Every so often I consider “going dark” on the Internet. Meaning I drop out of Twitter, Facebook, etc. just to get away from the noise for a while. It never lasts because I love sharing stuff Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr. Even so, I think it’s time to try staying away for a while. I’ll be posting here at baty.net and probably the jackbaty.com blog but otherwise I hope to under-share on the usual sites for a while.

I really didn’t understand what Mr. Thompson was getting at in “Why Photography Matters” and wasn’t interested enough to find out. Skip this one unless you’re just dying to read someone beat up on Susan Sontag

The latest Daniel Suarez book, “Influx”, is much like his others. That means full of tech thriller fun. I liked it.

It was good to be back in the world of Dan Torrence again. I loved Doctor Sleep.

Ella Minnow Pea is comprised entirely of letters exchanged between inhabitants of the fictional island of Nollop. When certain letters of the alphabet are banned, the residents must learn to communicate without them. Fun premise. Clever implementation. I enjoyed it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a murder mystery (of sorts), is told from the point of view of Christopher Boone, a 15-year old boy with autism. It is funny and heartbreaking.

I’m going to miss having Schuler Books just a couple miles away. They’ll be closing soon, for reasons that have been explained but that I don’t buy. Every time I’m there it’s busy. Doesn’t seem right that they can’t make enough to keep the place open. I was there today for what could be my last time. I bought three books: The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon On Writing, by Stephen King I’d normally link those titles to Amazon but that seems wrong this time.

A week ago I decided to go all-in with Asana for task management. The idea was that I no longer wanted to manage my individual tasks separately from those I delegate to others. It’s also handy to have visibility into project requirements aside from only those things for which I’m directly responsible. I have a long history of switching task managers, and this may be just another one of those things, but so far Asana has been great.

Once I realize that this space (baty.net) is only here for my own amusement, it becomes more interesting to me. Who wants the kind of pressure it takes to write for other people?

Even though my productivity system has inched toward digital tools, my love of paper notebooks for capture and planning has not waned. I have a thing for notebooks and pens. This year, I’m going to continue using a Hobonichi paper planner along with a trusty Field Notes notebook in my back pocket. The Hobonichi has just the right combination of size, paper quality, and usability. And Field Notes are great for jotting things down on the go.

I haven’t shot a single roll of film in 2014. Must be the terrible weather is slowing me down. Still, not a good sign. Speaking of terrible weather, we’re about to get another 8-10 inches of snow today. With that in mind, here’s a photo of my dad flying a kite on the beach. Ron Baty. Hobe Sound, FL (2013)

I love reading about the tools other people use, so I thought I’d write down a few of the things I’m using these days. It’s no secret that I like to tweak my “productivity system”. I don’t do it because I think I’ll actually become more productive, but because it’s fun to play with new things. Here are the things I am into now. Tinderbox I’ve been using Tinderbox every day for many years.