Not long ago, I received an email advertisement from someone or something named André Assous.  I had never heard of this brand, so I thought nothing of it and deleted  the email.

But I continue to get advertisements, now quite obviously spam messages from this André Assous.  The little bit of research I did on this name reveals that there actually is such a person, and there is such a company.  Apparently they are a shoe company.

I have never bought shoes from André Assous, and at this point I won’t be buying shoes from them.  This is why, short and sweet.

Since I had never heard of André Assous, André Assous obviously heard of me by buying my email address.  Okay, I know that’s done all the time; it’s part of how the Internet functions.  On a whim, I clicked on the “unsubscribe button in the email.  Now, I know well enough not to do this, but I was curious to see what would happen.  Believe it or not, sometimes this actually does work!  But not in this case.  The unsubscribe button in the André Assous is a dead end.  André Assous isn’t even polite enough to throw a “404” (page does not exist) error, it’s just a blank, dead page.  Thanks, André.  (The U. S. Federal Trade Commission has a mostly unhelpful web page about Unwanted Emails,, Texts and Mail, in case you’re interested).  More than likely, André Assous is making more money by selling email addresses than by selling shoes.

So, quite obviously, I am somehow now forever cursed to receive spam from André Assous. And while I can’t stop them from sending them, the wonderful SpamSieve software from C-Command makes it so I never have to see them.  In the end, the good guys win out.

(I have purposely used André Assous’s name many times in this post.  If he or his company scrape the web looking for references, I hope they read this.  And know that I curse you and will never hesitate to give you and your company a bad opinion).

The subtitle of this blog is “Everyone is entitled to my opinion.”  It’s been that way since I first started web publishing in 1996.  It’s axiomatic that free advice is seldom welcomed, and worth what one pays for it.  This is why I have never opted for a “paid subscription” model.  I doubt many would want to pay for my opinion.

I feel the same way about the current trend these days to monetize opinion.  Medium and Substack are both subscription-based web sites that provide a platform for anyone with a keyboard and an opinion the means to express themself.  They offer a free level, of course, because to not do so would hinder new subscribers, but often writers will put the majority of their content behind the site paywall, blocking free readers.

Far be it from me to attempt to prevent someone from earning money from legitimate means.  But the freedom to charge for a good or service also implies the freedom to refuse to avail oneself of that good or service.  Opinions are not like food and housing.  I choose to not subscribe.

Podcasts are another form of this capitalization of opinion.  Most podcasts I come across have a pay-for-play component to them, but offer the meat in the sandwich for free.  Ain’t capitalism great?

Don’t get me wrong.  I read a lot.  I’m on the web daily.  I have numerous news and specialty sites I use to inform me of news and information.  I even pay for instructional content (I’m looking at you, Active Melody).  But I find it difficult to pay for someone’s opinion.

There are some terrific thinkers out there.  I’m amazed by the likes of Victor Davis Hanson.  I’m delighted that I can read many of his pieces free, thanks to sites that publish him as a guest contributor.  Hanson posts many articles for free, and as many do, offers a “premium” subscription service.  Great.  But no, thanks.

Please note:  I began this article mentioning Medium and Substack.  Not as a slur, because I have accounts on both of them.  I simply do not choose to put my writing behind a pay wall.  I also have a Patreon account simply because I support one of the content providers I enjoy listening to.  It’s music, not opinion, so even though I’m not a fan or Patreon, it’s the best way I find I can support the efforts of the producer.

Newspapers (remember them?) often had a section for editorial opinions.  Cleverly referred to as the “op-ed” section, the authors, typically ranking figures of the publication, had a place to speak their minds.  These op-ed pieces came with the subscription to the newspaper as a whole, so in there was a value add if you only wanted opinions.

Who would pay to read or hear someone else’s opinion?  Would you pay for mine?

But it’s big business these days.  The famous quote attributed to Andy Warhol, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” appears to have been finally realized.

The title of this piece is slightly misleading.  An outcast is someone who has been literally cast out of a tribe, a community, or an environment.  In my case, it’s a self-inflicted condition.

When the public Internet was young (circa 1993-1995) social networking, as we now refer to it, was largely unknown.  But in the early 2000s, sites like Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace came online, and social networking began.  MySpace was eclipsed by Facebook and social networking took off.  Soon to follow were the likes of Twitter (now X) and almost everything on the Internet became “social.”  I too, jumped into the pool.

My initial foray into social media came when my daughter left for college.  I had learned she had opened an account on Facebook, and I did so also, as a means of staying in touch.

There was a lot of fascination with the concept at first.  I added “friend” after “friend,” as names were suggested to me, and they were all people I knew in the circles in which I traveled.  Truthfully, not many of them would actually meet my criteria of “friend,” but it was entertaining to see photos of places people visited, accomplishments and awards earned, and other forms of vicarious experience.

But I learned my daughter didn’t really use Facebook.  So, after the freshness wore off, I began to grow tired of the rampant narcissism.  Because after all, Facebook is first and foremost about “me.”  The majority of users, I stipulate, are always putting on their best faces and showing how wonderful and perfect their lives are.  Don’t you wish you were me?

After a while, the tone of social media began to appear shrill and strident.  “Thread drift” became the norm (I maintain that if a topic goes on, by the third “page” it has devolved into a shouting match akin to “I’m right and you’re wrong.”  Except often not as polite.  And no longer on point.

When I began this post, I had a lot of thoughts I felt I could post.  But I tend to want to keep these periodic pieces short, so as to not bore the reader.  Thus, I will wrap this up by saying this:

I’m not a social media outcast.  I’m a social media “hermit.”  And I’m quite happy to be away from the mess.

I recently joined Substack.  Then I joined Medium.  Why?  The short answer is that I was thinking of turning to writing once my retirement become final.

But I write here.  Why add new sites when I can write all I want on my own site? The short answer, I think, is exposure.

Yes, I admit that the idea of pulling in a few extra dollars to supplement my retirement is one of the considerations for my choices, but I’m quickly re-thinking that decision.

The research I did suggested that Medium is better suited to writers who simply want to write.  Substack is geared toward writers who want to get paid. However, I’m not sure I fit in to either category.

For starters, the general consensus is that columns, blogs, posts, or whatever you want to call them should all be “topical.”  In other words, the feeling is that readers will want you to focus on a particular subject, otherwise they won’t be interested in reading what you have to say.  I don’t know that I completely subscribe to that belief.  I enjoy reading articles by Victor Davis Hanson, Christopher Chantrill and the like.  True, they tend to speak to modern American society, politics and culture, but part of their appeal to me is that they do vary the topics on which they write.

Lately, I’ve been receiving my daily updates from Medium and the trend seems to be users/authors expressing their disappointment and frustration with the offering.  I’m so new to the site that I haven’t had the experiences others may have had, but it doesn’t speak well when the primary topic discussed is something like, “Why I left Medium.”

Still, there’s some attraction to using a delivery platform that has a built-in readership.  It’s unrealistic to think that one will be an overnight success simply by clicking a few keys and hitting the “publish” button.

I think I’ll continue.  Here, and on Medium and Substack.  At least for now.

A few days ago I was thinking of all the spam email I receive, and of posting a snarky comment to the effect, “Why are you welcoming me to something I didn’t ask for, don’t want, and didn’t initiate?” But in the end, I realized there was no real point to be made railing against the characters who mass produce this nonsense.

So it left me thinking that at this current point in my life, I’m somewhat adrift.  I’ve been single again for some thirteen years now, the job I’ve held has lost its luster, and my intention to retire this year fills me both with eagerness and anxiety.

I’ve taken a renewed interest in computer programming (and now I have a category into which to place this post), and have begun looking into Javascript and web technologies — the same technologies that inspired me to creating this web site in the first place.

A few plugs:  I have been using the wonderful, free web server software from Aprelium, called Abyss.  It’s a full-featured web server, and I have been exploring various aspects of server-side includes (SSI) and common gateway interface (CGI).  As mentioned in my previous post, I have also started unpacking and learning Apple’s Shortcuts program.  I also came across a nifty freeware widget called “Plash”

Plash icon

that enabled me to fulfill my wish to overlay the name of the image file used on my Mac’s desktop.  Available on the App Store, its author has produced other superb software, and I was delighted to support him in his efforts!  I wound up crafting a solution using a shell script, a Shortcut, and Plash.

Something is pending.  I don’t know what it is, be it a new life experience as a retiree, or something else, but that’s the feeling I’ve been having.  I still exercise daily, play guitar, spend time (productively, or not) on the computer, and enjoy cooking and eating, but right now I feel somewhat in-the-middle.  Call it a placeholder.