Cory Dransfeldt writing about Data ownership and agency:

I control that data, it sits on infrastructure I manage, it’s in a format I understand and I get the responsibility (or fun — let’s go with that) of presenting it. I get agency and that agency is accompanied by the burden of maintenance, presentation and action. Convenience in exchange for control.

As usual, Cory’s take is measured, accurate, and raises some interesting points on the ownership of your data online. Many people have begun to think about these things now that the USA is finally preparing legislation on privacy and personal data. Of course, that isn’t a worry for me, but this short statement prodded at something I was thinking about when moving my blog around in the last few weeks.

I really want to have an 11ty blog and keep all of my data to myself. I can then pull in whatever it is I want from around the web and display it in whichever way I choose. Thankfully, I am skilled enough to write a bit of code and get things going. It makes the most sense for me, but I just can’t be bothered. I want to be able to post easily, post all sorts of things, and not have to worry about a thing - in exchange for that, I give up control.

Don’t get me wrong, I trust Manton and micro.blog more than any other platform; this is more control of how I can do things and, in some cases, what I can do. In exchange for being able to post easily and not have to deal with rebuild times and server things - my host calls the shots now. This will range from pretty much unlimited ability on platforms like WordPress to locked-down services like Hey World. Whoever it is you choose, as Cory writes, you get “Convenience in exchange for control”.

A couple of days after completing the London Marathon, I’ve had only a little time to process the experience. Not only is it an assault on your body, but also on your mind and senses for hours on end. I’m very thankful to those who have supported me through sponsorship, donations, or just words of encouragement. It was hard to get to the start line, but if you know me, then you will already know that nothing would have kept me from reaching the end.

Unfortunately, there were people who didn’t make it, including some very ill individuals who needed urgent medical attention, and I really hope they are okay. So this is nothing negative toward those who needed to pull out, but it’s only when you take on these kinds of challenges that you realise just how much mental power it takes. I honestly think that just about anyone, given enough time, can physically push themselves, but it’s the mental toughness that gets you to that point.

For much of the run, your whole body is screaming at you to stop. It takes real energy to push that “monkey brain” out of the way and just keep going. I hadn’t realised how much effort this takes until I couldn’t even concentrate enough to order food later that day. I had to keep turning to my wife and asking her to do things. As bizarre as that sounds, it’s the truth; I was done. After the stress of training, raising money, traveling to London, getting to the start line, and everything else. As soon as I crossed the finish line, my brain just shut down for a bit.

The biggest message I get is congratulations on completing the marathon. It’s true, as my grandad would say, that wild horses couldn’t have kept me away from the finish line, but it still took a deep effort to get there—and I owe a lot of it to the people who read my blog and follow me on social media. Thank you. Honestly. You all mean a lot to me.

Over the last few months, it has been challenging to balance my interests and focus. Indeed, I have wasted a lot of time moving things around and messing with my websites, but along with this I have found it difficult to do more than one ‘thing’ at a time. There’s something to be said about putting all your effort one way, but I enjoy lots of different creative things and don’t like neglecting other areas.

Take my blog writing for example. It comes in waves of inspiration and I can post lots of them for a few days straight, perhaps a few weeks if I am lucky, and then it dries up again. This usually co-insides with me doing something else, like developing things for my blog. Or perhaps spending some time taking photos. It appears that my brain cant be creative in more ways than one!

I decided a break away from social media was best for me, and along with it came numerous blog posts because it was my only outlet. Since posting more to micro.blog I have developed three plugins and so writing stopped almost all together (unless readme files count). This week I went to London and took plenty of photos, so I have no doubt that writing will take a back seat again for a while.

It is as if something triggers in my brain and I can only see things one way for a while. When I am writing, my camera sits there gathering dust. Should I try to develop anything in that time, it often doesn’t go very well, and I have to push through it. The main thing I want to keep doing is posting to my blog, whilst trying to find a way to balance my varied interests, but currently it’s hard.