When I post regularly and to only one blog, my traffic numbers go up. This is pretty consistent. It’s an interesting data point, but I’m not doing this for visitor numbers, so I’ll continue to be inconsistent and scattered about.

Listing directories first and hiding file details by default in Dired

The smartest thing for me to do would be to double down on using Org Mode for all of my notes and be done with it. I re-installed Logseq last week but haven’t launched it. Today, I downloaded Standard Notes but didn’t even install it. See? I’m getting better! Whenever I read posts raving about Emacs, they focus too much on “efficiently editing text”. I barely care about that and they shouldn’t either. Actual editing comprises about 5% of writing1. Making that tiny slice 20% more efficient adds almost nothing, if you’re looking at the big picture. Efficient editing is fun though, so I’ll give you that. ...

Editing in something other than Emacs. Social media and syndication.

I kind of have an actual “wet side” now.

Noodling on short posts

I sewed a drawstring bag

Melting Face (1982) In high school, I mowed lawns for extra cash. I remember vividly the time I was mowing our neighbor’s back yard and I had the idea for a painting (see above). I actually stopped the mower and went inside to start painting immediately. I miss feeling so creative that I’d stop whatever I was doing because I had an idea. Had second sewing class yesterday. We made drawstring bags. Well, tried to. I struggled with the sewing machine for half the class. It kept jamming. And when it wasn’t jamming, I was mis-threading it. We cut several pieces of fabric for the first time. That was harder than I expected. Like my dad often said while building something, “I cut it twice and it’s still too short.” I didn’t finish. I still need to make and thread the drawstring. ...

Improving site performance by adding Expires headers in my Caddy config.

Websites I want. Newsletter observation. Things I don’t want to think about.

I’m having a lot of trouble staying away from social media. The idea was to limit myself to checking once or twice a day, but I still find myself reaching for it every time there’s a lull in my thoughts or as soon as I finish something. It’s insidious. I’m convinced that social media is bad for my brain and it’s definitely bad for my attitude. I’ll keep trying. I don’t think I should even allow the once-a-day checking. Perhaps I’ll bookmark just the notifications tab and check that, since I don’t want to be rude and not respond to people. ...

OMG I never learn. Even when I write stuff down. Every time I switch back to Hugo, I complain about the fact that when using relative image links in Hugo’s Page Bundles, they don’t work in the RSS feed. Then I spend time digging around old forum posts or whatever trying to fix the problem. Except I already have fixed the problem. At least twice. Maybe just check your own notes, Jack. ...

Notes from today Have you ever looked into your completely disheveled pantry and said, “That does it! I’m fixing this right now!”? I did that today. After two hours of, “What the hell is this doing here?”, everything that doesn’t belong in the pantry is not in the pantry, and everything that remains in the pantry is where it belongs in the pantry. This feels really good. More on Micro.blog I’m a week into my Micro.blog Revisited experiment and have not come to any conclusions. There are two questions I need to answer: ...

News article nested negatives. Freddie deBoer on the Copernican Principle

Making tags readable in Org-mode DONE headings

I’ve updated my org-mode reading list using my fork of the org-books package

This roll of HP5 from the Leica M31 was shot mostly in Grand Haven during one of our frequent walks through town and on the pier. Gail’s feet in Lake Michigan Grandma walking Lincoln Grand Haven Pier Well-dressed kids on beach Beach grass, rocks, and sand Gift store in Grand Haven. Closed. ...

Self-portrait in mirror with Canonet I first decided to sunset the Canonet, in 2022 due to a few issues making it less than ideal to use. I have a short memory, and was feeling badly about the camera sitting on a shelf, so I loaded it up with a roll of HP5. Processing the roll yesterday reminded me why I’d set it aside: ...

Don’t worry about inconsistent posts and what about daily.baty.net?

I’m finding it difficult being “off” social media right now. Every time there’s a lull in my thoughts, I want to reach for one of my feeds. It’s how I avoid doing anything useful. I want social media to be a source of information and not purely entertainment, but it usually ends up being entertainment. Also, it’s often infuriating, which is why I stepped away in the first place. One thing I’ve noticed is that when I’m not sharing things, I feel kind of invisible. I like sharing things. My blog(s) are good for sharing. It’s what they’re for. But not having comments on the blogs means there’s not much actual engagement. I like engagement :). That’s what Mastodon (and more recently, Micro.blog) is good at, which is why I find it difficult to leave. ...