Over here on the dev side, I've been playing with a new style for this website. I've had this retrowave vibe through both Jekyll and WordPress installs for over 3 years now—admittedly, it's become a well-worn leather glove.

However, I'm considering on making a break into something new, which would be something old. A part of me has an appeal for the way the Web once was: white background, black Times New Roman text, and blue hyperlinks. But, I've NEVER liked the soft wraps at the display's edge, perhaps it went unnoticed in that world of 640x480 or maybe 800x600...well, I speak of those days of the '90s, not the evolving Tech Noir of today.

I'm also thinking something simple, terminal-esque—something inspired by 1999's The Matrix. I still want to use Jekyll, but I no longer want to color atop somebody else's theme, in this case, the excellent Minimal-Mistakes.

The great thing about a site like this is that there's no pretension, no master plan to drive ad revenue—no ads even, for that matter! Sure, I could leap into monetization and with a singular focus for aggregation, talk about all the intricacies of...recycled crayon sculptures...custom fire ant capitals...a five-selection DIY Starbucks Coffee on tap. The Internet is made up of a billion just like these each just as credible as the next!

And yet...I don't find this incentive compelling.

Anymore, whatever I scribble on this piece of paper is as legit as anything else we find out here. For this, it's hard for me to hand over much credence to someone who shakes their sheet so vigorously that it compels a mob to grab a hold of it and monkey see, monkey do. First, lemme read it! Chances are, most of all the good stuff is left unnoticed behind a paywall like JSTOR or wherever, while we get all jazzed up over somebody's bedazzled notecard!

If I'm not doing this for money / power, why do I write? For the love of the game!

Bacon's gone. That crisp, salty and fatty morsel of the gods is now, as of this 2nd day, OUT of my life—for now? Oh, I KNOW, I hear my studio audience gasp! Believe me, I feel it over here...but my decision runs in line with what I like to do: experiment, pivot fast and stay agile (Ocean's Thirteen Slicing Hammer not included). And with Bacon the Proper, so goes the bacon fat and its 10+ cups of Expeditionary intake.

In the past, I relied on extra fat for further fuel and hunger satiation. Today, I find Bacon unnecessary—YES, there was a time when Bacon was actually required, seriously...OK, admittedly it's hard to defend this, but you just gotta trust my stockroom of ethos on this one! I needed Bacon fat for its fuel and satiety. But the funny thing about Bacon is this: there's NO OFF SWITCH! I feel the same thing about Kikkoman Soy Sauce on ANYTHING. "You've got that stack of newspapers you want to recycle? Here, lemme palm heel a little bit on top."

So, salt could very well be the culprit and (not so much of a) SURPRISE: it has NOT been a part of my Carnivore Carnival Ride with the exception of that 3-day experiment the other day.

And honestly, my diet is all about the BEEF. It powers me—well, OVERpowers me as I'm STILL reeling from my injuries from that latest compilation of Bill's Greatest Hits of Intense Workouts. And the terrific thing about being a BEEFeater is when I'm full, I stop, not to mention that gig with the ravens over in London.

Coffee and I have had a long, complicated and packed with adventure relationship. I've always knew Coffee, I suppose. We even hung out when I was 14, but things never worked out. Then came 1999 when Coffee and I rediscovered each other at a chance meeting far from home. After our awkward hellos, we realized the tangent of our relationship was an arrow shooting across the exhilaration of adventure all around us!

We stayed together as the months and years fell off the calendar, in and out of coffeehouses; through friends gained and friends lost; while new addresses aged to old addresses in Memphis, Flagstaff, Sitka and Anchorage; and across streets with no names in places like London, Paris, Rome and Denton.

In grad school, Coffee and I grew apart. How could this be? There was another who came into my life: Tea was so tantalizing! Exotic, even, a veiled traveler from the East. Tea and I spent the nights together in Prague and across the Czech Republic. Did Coffee lose the irresistible aroma? The smokey eyes? Did all those drives to work together make Coffee just ordinary?

My memories with Coffee faded in those years. Sure, when we bumped into each another, there was the occasional embrace between two old friends—there was so much history between us, afterall. However, our relationship had changed...we moved on—didn't we? Tea was my beloved; what room could there be for Coffee?

The years went on and something changed inside of me. I wanted to return to who I was. And I knew I had to find Coffee again. As we rode the rollercoaster of weightloss, Coffee and I held our arms high in gleeful abandonment, like air dancers across the night sky! But, I was unsure if we were right together—maybe I was scared—so, exactly 9 weeks ago today, I told Coffee we needed time apart. I did the whole, "it's not you, it's me" bit, knowing full well it wasn't ME, right?

I flirted with going back to the charms of Tea, even so far as to pull out the well-worn, little black book from storage. But...I knew what I felt inside wasn't about that. Ultimately, I wanted to be alone. I thought I needed to be by myself. I mean, there was the occasional thing with Hot Water, but you and I both know that it was just for the touch and not for anything long-lasting.

After two months apart, today, I came to my senses and ran back into the waiting, open arms of Coffee:

In the parking lot, one night near the summer's end,
I leaned back against the glass
Of a car to watch all those speeding comets crash.
Made me think about us.
Made me think about us.

Truly, truly, truly I want you.
Truly, truly, truly I do.
Truly, truly, truly I want you.

-Grant Lee Phillips, Truly, Truly