There is a lot I could say on my feelings about Donald Trump, but continuously going that route becomes problematic because… I’m not with Hillary Clinton by default, I’m with her by choice.  I mean, it would be equally rude to go on about all of my ex’s and finally end with, “And that’s why I married Josh,” as if he’s the only option left that makes sense.  No, I chose Josh and he chose me because we saw something in each other that said we’d be a good partnership.

So, politically, I choose Hillary Clinton.  I don’t choose her because she’s not Trump.  I choose her because she is Clinton.

It begins with her being the most qualified candidate ever.  She has already spent 8 years in the White House with a front row seat to the presidency and all the job entails.  She has been a senator and Secretary of State.  She knows, without a doubt, what she is getting into, and that makes a huge difference in the possibility of her success in the office.

I’m with Hillary because of her stance on responsible gun ownership.  I’m with her because she supports background checks and will work to close loopholes that allow guns to be sold to people who, frankly, shouldn’t have guns.

I’m with Hillary because she is working to keep legislators’ hands off my reproductive organs.  She supports Planned Parenthood and has publicly said that she will stand up to Republicans who want to defund the organization that brings critical health care to so many women.

I’m with Hillary because she has sensible, realistic ideas about immigration, taking into account that immigrants are human beings with the same wants and needs as citizens.  That the goal should be moving more people towards becoming legal citizens rather than punishment.  She makes it clear that immigrants are just people, part of the “us”, rather than an amorphous “them.”

I’m with Hillary because she is going to continue with education reforms and tweak the ones in place, reducing the number of tests children are expected to take to prove their teachers’ worth.  She has a plan for making preschool accessible to all children, not just the ones who can afford it.  And she’ll continue the work of making college affordable.  So many things are interconnected including strong education plans and a reduction of crime.  By giving more people more options, you will create a future generation that doesn’t feel backed into a financial corner.

I’m with Hillary because I believe she cares about work-life balance.  That she wants families to succeed and for people to have the space to care for children, elderly parents, or ill relatives.  That she’ll do everything in her power to influence that change in the workplace.

I’m with Hillary because she knows the limit of her position and doesn’t make promises of what she’ll do as president that ARE NOT POSSIBLE FROM THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT.  No one should have this position without understanding the requirements and restrictions of this position.

Those are the immediate reasons that pop into my head.  I’m sure that if I sat here with this post open for another hour, I could yank twenty additional reasons for why I support Hillary Clinton.  But at the end of the day, just as with Josh, it’s a gut decision.  I look at her and think, “Yes, I would like her to lead our nation.”  I don’t need her to be my friend or make me laugh or make me feel like I want to grab a coffee with her.  I just need a smart, calm, rational person to lead our nation.

That’s why I’m with her.

There was a recent Reply All that covered a number of topics, including a response from a YouTube creator who felt discouraged when she heard on an earlier episode that she needed many more subscribers (like millions more) in order to be noteworthy.

The guys mused that with all of the thinking they do about the online world, they should have a better sense of how one goes about getting more subscribers or creating a viral video.  They brought up a Darius Kazemi talk from XOXO that you can watch below:

Kazemi likens content that resonates to winning the lottery: They is no magical formula just as there are no special numbers you can play that make it a sure thing that you will win the lottery. BUT if you don’t create content (or you don’t play the lottery) you definitely can’t win. So… create good content and then let go of the process. It will either resonate, or not.

He states: “What I’ve learned is that – beyond a certain level of effort – there’s basically no correlation between the amount of work you put into something and how successful it is.”

It’s sort of freeing to think that there is nothing you can humanly do once you give it your best shot.  I mean, it’s sad, too, because the whole thing sounds like a slog from that angle.  What’s the point if you can’t influence your work’s success beyond a few tiny steps you can take to nudge it in the right direction?  But it’s also freeing.  It’s okay if I’m sitting back or moving on to the next thing.

With things pertaining to luck: creative work, relationships, baby making — it’s all about showing up and putting in the effort, and then understanding that your work is done and it’s just a matter of chance.

Does his philosophy make you feel hopeful or just plain sad?

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I started reading The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close, mostly because it’s set in DC.  There are very few books that are not genre fiction (and usually legal or political thrillers at that) that are set in contemporary DC, and this one is particularly Washingtonish.

I like it because the characters go to restaurants I like and visit local places I enjoy.  If it’s possible to feel homesick while you are still at home, this book is making me feel wistful for the place where I am right now.

I wish more books were set in my city, and I tend to gobble up books set in places I like, especially if they include familiar landmarks that are not the usual tourist sites.  I’m even willing to stick with characters I don’t particularly enjoy making observations which would make me roll my eyes if spoken by an actual human just to keep seeing the city.

Are there books set in your hometown?  And do you enjoy reading location-based contemporary fiction?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored posts.

I have a new desktop on my computer.  The Wolvog set it up for me, giving it an enticing beach background so I’ll want to show up for work each day.  He placed two layers of passwords on the desktop, so it’s a pain in the ass to get in or out of it.  Which is why I now tend to stay put once I go to work.

Up until this week, I worked from this desktop.  I can swipe right and get to the document I’m working on, or swipe left and get to my email, and it makes me feel like I’m on top of everything.  Actually, that should be past tense.  I thought I was on top of everything until I realized that the only thing I was on top of was my email inbox.

I commented on this at the end of a long day where I had written very few pages but had kept my inbox at zero because… well… email is usually pretty easy and writing is hard.  But don’t worry; I didn’t just waste my time with email.  I can access music or movies through this desktop, so I listened or watched for a few minutes as a reward.  (For accomplishing nothing?)  I can get to every social media account from this desktop, so I checked in with Twitter and Facebook several times.  My feed reader is on this desktop, so I read all of your blogs.

The Wolvog suggested that I set up a distraction-free workspace.  A space with Internet access in case I need to look up a fact but is never logged into email.  A space with just the documents I need for the project I’m working on, and no other documents to peruse to waste time.  A space with nothing but my work.

It’s like being told that I need to eat oatbran for every meal.

But he set it up and made it look pretty and imported all the documents I need and none of the bookmarks I want.

As much as I don’t exactly enjoy hanging out in that space, it really has changed my work habits.  I now check my email in the morning and then “leave for work,” commuting over to the other desktop.  I set my phone across the room so I can’t easily check into email without leaving the workspace.  And, as I said, he has made it a pain in the ass to exit or enter so I tend to stay put.  Every hour or so, I quickly check email from my phone and only log out of my desktop to answer one if it’s time sensitive.  Other than that, when I’m at work, I am really, truly at work.

I have no willpower.  I admit that I have no willpower when it comes to email, blogs, and finding 80s commercials on YouTube.  But I have a new workspace, so it’s all going to be just fine.

The Wolvog and ChickieNob have started taking 3-D 360 photographs and showing them through a VR viewer.  Their viewer doesn’t have a head strap, so they fashioned one out of an old pair of swim goggles.  Sometimes I see them walking around the house, spinning around very slowly with their hands outstretched.

I had not put their VR viewer back on my head since the first time I tried the VR viewer and wanted to throw up for hours afterward.  But I recently tried it again now that the pictures are coming from inside the house.  (Cue scary music.)

I stood in the kitchen and spun around, looking at our living room.  Instead of feeling the carpet beneath my feet, which I could see any time I looked down, I felt the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.  So disconcerting.

But the creepiest thing was that they snapped a picture of me talking to Josh.  So I am standing in the kitchen, staring at my back in the living room, facing Josh.  It felt like I was astrally-projecting and viewing my own life… like Harry going into the Pensieve.  It was so so so so so weird.

Oh, and I still have a headache from it days later.  So, virtual reality… not for me.  But pretty much the weirdest thing I experienced all week.

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck: Book Review” (The MotherHub)
• “The Power of Awareness and Education” (The Road Less Travelled)
• “Exploring Infertility Treatment Options: the Augment Treatment” (The Write Mama)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Res Cogitatae has a post with a title that would normally make me run away screaming, but luckily I stuck around to read it because it’s a thoughtful piece about how you set up your life.  As a fellow ant, it made me seek out my inner grasshopper this week because she’s right: you never know what life will bring.  She writes, “This isn’t a dress rehearsal.  This is all we get.”  Amen.

Cynful Thoughts has a post about loss and why she speaks about it despite other people’s discomfort.  She points out: “The fact is, the whole reason no one wants you to announce your pregnancy early, is because if you should lose it, YOU will make OTHER PEOPLE uncomfortable with the news. THEY won’t know what to say. THEY may feel squirmy and anxious around you, trying to find the right words. YOU DEFINITELY DON’T WANT THEM TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE!”  Please go over and read the whole post.

Lastly, Everything Comes with Pancakes has a post about the two sides of crying.  Is it a release or a surrender?  Either way, go over and give her a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Now I know what it’s like in the Pensieve. Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between September 9th and 16th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.