“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Well, hello everyone. It’s been a minute since I last posted, hasn’t it? I know, I know. I have failed you and my intentions of building a fanbase with this blog. I even bought my own URL, lol. Tell all of your friends that theeyeofthetyler.com is where it’s at. Anyway, let’s just blame it on 2020 and the mental roller-coaster that it has been. Am I right? I needed to be in the right head space to take the time and focus.

HOWEVER, I do want to share what went on behind the scenes to help my sanity out for future blog posts. There is a part of me that (every now and then) likes to get organized. This is my mother’s fault for sure, which is probably why I also love post-it’s.

But I digress… Every photo taken from my phone since 2013, every photo from my camera since 2005, and the 500 or so photos I have scanned from growing up have now all been uploaded to Google Photos. This brings us to about 27,000 or so photos that are now available to me at the ease of my fingertips. I have taken the time to add dates, locations, and people to all of these. This has been a very time consuming project, but helped get my mind focused on something instead of the pandemic, politics, life, and missing my life. It also allowed me to save A LOT of time going forward to quickly search for a photo if it is someone’s birthday, or in the case of this blog, quickly reference the photos of a destination or memory for digital inclusion. For example, if I search for me, over 6,000 photos come up. Yeah, I’m humble. If I search Paris, 521 photos come up. Magnifique!  When I search for your mom….. Too far? Anyway, you get the picture!

So that is how I was spending some of my time. This brings me to a quick life update. As many of you may know, I work in promotions for one of the movie theatrical exhibitors. The entertainment industry was and is severely impacted by the pandemic this year (as has been for many industries), forcing many of us into furlough for an extended time. I am happy to say that I returned to work in late August. It took a bit to get used to the new normal and dust off my brain again from a work perspective after 4 ½ months, but it feels soooooooooooooooo good to be back.

Furlough though? Man, that was a weird position to be in. On one hand, sure, it was that rare moment to have time off for myself. I’ve dreamt of this moment! However, it is worth noting that everything I would have normally done during that time, I couldn’t do. The things I would typically partake or spend money on during warmer weather, I couldn’t do and/or was hesitant to spend money on. I am someone that thrives on social experiences, and this was a test to my sanity. I found that I started talking to myself at times. On one hand, I am a gemini, so from that perspective, this should be in line with my personality or should I say personalities. On the other hand, I shouldn’t be talking to myself.

Thus, I kept as busy as I could to keep my mind and soul occupied. I refused to just sit and soak up television. I would have gone down a dark rabbit hole. I was happy to get back into running and work my way up to the length of a half marathon. I stepped up my cooking game. I caught up on reading. I did a few house projects, including rebuilding my closet shelving. Though it is worth noting that my head is what broke the previous shelf. I mean I’m clumsy, but I do like to put my head into things. 2020 didn’t change that, unfortunately. To bring the circle all the way around though, my other project was this blog. So here we are. Let’s get back at it…

As we wrap this post up with a nice bow at the kickoff of this holiday season, I thought I would share a few memories over the past few months to see what I have been up to, and the stories behind them. Please enjoy or roll your eyes. Your pick!

November

• My holiday decorations are up! Listen, I don’t want to hear your malarkey about Thanksgiving being the go date. It is going to take all of my strength to not be in a bah humbug mood this season when I will not be able to go to or do any of the things that put me in the spirit. Thus, they are up and I feel good about it. Of course, the artistic side of me is very particular and perfectionistic with things looking a certain way and keeping to the overall industrial theme of my place. What you won’t see are bright colors, sparkly things or the kitchy items. I have ONE Santa in the entire joint. He is a stocking and he is subtle. Anyway, enjoy a few photos! 

October

•  Imagine, if you will, leaving the grocery store with your purchased goods to then have your cart tip forward to where you are now on top of said cart and your items are now rolling away… including bottles of club soda and tonic water. Yep, that sure did happen. By the time I got up a second time (yes it happened again immediately after) there are now 5 cars that are waiting to go through the parking garage… because I am blocking. Was it front heavy? I don’t know. Was there as sensor that was preventing me from bringing the cart in the parking garage? I don’t know. What I DO know though was that I had some healthy marks and bruises for a month!

September

• One of the highlights this September were morning or evening walks. As noted earlier, I stepped up the running game this year. I also tried hard to get up early and get the day started right by being active. It took a bit of adjustment and getting used to. But it felt so good once I did it. I was able to get a nice morning coffee out on the stroll, and have newfound energy heading in to the work day! Now that it has gotten colder, don’t ask me how this is going. Because it’s not. But that’s none of your business. I will get back in to that when it is warmer and have motivation again to set foot out of the covers. Enjoy these few pictures though from some glorious sunrises, sunsets, and discoveries!

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Is there anything you would like to me to think about or post about soon? I have tried varying topics in the past, but it was travel that seemed to resonate most. Is that still the case? I am here to provide and entertain as best I can. I am a one man band, but without a monkey. Maybe one day. But for today, well, that’s all folks. Mask up!

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