Author: DJ Billings

  • Who Defines Success?

    Who Defines Success?

    “Sad.” That’s the response I got from a friend after I announced we were closing our custom screen printing business in February 2023. We had been in business for a little over ten years. For a two-person operation, we had a nice chunk of the apparel printing market in Southern California for many years. In…

  • The Cure for Homelessness

    The Cure for Homelessness

    “Dive bomb!” A person on the Metro red line had been tossing plastic baggies of puzzle pieces at people’s feet on the train. Once, as the doors opened, she waited until they were just about to close, yelled “Dive Bomb!” and tossed a puzzle piece baggie at a passerby on the platform. This was our…

  • Eating for Pleasure

    Eating for Pleasure

    It’s 6:00 PM on a Saturday and I’m dusting mushrooms. No, that’s not a euphemism; I am literally dusting mushrooms with an unused shaving brush. You may not have realized it (I didn’t), but there is a hefty amount of dirt on those mushrooms we all buy at the grocery store, sealed in shrink wrap…

  • Figuring It Out

    Figuring It Out

    I haven’t typically shared deeply personal things on this blog. Sure, I offer goofy quips about myself and my family on my About page, and most of my posts have a personal slant to them. But I haven’t gotten truly personal. I think that’s going to change. I mean, no, I’m not going to give…

  • This To-Do List Will Not Kill Me

    This To-Do List Will Not Kill Me

    A while back I wrote about using a bullet journal to save my brain. An ambitious title and idea, for sure. I wouldn’t necessarily say my brain has been saved. Marginally boosted? Whatever. I still love my bullet journal and I use it every day. But the main concept behind my daily use is something…

  • I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, either

    I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, either

    It’s true. Sometimes I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. Do you know? All the time? Or are you like me, where sometimes you figure out one part but in another area you’re completely lost? I don’t have everything all planned out with a clear agenda, all the time. I’m constantly evaluating where…

  • Windows 3.1 is alive

    Windows 3.1 is alive

    I went down a rabbit hole this weekend and found myself looking at a download of a Windows 3.1 ISO file. I haven’t used Windows 3.1 since Windows 95 was released. It was the first OS I used as an adult. When I was stationed at Ramstein AB in the early ’90s, our supervisor had…

  • Another Desk Rescue? Yes.

    Another Desk Rescue? Yes.

    I know, I just posted last time about refurbishing a desk. In case you’re either growing concerned that I’m obsessed, or you’re thinking that I’m only going to write about desks for the rest of forever, you can relax. I’ll move on to other topics soon enough. The last desk was a super cheap Craigslist…

  • A Piece of Buried Treasure

    A Piece of Buried Treasure

    Have you ever imagined stumbling across buried treasure? I’m guessing a lot of us have. And maybe for a lot of us, the image of a chest full of gold doubloons being held onto by a pirate skeleton leaps to mind. Or maybe it’s Amelia Earhart’s plane. For some of us, stumbling on treasure might…