Singularly Mundane

Being singular in perspective and behaviour can be a very difficult path in a world where there is an increasing amount of ``social connections''. In some senses, it feels a little curmudgeonly in that I do not get with the times and hop on the latest bandwagon the way the many lemmings are.

You would think that having done this for a long time (i.e. all my life), it would be increasingly easier to maintain it. Unfortunately, it is not the case.

Ever since I bailed out on the Facebook, refusing to update ``my content'' on it, my digital social life has gone... mundane. I have more free time, feel less compulsive, and in general, have fewer but deeper communication channels. I used to hang out on IRC, now I'm barely there. I've since retired my MSN messenger and AIM accounts, leaving on the GTalk (or Hangouts, if you'd believe the current branding) one only.

No more drama.

Returning to blogging has heightened the sense of loneliness online, since it has always been a soapbox for me to air my views on to an invisible audience that has a high barrier towards response: blog comments are overtly more public than what the Facebook's ones are, and they need to be vetted by me via the moderation panel before they get published.

As such, hardly anyone ever comments on what I have said here or elsewhere. Hell, I'm pretty sure that my ``usual'' audience numbers no more than ten people to begin with.

Luddite-sounding babblespeak aside, I've started on yet another self-enhancement project: learn how to compose music. I had gotten some books on the subject back in 2009, but there was hardly ever any strong incentive to work through them. This time though, I am using Composing Music: A New Approach by William Russo as the source material and am using Frescobaldi with Lilypond. I was contemplating getting either Finale or even Sibelius, but I have not found anything convincing about their approach towards the composition process that justifies their rather steep price.

At this point, I don't really have anything else to talk about. I've just experienced a week where I met up with an old friend, some old colleagues, and a bunch of external meetings. In short, I feel more drained than my basic sleep deprivation might suggest. I just thought that perhaps I should write something here before I turn in for the night, as some kind of simple gesture in acknowledging that yes, this blog is getting regular updates in lieu of the near-complete silence on the Facebook.

Till the next update then.