index.md (13675B)
1 --- 2 title: "Dispatch #24 (February 2025)" 3 date: 2025-02-05T01:03:02-05:00 4 draft: false 5 tags: 6 - dispatch 7 references: 8 - title: "P&B: Steven Garrity – Manu" 9 url: https://manuelmoreale.com/pb-steven-garrity 10 date: 2025-02-02T06:30:32Z 11 file: manuelmoreale-com-dn0jwr.txt 12 - title: "The Social Media Sea Change - by Anne Helen Petersen" 13 url: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-social-media-sea-change 14 date: 2025-02-03T05:11:34Z 15 file: annehelen-substack-com-5yhv8a.txt 16 - title: "Bad shape" 17 url: https://www.wrecka.ge/bad-shape/ 18 date: 2025-02-03T05:11:52Z 19 file: www-wrecka-ge-rdi1xr.txt 20 - title: "What Is To Be Done? | CJ The X" 21 url: https://cjthex.com/what-is-to-be-done/ 22 date: 2025-02-03T05:11:55Z 23 file: cjthex-com-xshqsk.txt 24 - title: "Farewell, again... | Alexander Zeitler" 25 url: https://alexanderzeitler.com/articles/farewell-again/ 26 date: 2025-02-05T04:19:51Z 27 file: alexanderzeitler-com-f9z4v6.txt 28 - title: "Departing the New York Times - by Paul Krugman" 29 url: https://contrarian.substack.com/p/departing-the-new-york-times 30 date: 2025-02-03T05:11:50Z 31 file: contrarian-substack-com-grqlkr.txt 32 - title: "Westley Winks :: How I journal" 33 url: https://wwinks.com/p/how-i-journal/ 34 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:07Z 35 file: wwinks-com-bh1ouy.txt 36 - title: "Cancellation: a complex mix of accountability, power, justice, anger and societal change" 37 url: https://www.coffeeandcomplexity.com/cancellation-a-complex-mix-of-accountability-power-justice-anger-and-societal-change/ 38 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:11Z 39 file: www-coffeeandcomplexity-com-3o83vx.txt 40 - title: "Offgrid internet-in-a-box project - Part one - Dom Corriveau" 41 url: https://blog.ctms.me/posts/2025-01-17-offgrid-internet-in-a-box-kickoff/ 42 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:25Z 43 file: blog-ctms-me-eg0pab.txt 44 - title: "Sonic Pi - The Live Coding Music Synth for Everyone" 45 url: https://sonic-pi.net/ 46 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:30Z 47 file: sonic-pi-net-nczg5a.txt 48 - title: "I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers | Rebecca Shaw | The Guardian" 49 url: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/i-knew-one-day-id-have-to-watch-powerful-men-burn-the-world-down-i-just-didnt-expect-them-to-be-such-losers 50 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:34Z 51 file: www-theguardian-com-b9haub.txt 52 - title: "Some Entries from My Personal Journal // Take on Rules" 53 url: https://takeonrules.com/2025/01/16/some-entries-from-my-personal-journal/ 54 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:36Z 55 file: takeonrules-com-joumfe.txt 56 - title: "This Glorious Machine" 57 url: https://robinrendle.com/stories/this-glorious-machine/ 58 date: 2025-02-03T05:12:52Z 59 file: robinrendle-com-aa25aa.txt 60 - title: "My Planner Setup for 2025 – Writing at Large" 61 url: https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/09/my-planner-setup-for-2025/ 62 date: 2025-02-03T05:13:01Z 63 file: writingatlarge-com-ravzp3.txt 64 - title: "Three Habits Worth Keeping – Writing at Large" 65 url: https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/03/three-habits-worth-keeping/ 66 date: 2025-02-03T05:13:15Z 67 file: writingatlarge-com-zf24yo.txt 68 --- 69 70 We actually got some snow here in Durham, which is not something that happens every year. We took the kids out sledding, and, well, _I_ had a good time; they'll grow into it. Nev and I built a wagon out of scrap lumber and some [casters][1] that roll a little bit too well. We let Nev pick the paint colors and so it's three shades of pink. We built it for her to wheel her toys around, but you **know** we plopped that boy in there within the first hour. 71 72 [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Swivel-Caster-without-Casters-Capacity/dp/B08TC3R3CH 73 74 <!--more--> 75 76 {{<dither IMG_6219.jpeg "782x782">}}A bundled-up family grins in the winter sun, each parent balancing a sleepy toddler against a sparkling, snow-dusted backdrop.{{</dither>}} 77 {{<dither IMG_7509.jpeg "782x782">}}Pink-wheeled sidekick, boxy chariot, endless giggles.{{</dither>}} 78 79 My hi-fi audio setup is complete, for now and hopefully forever. The speakers I originally ordered were way too big, so I replaced them with a pair of [Polk ES15s][2]. I built speaker stands out of plywood and some [hairpin table legs][3], and got everything wired up. It sounds great! 80 81 [2]: https://www.polkaudio.com/en-us/product/home-speakers/bookshelf/signature-elite-es15/300363.html 82 [3]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077SVPQ51 83 84 I've been on a bit of a digital detox the last few weeks. I've gradually cut the big social media sites out over the last few years in favor of RSS plus a few high-quality websites. But even the indie web feels fraught right now, and I don't have the self-discipline to avoid following links that I know are going to make me upset. So I've blocked off all my usual haunts. I'll probably implement some kind of scheduled time where I can catch up (i.e. Thursdays after the kids go to bed), but for now, I'm not missing it. 85 86 I've been an on-and-off journaler for a long time, but the [notebooks I prefer][4] aren't great for long-form journaling as they encourage very small handwriting. I picked up a [Stalogy Editor's Series 365Days Notebook][5] and have written a page every night for the last several weeks. It's been a nice way to put a bow on the day. I also picked up [Twelve South HoverBar Duo][6], which lets me point an iPad right at the kids for FaceTime calls. It's a nice thing, and it's definitely encouraged more calls to grandparents and cousins. 87 88 [4]: https://www.jetpens.com/Maruman-Mnemosyne-N105-Notebook-A5-Dot-Grid/pd/27112 89 [5]: https://www.jetpens.com/Stalogy-Editor-s-Series-365Days-Notebook-A5-Lined-Black/pd/43548 90 [6]: https://www.twelvesouth.com/products/hoverbar-duo 91 92 At work, I received a promotion to VP of Development. I traveled with the leadership team down to Tampa, Florida which was ... quite nice? Guess I've really only ever been to Miami and Orlando and didn't leave with especially favorable impressions. Highlights included a e-boat ride and a five-mile run along the [Tampa Riverwalk][7]. 93 94 [7]: https://www.tampa.gov/parks-and-recreation/featured-parks/riverwalk 95 96 I've spent the last few weeks rescuing a [Drupal][8] project that's gone off the rails. ChatGPT has been invaluable as I hack my way through an unfamiliar platform; I'm not sure how it has such good information when all the content on the web is so bad. On the flip side, I suspect that a lot of the original code was written by an LLM -- it is verbose and full of subtle bugs. The AI sword cuts both ways. It's been gratifying to help my coworkers out of a sticky spot, to be sure. 97 98 [8]: https://new.drupal.org/home 99 100 Finally, I started writing these dispatches in March of 2023, and this one represents two full years of doing these. To celebrate/commemorate, I've wired up a Hugo template that dumps all the content out in a printer-friendly way, and I'm going to have a hardcover book printed. A little bit vainglorious? Perhaps! But: 101 102 > I will leave you with a suggested question to ask other blog writers: What will happen to your blog after you’re gone? I ask because I don’t have a good answer for this. I don’t think anything I’ve written is critical for future generations, but I’d also like my eventual great-grand-kids to be able to read a bit about how their old great-grand-dad saw the world (if they care to). 103 104 -- [Steven Garrity][9] 105 106 [9]: https://manuelmoreale.com/pb-steven-garrity 107 108 ### This Month 109 110 * Adventure: solo dad (😳) while Claire goes to Mexico with some friends 111 * Project: crochet [this fox][10] for Nev 112 * Skill: take this [finger drumming course][11] -- I'm doing a music retreat with a friend in June, and I'd like to improve at drum tracking and bass lines before then 113 114 [10]: https://thewoobles.com/products/fox-crochet-kit 115 [11]: https://melodics.com/finger-drumming 116 117 ### Reading & Listening 118 119 * Fiction: [_Godkiller_][12], Hannah Kaner 120 * Non-fiction: [_Feel Good Productivity_][13], Ali Abdaal 121 * Music: [_Dummy_][14], Portishead (had that _Sour Times_ on repeat in my head all month) 122 123 [12]: https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/media/9706350 124 [13]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/feel-good-productivity-how-to-do-more-of-what-matters-to-you-ali-abdaal/19546785?ean=9781250865038 125 [14]: https://www.turntablelab.com/products/portishead-dummy-180g-vinyl-lp 126 127 ### Links 128 129 * [The Social Media Sea Change - by Anne Helen Petersen][15] 130 131 > I’m not quitting Instagram. I may or may not add email to my phone; maybe I’ll just do it when I’m traveling, and it becomes my de facto computer. I’m not trying to convince you to do what I’ve done, and I’m not suggesting I’m a superior or more disciplined person for doing any of this. All I’m saying is: I think I’ve turned the corner. And I think a lot of you have — or are about to — too. 132 133 More on this topic: [Bad shape][16], [What Is To Be Done?][17], [Farewell, again...][18] 134 135 * [Departing the New York Times][19] 136 137 > Yet what I felt during my final year at the Times was a push toward blandness, toward avoiding saying anything too directly in a way that might get some people (particularly on the right) riled up. I guess my question is, if those are the ground rules, why even bother having an opinion section? 138 139 * [Westley Winks :: How I journal][20] 140 141 > I’ve tried physical notebooks, morning pages, stream-of-thought writing, bullet points, and basically everything else recommended by the journaling gurus. What finally stuck was a framework I learned from Sahil Bloom—the 1-1-1 method. I’ve adapted it for myself such that I write down five points each night (in a perfect world). 142 143 * [Cancellation: a complex mix of accountability, power, justice, anger and societal change][21] 144 145 > Driving out people can be emotionally satisfying and create a sense of justice. But is it actually making the world better? 146 147 * [Offgrid internet-in-a-box project - Part one - Dom Corriveau][22] 148 149 > For fun, I like to invent scenarios and then build a tech setup for it. One of the builds I think about a lot is having a completely offgrid (and obviously offline) portable internet-in-a-box. This is the first steps in that build, laying out the requirements and choosing the hardware. 150 151 * [Sonic Pi - The Live Coding Music Synth for Everyone][23] 152 153 > Experience the sound of code. Sonic Pi is your free code-based music creation and performance tool. 154 155 * [I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers | Rebecca Shaw | The Guardian][24] 156 157 > Whether I am engaging with the news, or with Musk tweeting constantly like a man with no job or friends, or with Zuckerberg sending out weird videos and appearing on Rogan, I am in pain. Not just because I don’t like what they are doing but because they are so incredibly, painfully cringe. 158 159 * [Some Entries from My Personal Journal // Take on Rules][25] 160 161 > On Tuesday the 12th of November, 2024, I started what I hoped to be a new habit. That is writing a personal daily journal. Over the weeks, I expanded my aspirations to include a daily check list of activities I wanted to do. I’ve also used these journals to spin-off blog posts; such as this one. In other words, my daily journal is growing a virtuous cycle in my creative process. 162 163 * [This Glorious Machine][26] 164 165 > Riding an e-bike is like discovering a long forgotten secret of the universe or, perhaps, inventing something worthy of a heartfelt “eureka.” Look: zipping through traffic on my first e-bike, blitzing past the stuffy tin cans all around me, I’ve become master of the four winds. Now first place in a triathlon, now a mythical creature that can move at the speed of thought. Upon my trusty electric 6-gear steed I am Hermes, lord of heavenly motion. 166 167 * [My Planner Setup for 2025 – Writing at Large][27] 168 169 > It’s the beginning of 2025, so it’s time to go over my full planner setup for both work and home. None of this setup is truly new, as I’ve used much of it during part or all of 2024, but there are a few tweaks and minor adjustments that I’ll highlight. As I use a 13 week year (or a quarter) in my planner, I started Q1 of 2025 on the 29th of December and not the 1st of January. 170 171 * [Three Habits Worth Keeping – Writing at Large][28] 172 173 > This is the time of year when people set resolutions, themes, goals, intentions, words of the year, etc. Ambitions are high, intentions are good, but well before March most of these efforts will be abandoned and forgotten. I’ll be writing about my quarterly plan and my 2025 planner later on, but for now here are three habits that worth keeping in 2025 and in general, and a few tips on how to get into them and persist. 174 175 [15]: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-social-media-sea-change 176 [16]: https://www.wrecka.ge/bad-shape/ 177 [17]: https://cjthex.com/what-is-to-be-done/ 178 [18]: https://alexanderzeitler.com/articles/farewell-again/ 179 [19]: https://contrarian.substack.com/p/departing-the-new-york-times 180 [20]: https://wwinks.com/p/how-i-journal/ 181 [21]: https://www.coffeeandcomplexity.com/cancellation-a-complex-mix-of-accountability-power-justice-anger-and-societal-change/ 182 [22]: https://blog.ctms.me/posts/2025-01-17-offgrid-internet-in-a-box-kickoff/ 183 [23]: https://sonic-pi.net/ 184 [24]: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/i-knew-one-day-id-have-to-watch-powerful-men-burn-the-world-down-i-just-didnt-expect-them-to-be-such-losers 185 [25]: https://takeonrules.com/2025/01/16/some-entries-from-my-personal-journal/ 186 [26]: https://robinrendle.com/stories/this-glorious-machine/ 187 [27]: https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/09/my-planner-setup-for-2025/ 188 [28]: https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/03/three-habits-worth-keeping/