Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • 🔤SpellBinding: ACTMORD Wordo: CRUSE

  • Thanksgiving (USA Observed)

    Much to be thankful for, indeed. The forthcoming feast, naturally 0 and a feast worthy of Hobbitonian approval it shall be - but much, much more than just that.

    The surroundings. Such beauties have been gifted to us as humans throughout Southern California & Beyond. It is a sin to take such surroundings for granted. My father, freshly returned from a too-crowded hike up a local mountain, is reiterating such an observation over his first glass of red wine for the Holiday. He will likely have two glasses on such an occasion.

  • Black Friday.

    That time of the year when you get a great price on things you don’t really need in the first place.

  • Sensations of Winter in a City

    There's something patiently, quietly exciting about the cold winter, city air on the cheeks, just after dusk, with lights still shining around and people still mulling about. A briskness, a quickening of some heart's hope, with and by and in spite of the dying of the year.

    Memory's part of it, too. The concept of "Winter" has always been one of my favorite weather-times-placetypes, with stories to match. It's that crescendo in the bridge of a song that changes key—and unlocks something in your feelings to make the next part more intense. Clove cigarette breaks in the snow on the library patio during exam cram time. Driving with the top down to a new boyfriend's flat in the coast city after goth night clubbing. Traveling to and exploring new cities for adventure

  • A Cold Hike at Potato Creek

    The fig water kefir I drank on the way here was cold, but it rested hot in my belly. I'm full of nervous energy, in the extremities of my limbs and in a tingly feeling on my tongue. I feel like I could do a long sprint right now, but I'm going to contain my energy because I know I have a long walk ahead of me. At the head of this trail is an old cemetery, and while I've never walked into it in all the years I've been coming to this park, I do like to stop and look at the names from the outside. There are so many colorful old names here, last names to have seem to have gone extinct. Fryar, Donathen, Lasch, Eisenmenger, Foldesi. There are a few old sycamores standing on the perimeter of the cemetery. The whole property couldn't be more than 3 acres. Right now I'm walking underneath an apple tree, though I'm not sure it's produced fruit in a long time. At the beginning of the trail, not more than 200 feet in, you're given the opportunity to go west or north, with the former taking you to a small pier that juts out into a lake. It's remarkable to consider that this large lake is man-made, part of a huge DNR project from the '70s. It's hard to imagine a project like that being good for the environment, just creating a giant lake in the middle of a forest that wasn't there before, but the biodiversity around this feature is incredible, and some of the waterfowl I've seen here implies that there has to be some great benefits a place like this that is not perturbed by motorized boats. There's a strong headwind that is pushing me to get away from the exposure of the pier, but before I leave I have to look at the shoreline and see the gentle progression of duckweed into foam. Looking out far enough I can also see some small weeds reaching out across the water, covered in icicles.

• Technology and Free Software

  • Going wire

    So I've been using Bluetooth headphones, or rather a single BT earbud, for a while now. It's actually pretty nice: it lasts me 2 days usually. It has around 12 hours active on-time. I'm not positive because I haven't actually measured it.

    But more recently I've been using some decent 3.5mm earbuds. They have volume controls and pause. It's actually pretty good. The best part about it is that I never have to worry about the battery level. In that regard, it's less stress. It's also a lot harder to lose or forget them. My BT earbud is great, but it's easy to lose track of it and much harder to find. I've had too many sessions where I had to max out the volume and play music just to find it.

  • Internet/Gemini

    • Removing comments on my posts

      A few years ago I had a wonderful idea. Arguably the best system I could think of for comments for my blog and gemlog: a mailing list.

      Here's how it worked.

      I had set up a mailing list on lists.sr.ht, which allowed people to subscribe and unsubscribe using only email (no sr.ht account required).

    • Searching for the best SSG

      The quest for the best static site generator for image gallery

      I've been spoiled by faircamp. It's such a neat piece of software, it creates a static site for my music, and although I haven't used it enough (I only have a few track on damaru.yoga) I'm fully committed to using that tool for a long time.

      Now I would like to do the same thing with my illustrations.

      You see, I like technologies, but I'm very peculiar about it. I want it easy, the easiest way possible. This is a reason why I use Gopher too. It's easy, I start vim, I write, then I can scp the file and an updated gophermap and voila. No coding, no scripting, I can do it from any machine, I can ssh in from anywhere to write my piece. And I used the tool I always use for writing, vim.