The best way I’ve found of preventing photos from looking too digital is to make them with film. Sometimes I defend people from pile-ons, even when they deserve the pile-on. I feel like too many people wake up and think, “Who can I decide is bad, today?” and that’s just no way to be. So, if you point out that someone did something horrible (and by “horrible”, you usually mean “something I don’t agree with”) and I say “But maybe they just…”, it’s not always because I agree with what they’ve supposedly done, but rather to point out that there might be more to it. We’re complicated. Situations are complicated. You don’t know everything about it, so maybe back off a smidge and consider that. ...

How about we collectively stop apologizing for how often we write on our blogs or what we write about on our blogs. Newsletters, too, while we’re at it. I like the new message/alert summaries on my Apple devices. I just used ChatGPT to help me write some emacs lisp for my blogging workflow. DEVONthink can now use AI to intelligently rename files. I use that all the time. Complaints about social and environmental impact of AI use are justified, but it’s probably time to stop suggesting that LLMs aren’t useful. ...

Trying some things with Eleventy

I’m back to using Eleventy for my blog

New Orleans without a camera. Hugo and Kirby options.

Yesterday I did that thing where I wanted to use something other than Emacs and Org Mode, so I re-installed Obsidian and launched both Tinderbox and SilverBullet. Then, I wrote some notes in all of them. It was so darn nice having somewhere new to work. It lasted a few hours, after which I copied all of those notes into the appropriate .org documents and properly scolded myself for straying again. Everything else is inferior to Emacs, but sometimes I just need a break. ...

There’s nothing on my schedule today and that is totally fine with me. It’s not just fine, it’s preferred. I made some small (5"x7") prints in the darkroom this morning. I sometimes feel that the small prints aren’t “worth it”, but they’re cheap and easy to make, so I keep doing it. I guess at the exposure and only reprint if I’m way off. Otherwise, as my dad says, “Good enough for who it’s for”. And I’m always happy I have them later. ...

Latest roll (HP5) from the Leica MP. Nothing much here to speak of, although I did use a manual flash on some of the indoor shots. I kind of like flash photos. They look like photos, you know? Lincoln looking up My dad and Lincoln. Testing manual flash. Funny face White sneakers are white

Is it too early to begin speculation about the iPhone 17?1 Two buffers I always have open in Emacs are: the current journal entry here on baty.net, and my personal journal (org-journal). I type the same kinds of things in both places. Which one I choose depends on my mood. I hate when I run out of feeds to read and so just sit here staring at the screen. Running out of feeds isn’t the problem, fyi. ...

I just dropped in and scrolled through the feed on LinkedIn. If LinkedIn is the game I’m forced to play, then I forfeit. So many people seem to travel around looking only for red flags. Maybe they should spend more time looking for green lights. A few weeks ago, my Dad’s Apple Watch (Series 3) died, so I gave him my Series 7, since I was hardly ever wearing it anyway. Then last week I started reading “Younger Next Year” and all they talk about is doing aerobic workouts six days a week and closely monitoring my heart rate. Lacking an available heart rate monitor, I ordered a new Series 10 Apple Watch. I had to. HAD TO. ...

My Org mode capture templates are acting funky. Things aren’t going where they’re supposed to. e.g. my Daybook entries are going into the wrong part of the datetree. I’ve changed nothing relevant that I know of. I hate this. I would still exist if I deleted my Instagram account. – Cheri Lucas Rowlands Would you? Would any of us? I don’t want the things I create to be nothing more than something to scroll past. But maybe that’s better than having noone see them at all. ...

I think I’ll (reluctantly) stop using Capture One and go back to Lightroom. I was using Lightroom for a while because it’s good and keeps getting better, but I get the best results from and prefer using C1. However, it has become so slow as to be unusable. It can take 3 or 4 seconds to update the preview after moving a slider, which is maddening. I’ve done all the recommended things to improve performance, but nothing helps. Lightroom updates immediately. Plus Lightroom syncs, has modern features that non-professionals use, and is relatively inexpensive. ...

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. ...