Vagobond Magazine

25/12/2023

I wanted to write the next great Christmas song, but I couldn't really make it work the way I wanted as a song - so you get the spoken word version. Hope you are all having a joyous holiday - also hope this doesn't bring anyone down. I'm happy, but this is the reality and we should face it. I feel like this could really be a great song ---maybe next year.

I was going to create a Christmas song but honestly - I just couldn't sing it the way I wanted it to sound - so I went with spoken word and some Christmas Be...

24/12/2023

This is more than a little disturbing. Although, I guess that with dispensaries there are other places to buy w**d when you are a stranger in a new city. (TLDR - Greyhound bus stations are disappearing across the USA)

Greyhound bus terminals are rapidly closing around the country, causing access problems for low-income riders.

24/12/2023

I’d forgotten what an incredible album Paul Simon’s Graceland is. Wow.

23/12/2023

The prologue for my unreleased novel, Hasan i Sabah can be found here: Hasan i Sabah Prologue Here are the links to Chapters 1-3: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 You can listen for free - but if you want to support my work and encourage me to make more content, then you can buy a digital collectible of each chapter for $1.99 each which includes the art and the audio.

The prologue for my unreleased novel, Hasan i Sabah can be found here: Hasan i Sabah Prologue Here are the links to Chapters 1-3: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 You can listen for free – but i…

18/12/2023

I've been giving this a great deal of thought - and though it pains me to say it, I'm going to have to leave Baldism, the religion I founded back in 2021. There are many reasons for this - but primarily it comes down to just a three. 1) The primary rule of Baldism (the only rule) is "Don't be a Dick" and while I think it's a good rule to live by, it's not appropriate as a religious philosophy for two simple reasons....

I’ve been giving this a great deal of thought – and though it pains me to say it, I’m going to have to leave Baldism, the religion I founded back in 2021. There are many reasons …

16/12/2023

Among my friends, I am looking for a buzarre weirdo that isn’t social media shy and has streaks of P.T. Barnum and L. Ron Hubbard for a long term project collaboration that could lead nowhere or change the world. If you know of someone like this reach out. If I don’t know them, please introduce us.

14/12/2023

A Very Different and Literal Trip to a Different Reality I’ve traveled the world and explored a great many philosophical and religious experiences/techniques. This was a completely unique experience and one that I recommend to anyone who is able embark upon it - to learn more you can visit Read on for some of the details of my experience....

A Very Different and Literal Trip to a Different Reality I’ve traveled the world and explored a great many philosophical and religious experiences/techniques. This was a completely unique experienc…

11/12/2023

We are at the cusp of a revolution, a transformative era where traditional food markets, the heart and soul of our communities, are being reimagined. The bustling lanes filled with fresh produce, the familiar calls of vendors, and the rich aromas that pull you into a sensory dance - these timeless experiences are now being enhanced by cutting-edge technologies. Via…...

We are at the cusp of a revolution, a transformative era where traditional food markets, the heart and soul of our communities, are being reimagined. The bustling lanes filled with fresh produce, t…

29/11/2023

Written and read by CD Damitio, available on Cent

29/11/2023

Thanks to the encouragement of my friends on the Web3 Writing Hour, I have released the prologue of my unreleased novel: Hasan i Sabah as a digital collectible that you can listen to, look at, and own. In the future, I may choose to publish the book as a traditional book, an ebook, an NFT book, or to release the audio version via this app or podcasts through Apple or Spotify....

Thanks to the encouragement of my friends on the Web3 Writing Hour, I have released the prologue of my unreleased novel: Hasan i Sabah as a digital collectible that you can listen to, look at, and …

25/11/2023

I bought lunch on Black Friday. It was all I wanted but it was overpriced and low quality. I looked at all the sales and things but all I could think was "Why would I want that?" If they sold houses at a discount on Black Friday, I might be interested.

24/11/2023

I’m so grateful for so many things. Completed the first draft of new novel today. 55000 words in 22 days. Beast mode.

Thankful for my friends. My family. Hawaii. My amazing daughter. My health and life in general. Also Guy Fawkes masks.

22/11/2023

Watching Survivor on Paramount+ with the commercials on. I sort of like the commercials as they give those nice breaks of watching back - but I've noticed something - first of all - no surprise, most of the commercials are aimed at Boomers and drug commercials - but here is the big surprise - every time they read the fast warnings - they use visuals of people taking bites of food that isn't particularly clear - an unknown sandwich, an unknown wrap or burrito, something that looks like bread but might not be. EVERY TIME. It's fu***ng brilliant distraction using our psychology against us. Wild.

20/11/2023

I was in Walmart today and this elderly lady was in front of me, her total came out to $362.57 but her card was declined. So with it being the Holidays and all, y’all already know what I did. God is going to bless me one day. It was a lot of groceries but I helped her put it all back.

😂😂😂😂

20/11/2023

Took my daughter to go see 'The Marvels' on this cloudy Sunday in Honolulu. On the plus side - nice to see a Muslim girl as a superhero - Bismillllah before using super power of bangle bracelets - on the negative side - every time I watch a new Marvel Movie, I feel like I've missed three since the last one (when I haven't). I'm not sure if Marvel just expects everyone to have read all the comic books or if there is additional material I'm not seeing or if the entire Marvel Universe is just so big and complex that my brain forgets entire characters between films - but yeah. Also, Captain Marvel now looks like a girl from the 1980s with no ass and a light coke problem. Okay, maybe she just reminded me of someone I used to know. - Alright, I just googled Brie Larson no ass - apparently I'm late to the party - there's actually a Brie Larson no ass meme generator...

15/11/2023

Some notes in user experience:

My user experience with these companies has turned negative since the pandemic:

1) McDonalds - lower quality, higher prices, less consistancy across locations, less comfort & cleanliness. These were all the reasons I was a patron.

2) Amazon, Whole Foods, Prime - less value for money across the board. Quality issues, lower prices including shipping on other sites for same or better products

3) Starbucks. A $6 coffee included a bathroom and a comfortable place to hang out - without that - it’s just overpriced brown water with caffeine

4) Airlines - the lines are more and longer the seats are smaller and more expensive

5) Hotels - standards for cleaning and maintaining quality furniture have bottomed out

6) Beer. When did everything become an IPA and why is one beer routinely more expensive than a sandwich?

7) Twitter and social media in general. Bots, scammers, ads, algorithms - ruined

I could go on about software in general and increasing non-interoperability across platforms.

These have been positive user experiences:

1) Apple products consistently work and do what they are supposed to

2) T-Mobile has provided me with a satisfying amount of value for money. Great customer service and things generally work. Lots of perks. I feel valued as a customer.

3) ChatGPT, Canva, and NightCafe free tires are outstanding. So much so that I consider moving to paid tiers in all even though my needs are met by the free tiers.

4) Meta’s suite of products seem to be improving even if they are filled with ads. On the positive side, the ads are well targeted and I have actually clicked through some in purpose. The algorithms seem better than their competitors at showing me things I want to see

5) Substack and Cent.co are just outstanding content platforms. I earn modest amounts from both and they both offer constant innovation and upgrades to services.

That’s all for now.

Share and build community with Digital Collectibles (NFTs).

15/11/2023

Just wanted to share this hack. I was disgusted and tired of the political stuff on Facebook so I started liking and resharing jokes and funny things, feel good stuff, and the posts that made me smile. If it doesn't make me smile and feel good, I don't comment, reshare and repost.

Low and behold the algorithm (which is trained to figure out what I interact with by liking and resharing or commenting) has stopped showing me inflammatory things and has moved to showing me funny, nice, feel good and life hack kinds of posts. It's also stopped showing me a lot of the political stuff that people in my network post, because I don't interact with it.

I'm sure this will get ruined at some point, but Facebook has suddenly become a pretty happy place to check in now.

Feel free to pass this on.

13/11/2023

I walked across a shaky log that went over a deep stream ravine and explored a cave of unknown depth today. Outside my comfort zone. Awesome.

10/11/2023

Simper Fi and Happy Birthday (248!) to all my USMC family. Cadences going through my head all day…Back in 1775…

10/11/2023

Caught a matinee of The Persian Version today (Thank you MoviePass). Such a great film. It made me laugh, it made me cry (really and I don't even completely understand what kind of tears they were) and I left the theatre feeling nothing but happy that I'd invested a little less than two hours into it. It was exactly the kind of movie I wanted to see today. Frankly, it deserved more stars than IMDB has it at

1h 47m | R

04/11/2023

I don’t remember the last time i paid for a meal in a restaurant and thought ‘This was totally worth it’

Quality has gone to meh level and prices have gone to can never be worth it level.

I’m thinking that the last time has to be in Japan last Christmas. In the U.S.? Aside from an in-n-out burger, fries, and shake it was probably pre-pandemic.

That’s super sad.

31/10/2023

Vagobond Magazine - Author Filmmaker Interview in the VM Discord today.
7am Hawaii - 10am PT - 1pm ET.
https://discord.com/invite/Vtz9tn4F?event=1168416546918506616

VM invited on Graphic Novelist, Musician, Author, Anthony Mathenia and Documentary Director of Witness Underground, Scott Homan, to discuss their release campaign on .

100 Backer Campaign starts now, Ends Friday!

30/10/2023

At this point, I pretty much trust nothing online. News is suspect, photos are probably fake, videos are targeted and manipulative (with news, memes, photos and ads) Strangers reaching out most likely scammers, friends reaching out probably hacked. Job offers phishing, opportunities are scams, and anything else is probably fake too.

Anyone down to get a cup of coffee in the real world?

21/10/2023

Cheap? I live in one of the most expensive places in the USA. A gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread - frequently $10 each in many of the stores here. Rent is on par with Manhattan. I'm not wealthy. Far from it. According to the guidelines here, my income puts me well below the poverty line. And yet, I live here....

Cheap? I live in one of the most expensive places in the USA. A gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread – frequently $10 each in many of the stores here. Rent is on par with Manhattan. …

13/10/2023

Is it ground floor, first floor, second floor? Or first floor, second floor, third floor? Or are they stories?

26/09/2023

It's interesting to me that my time invested in this site, my writing, and the various social platforms has ultimately come down to not be worth anything as far as the algorithms are concerned. I'm not alone in this - the internet is littered with dead sites and every social platform has more dead accounts than active ones. The promise of the internet has failed - but I wonder if at some point the dead will rise again....

It’s interesting to me that my time invested in this site, my writing, and the various social platforms has ultimately come down to not be worth anything as far as the algorithms are concerne…

08/09/2023

✊👆💬✊ RISEing Thoughts

I’ve been enjoying putting my start of day ( ✊👆💬✊ RISEing Thoughts) and end of day (🛌🧵) musings on Twitter

They get seen by a few but not interacted with very much. A friend suggested I put them on Linkedin. They get more interaction there.

I’ be never figured out for certain if my content is the issue here or if the age and history of my account is the issue on X . My suspicion is that my account has long been silo’ed by the algorithm.

I once did a space on another account and then joined the space with this account and it didn’t show up in the ‘room’ even when I brought it on stage. I tried that again after mentioning it and the issue was solved - but engagement in the alt-account then dropped so perhaps it was also silo’d.

I wish there was more clarity on the reality of the algorithms and shadow banning / siloing.

But, I have no clarity. It could be that my content is actually of no interest to most people on X. Maybe what I post is too old or to something for X.

I think I will try posting the same content to some other platforms for an experiment. Hello Facebook!

GM

16/08/2023

In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that swept through Lahaina Town on Maui, a sense of urgency stirred within me. The vision of Hawai’i as a haven defined by collective well-being resonates deeply within my soul. In early 2023, this vision materialized as Notes from Nowhere, my novel portraying the future Mutual Nation of Hawai’i. As we bear witness to the heartrending aftermath of the fires, a stark reality has emerged: mere words hold insufficient power to assuage the anguish and reconstruct the lives shattered by this tragedy on Maui....

In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that swept through Lahaina Town on Maui, a sense of urgency stirred within me. The vision of Hawai’i as a haven defined by collective well-being resona…

15/08/2023

We can only do what we can but this felt like the right thing to do. Full author proceeds going to help the survivors of the fires on Maui. Please share:

**Donating 100% of Author Revenue from *Notes from Nowhere Maui Edition* to Maui Mutual Aid**. Futuristic Hawai'i Novel to Raise Funds for Maui Mutual Aid. - PR12979295

04/08/2023

This one is a serious trip. A little bit longer, but worth the time it takes to watch it. Consider carefully, the words and images used in this one. It's completely legit.

Sometimes our reality seems too bizarre to be real. It's real, but it's not the real that you think it is. Convergent Digitalism is a part of the Baldist phi...

03/08/2023

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is boldly going where other treks have never dared. Some astoundingly brave storytelling and genre-bending in this latest season. I’ve always been a fan of all the incarnations but I think this is my favorite. My least favorite: Picard.

02/08/2023

I've been collecting books for my entire life. Mostly, I've gotten rid of them, tens of thousands of them - maybe hundreds of thousands. They're just too heavy to carry around and I don't own a home. Never have and possibly never will - like so many others. So it's pretty ridiculous that I have five tubs full of books - the ones I haven't been able to let go....

I’ve been collecting books for my entire life. Mostly, I’ve gotten rid of them, tens of thousands of them – maybe hundreds of thousands. They’re just too heavy to carry arou…

08/07/2023

My threads profile when posted in Facebook doesn’t lead to me:

07/07/2023

Did you know that the Moonlings are one of the web3 communities that has more female than male characters? matter!

06/07/2023

If you are trying out threads: this is me- vagobond - unfortunately if I put the @ or link it leads to the Turkush hit with the same username

05/07/2023

Join. Compete. Win.

05/07/2023

So much fun hanging out with my daughter yesterday and celebrating the 4th of July

05/07/2023

GM’LING

02/07/2023

We caught the new to . Pretty cool.