Dear Mudge,
For the most part, we all have work-a-day minds. Hearing of yours, at the outset of your endeavor, engendered fellowship, and was therefore not tedious.
The enthusiasm of your associates at your big step back into the grind hallmarks either their alleviating concern for your well-being, or selfish intent due to you sharing the agony of their daily slog. I know what you’d say, but I’d wager on the former.
Per “The lie we live to live” (— Anonymole), survival in this day and age, I believe, is just a string of diversions. If you get stuck on one, so be it. Else you blunder ’till the next one. Fortunately, the offering is exhaustive. And if blogs, books, or Amazon’s cornucopia of distractions doesn’t meet your needs, the world has infinite room for new ones.
I recall some Inuit classmates of mine, when I went to UA Fairbanks, who owned oosiks, scrimshawed until they resembled tubular cities. Such things were often massive and painfully long. One fellow, Jack Derenoff, half Russian, half “Eskimo”, owned many. I doubt collecting baculums remained a lifelong passion.
Teaching? Just another diversion. Our brains are much too big (those here, reading these words at least), for our own good. Idle or active pastimes are a must. Codifying and organizing the writing process, though looked on with derision by some, allows me some pleasure. Another distraction of mine is, as I’ve often mentioned here, collecting evidence for life/no life in the Universe. I wandered upon this video. I share it as I found the production top-notch.
Pondering such things, as philosophers are wont to do, does give perspective on the pointlessness of existence. Have other beings of the Cosmos examined the Absurd Universe? If they exist, which I doubt, then perhaps they have. And their realization of the quandary may be our answer to Fermi’s Paradox.
Ever wondering,
‘Mole
Anonymole - apocryphal agitators 
Diversions are definitely one way to go, and there are a lot of options out there! I find that disconnects me more than I’d like though, so I try to strike a balance and find things that also interest me, which is a challenge but I always feel good when I put in that effort.
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Who knows? Maybe he DOES still collect baculums. Though, maybe in a different forms.
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Positive criticism: AM discussions, and him pointing me to Brandon Sanderson videos on Utube. Pointless criticism: PH just calling my blog posts “turds” and leaving it at that. As per Mudge’s deep thoughts: I am most likely highly aware–tho hard pressed to admit–that my blog posts are, in fact, “turds” yet they serve a purpose–to amuse me. If I am able to shape them into something better, so much more amusement cometh.
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“the pointlessness of existence.” if it is indeed pointless, as it must be, and you are not swept up in chasing the money, then the point must be to amuse yourself from beginning to end, which your philosophizing must do for you…because it certainly does it for me. Thanks for sharing your pointless thoughts and meanderings here on WP., where the audience is miniscule, but appreciative.
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Neither reason for me–I always wanted to be a veterinarian so I’m hoping to live vicariously through the Mudge’s adventures:-)
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