Captain Trips” in The Stand, and the math bears that out (also, the plague in the novel was man-made, whereas this one is not).Still, some of the parallels are a little unnerving to someone who’s read the book as many times as I have.
The miniseries they made of the book in 1994 is cheesy, but I hold a fondness for it just the same. If nothing else, the music is haunting, including the score itself, as well as “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, which I referenced yesterday. A new version is coming to CBS All Access, supposedly sometime this year. What timing! It’ll be interesting to see if that happens, and how people react to it if so.
THE FIREMAN, by Joe Hill
The obligatory intro: Yes, Joe Hill is Stephen King’s kid. He is possibly a better writer than his old man, which is high praise coming from me; I revere King’s books, but Joe’s prose tends to be just a little leaner, which appeals to me. The illness in this one isn’t a virus but a spore that causes the infected to develop gold and black markings on their skin, known as Dragonscale. If that were all, it wouldn’t be so bad, but it also has the unfortunate tendency to cause spontaneous combustion, particularly under high stress. The eponymous Fireman is an enigmatic character who has learned to control the Dragonscale and, as it turns out, sort of lean into it for his own purposes. That comes into play as the telltale markings make survivors easy targets for those among the non-infected that hate and fear them.
With books by father and son both about the apocalypse, it’s no surprise that there are some parallels between The Stand and The Fireman. Instead of shying away, Hill has some fun with it instead.
It may be tough to get your hands on books right now, so allow me to mention that The Fireman is available through hoopla in both eBook and audiobook format. If your local library offers hoopla, you can check either format (or both!) out for free and read or listen on your phone, tablet, or computer.
LOCK IN and HEAD ON, by John Scalzi
Unlike the other books mentioned here, which detail to varying extents the events of the pandemics themselves, in Lock In, we dive right into the aftermath (although there is a novella, Unlocked, which goes into the history of the disease). The long and short of it is an illness called Haden’s syndrome causes a small percentage of the population to be “locked into” their bodies, awake and aware but unable to respond or move in any way. A virtual world has been created for those locked in, as well as technology that allows them to transfer their minds into robotic “Threeps” or, in certain circumstances, human “Integrators” that give up control of their own bodies for a limited time. Lock In is a murder mystery in which the primary suspect is an Integrator and one of the investigators is a Haden. More sci-fi than the King and the Hill, and dealing with events following a pandemic rather than the pandemic itself, this might be your best bet if you’re looking for escape.
WANDERERS, by Chuck Wendig
And if escape is what you’re looking for, this one might be a tough read right now. It just came out last summer, and the echoes of today’s reality are kind of eerie. It seems innocuous at its core: a small group of people start sleepwalking (for want of a better term) across the United States and can’t be woken or stopped. Where it gets scary is everything that comes with it: an ineffective government response, social media spreading panic and conspiracy theories, fringe groups exploiting the situation to advance their own agendas, etc. This is a good book and I definitely recommend it, but if you feel like now isn’t the time, you won’t get any argument from me. Just remember to come back to it at some point later.
Pandemic Dispatches: Surreal World
Nobody told me there’d be days like these.
Strange days indeed.
-John Lennon, “Nobody Told Me”
In a normal timeline, I would have spent the past several days largely in front of a television for the first rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, worried about little besides upsets, buzzer beaters, and brackets. In fact, the last real day of normalcy for me was Sunday, March 8—Brandi and I went out for lunch and a beer, and as we sat at the bar, we talked about our plans to go to Cleveland the following Saturday to see the BGSU men’s basketball team play in the MAC championship game, should they make it far, and about where we would go to watch the Reds play on Opening Day. Within a few days, the MAC tournament had been canceled, followed closely by the NCAA tournament and the postponement of baseball’s opening day.
I have to qualify that as my last “real” day of normalcy, because…well, look. I’ve been working primarily from home since 2007, and Brandi and I have homebody tendencies. Our evenings (and not uncommonly our weekends) usually consist of ordering takeout and catching up on old episodes of Star Trek on Netflix. Practically speaking, my life hasn’t changed all that much.
But in small, subtle ways it has. I was working on establishing a regular gym habit after work, but now the gym is closed for who knows how long (officially through April 5, but LOL). On Saturdays, I like to walk to the library and spend a few hours there. Now the libraries are closed; instead I’ve been walking to the library and immediately back to just spend a few hours in my home office instead. Hell, I can’t even get a haircut, and I’m getting to the point where I could really use one (if this goes on for very long, my hair situation is going to get very interesting).
I’m lucky, though. Brandi and I both are. Our places of employment (including my “side hustle”) are still operating, so we’re still working our regular hours and earning our paychecks. Her company, at least the department she works in, is primarily work from home for everyone. I was my company’s only full-time remote employee, but the departments who can have shifted my colleagues to working from home. I’m interested to see how that is received, both by my newly remote co-workers and by the company itself. It could be quite a culture shock, hopefully in a good way.
And still that’s much that’s surreal about this whole situation. Seeing our condo complex parking lot full of cars during the day, when it’s normally empty (other than our cars), is one. I’m walking a lot now—with the gym closed, it’s the only way to exercise, really—and seeing so many cars parked throughout our neighborhood, and hearing how quiet it is, is another. Rush hour traffic is one of the very few things I dislike about Worthington and Columbus in general, and man, right now it’s nonexistent. Not that there’s anywhere to go. And that’s another thing—homebody aside, during my wanderings, I like to pop into the corner pub for a happy hour libation or two, and now it’s dark, and empty, and closed. I’m very much looking forward to doing that again once this is all over, if I can—I fear the landscape may have changed by that time, especially where small businesses are concerned.
Also. I went to the grocery store one day last week to pick up a few essentials. It was so close to being a regular grocery run. So much of the store was at regular stock levels. But soup? Pasta? Bread? Milk? Empty, or at least extremely picked over. (The only Campbell’s Soup flavor available, for example, was Spicy Chicken Quesadilla; if you wanted Progressive, you could have whatever you wanted.) I didn’t even bother to look for toilet paper—Brandi is…not a hoarder, exactly, but…a toilet paper enthusiast even in normal times, so we’re in good shape for a while in that department. I have to say, the toilet paper thing has me utterly baffled. This is not a virus that attacks the digestive system, so I’m not sure why that’s the item no one can keep in stock. I’m hopeful that the panic will wear off and more or less normal availability will resume by the time we’re in need, which, thankfully, is a week or two away.
I wrote earlier that Brandi and I are lucky in terms of our jobs continuing. We know plenty of bartenders, servers, and others whose jobs have shut down completely. That’s kind of my worst nightmare, to be honest. Although both of our jobs are still in progress and appear to be stable for the time being, I’ve been preparing for the worst, in kind of a low-key way. We both received our annual bonuses shortly before this began; we had plans for that money, but instead I just socked it all away in savings, just in case either or both of our jobs are interrupted at some point. And we’re lucky because we have that luxury, and because we’re, for the most part, not living paycheck to paycheck. We’ve fought really hard to get to that point, and I really feel for people who aren’t there, whose jobs took an abrupt and indefinite hiatus or may do so at any day, who don’t know how they’re going to pay their rent or their bills. I understand that evictions and utility shutoffs have been paused, more or less, but those bills are going to come due at some point, and that still doesn’t help with things like groceries. So yes, I feel incredibly lucky to be in the position we’re in.
Seasons don’t fear the reaper.
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain.
We can be like they are.
– Blue Oyster Cult, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
An Intro for a Reboot
This may look like a new blog—and I suppose it is!—but I am by no means a new blogger. I have another blog that began existence in 2004; in its early days I wrote for it a lot, but as time went on I posted there less and less. I’ve been thinking about starting from scratch for a while now, for various reasons, and so why not during a global pandemic? I have things to say about it, and thus here in the blasted hellscape that is March of 2020, The Commaphile is born.
So, by way of introduction: I’m Jon Williams, and I’ve been a copywriter and editor for the better part of going on twenty years now. I grew up a book nerd, got a degree in English literature, and my affinity for the finer points of grammar and punctuation inspired the name for this site. I considered calling it The Pilkunnussija instead, which I think is funny (go ahead, Google it; I’ll wait), but in the end I knew I’d never have a chance of pronouncing it correctly and nobody would be able to remember (or spell) the URL.
Some basic data: I grew up in Troy, Ohio, and then went to school at Bowling Green State University (actually I went to Wright State for two years first, and then three years at BGSU to finish up). I met my wife Brandi in 2003 and we got married in 2006. We lived in Troy from 2007 – 2014, and we’ve been in Columbus since then. I’ve been working as a writer and proofreader for the same company since 2004, as a telecommuter since 2007. And I have a part-time side hustle, also as a proofreader/copy editor, that I’ve been doing for a little over a year.
Topics will be all over the place. Don’t let the name fool you; this is a personal site, not a grammar-themed blog, although I’m sure writing and editing will come up from time to time. There will be posts on current events, pop culture, sports, and whatever else catches my eye in the world outside my window. I may bring over some “archive” posts from the old blog, as well.
The Commaphile 