Early AI photography tools like automatic masking and object removal were a miracle. Then came "Replace Sky" and it's been downhill ever since. The better generative AI gets and the easier it becomes to use, the more inclined I am to do the opposite and never touch the stuff.

What if I started posting from scratch at a completely different blog, but didn't tell anyone about it?

Whenever I test a new blogging tool or return to an old one, I'm reminded that there are things I need to relearn or rebuild. Everything has specific requirements. Doing this can be fun. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Or, more precisely, it helps me pretend I'm accomplishing something. This Hugo blog has been feature-complete for a while. Creating and editing posts with Emacs is a no-brainer. I've got little functions and helpers and snippets for everything I need. So, while blogging using various platforms is fun and reduces boredom, it's anything but productive. I get tired of both Emacs and Hugo sometimes, but I'd love to stick with them and be done with it. If only, right?

...10 minutes later... https://baty.blog/im-so-moody-when-it-comes-to-blogging

The photo for this post was taken using a Leica M4. This one...

It had M3-style levers, a recent and expensive CLA by Sherry Krauter, custom framelines, and it worked perfectly. I sold it because I wanted the money for some stupid digital camera that I no longer have. This was a terrible mistake. Never sell a Leica unless you absolutely have to.

It's a pain finding a photo for every daily journal post, but reviewing my catalog helps remind me that I enjoy photography and have made many photographs that are interesting to me. It acts as a tiny bit of inspiration each day. For today's photo, it's the guy in a suit talking on the phone while leaning against the wall. It was taken using my 1946 Leica IIIf, which is adorable.

Guess what. I thought about quitting Emacs again yesterday. Went so far as to re-install Obsidian. After a few hours of new-shiny-this-is-way-easier, I remembered I can't stand using Obsidian. I do this once every month or two and I never learn.

Speaking of being back. I'm doing a daily post here, today. I've been enjoying using Tinderbox to publish the daily blog again, but I'm so far into my Linux experiment that I get twitchy using software that limits me to using a Mac. At least when there are alternatives that I also enjoy using.

Why didn't I think of doing this with my HHKB? https://medium.com/lim-less-is-more/sonshi-style-a-style-of-putting-keyboard-on-laptop-67f0a825a53c

How crazy is this? WordPress running locally, in-browser.

When I was born my dad drove a 1957 turquoise and ivory Chevy Bel Air convertable. It's what brought me home from the hospital that first time. Wasn't long before he had to sell it because it was impractical once he had a kid. The Chevy was replaced with some beat up station wagon. I don't think he's ever forgiven me 😀

I avoid any apps that involve "streaks" because breaking a streak makes me feel bad about myself. Although sometimes I break them on purpose because YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!

I've spent much of the morning deleting stuff. It's possible I've been too aggressive, but it feels great. One of these days maybe I'll have the guts to delete all of it.

There is no "productivity system" in the world that will make me less lazy.

Having too many choices is bad for me, but I refuse to give up any of them. You know, just in case.

I don't know which camera to use. I don't know which computer to use. I don't know which fountain pen to use. I don't know which writing app to use. I don't know which blog to use. And so on. Yes, yes, I'm very lucky and privileged to have this problem. Still, it's a problem I have. One to which the answer is probably, "All of them". Which breeds a different set of problems, but I can't complain.

It's too late to be pessimistic

--Yann Arthus-Bertrand (and others)

Using LLMs and agents to do stuff for me is amazing and exhilarating, but it's not fun and it feels dirty.

MODE by Flickr | The Next Big Thing in photography

The Next Big Thing in photography is landing February 26, 2026.

Hey Flickr, I love ya, but unless whatever you're planning actually is going to be the Next Big Thing in photography you're shooting yourselves in the foot with all the breathless hype.

Wouldn't it be funny if I just punted and moved my blog to Pika?

I am constitutionally unable to decide anything and then stick with that decision. For example, I moved my blog to baty.blog because Pure Blog is so cool. Then yesterday I went back to Hugo because I missed editing posts in Emacs. Now today I'm using the Tinderbox version of my daily blog because I want it static, not Kirby-generated. Sheesh. I've typed this paragraph in 3 places.

Continued reading "Manifesto for World Revolution". It's wildly unrealistic but still gets one fired up.

Am I back? Not sure yet, but I think I'm a static-blog kind of fella. Pure Blog is awesome, and Kev's done a great job with it. I like it a lot. And yet, there's this nagging feeling about it running "out there" and needing PHP, etc. Pure Blog is super simple to host, but not as simple or portable as a static site. A CMS with a nice, simple UI is pretty great, but I've spent years honing my combination of Hugo and Emacs. Blogging is a "solved" problem, right? :) Anyway, I'm going to try this again for a minute. I've migrated the "regular" posts from there to here. I don't think I'll bother with the journal entries.t

The reef tank is a struggle. I'm always fighting some unwanted critter or algae or chemicals or something. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble. I do like watching the coral wave around in the current. The urchin is super cool, too.