8 Clicks from Nowhere Productions

Category: [00] Intros & Explanations

This site is about the dirty side of creativity, the getting down on the ground and exploring through hobbies and habits.

Chapter List

  • Ever Greened

    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—perhaps just like you—to read and ponder.

    To be fair, I’ve long since archived most of the things I wrote over the years. Much of it was neither evergreen nor the quality of stuff that really needed to be kept public. I have copies of virtually all of it, of course, but much of it is barely the equivalent of reading through back issues of the local newspaper from decades past. Interesting, maybe, but hardly worth the effort of keeping on the shelves.

    It’s still early days here, but I have modelled this particular take at blogging with a little more intentionality towards building a collection of posts that will stand the test of time. 

    What does it look like to write posts that are interesting right now, but might also be interesting in five or ten years?  If somehow I was able to keep this effort up for the next decade or two, would I still go back to the early posts and read through with interest… or with a cringe?

  • Photo Excuses

    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 monochromatic abstract photo (taken by me) to each and every one of my posts. It is not obvious, and chances are you have completely overlooked said pic (unless you are visiting from social media where it tends to get scooped up as the featured image.)

    Also. They are unconnected from the subject of each post.

    So why do it?

    Apart from simply having an excuse to take more photos, my intention with adding a photo to each post is raw abstraction and artistic curiosity. 

    Too often we find ourselves trapped inside the concept of finding a reason: return on investment, increasing marketability, adding context, or something else linked to clicks and sales and revenue. 

    But none of that matters in this case. I do it simply because I want to… and to make a point: that value can be measured in things beyond money. Value can be beauty. Value can be joy. Value can be a secret shared between people.

    These photos? They take time to take. They eat up server space and internet bandwidth. They are nearly invisible and usually unnoticed. But the sheer art of it means I wouldn’t ever stop.

  • Weightless Words

    Who knows what this site will look like by the time you are reading this post, but as I am writing it I have just launched this blog and, bluntly, it’s using a pretty boring template.

    In deciding on a design with which to start I weighed a single consideration: I wanted the words to be the central focus of what I was making. I was not planning on posting photos or art. I was not linking to videos. I was not trying to wow visitors with a unique and clever design.

    I wanted the words to be the point.

    Me of ten years ago would have clutched his metaphorical pearls—or whatever guys who don’t wear pearls might clutch in such a situation. Use your imagination. As it was back then, perhaps lacking confidence in my ideas or writing, I would merrily post but fill the screen with visual clutter and links and metadata.

    Today, I am boldly posting these words without the flourish of fancy headers and kooky fonts and in doing so perhaps suggesting through their simple form and format that the words are sturdy enough on their own merit.

  • Two Hundred

    Any project should have both goals and parameters.

    I wrote about the goals in my first post.

    The parameters are a little less interesting, but equally important.

    For example, the parameters of the blog are me writing on topics of creativity, skill development, writing, music, art, and code while avoiding anything more than the vaguest of superficial mentions of politics, business or this human emotion that you call… love.

    Also, my key logistical parameter is to keep my posts within sight of two hundred words. Two hundred is a digestible bit of content for anyone to read… and for me to write. It is enough words to convey a simple idea or thought while not being exceptionally onerous for a daily blog post. 

    (Especially true since I am already working on a daily five hundred word goal for my fiction.) 

    Finally, I am leaving the comments open for the moment. If you convey yourself as a real person who wants to make a serious on-topic point I may even approve your comment and reply.

    But that makes for about a hundred and seventy-five words so I’d better sign off alas I break my own rules before I even really begin.

    January 6, 2026 – Audio version

  • Hello World

    My new year’s resolution for 2026 was to evict myself from corporate social media.

    But stepping away from public platforms does not need to mean taking a vow of electronic silence. The professional blog may seem old school and a bit retro, but there’s something classic and suave about owning your own platform and creating your own space on the internet.

    My goals here are simple: Write something every weekday. Be provocative about creativity. Spark feats of imagination. And lead a charge back towards making interesting things for their own sake, not merely for clicks or likes or influence.

    Hello world.

    January 5, 2026 – Audio version