index.md (7803B)
1 --- 2 title: "Dispatch #11 (January 2024)" 3 date: 2024-01-10T22:30:00-05:00 4 draft: false 5 tags: 6 - dispatch 7 references: 8 - title: "Organization – Office - Christopher Butler ☼" 9 url: https://www.chrbutler.com/organization-office 10 date: 2024-01-10T19:08:51Z 11 file: www-chrbutler-com-294dnz.txt 12 - title: "Analog Office - The Life-Changing Magic of Keeping a File Index" 13 url: https://analogoffice.net/2023/05/31/the-lifechanging-magic.html 14 date: 2024-01-10T19:09:00Z 15 file: analogoffice-net-xmnih2.txt 16 - title: "Kasia's cozy crafting den in Berlin | Hacker Stations" 17 url: https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/ 18 date: 2024-12-17T16:54:12Z 19 file: hackerstations-com-osre5p.txt 20 - title: "Tech Independence | Derek Sivers" 21 url: https://sive.rs/ti 22 date: 2024-01-11T03:31:06Z 23 file: sive-rs-ssi9lg.txt 24 - title: "Jack Baty | Ending my OpenBSD experiment (Almost)" 25 url: https://baty.net/2024/01/ending-my-openbsd-experiment 26 date: 2024-01-11T03:33:13Z 27 file: baty-net-bplhdp.txt 28 - title: "Only you can give meaning to your career: How to mark moments that matter by planting a flag" 29 url: https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2024-01-02-plant-your-flag-career-advice/ 30 date: 2024-01-11T03:35:08Z 31 file: blog-testdouble-com-g9g5id.txt 32 - title: "Resources on the Philosophy of Work | Vlad's Website" 33 url: https://vladh.net/wage-labour-resources/ 34 date: 2024-01-11T03:41:42Z 35 file: vladh-net-lmumqo.txt 36 - title: "Favorites of December 2023 | Brain Baking" 37 url: https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/december-2023/ 38 date: 2024-01-11T03:44:05Z 39 file: brainbaking-com-wbhgjj.txt 40 --- 41 42 That's a wrap on 2023. Our little Nevie turned two in December. It's hard to imagine her changing as much in the next year as she did in the last, but I suppose it's inevitable. We spent Christmas at Claire's folks' house and hit up both the [Greensboro Children's Museum][1] and [Greensboro Science Center][2]. 43 44 [1]: https://mbcmuseum.com/ 45 [2]: https://www.visitgreensboronc.com/things-to-do/attractions/the-rotary-club-of-greensboro-carousel.aspx 46 47 <!--more--> 48 49 {{<dither IMG_5187.jpeg "782x600">}}Little birthday star gears up for cake with a huge bite of anticipation.{{</dither>}} 50 {{<dither IMG_5278.jpeg "782x600">}}Little conductor, big adventure: riding the crimson dining car with a bright red toy in hand.{{</dither>}} 51 52 We're on a bit of a purge, trying to free up some space in the house. It's an overwhelming project (how did we acquire so much stuff?) but we're taking it one step at a time. I've been building new shelves and put up [guitar hangers][3] to clear up some floor space. I've taken inspiration from [this post about office organization][4] and [this one about maintaining a list of where to find things][5]. 53 54 [3]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V55KDRG 55 [4]: https://www.chrbutler.com/organization-office 56 [5]: https://analogoffice.net/2023/05/31/the-lifechanging-magic.html 57 58 {{<dither IMG_5344.jpeg "782x600">}}Neatly labeled storage bins sit on fresh wooden shelves in a basement utility space, ready for more organization.{{</dither>}} 59 {{<dither IMG_5346.jpeg "782x600">}}- Two well-loved guitars hang on a homemade wall rack, showcasing their vintage vibe amid the bare workshop framing.{{</dither>}} 60 61 Music-wise, I received an [Arturia KeyStep 37][6] as a Christmas gift from my in-laws. This thing is super nice; I'm already having a blast using it to play my existing gear, and I'm hoping it'll play a big role as I shift to a more computer-based workflow. Here's a new track called "Orographic": 62 63 <audio controls src="/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/Orographic.mp3"></audio> 64 65 [6]: https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keystep-37/overview 66 67 I dusted off the Switch to play [Dead Cells][7]. It's similar to [Hades][8] but in a more retro side-scrolling format. Highly recommended if you don't mind dying a lot. We also finished season three of [_Slow Horses_][9], the best thing going on television these days. 68 69 [7]: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dead-cells-switch/ 70 [8]: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/hades-switch/ 71 [9]: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o 72 73 Finally, I'll leave you with this passage from [_Four Thousand Weeks_][10] that I reflect upon often: 74 75 > In his play _The Coast of Utopia_, Tom Stoppard puts an intensified version of this sentiment into the mouth of the nineteenth-century Russian philosopher Alexander Herzen, as he struggles to come to terms with the death of his son, who has drowned in a shipwreck -- and whose life, Herzen insists, was no less valuable for never coming to fruition in adult accomplishments. "Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up," Herzen says. "**But a child's purpose is to be a child.** Nature doesn't disdain what only lives for a day. It pours the whole of itself into each moment ... Life's bounty is in its flow. Later is too late. 76 77 [10]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-thousand-weeks-time-management-for-mortals-oliver-burkeman/18140090?ean=9781250849359 78 79 ### This Month 80 81 * Adventure: spending MLK weekend with my folks in a cabin the Shenandoah Valley, take Nev to [Luray Caverns][11] 82 * Project: music/hobby table -- **no new gear** until I have a place I can actually use the stuff I have (then probably a [Roland Juno][12] as a reward) 83 * Skill: I'd like to learn the pentatonic/blues scale (major and minor) in every key, as it seems to be the basis of most improvisational music I like (that's obviously more than I can do in the next 21 days but at least get started) 84 85 [11]: https://luraycaverns.com/ 86 [12]: https://www.roland.com/us/products/ju-06a/ 87 88 ### Reading 89 90 * Fiction: [_Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales_][13], Yogo Ogawa -- I'm trying to read better books this year, and this caught my attention when I saw it mentioned on [Hacker Stations][14] 91 * Non-fiction: [_Essentialism_][15], Greg McKeown 92 93 [13]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/revenge-eleven-dark-tales-yoko-ogawa/8623565 94 [14]: https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/ 95 [15]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/essentialism-the-disciplined-pursuit-of-less-greg-mckeown/9404336 96 97 ### Links 98 99 * [Tech Independence][16] ([via][17]) 100 101 > So if a company turns evil or goes out of business, no problem! You can set up a new server anywhere else in an hour, point your domain name to the new IP address, and it’s done. **That’s tech independence** -- never dependent on any particular provider or software. It’s very empowering. The instructions below will show you how. 102 103 * [Only you can give meaning to your career: How to mark moments that matter by planting a flag][18] 104 105 > But here’s the thing: I create these things for me and me alone. When a bunch of people read something I wrote or show up to one of my talks, do I find it encouraging and validating? Sure. But it’s not what drives me. I started creating things to punctuate my life’s sentences long before anybody took an interest in me and I wouldn’t stop even if everyone loses interest in me. 106 107 * [Resources on the Philosophy of Work][19] ([via][20]) 108 109 > Indeed, we know that it is possible to be creative without being oppressed. Most people can contrast alienated wage labour (what some simply sweepingly call “work”) with playful creation, where someone is compelled by passion and interest to put a lot of effort into creating something. In fact, we know that, ironically, we are usually more productive in this passionate state, than when we are managed and disciplined into doing something we do not care about. 110 111 [16]: https://sive.rs/ti 112 [17]: https://baty.net/2024/01/ending-my-openbsd-experiment 113 [18]: https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2024-01-02-plant-your-flag-career-advice/ 114 [19]: https://vladh.net/wage-labour-resources/ 115 [20]: https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/december-2023/