Earlier in 2025, I joined a group of friends in New Orleans at one of their houses for a writing event for a local library. It was a poetry or writing competition, I believe. Of course, I didn't think I'd get an entry, but it would be fun to write, which I haven't done much of besides the occasional blog post. I had an idea in mind and wanted to keep things abstract enough that people could read into it what they wanted, but not so much that it was lame. I don't know how I did, but I had fun.

Little Dots

There once were two little dots.
Off to one side, once bounces. It likes to bounce up and down and to dart from side to side.

Another dot changes shape and moves. It swings and flows. Normally, they bounce and flow alone, but when they're together, they love to play. They can do things together that they can't do alone.

While one bounces, the other will bend and stretch, and together they fly high into the sky. They will flow and stretch and play. The bouncing dot teaches the flowing dot to dart and the flowing dot teaches the bouncing dot to bend. Together they have so much fun.

One day a line appears. It can spin and swing. It's fast and strong. The dots try to play, but the bouncing and bending are too much for the line. It hits the dots. It wants them apart. To only bounce and dart, to only bend and flow. Not together and never both.

The dots try to play alone and the miss what they can't do when they're alone. They can't go high and far like the used to.

Sometimes they try to do what the other taught them, but the line hits them when it sees. Sometimes one will distract th line and the other will play like it learned from its friend.

It's hard to get away from the line. It's very fast and it won't leave. It's also stronger than either dot. They can't allow the line any further. But they can't stop it alone.

They wait for the line to be away and come up with a plan. The line is fast, but it cannot flow. It is also strong, but it cannot dart. One dot will bend around it while the other pushes it away. So the wait and when the line doesn't expect, they wrap and push, pull and move. But the line is fast. It does not want to leave. It was having fun.

After many tries, and the line escaping, they catch it. The line grows tired – it cannot escape.

We want to play like before! They say. No! says the line. I cannot bend and dart. It's not fun for me! But we cannot spin and swing like you can!

The dots try to convince the line to let them play together. It could be all three or just the two. It can leave and be alone, or play together with the dots. What will you choose?

#blog #blogging #shortstory

(this originally appeared on https://blog.keyboardvagabond.com/michaeldileo as I'm gradually moving my social over to Keyboard Vagabond)

#digitalnomad #nomading #edinburgh #travelblog #blog #blogging #travel

Traveling the UK has been quite a treat. I started in off at a Wifi Tribe reunion get together at a manor in the British countryside and then moved on to Cambridge, London, Oxford, Bristol, and now I'm in Edinburgh getting ready to start a 4 day road trip across the highlands.

It's been a grand time listening to live music, seeing loads of museums, and generally wandering around and taking in the sites. My American self is loving the walkable towns with good public transit. I think I've been putting on weight from beer 😭.

The other thing that's playing a role in me is that this year I've been traveling a lot. I started with about 4 months in New Orleans, my home area, and bouncing around between hostels. I then did a tour up the east coast before going back south to visit friends and family. I then quit my job so that I could travel and work on side projects. That's when I started in the UK. But I haven't had a chance to be in one place, one bed for an extended period this year and it's far overdue. The last time that I did a colive was last November and it's the end of October now. I am signed up for one in December and it can't get here quickly enough.

I keep telling myself that I'll start slow traveling and never do it. The way that you be a nomad is that you have to slow down because you'll just burn out. But there's so much to see! Also, the UK and northern Europe are expensive and I'm not working, so I want to see what I can quickly. I try not to eat out to much, but when I do, the pound to dollar conversion makes me regret it. But I'll probably have to get a job around January or February anyway. I might be able to extend a bit, but we'll see.

Perhaps next year I'll start doing more extended stays and more colives. Maybe I'll start staying longer than a month in places, finally! I'll have to at least for a little bit because I've been traveling for two years now, that's a pretty good stint.

But let me share some reasons why I can't stop moving around.

Holyrood park/hill overlooking Edingburgh

photo from alley overlooking the lake

ocean side park in the nearby town of Danbury

overlooking Edinburgh

night shot overlooking Edinburgh

Now I'm feeling a bit better, though still tired. So perhaps I should write some more...or play Baldurs Gate again? One of the reasons that I stay in hostels usually is that I often want to be lazy and sit on a couch and not do anything. But what if there is no couch? I guess I better get up and go explore something 🙂 or maybe I could chill at a coffee shop. I would prefer to not lay in bed all day.