table of contents
Here’s what I’ve been up to this month!
Website
More behind-the-scenes tweaks to the site in June, including CSS styling and fixes to the RSS (which wasn’t working at all; probably user error). I also want to make a new icon at some point, but my ability to develop convincing path-based drawings is lacking.
Can’t say I’m enjoying the Javascript experience, and I’m already thinking about switching SSGs, like every tinkerer who maintains a website. Or maybe I’ll even go bare-bones HTML and CSS. Claude has been good at writing workable Javascript, but that doesn’t help me internalize what I’m committing or distill it into long-term knowledge.
This month I published posts about how much I’m enjoying Kagi, finding better ways to schedule meetings, and why water metaphors are both oversimplified and surprisingly useful for creative org design thinking. These were fun to write, but the lengthy editing process impeded me from getting to that corporate governance piece I alluded to in last month’s update.
Life
I rigged up a script that sends me a push notification if specific cat breeds are listed on the local humane society’s website. I’d adopt the first one I saw if my allergies allowed it; alas I’m limited to hypoallergenic breeds.
I’m working through Pfitzinger’s Faster Road Running and adopting his 12/63 half-marathon training plan. I’m already seeing endurance improvements, but the time commitment is prodigious. There’s slightly insufficient time in the day to run this much and do everything else I’d like to do — and write about it all. The irony of June having the longest days of the year is not lost on me!
Arts
Blue Prince is out, it’s getting rave reviews, and it’s free on PS+ Extra. The game has been occupying most of my spare brain cycles this week and I’m working on a separate piece on how surprisingly deep it is. Much like The Witness, the post-game seems to be where the fun truly begins.
Otherwise quiet on the media front this month. I put on a bunch of Steve Martin movies in the background, and would like to catch Black Bag when I find 90 minutes. Soderbergh’s filmography is full of feints and digressions; looking forward to finding out whether this one is on par with his pre-”retirement” work.
Reading-wise, I’ve been going through Clara Hughes-Johnson’s Scaling People again. It’s full of practical wisdom for when you need to define your org’s operating system, and I’ve been borrowing from it liberally for work matters. Yet another vote of confidence in the high quality of Stripe Press’ publications after the excellent The Dream Machine, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering, and An Elegant Puzzle.
On the indie web I came across timharek.no and enjoyed it considerably. Tim also maintains a comprehensive blog roll that I’m hoping to systematically work through in the coming weeks.
Not much happening in the music sphere this month. I powered up the Eurorack case once or twice but didn’t patch anything of substance.