Welcome to joshuaw.xyz, my home at the end of the internet.
My name is Joshua Whiting. I am a dad, a husband, a media specialist / librarianish person in the educational technology department of a school district, a sometimes writer, and maybe some other things.
I want to learn, write, make, and curate more things, and I want a place of my own to share those things, so I’ve created this site. This is my main venue for creative activity and publication on the internet.
You can visit the now page to see what I’ve been up to lately, or scroll down to browse some recent notes and images. You can find a menu of additional views and features by clicking on the [ + ] sign in the top right corner of this web page. This site is forever a work in progress and is haunted by the ghosts of my past websites.
Thanks for visiting!
Featured Note
2024.03.10
I can
do
whatever
I
want
here
Last December I opened a fresh notebook and started with this entry. It is kind of my current thesis statement for having a website, being on the internet, trying to make stuff, etc. I haven’t followed through with these ideas so far, but I feel like putting it up on the website is a start.
[]
I can
do
whatever
I
want
here
Last December I opened a fresh notebook and started with this entry. It is kind of my current thesis statement for having a website, being on the internet, trying to make stuff, etc. I haven’t followed through with these ideas so far, but I feel like putting it up on the website is a start.
(A text transcription follows the notebook scan images.)
I can
do
whatever
I
want
here
[sketch1 - self-portrait of sorts, though no beard]
I should probably remember or remind myself that I met Gin2 because I wrote a blog about random stuff I was interested in
I’ve been so jaded but creating and sharing stuff on the internet is maybe probably still a worthwhile endeavor
notice I didn’t say “social media”
but I kind of mean social media but also not
media that can be social?
media that can build connection, understanding, community?
isn’t that all good media? digital or analog? art? do I mean art?
I think maybe what I really mean
by all of this
is
art?Going to let that sit here and see how it feels in the coming days
creating things and sharing things
to
express myself
have fun / play around with
words
ink
pixels
code
images
video
sounds
connect with other people
make and do interesting things
learn stuff
make the world better somehow? (too much to ask)
“generalist”art basically
or being human
in a good way
“the humanities”[it is well]
[the evening and the morning
were the first day]
[light] [salt]
[life] [death]
[growth] [decay]
[seeds] [trees]
[air] [breath] [vacuum]
[nebula] [supernova]
[creation through destruction]34
2023-12-17 after 11:30pm
Notes
-
Never in my life since probably kindergarten have I drawn or sketched anything that I didn’t absolutely have to (like for a math assignment or a game or something) - I decided early on that drawing or any visual “art” wasn’t my thing, wasn’t in my skillset, wasn’t for me to attempt to do. But in this notebook and in my 40s I’ve decided I can let myself try to occasionally sketch things, that there is nothing to lose and nothing to prove, that I don’t care about sharing it and I’m actually kind of happy about it. ↩︎
-
Gin is my spouse of almost 16 years now. In 2007 I wrote a post on my random blog about going to an art exhibit. Gin was searching for information about paintings in that exhibit and my blog post came up in her search results; she started commenting on my blog and blogstalking me. We got married in 2008. ↩︎
-
I guess my brain still sometimes thinks in scripture and poetry when I let it ↩︎
-
Markdown might be a problem for trying to space out poems and word collections like I want to - maybe there is a way to do it in Markdown like a typewriter and respect the manual spacing? Need to research this, but not before getting this posted so I don’t lose my nerves. ↩︎
Standalone post link: I Can Do Whatever I Want Here
Recent Notes [ RSS Feed ] []
2024.07.25
I'm reading *The Wild Robot* by Peter Brown again. [ 67% ]
Continuing to read this some nights with my son.
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Continuing to read this some nights with my son.
2024-07-10
Started reading the Wild Robot with Will tonight.
We started reading Sheine Lende the night before last but it was making Will feel quite anxious and so wasn’t a good bedtime read.
Standalone post link: Reading Log: The Wild Robot
2024.07.23
I read *Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension* by Rita Feinstein.
Finished reading Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension 11:17pm
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Finished reading Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension 11:17pm
morenotes
Standalone post link: Reading Log: Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension
2024.07.19
I'm reading *Sheine Lende* by Darcie Little Badger. [ 51% ]
2024-07-19 - 51%
[]
2024-07-19 - 51%
2024-07-11
Started reading this the other night with my son but it was too harrowing for him as a bedtime read, so I’ve just been continuing on my own.
2024-07-13 - 31%
So far it stays somewhat creepy throughout, with a mysterious vibe and shadow of death over everything that happens, so for the sake of my son’s restfulness it was a good call to not continue with it in that venue. We really loved A Snake Falls to Earth and I had also read Elatsoe previously. He was interested in trying Elatsoe but we decided to try this prequel first. I’m not sure if we would encounter the same issues with Elatsoe; I don’t remember it being too suspenseful (at least not in the “threat to small children” and “missing mother” elements which Sheine Lende opens with), but it does have a murder mystery element, vampires, and some creepiness. Maybe he’ll come back to this later in another way?
If there was a sequel or prequel to A Snake Falls to Earth he would read it in a second. I for one look forward to a story of the mockingbird’s chaotic misadventures on Earth, culminating with taking down the Nightmare?
Standalone post link: Reading Log: Sheine Lende
2024.07.06
I read *Louder Than Hunger* by John Schu.
Undeniable, probably book of the year. I have thoughts that I should articulate better, if I get brave.
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Undeniable, probably book of the year. I have thoughts that I should articulate better, if I get brave.
Standalone post link: Reading Log: Louder Than Hunger
2024.07.06
I read *You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World* by various authors ; edited by Ada Limón again.
Read this back to front, basically two times, then started looking up the websites and other poems and writings of many of the poets here.
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Read this back to front, basically two times, then started looking up the websites and other poems and writings of many of the poets here.
Standalone post link: Reading Log: booktitle
2024.07.05
I read *A Snake Falls to Earth* by Darcie Little Badger again.
Read aloud with my son at bedtime some nights. We both really enjoyed it; hope for more with these characters and/or in this world.
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Read aloud with my son at bedtime some nights. We both really enjoyed it; hope for more with these characters and/or in this world.
Previously read this myself a couple years ago - one of my favorites of recent years.