Clear Minded <p>I spent a whole month last year trying to meditate.&nbsp; I read about it. I downloaded apps. I set up a space in my home and (since it was summer) I found quite places in the park to sit and find focus. My conclusion was not that <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;meditation&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I often use this term loosely to refer to any new-age adjacent notion of mindfulness and focus. I&amp;#039;m not hiding away in some remote temple chanting to incense, but I am thinking about thinking in a way that is about shutting out distraction and spending time looking inward.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/meditation/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>meditation</a> didn&rsquo;t work, but rather that I had [&hellip;]</p>

Clear Minded

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/clear-minded/

Hustle Up <p>What if the people buying are not into what you are selling? Consumer-driven culture and basic economics would argue that supply should meet demand. If you are supplying something that no one seems to want, <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;capitalism&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I live in a time and place where it is commonly understood that people need to trade their time and skill for money. This is an income which allows the acquisition of currency that can be exchanged for goods and services from others. We assume everyone knows this and thinks about it because it is the system we were born into and we know no other. But it isn&amp;#039;t the only system and being inside of it necessitates certain choices about how creative people interact with the world that are worth thinking about, calling out, and discussing from time to time.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/capitalism/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>capitalism</a> argues that you need to shift your product to where the demand seems to be. But what if the [&hellip;]</p>

Hustle Up

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/hustle-up/

Great Wall <p>I am just as tempted as anyone to aim for greatness when I try to create anything.&nbsp; So often, I will throw everything against the metaphorical wall and assume that something should stick. It is a slick wall, though. Sticking anything is tough enough, but sticking everything is nigh impossible.&nbsp; Greatness, in my opinion is [&hellip;]</p>

Great Wall

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/04/great-wall/

I think the biggest difference between sharing here and sharing the same thing on Threads is that one needs to be far more cautious about sharing one’s excitement at something on Threads. People seem far more willing (and even eager) to pop that bubble over there.

This is Dance (3) My three panel black and white strips were published over the course of a mid-week posting spree, and through them I tried to tell a (still short) but longer arc story. For that reason you&#8217;ll see a (number) in the title because each is part of a trilogy of strips on the same topic. The [&hellip;]

Thanks for checking out some of my old #webcomic series. I spent a lot of time making these a few years back.

Here's another one from my revived archives...
This is Dance (3) - https://piday.8r4d.com/this-is-dance-3/

Unfrozen Fools <p>It is the first day of April and, no fooling, the start of the fourth month of this <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I am old. And I started posting formatted words and photos online before the word blog had entered the common lexicon. Most people work in the medium of social platforms these days, but being both a product of my time and a stickler for content ownership and control, I still lean into and promote the idea that the blog (a content managed general purpose personal website) is the beating heart of the internet I once knew and loved.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/blog/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>blog</a>. When I started this blog I came up with clever names for each of the months and I called this one Artsy April, because as the snow around my home finally melts and the world thaws [&hellip;]</p>

Unfrozen Fools

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/04/unfrozen-fools/

lol

…but someone took it upon themselves to haul engine parts and panels and axels into the woods for some reason. People are weird. Cool and curious, but weird.

I went for a walk in the #yeg suburban wilds this morning on some single track I’d never travelled before. I swear there must have been half of an entire disassembled car spread out along the path like trail markers. I took a few pictures…

It makes one think a little harder about each shot, yet is surprisingly versatile for many situations.

I wanted to give myself some creative motivation to improve my observational skills as a casual photographer, so for 2026 I’ve been restricting myself to a single lens on my SLR… a 40mm pancake prime. It literally won’t come off until next year.

Thawed Inspiration <p>Spring is nigh. And I don&rsquo;t know what the world looks like where you live, but where I spend my days <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;winter&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;Where I come from this season isn&amp;#039;t just a metaphor for something, nor is it an abstraction linked to a romantic holiday snowfall. Rather it is a deep months-long freeze that restricts travel and keeps us hiding in our homes for nearly half the year. Many of us embrace it, but the reality is that cold is cold is cold and it is limiting as much as it inspires.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/winter/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>winter</a> is a bleak, snowy realm that hides the world under a chill blanket whence we await spring and the warmth and the inevitable thaw that comes, too. With thaw comes melt, plentiful puddles, [&hellip;]</p>

Thawed Inspiration

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/thawed-inspiration/

Photo Excuses <p>If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, every one of the posts on this site is at least one thousand two hundred words long. You may not have noticed but I attach a unique <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;monochromatic&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I stumbled onto a fascination with black and white photography in my early twenties when I was hanging out with some people from a conference at an art gallery in our capital city. One of the folks in that group must have conveyed the right passions towards the form into my impressionable brain in its formative state and ever since I have been in love with the idea of images that lean into shape and shadow over colour. I use this blog to subtly share that love.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/monochromatic/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>monochromatic</a> abstract photo (taken by me) to each and every one of my posts. It is not obvious, [&hellip;]</p>

Photo Excuses

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/04/photo-excuses/

#running up that hill… again

The hills are alive with the sound of melting…

#running

I may have spent some bucks on a new toy this week. I’ve been feeling a little restricted by the small keybed on my #synth etc and so I kinda sorta maybe sprung for some extra keyboard real estate. Nothing fancy, but probably don’t come looking for me for a few days.

Ever Greened <p>April 2026, this month, marks the twenty-fifth year of my blogging adventures. A quarter of a century has been spent by me posting whimsical insights and routine thoughts into the internet for strangers&mdash;perhaps just like you&mdash;to read and ponder. To be fair, I&rsquo;ve long since archived most of the things I wrote over the years. [&hellip;]</p>

Ever Greened

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/04/ever-greened/

Cannibal Legalization I feel like I may need to explain this one a bit. In 2018 the Canadian government legalized cannabis for private use. It was in the news constantly and then when the law went live there was a couple weeks there when it seemed like every other person was dabbling. To each their own, but [&hellip;]

Thanks for checking out some of my old #webcomic series. I spent a lot of time making these a few years back.

Here's another one from my revived archives...
Cannibal Legalization - https://piday.8r4d.com/cannibal-legalization/

Thanks for checking out some of my old #webcomic series. I spent a lot of time making these a few years back.

Here's another one from my revived archives...
Miss-placed Congeniality - https://piday.8r4d.com/miss-placed-congeniality/

Amateur Appeal  <p>I recently wrote a piece on this <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I am old. And I started posting formatted words and photos online before the word blog had entered the common lexicon. Most people work in the medium of social platforms these days, but being both a product of my time and a stickler for content ownership and control, I still lean into and promote the idea that the blog (a content managed general purpose personal website) is the beating heart of the internet I once knew and loved.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/blog/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>blog</a> about breaking from the conformity of rules when we create, suggesting in my two-hundred word blog-conforming limit that stepping outside of the guardrails presented by this idea of your art needing to be so-called &ldquo;commercial viable&rdquo; might be a means to escape from a constraint imposed on [&hellip;]</p>

Amateur Appeal 

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/amateur-appeal/

Podcast Guy <p>I need to inform you that by the time you read this I will be a podcast guy. Ugh. One of those, huh? My excuse is such: in early February I embraced a few big ideas that manifested as a spoken audio project, which very much looks and acts like a podcast at the moment. [&hellip;]</p>

Podcast Guy

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/podcast-guy/

I haven’t written much about my #gamedev efforts recently because I was doing some “real” work, but I’ve been coding again this week and have rebuilt the graphics approach and migrated a bit of the code into a 3d environment.

Costume Party <p>Does everyone need to <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;brand&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;Even seasoned advertising and marketing folks sometimes struggle to pin this definition to the ground, but in essence it implies more than a logo or a tag line. A brand is the entirety of how one is perceived by the public, and it can be inclusive of, yes, logos, colours and names, but also values, vibe, and style. Corporate brands are common, but personal brands are an idea that has gained particular prominence in the internet era when people put on a public persona that represents their effort to influence others or promote their ideas, politics, or work.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/brand/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>brand</a> themselves?&nbsp; A personal brand goes well beyond a clever URL and a logo made up of your initials.&nbsp; In an online world we are presented with this ideas of an avatar, a kind of costume that we don when we share our work, our thoughts, or our best selves in [&hellip;]</p>

Costume Party

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/costume-party/

Running chilly hills in #yeg another snowy evening…

Unfrozen Fools <p>It is the first day of April and, no fooling, the start of the fourth month of this <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;I am old. And I started posting formatted words and photos online before the word blog had entered the common lexicon. Most people work in the medium of social platforms these days, but being both a product of my time and a stickler for content ownership and control, I still lean into and promote the idea that the blog (a content managed general purpose personal website) is the beating heart of the internet I once knew and loved.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/blog/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>blog</a>. When I started this blog I came up with clever names for each of the months and I called this one Artsy April, because as the snow around my home finally melts and the world thaws [&hellip;]</p>

Unfrozen Fools

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/04/unfrozen-fools/

Dear Amazon. Sure I’ll review that product I bought for free… but then my services will be $9.99 per month or $19.99 per month without ads. But you can cancel at any time.

Thawed Inspiration <p>Spring is nigh. And I don&rsquo;t know what the world looks like where you live, but where I spend my days <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;winter&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;Where I come from this season isn&amp;#039;t just a metaphor for something, nor is it an abstraction linked to a romantic holiday snowfall. Rather it is a deep months-long freeze that restricts travel and keeps us hiding in our homes for nearly half the year. Many of us embrace it, but the reality is that cold is cold is cold and it is limiting as much as it inspires.&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- /wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;" href="https://8clicks.8r4d.com/glossary/winter/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>winter</a> is a bleak, snowy realm that hides the world under a chill blanket whence we await spring and the warmth and the inevitable thaw that comes, too. With thaw comes melt, plentiful puddles, [&hellip;]</p>

Thawed Inspiration

https://8clicks.8r4d.com/2026/03/thawed-inspiration/

My short photo expedition thru Whitemud Creek…

Raced Out Late in my drawing journey I experimented with different formats, like the three panel full colour comic strip. I had been leaning keeping the smaller strips as black and white, but dabbled in adding more depth as the comic matured. For as much as I tried to be a good dad, I was selfish about [&hellip;]

Thanks for checking out some of my old #webcomic series. I spent a lot of time making these a few years back.

Here's another one from my revived archives...
Raced Out - https://piday.8r4d.com/raced-out/

I started rewatching Westworld.

AI was a science fiction trope ten years ago, but the writers of that show knew darn well that when we create cool things we usually just end up using them to hurt each other.