Long-time visitors to these, my tangle of words, know that one of my reasons for running this blog is to be immortal or rather the next best thing which is to immortalise my thoughts…
Some achieve immortality by not dying, while others, well we write…
Rock paintings on cave walls were like the first blogs ever, giving us insights to the lives of our ancestors, who knows who will one day scroll through this blog…
2020 has been a very challenging year, one sneeze and you are looking at yourself in the mirror questioning your mortality or maybe you are wondering if you have crossed some line and a knock on the door and you are never heard from again…
A bit morbid but I have been thinking about death, amidst life we live with death, a heartbeat away….
What would happen to our social media accounts in the event of our (un)timely passing? I know Facebook has some memorial feature but I have never searched it out. There was a storm on Twitter a few years back when they announced plans to start deleting inactive accounts which would have been idle for lengths of time, people wanted to know what that would mean for departed loved ones.
For now WordPress.com says that a site hosted with them will always be live unless deleted by owner or in violation of Terms and Conditions. That should mean that my blog will always be here even when I am no longer there to update it, which is one of the reasons why I chose to stick with WordPress.com than migrate to self-hosting…
I had a poet friend who now performs for the stars in the heavens above, rest her soul, a couple of months after their passing I saw a notification of a new post published on their blog. My first reaction was to wonder if Heaven had Wifi, or maybe someone had been left with passwords.
Turns out, it had been a scheduled press release post for a Solo Debut performance…
When some people whose blogs and social media sites I visit regularly do not post for long spells of time I sometimes wonder if they are still out there breathing and walking, sometimes they come back…
So I am scheduling a post that will post a very long time from now, in the event that I am no longer there to postpone it… Call it an insurance policy.
I have no plans to quit writing and updating this blog as long as I have ink in my blood and an internet connection, obviously.
If one day you stop by this tangle of words and find that I haven’t posted in a very long time, please come look for me.
~B
PS ever heard of a dead man’s switch?
Becoming The Muse 
Hey B. I watched a series recently about a guy who died and then this other guy got an automated call recording from the dead guy that said, “I am in big trouble come look for me.” They got to the guy’s house and found him dead in what looked like a suicide but really wasn’t. It seemed the automated call was set in such a way that if it was not disabled everyday at a particular time and it would call and when he was not able to disable cause he was dead the call went through.
Immortally in the written word is priceless, keep on writing, one day scholars will be studying your work and quoting you as a reference.
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Oh wow. What series is this?
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after some investigating its from NCIS Los Angeles season 4 episode 5
~B
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I was about to say, then I saw Beaton beat me to it.
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courtesy of Etv a week ago ^_^
~B
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Guess we were all tuned in that night lol
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I will have to look up this series, the idea is exactly quite unlike what I have in mind…
Thank you
~B
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Yep, we all switched onto the same channel
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Whenever you mention scheduling such a post, I think that I should do the same. Like writing a will – it’s something I keep thinking about…. and then, not doing…
I take breaks from blogging but I always put out a warning. One day, if I don’t, I hope people will reach out to me through the contact page. If I don’t respond… I might have been abducted by aliens.
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I know right, from when the idea first popped up, it has been a fleeting thought which I have never actioned.. until now, felt a little fey, maybe watching a marathon of Final Destion movies does that hahaha
I guess its somewhat like how some people never get round to getting a will, thinking you willl get a moment to actually stop and think.
In this case I decided to do a first quick draft and every now and then as the spirit moves me I will edit and update…
Who knows might feel like turning it into a very scandalous tell all of all I the secrets I swore to take to the grave hahaha
Who said dead man tell no tales!!
Its actually a fun idea once you get over the morbidity.
I once stopped talking to someone just to see if they would make the first contact as I seemed to be the only who initiated contact… silence still
damn aliens
~B
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The secrets are intriguing. Now, be careful. You don’t want someone to do away with you just so we can read those.
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hmmmm yep but the suspect would be narrowed down to someone who visited the blog and some IP crawling and location tagging would further narrow down and isolate the suspect…
wait I should not write that out loud they will cover their tracks ^_^
~B
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Like Beaton, I have a post scheduled for my 100th birthday. It’s a poem.
Just do it, Goldie. With a bit of luck you should have plenty of time to edit it if you want it to say something different.
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100th birthday poem 🥂
~B
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Such a good and interesting idea!
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its a dope idea, feel free to totally adopt it too ^_^
thank you and you are welcome
~B
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I absolutely love this.
Might try it too.
Write just one piece and schedule it for leyer posting after I am gone
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Thank you, its kinda scary and liberating at the same time…
Hahaha totally go for it!!
~B
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what a great idea
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yep facing the prospects of our mortality
~B
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Oh my the thoughts this evokes. Yes sometimes I wonder about when am dead too. Maybe this is a good thing to jump on. Schedule the post .
Death is a part of us
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its definitely a good thing, you should absolutely do it…
Kinda feels like writing a wheel hahahaha
we should normalise knowing death is a part of life
~B
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I watched a movie once about people who were in love (older guy and a much younger woman tpa thing) and when the guy died he has scheduled messages on exam days, voicemails on birthdays, videos with his will. Enough for a year. At first I thought it sweet but after seeing how it messed the girl up I wasn’t so sure. She was fine and appreciated it….once she got to terms with the death. It’s a really sweet movie, pity I don’t remeber the name (years of tv watching do that).
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sounds weird and a lil bit creepy though hahaha but yeah I see the sentiment.. I know of people who dial voice mail just to hear the voice of departed loved one
~B
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I still have an acquaintance’s number in my phone book. Didn’t know her well but can’t bring myself to delete it.
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Will definitely go on a search! 🙂
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Off topic, do you have any recommendations about Zimbabwean literature? (Apart from you, of course!)
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Hmmm depends on what sort of literature you looking for but here are some of my fave
House of stone by Novuyo Tshuma
Hairdresser of Harare by tendai huchu (the reviews are on my blog if you search the titles in the search bar)
~B
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Checked your reviews and ordered Hairdresser first, thank you!
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THE IRONY OF A DEAD MAN’S SWITCH…IS THAT ONE NEEDS TO STAY ALIVE AND AWAKE TO OPERATE IT…TO AVOID BECOMNG DEAD. SO THATS WHY MY FRIEND, DEMI MONDE’S BLOG REAPPEARED?
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That’s the switch 🤣
~B
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AYE-YUP! 😀
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What is a deadman’s switch
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It’s a switch which used to be on electric trains which the driver was required to constantly press/hold… Should the driver fail to press for some reason or otherwise incapacitated the train’s brakes would automatically be applied.
It was also meant to keep the driver alert so they don’t fall asleep because train driving is not as active as driving a car or bus.
~B
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This is morbid ahh but i have a question about scheduled posts
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It’s like writing a will🤣🤣
~B
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A question, Mellie? What’s the question?
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Loved reading this. 💕 I hope your dreams don’t die and wish only the best for you. What an awesome idea to post a blog in the future 😂 I know what you said because sometimes you check on me on twitter and I really appreciate that. Haha I’ll be one of them looking for you if you ever gone inactive, don’t worry, B. Keeping you close. xx
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Thank you Elle 💕
Hahaha planning ahead 🤣
I am call me when you reach where you are going so I know you made it home safe people😊
Thanks again
~B
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🥰🥰💕💕
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Nope never heard of it, what’s a dead man’s switch?
I’ve never thought of this but I’m definitely doing this then I schedule it for Jan then push it to six months till I can’t no more 😭
Also, I’m just thinking of how I couldn’t access my blog this past week but I already have like 12 posts scheduled for this December so it wouldn’t have been weird 😂
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Originally it was a switch on a train which the driver had to always press or hold otherwise emergency breaks would kick in. Meant to keep the driver alert and stop train if driver is incapacitated…
And what you have described above is like a dead man’s switch where you schedule a post that you postpone until you are incapable of rescheduling…
~B
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You are a talented writer really love your blog
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Thank you Joshua
Appreciate
~B
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We need an app, a random rant generator or spontaneous waxing poetic weaver, that, unless prevented weekly (weakly?) creates and posts new thoughts for us for the benefit of those who would miss our sudden blurting out of micro-wisdom and nano-thoughts.
Maybe this could be a WordPress widget, then with another, we, as followers would have one, lest we likewise disappear and we could continue making snarky remarks about the posts of those we follow down through the ages, written by and responded to by no actual person.
Reminds me of once, when my college literature professor had to be out all week and recorded his lectures and asked me to arrive a few minutes early each session and play his tape of the day for the class By the end of the week, students who thought it clever were stopping by just long enough to deposit and press record on their own recorder and left for the coffee shop. I was left alone in the room listening to his tape and watching over a room full of recorders that were picked up by my peers within minutes of the end of each class.
This was back in the late 70s and I knew it was prophetic of something but just could not quite make out what.
I guess now I know.
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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Reminds me of a story I heard once upon a time about a wine making community where beginning of each new harvest season they would have a feast and each family would contribute a bucket of wine poured into a large barrel for everyone to drink…
A clever farmer realised they could pour a bucket of water when their turn came and no one would be the wiser… Then one harvest season when the tap on the barrel was opened only water came out….
Anyhoo your lecture story was the funniest thing I’ve read all day. Quick question why were you entrusted with the notes and why didn’t you just cut out the whole class thing and send the entire recordings for the week and not have to come to class at all… Oh snap this was the 70s I am thinking like a millennium 🤣🤣🤣 hmm OK start a high-speed dubbing business 😂
~B
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PS you should definitely post this as a blog article
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Like you, I’d like to think that the feeble wibblings on my blog will outlive me. But there may be a snag… your site here has a custom domain, ‘becomingthemuse.net’; and all custom domains require annual renewal. If not renewed, although, as you rightly point out, WordPress.com’s policy is (at least currently) not to delete the content of your site, it will no longer be available at https://becomingthemuse.net/ ; its address will revert to the ‘free’ domain https://becomingthemuse.wordpress.com/ . And so those who know you, unless they know (or can guess, as I did) your site’s ‘free’ domain name, won’t be able to find it. Which is exactly why I choose to use my own ‘free’ domain name, not a custom one.
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I shifted to the custom domain in the more recent years of my blog after years on the “free” domain. I pondered over this and other things and at the time I also required the professionalism a custom domain affords one in some circles.
As for the reverting of the domain, thats partly why I maintained the same name just with a .net instead of .wordpress.com hopefully some people can figure it out. When I defaulted on my plan the snag wasnt too much of train wreck I guess since most of those I know navigate via reader and gravatar in WordPress than typing out the address…. and I know the blog shows up on Google if you simply search Becoming The Muse
~B
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That’s a good point… while search results for ‘Becoming The Muse’ currently show the custom .net domain, those links would eventually update to the ‘free’ domain name when the custom one disappears.
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