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 ] []
2024.04.26
I listened to *Final Summer* by Cloud Nothings.
This really syncs with my recent 90s midwest emo indie rock deep dive. In fact, I listened to this a couple of times, then listened to the first two Sunny Day Real Estate albums, started listening to Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape, but wanted to come back to this again over all of that. [2024-04-27]
[]
This really syncs with my recent 90s midwest emo indie rock deep dive. In fact, I listened to this a couple of times, then listened to the first two Sunny Day Real Estate albums, started listening to Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape, but wanted to come back to this again over all of that. [2024-04-27]
Standalone post link: Listening Log: Final Summer
2024.04.24
I listened to *Diary / LP2 / The Colour and the Shape* by Sunny Day Real Estate / Foo Fighters.
[]
Standalone post link: Listening Log: Diary / LP2 / The Colour and the Shape
2024.04.21
I listened to *THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY* by Taylor Swift.
Started drafting out a whole narrative of my thoughts and mixed reactions to this album, but realized probably absolutely nobody needs my take on this and I have plenty of other things to write about and do, things that might benefit from having more written and explored about them.
[]
Started drafting out a whole narrative of my thoughts and mixed reactions to this album, but realized probably absolutely nobody needs my take on this and I have plenty of other things to write about and do, things that might benefit from having more written and explored about them.
Guess I might still write and share about this later if I find I can’t let my thoughts on it go away, though…
Standalone post link: Listening Log: THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT THE ANTHOLOGY
2024.04.05
I listened to *COWBOY CARTER* by Beyoncé.
Also didn’t realize I needed a countryish sometimes Beatlesish Beyonce album, but here we are.
[]
Also didn’t realize I needed a countryish sometimes Beatlesish Beyonce album, but here we are.
Standalone post link: Listening Log: COWBOY CARTER
2024.04.05
I listened to *Only God Was Above Us* by Vampire Weekend.
Didn’t realize I needed a new Vampire Weekend album, but it turns out I really did need it. And its the most Vampire Weekendish album they’ve ever made.
[]
Didn’t realize I needed a new Vampire Weekend album, but it turns out I really did need it. And its the most Vampire Weekendish album they’ve ever made.
Weird how I felt almost giddy listening to this album the first few times. Like, people are allowed to make music like this? “Classical” is everything.
Standalone post link: Listening Log: Only God Was Above Us
2024.03.28
I listened to *QWERTY II* by Saya Gray.
This her progrockiest yet?
[]
This her progrockiest yet?
Surprised/disappointed that “ANNIE, PICK A FLOWER.. (MY HOUSE)” wasn’t included on this (not to mention the two other tracks that were just yanked from the single on streaming services) but I’m hopeful that that work is for her next full album, which this Pitchfork profile says will be “a collection of more conventional R&B songs.” Hard to imagine Gray doing anything “conventional,” but I guess “ANNIE, PICK A FLOWER” is one of her more straightforwardly organized compositions, and still pretty weird. Fingers crossed Saya Gray stays weird.