The 2021 WOLVERINE Cup Series Schedule is out—grab your copy TODAY! And just six days before the first race! OK, so I'll do a better job of releasing that info on that for 2022, but hey, applaud my turnaround time! This was just a thing that came out as I wrote on Sept 18's From "Bye Bye" to "Born to Be Wild."

I'm EXCITED about this inaugural season, even if I'll have to cram the whole thing into a box of only TWO months! Overall, it is a series that is CHOCK-FULL with nostalgia; I look forward to sharing the artwork for each race!

And at absolutely NO ONE's surprise, I'm doing things in an unorthodox manner: I'm not going to do any training runs before the first race for I want to establish a baseline of performance. Nope, not a single sandal fluttering! See, there's the added bonus of turning in an ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING performance on Halloween hammering home the need for change on Reformation Day. These aren't singular events, but a series for which I hope to show gradual improvement (with that yummy jar of intrinsic motivation). As I train, these moments serve as waymarkers, highlights of my progress.

For October, I hate that I invested most of the month toward deciding whether I want to focus on cybersecurity and privacy with a Linux and Tutanota ticket, or should I hand over my DeLorean keys to some random stranger in California, hoping I won't find any dings in the fender from a valet's joyride. Topics like these are ones I've used in this space to wrestle over like: a dynamic WordPress vs. a static Jekyll; using my own host vs Microsoft's GitHub; training regimens; diet regimens; and social media involvement! Like a Bourne fight scene, papers fly as I madly wrestle with what direction is best. Fortunately, my cybersecurity focus seems to have won out over the wide-open standards and I'm sure something is up on the horizon for my consideration.

Honestly, the more the world is becoming infused with tech, the more I'm finding ways to unplug. Sure, I can do it for I did it when friends were staring at their beepers on a Friday night while listening to Pearl Jam and John Michael Montgomery. But again, just because I can...

I continue to drop my account login total. I've abandoned my Brooklyn Public Library along with the other two libraries. For one, despite the 248 audiobooks I tore through summer last year and picking up again some this year, I'm weaving more toward a singular focus. Book consumption gets to a point where it just feels like a rat race!

That said, I'm also ABSOLUTELY punting the Brooklyn Public Library because of its politics. Look, what do I want out of a library? "Gimme that tome, you humpback! Take this book back, you bespectacled cat lady!" I have no need for "social programs" or computer labs or—well, whatever the cool kids do these days—but, I ESPECIALLY DO NOT WANT MY LIBRARY TO CHANGE THE U.S. CONSTITUTION! I guess revising your late fees policy was a handful of Meamucil to get ya going!

Geez, talk about high achiever's overreach...yes, and next week I'll be opening a Chic-fil-A franchise on Jupiter. In other news, Bob the Builder will be restoring the UK to the EU.

Yeah, "it's a very, very mad world." But, there's no reason for me to get all caught up with it. Honestly, I don't have anything to do with it! Like the spirit of 2020, my interests lie in the news of MY world. Yes, long gone are the stories about the feral cat, the ground hogs and the redneck fire of concrete explosive POWER—and today's tech news has GOT to simma down na, but it's the sort of things I want to read about, for it's the sort of things I can change.

...and just when you thought I ran away from Segoe UI, I...downloaded it, whisking it away from Redmond's clutches for a better life with Linux. It's a favorite font of mine for composing in FocusWriter: white text set on a black background (#111). Add a size that's a healthy portion with a side of 1.5 spacing and it makes a GREAT place to roam freely!

YES, on the timestamp that will henceforth be the singular point of time to celebrate with raucous attaboys, I left Google and Microsoft on 8:29 PM, October 20, 2021! OK, so I might be overselling it just a bit, but this does deserve at least a count-up timer...or a spirited high-five? It was difficult to make the break, but then I realized something fundamental, something that fits rather nicely into that Montgomery Gentry song, She Couldn't Change Me. I'd break down the analogy for you and share the points of articulation—kung fu action grip and all—but, I'm TIRED of the topic—just TRUST me on this one!

I still have more work to do on my phone, of course. It's not something I'm going to overly consider as under a year from now when my Mint Mobile service subsides, I'm going over to a high school jock phone. I know, if I'm supposed to be like everyone else, I need to center my life around that thing, tie my hopes and dreams and "love him and squeeze him and call him George." But...well, it's me: that guy who left the cool kids' lunch table my junior year to sit as a senior with my people: the geeks.

Compared to my Windows 10 drive earlier today, even with it optimized for speed( (I yanked out everything including Edge), W10 TOTALLY was blown off the road by this Linux Mint setup! This mint fresh thing slices! It dices! The work I put in under the hood tonight:

• Installed proprietary video driver;
• Enabled the firewall;
• Set text scaling 1.3, Ubuntu 11 for everything, large icons;
• Increased panel height and mouse cursor size;
• Disabled window tiling;
• Kickoff the Update Manager;
• Uninstalled unnecessary apps featured on the start menu;
• Gutted most of default fonts;
• Added fonts;
• Ripped out Java;
• Added a couple of speed tweaks.

Batch Install:

$ sudo apt install gnucash inkscape gimp vlc filezilla catfish pavucontrol spotify-client steam focuswriter ruby-full build-essential zlib1g-dev virtualbox virtualbox-qt virtualbox-ext-pack virtualbox-guest-additions-iso adb

Standalone Installs:

• Setup Jekyll and served local site;
• Brave-browser
  • Changed settings for increased privacy and simplicity;
  • Added Bitwarden;
  • Added Cyberpunk theme.
• Atom;
• VeraCrypt.

AND FINALLY...the MOST IMPORTANT:

Set Cinnamon and Brave to Dark Mode with a purple highlight and an appropriate wallpaper. —Gotta have my racing stripes!