David Eisinger

Dispatches, March 2023 – February 2025

I’ve been maintaining a website at https://davideisinger.com/ for the last two years, including monthly dispatches about my family, pursuits, and interests. What follows are all the dispatches I’ve written so far.

I’ll admit it feels a little bit pretentious putting this into a book, but my hope is that this can outlast the website and be something someone can look at years down the line. I certainly wish I had something like this from my grandfather.

To Nev and Nico: I love you, I love you, I love you.

Dispatch #1 (March 2023)

Posted 2023-03-02

With the warm winter we’ve been having in NC, I’ve gotten to take Nev to and from daycare on the e-bike a whole bunch, which has been just fantastic. I’m wary of becoming too much of an evangelist, but it really does feel like they can replace cars for a lot of folks, and they’re fun as hell.

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Dispatch #2 (April 2023)

Posted 2023-04-03

March was great – took a two night/one day work retreat, spent a weekend out in the woods with the family, had my annual trip to Las Vegas, and participated in Viget’s Pointless Week. Also got to spend some quality time with Nevie; she’s a great kid and it’s amazing to see her personality come out.

In April, I’m finishing training for (and then running) the Tar Heel 10 Miler, and heading down to Lake Norman for the first time in 2023. Hoping to get Claire on an e-bike this month, as well (eyeing the Aventon Pace 500.3).

I didn’t make much progress on the closet project this month (took some measurements and had some discussions with Claire), but I did manage to build this “learning tower” for Nev and started acquainting myself with Affinity Designer.

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Dispatch #3 (May 2023)

Posted 2023-04-30

Another month in the books. Man, year’s flying by. We filled it up though: went down to the lake for Easter weekend, took the kayaks out on the Catawba. Claire went out to California to visit a friend, so I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Nev and made a big dent in the closet project. The first unit is done and installed. Claire seems really happy with it. The second unit should go a lot quicker since most of the thought work is done.

I ordered Claire an e-bike thinking it might arrive before her birthday mid-May, but it showed up just a few days later. It’s been a blast taking Nevie to the museum and around town. We also ran the Tar Heel 10 Miler last weekend. Super fun, and I did better than I expected to based on my training (result, certificate) – there’s something about an organized race that just gives that extra push I guess.

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Dispatch #4 (June 2023)

Posted 2023-06-01

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Lake Norman, but it was like 55° and rainy the whole time. I’ve been loving the mild weather for the most part, but I was definitely looking forward to some kayaking and dock jumping.

We finished off the closet project – building the second unit was a lot quicker than the first, since I really just had to scale up the existing plans. Then it was a matter of adding the connecting rod and shelf. I think it turned out great, though I’d like to improve at building drawers. Here are some before and after shots (courtesy of Claire):

Other life updates: we had a big work retreat at the beginning of the month at the Tides Inn, which was incredible. I celebrated 15 years (15!) with the company, and received a scooter as a gift. This thing is rad – I’ve been really happy with the e-bike, but it’s nice to have a smaller option for quick trips to the office or corner store.

We signed up for the local JCC since they have the best/only outdoor pool in the area. As a bonus, they have a nice gym, and I managed to get ~4 workouts in over the month. Hope to keep that up, though June’s pretty packed. I didn’t manage to fit in any long bike rides, but I did get a trailer hitch installed on the car, which was a bit of a process. Now I just need to select and purchase a bike rack and a whole new series of adventures should be unlocked.

I read Building a Second Brain, a book about digital note-taking systems. It inspired me to try out a couple different PKM apps. I was initially drawn to Logseq, but the editing experience was a little rough and it didn’t seem to support adding PDFs and images to notes. I’ve settled on Obsidian, which checks a lot of boxes even though I’m not a huge fan of Electron apps. I set up a web clipper tool so that I can quickly send links from Brave to Obsidian. I also started keeping public notes, inspired by some digital gardening stuff I’ve been reading.

I didn’t write any Go, but I did start a notes page about it and have a decent idea for a starter project. I need to make some actual progress here this month.

Final thought: when I was younger, I’d engage in a lot of “what if” thinking, imagining myself living totally different lives. This tendency decreased as I got older and built a life I was increasingly happy with, but never entirely went away. But since Nev came along, it’s really the end of that – she’s so awesome, and any timeline where she doesn’t exist exactly as she is right now just doesn’t have any draw.

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Dispatch #5 (July 2023)

Posted 2023-07-02

June was dominated by work and travel. Weekdays were filled up with a client project we were working hard to wrap, weekends by plans with friends and both of our families: Running of the Bulls, canoe camping near Saxapahaw, our yearly trip to Beaufort with Claire’s college friends, and then a cruise in the Caribbean with Claire’s family followed immediately by a trip up to DC to see mine.

It was a busy month, sometimes overly so, but having so many unique experiences had this odd effect of slowing and expanding time, which is the opposite of how things tend to go as you get older (good short piece along the same lines). Most everything else fell by the wayside, but that’s OK – these were all awesome experiences, and I’m excited for a (relatively) quiet July.

After getting the trailer hitch installed last month, we picked up a bike rack and a seat for Nev and brought the bikes with us to Beaufort. This was awesome – Beaufort’s an idyllic coastal town in just about every way but one: parking sucks. Being able to zip up and down the main street on our bikes (and parking them right at our destination) was such a joy, and Nev seems to enjoy the rack-mounted seat a lot more than the trailer we’ve been using.

I’m still enjoying using Obsidian to collect link and make notes, though mostly in the “capture” phase1, collecting information and starting to put some structure around it. When something comes up and I think, man, I read something good about that at some point in the past, I’m using that as a cue to create a dedicated note, with the hope that the next time it comes up, I’ll have a useful thing to reference.

I also read some good articles about Helix and Procreate, and I’m hoping to give those some attention this month.

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Reading

  1. Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain outlines a four-step process: Capture, Organize, Distill, Express. ↩︎

Dispatch #6 (August 2023)

Posted 2023-08-06

Nice to have a quieter month, though we still managed to spend a weekend at Lake Norman and took Nev on her first camping trip at Carolina Hemlocks Recreation Area. We also had a nice visit from my folks to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

Tech-wise, I switched from Vim to Helix, which I’ve detailed over here. I was also able to work through a whole bunch of the Go track on Exercism – it’s a good way to get a handle on the basics of a language, but doesn’t cover using third-party packages, organizing large codebases, etc. To get that kind of experience, I’m going to try my hand at an app for fantasy sports drafts – take a set of player projections and a scoring formula, and output a UI I can use during a live online draft. I’ve been doing this with spreadsheets for years, and it’s pretty cumbersome. I’m going to use TOML for configuration, SQLite for data persistence, and Bubble Tea for the UI itself. We’ll see how it goes!

I’ve signed up for the Bull City Race Fest half-marathon in October. Training starts … tomorrow. I’m going to try to mix in some better eating habits + cross-training this time.

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Dispatch #7 (September 2023)

Posted 2023-09-08

We were down at Lake Norman for the long weekend, and as I was pulling up the kayaks this morning, I couldn’t help but feel like I was also sort of putting away the summer – what a summer though. The last few weeks of August were pretty wall-to-wall. I went up to the Eastern Shore in Virginia to spend a long weekend with some old friends. Our rental was right on an inlet off the Chesapeake, and they had a stand-up paddleboard I was able to take out.

The following weekend, we headed up to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware to spend the week with my family. It’s different than the North Carolina beaches we’re used to as there’s a lot to do around the town (boardwalk, parks & playgrounds, indoor amusement park). We brought our bikes and took a ride on the Gordons Pond Trail, which was rad.

We also recorded this little jam featuring my 3.5-year-old niece on the melodica:

Nomi (/journal/dispatch-7-september-2023/Nomi.mp3)

From there, we drove 400 miles to Greensboro, and then onto Lake Norman to spend Labor Day weekend with Claire’s family, a relaxing way to cap off an eventful summer.

As one might imagine, this involved a lot of driving, and to pass the hours and miles, I tried something new: listening to audio books. My local library has a good selection which integrates with the Libby app. I listened to:

I also started a low-brow thriller and was surprised that it was the same narrator as Left Hand; I guess this guy records a lot of audio books.

We got hit with a nasty storm in the middle of August. It was wild – hot, sunny day during my scoot home, then 5 minutes later, hard rain/thunder/80mph winds. We were without power from 4pm until 8pm the following day, and the damage through the city was intense. Phones weren’t working very well, traffic lights were out, and even places that had power were cash-only as the credit card systems were down. Fortunately, we have a good set of camping equipment which doubles as disaster preparedness gear, but it made plain the fragility of modern society.

I did a couple projects in Go this month:

The first, the fantasy draft TUI app I mentioned last month, came together well and quickly. It was straightforward to set up TOML for configuration, SQLite for data persistence, and Bubble Tea for the UI. Bubble Tea’s super cool – you pull in your widgets (two in my case, for a table view and a search box), and you can respond to keypresses or let the widgets handle them. As a result, my UI has Vim keybindings without me doing anything, which was super handy during the draft.

I played around with ChatGPT while I was working on it, asking it to make my code more idiomatic. This worked super well, and some of the refactorings were really clever. This seems like a sweet spot of LLMs – I already had working code and wasn’t asking it to solve complex problems, just to make my code look more like the other code it knows about. I also used it to come up with a name for the project, and it came back with golong, which is just 🍒.

The second was for work – we needed to crunch some data coming out of Forecast and the nature of the data (forward-looking, ever-changing) makes it a poor fit for our usual tech. I decided to write a command-line program that reads two CSVs and outputs a third, which we can then import into a Google Sheet. Then I set up an AWS Lambda + API Gateway that serves a very simple web frontend so other folks can run it. This was fun and useful, though it was really low-level programming – parsing multi-part form bodies, reading and writing basic auth headers, etc. If I were to do something like this again, I’d look for a library that adds additional functionality on top of the basic AWS Lambda request/response stuff. I was able to do some testing with Testify and learned a lot about structuring slightly larger Go codebases.

Working with a typed language, a good language server (gopls), and an editor that supports it well (Helix) is a joy – I can see why people are excited about languages like TypeScript. I’ll get golong cleaned up and up on GitHub, then write a more detailed post about it.

Final thought: someone (my father-in-law, I think) asked if we thought Nev would remember all these adventures we’re having with her, and I said, no, but that’s OK and not really the point. Even if she’s not yet capable of forming lasting memories, these experiences are forming who she is. We want the first international flight she remembers into adulthood to feel like a familiar thing in the moment. Plus she’s such a delight that experiencing new things with her and sharing her with the world is a source of deep joy for us.

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Dispatch #8 (October 2023)

Posted 2023-10-06

Italy was grand, what an adventure. We spent a little over a week in Tuscany, mostly on Elba Island, with quick visits to Siena and Florence on our way out. Our accommodations on Elba were awesome, and other highlights included Spiaggia di Sansone, Cavo, and revisiting a few favorite spots in Siena and Florence (the pizza at Il Pomodorino was as good as we remembered).

It wasn’t all perfectly smooth – Nev had a tough time with jet lag, and driving through Italy was stressful, but a week later, that stuff’s all faded away and what remains are the great memories.

I downloaded the Airalo app before I left, which offers cheap international data plans using e-SIM cards. The app works great, no complaints there, but mixed feelings about having a working phone while on vacation – it was cool to be able to send photos + make video calls, but my company’s going through some tough times and I couldn’t pull myself away from Slack and email.

I had a birthday right before we left, and I decided to gift myself a Novation Circuit Tracks, a portable synthesizer and drum machine. This thing is neat! Four drum tracks, two synths, and the ability to control other gear with MIDI. I’ve only had it about a week and I’m already feeling relatively proficient. Here are a couple demos:

Demo 1 (/journal/dispatch-8-october-2023/Demo 1.mp3)

Demo 2 (/journal/dispatch-8-october-2023/Demo 2.mp3)

On that second one, the Circuit is using MIDI signals to play my digital piano, which is then sending audio back into the Circuit. I’m just using the voice memos app (of all things) to record the output; I’ll probably need to get a proper DAW set up if I’m going to get more ambitious, but for now, it’s pretty fun to create tracks with just a hardware device.

Making music, especially digitally, appeals equally to my mathematical and creative brains; it’s so cool to punch a rhythm into a grid and hear something pretty good come out. And it’s cool that music hardware is pretty much all MIDI + audio signals, and you can combine devices in unlimited ways (the flipside being that my gear wishlist is growing by the day).

I was anticipating a longer learning curve with the Circuit, and was kind of surprised that I was making tracks basically as good as I’ve ever done within a few days; maybe it’s just an intuitively-designed tool, but more realistically, I’m just not a very sophisticated musician. I feel that way about a lot of hobbies – I gain a level of basic competence and just kind of stay there. Someone recently asked how long I’d been playing guitar, and I said, well, I guess 25 years, but I’m like 1.5 years good. Maybe I’ll always be a dabbler, and maybe that’s OK! I certainly get a lot of joy out of these activities. But I can’t help but compare myself to, like, Bonobo and feel like that’s what I should be striving for.

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Dispatch #9 (November 2023)

Posted 2023-11-01

It was nice to have a quieter month after so much travel this summer. We got a few extra weeks of warm weather, which meant a few more weeks of biking with Nev, and plenty of time at the museum and all the local playgrounds. I decided to run the Bull City Race Fest half-marathon despite having to rest my ankle for the last week of training (result, certificate). I faded pretty hard down the stretch, but still managed to finish in under two hours – not bad for an old.

Tech

At my job, I did a cool project working with data from a Freematics car telematics device. I built a data exploration API using Gin and learned jq to truncate enormous JSON objects1. I also got to, just like, drive my car around to test things out.

I also made some updates to my golong tool to prep for a fantasy NBA draft. Now it can munge multiple CSVs of data and supports multiple position eligibility2 and average stat projections3. It worked great, and my team’s looking solid so far. I’ll open source it one of these days.

Music

I’m still having a blast with the Novation Circuit Tracks I got last month. I came up with a track I actually really like, which I’m calling “Radiatus” (which is a type of cloud):

Radiatus (/journal/dispatch-9-november-2023/Radiatus.mp3)

It’s really fun once you’ve got all the parts set up just to play the Novation, bringing drums and leads in and out – that’s how I recorded these tracks. I imagine it’ll only get more fun as I learn how to better twiddle the knobs to change the sounds. We’ll see – maybe I’ll come up with 2-3 more cloud-themed tracks and release an album!

My phone (and yours probably) sends me these photo slideshows periodically, and I’m an absolute sucker for them. One recently featured a track by Lack of Afro, and I’ve been listening to his stuff ever since. Check out “For You” (or really any of it – it’s all good).

Website

I made a few updates to the website this month:

I’m really happy with Hugo – it’s simple but flexible enough to handle every challenge I’ve thrown at it. Building and maintaining this site has brought me a lot of joy this year.

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  1. I was getting back complex nested JSON structures containing arrays with thousands of elements. To truncate all arrays in a JSON response to two elements, you can do curl [url] | jq 'walk(if type == "array" then .[0:2] else . end)'. ↩︎

  2. An NBA player is often eligible as both a forward and a center, for example. ↩︎

  3. NFL projections are typically season-based, NBA are per-game – the tool can now take per-game projections multiplied by projected games played to get total points. ↩︎

Dispatch #10 (December 2023)

Posted 2023-12-06

We spent the week of Thanksgiving with my sister near Albany, New York. Tough drive, but it was great to get the whole family together and for Nev to get some extended time with her cousins. Highlights included the Catskill Mountain Railroad Polar Express and some unexpected snowfall.

In what’s now I guess an annual tradition, I ran a 10K the morning of Thanksgiving, this time the Troy Turkey Trot. I felt great, and I’m happy with my time (results, certificate). Claire joked that after you run a marathon, a half-marathon becomes your favorite race distance. That’s how I feel about 10Ks – it’s like the first half of a half-marathon, before it really starts to suck.

I spent few evenings building a tool to keep Markdown links in order, which I’ve called mdrenum. I documented the process thoroughly in a separate post. Super fun to make and quite useful for writing these posts. It’s up on SourceHut if you’re interested.

I bought a 201 Pocket Piano after seeing it on Bonobo’s gear list so that I could make some music while we were traveling. This thing is cool! Great sounds and patterns, MIDI in/out, battery powered and a built-in speaker. The company that makes it releases new synths pretty regularly, and it’s super straightforward to swap them out – just plug it into your computer, hit a couple keys, and it shows up as a drive.

Here’s a new track I made with it, called “Cirrus” (keeping with the cloud theme):

Cirrus (/journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/Cirrus.mp3)

I published a few other things this month: “Maintenance Matters: Good Tests” on my company blog (mirrored here). I was also up for a company-wide presentation and ended up just doing a gift guide of things we own and recommend. Doesn’t seem worth a standalone post but here’s a copy of the list.

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Dispatch #11 (January 2024)

Posted 2024-01-10

That’s a wrap on 2023. Our little Nevie turned two in December. It’s hard to imagine her changing as much in the next year as she did in the last, but I suppose it’s inevitable. We spent Christmas at Claire’s folks’ house and hit up both the Greensboro Children’s Museum and Greensboro Science Center.

We’re on a bit of a purge, trying to free up some space in the house. It’s an overwhelming project (how did we acquire so much stuff?) but we’re taking it one step at a time. I’ve been building new shelves and put up guitar hangers to clear up some floor space. I’ve taken inspiration from this post about office organization and this one about maintaining a list of where to find things.

Music-wise, I received an Arturia KeyStep 37 as a Christmas gift from my in-laws. This thing is super nice; I’m already having a blast using it to play my existing gear, and I’m hoping it’ll play a big role as I shift to a more computer-based workflow. Here’s a new track called “Orographic”:

Orographic (/journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/Orographic.mp3)

I dusted off the Switch to play Dead Cells. It’s similar to Hades but in a more retro side-scrolling format. Highly recommended if you don’t mind dying a lot. We also finished season three of Slow Horses, the best thing going on television these days.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this passage from Four Thousand Weeks that I reflect upon often:

In his play The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard puts an intensified version of this sentiment into the mouth of the nineteenth-century Russian philosopher Alexander Herzen, as he struggles to come to terms with the death of his son, who has drowned in a shipwreck – and whose life, Herzen insists, was no less valuable for never coming to fruition in adult accomplishments. “Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up,” Herzen says. “But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what only lives for a day. It pours the whole of itself into each moment … Life’s bounty is in its flow. Later is too late.

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Dispatch #12 (February 2024)

Posted 2024-02-04

We spent MLK weekend with my folks in the Shenandoah Valley, and visited Luray Caverns, something I’d done as a kid and still rips 30 years later. Neat place, highly recommended if you’re ever in that area. We also got some snow at our cabin, which was pretty fun for Nev.

I signed up for the Wrightsville Beach Valentine Run 10K in early February, which has added a little bit of focus to my running without the commitment of half-marathon training and gives us a good excuse to spend a weekend with Claire’s sister in Wilmington. Might try to keep that going, finding organized 10Ks in places we want to visit.

I stumbled on this article (via) about an iOS feature that periodically updates your lock screen to a random photo of a selected person. It is … delightful.

Here’s a new track called “Altocumulus”:

Altocumulus (/journal/dispatch-12-february-2024/Altocumulus.mp3)

I really set out to make a track that didn’t have a bass hit on one and three and snare on two and four, but some things you just can’t resist, though you can tell I tried for the first 90 or so seconds.

Also! My buddy Ken, who’s been the major source of inspiration and encouragement as I work on this stuff, recorded some percussion tracks for the song I recorded last month, “Orographic”:

Orographic Remix (ft Ken Quam) (/journal/dispatch-12-february-2024/Orographic Remix (ft Ken Quam).mp3)

I also found a really nice app for practicing scales. Apple catches a lot of shit for its app store policies – perhaps deservedly so – but as a consumer, it’s hard to complain. I traded a couple emails with my buddy Prayash. He’s a super talented musician (among other things) and has a new track out called “Weightless” that’s worth a listen. He also put a video on Instagram of his production process which is neat.

I installed these crossbars on our car in the hopes that we can avoid replacing it with something bigger for a while longer. I get a real kick out of DIY upgrades and fixes like this – using your brain and hands to adapt the things you have to better suit your needs is so, so satisfying. Fellow Durham blogger Christopher Butler put up a good post that speaks to this same idea:

One thing I hope my children learn is to nurture the balance of curiosity, creativity, and willingness to mess-up that is needed to make the world your own while you’re here.

Couple security updates: my favorite TOTP app, Raivo, got bought up by a shady-looking company, so I switched over to to 2FAS. Super smooth onboarding experience, and I actually prefer its authentication flow (browser plugin ➡️ push notification ➡️ Face ID ➡️ “Approve” ➡️ autofill). Also, I listened to a podcast some months back that described the damage a thief can do with a stolen iPhone, so when I learned about this new Stolen Device Protection feature, I enabled it immediately.

I finished Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales and decided to stay on the short fiction train with Story of Your Life and Others. I’m abler to engage with short stories containing topics I find unpleasant in long-form fiction, maybe because I’m less invested in the characters – I loved “Story of Your Life,” but I’ve absolutely no desire to watch Arrival, the movie it inspired.

Finally, I made a pair of updates to the website:

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  1. Running w3m -dump -o display_link_number=1 <url> gives a nice plaintext version of a webpage with numbered link references (via this helpful StackOverflow link) ↩︎

Dispatch #13 (March 2024)

Posted 2024-03-04

Highlights this month: a weekend in Wilmington, a successful 10K, and a solo dad weekend (including a rainy bike adventure followed by an incredible rainbow over Central Park). Plus some new music and a bunch of website improvements.

Here’s a new track called “Arcus” – smash play and read on.

Arcus (/journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/Arcus.mp3)

I’m really pleased with my result in the in the Wrightsville Beach Valentine Run 10K. You can see I’m still far from competitive, but that’s much faster than I ever thought I’d be when I started this journey in 2021. Running (at least at the level I’m at) is one of the few things you can get improve at just by showing up. Want to get better? Run more. Were all the other things I pursue so straightforward.

At the beginning of February, I updated the site to store encrypted photos and display them as black-and-white dithered images. I documented the process in some detail, and then put a link to it on the Hugo discussion forum. Imagine my surprise when, a few days later, one of the core contributors posted that the next version of Hugo would ship with native dithering functionality. I guess my post inspired him to add it, which echoed a post I’d read a few days earlier, “Publishing Your Work”:

I don’t create or publish in the hopes of influencing others. I create things because I have an urge to create. But it sure is great to help others along the way, however small my contribution might be.

I stumbled on a retrospective of the HFStival, a DC-area music festival that was a big part of my adolescence. I remembered that I made fan sites for a few of them, and after a few minutes of trying to recall the domains, I discovered that the 1998 and 1999 editions are still online. Not bad, 15-year-old Dave. Funny how I’m still doing basically the same thing 25+ years later, though I guess we have CSS now and I write in Markdown rather than hand-editing HTML files on a server.

I made several website updates this month:

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Dispatch #14 (April 2024)

Posted 2024-04-08

Busy March! My whole family came into town for a long weekend, then we headed down to Wilmington to run a race and spend time with Claire’s sister, then I was off to Vegas for the basketball tournament, and we capped things off at Lake Norman with Claire’s grandmother.

We had such a good time at the race last month that we all decided to sign up for the Steve Haydu St. Patrick’s Lo Tide Run. I didn’t do quite as well (results, certificate) but I had a great time and I got to catch the last mile or so of the 5K with Claire and Nev (my tiny runner).

I picked up a Roland SP-404 sampler – this thing’s super neat. It gives me something I can plug a guitar or microphone into, has a bunch of built-in effects, and plays nicely with the Novation Circuit Tracks (I can trigger samples with the MIDI sequencer, and I can run sound from the Circuit to the SP-404 to add effects). Here’s a track I made with them called “Asperatus”:

Asperatus (/journal/dispatch-14-april-2024/Asperatus.mp3)

I added some shelves to my existing workbench to hold all my music gear. Feeling good about this setup assuming I don’t buy anything else (😬).

I read a bunch of great books this month. The standout was certainly Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (read The Glass Hotel first). I also enjoyed Tress of the Emerald Sea – classic Sanderson shit.

I had a couple things printed this month. I made this e-ink photo frame a couple years back, and for the second year in a row, I sent all the photos off to Mixbook for a run of full-color, hardcover books I sent to my family. The frame’s lasted longer than I anticipated, but these’ll last longer. Also, most of my musical equipment provides its documentation as digital PDFs instead of printed manuals. I sent the PDFs for the Circuit Tracks and the SP-404 off to print-my-pdf.com and got back nice, wire-bound copies. I’ve made it about half way through the Circuit manual and learned a bunch already, something I’d never do w/ a 100+ page PDF on my computer. As Manuel Moreale says in a recent post:

The more we digitize the world the more analogue, physical objects become important.

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Dispatch #15 (May 2024)

Posted 2024-05-07

Big news, friends: we’re expecting a second kid in June. To celebrate, Claire and I headed to Lisbon for a long weekend. Highlights included the castles in Sintra (especially Quinta da Regaliera), biking in Cascais, and attending a Benfica match. We missed our Nevie, but she had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa, and it was nice to be able to stay out past 7pm.

While we were over there, I was pretty diligent about using Shazam whenever a song caught my ear and saving everything into Apple Notes. When I got back, I compiled all the tracks into a playlist1 that’s been on repeat ever since. It’s a pretty neat way to create a memento that’s unique to me and that doesn’t cost anything or take up any space, and is something I’ll plan to repeat on future trips.

I took part in Viget’s annual Pointless Palooza hackathon, building a tool to surface book recommendations based on messages in our #books Slack channel. We used Laravel to build the backend, something I’d heard good things about but have never used – it was easy to pick up and fun to work with. We also used an LLM to analyze the messages and pull title / author / sentiment. Some of the results were very impressive, some were hot nonsense (it frequently matched generic messages to The Great Gatsby or Gone with the Wind).

For our quarterly company event, I made this track with a bunch of samples I pulled from our Google Meet archive:

The Simple Secret Formula (/journal/dispatch-15-may-2024/The Simple Secret Formula.mp3)

Probably funnier if you’ve ever attended one of these events, but I think it holds up pretty well musically. Credit where it’s due, I pulled that Fm11/Ebmaj9 chord progression straight from this Lofi Chord Progressions article (the shaker’s all me though).

A comment on Reddit sent me down a little bit of an iPad music rabbit hole, and now I’ve got my Circuit Tracks driving two software synths on the iPad (digging Neo-Soul Keys and Minimoog Model D) in addition to the two built-in ones. It’s a tight little setup for travel, and I can even run a MIDI controller into it for more direct control of the synths.

Claire and I are both big fans of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. They’re on a tour for the 20th anniversaries of Transatlaticism and Give Up (man what a year 2003 must have been for Ben Gibbard) and we got tickets for the Raleigh show. They played both albums straight through. It was awesome, though when they finished Give Up and we were waiting for the encore, it sure made me wish Postal Service had ever made another record – we just heard their entire catalogue.

This Month

Reading

  1. Here’s my Lisbon playlist:

    1. P64 By My Side - John Carroll Kirby
    2. Need Your Body - Stimulator Jones
    3. Temptations - Jitwam
    4. Sunny - Bobby Hebb
    5. Mais Que Nada - Paulo Sergio
    6. Feet Keep Moving - Natural Self
    7. Make My Day - Waldeck
    8. Te Faço um Cafuné - Mariana Aydar
    9. Primavera - Ocote Soul Sounds
    10. When You’re Gone - Jon and Roy
    11. I Will Survive (lalala) - Hermes House Band
    12. Off to the Side - L’Impératrice
    13. I Believe in You - more*
    14. Love Story (Retromigration Remix) - Malik Hendricks
    15. Tout va bien - Voyou
    16. Aquela Bossa Axé - Affonsinho
     ↩︎

Dispatch #16 (June 2024)

Posted 2024-06-11

TOMORROW IS THE DAY we welcome baby brother to the world, and I wanted to get this out before everything changes. I’m excited, for sure, but bringing a baby into the world is a major thing and I’m anxious for Claire. The joy can come after, once everyone’s emerged healthy.

We had a great month with Nev. Highlights included a trip to the lake, the Running of the Bulls 8K, and the Beaver Queen Pagent. I want to say it was our best month so far, though that might just be preemptive nostalgia, since this is the last month she gets 100% of our attention. But she’s just such a fun little person. I couldn’t been more proud of her.

Here’s some new music:

Asperitas (/journal/dispatch-16-june-2024/Asperitas.mp3)

This was fun to make – a couple iPad synths connected to my Circuit Tracks, running into the SP-404 for effects, with my MIDI keyboard to add some wobble to the main synth line. I recorded this all in one take, which is not how most people make music like this, but it has a fun, performative aspect to it. I’ve also spent time trying to learn the SP-404 in earnest – it is a neat, complex machine.

This Month

Reading

I don’t have anything great this month but I recommend Baldur Bjarnason, Tim Hårek and Installer on the Verge for interesting links – they always seem to find good stuff.

Dispatch #17 (July 2024)

Posted 2024-07-10

We welcomed baby Nico on June 12. He and mama are both healthy and well. Nev’s a great big sister, if a little vigorous with her affection at times. It is a big shift, going from double coverage to single, but Claire and I both grew up in four-person households, and something about adding a second kid resonates at a very deep level.

I took a few weeks off after the birth, but I’m back to work now (mixed feelings on that – could have taken a longer break). We’ve been able to do a bit of traveling – quick trip up to Richmond to see my family, long weekend at Lake Norman with Claire’s.

A coworker at Viget, Nathan Long, publishes a weekly newsletter, and he recently gave me a little shout and included one of my favorite book quotes:

Pay attention, that’s all … Notice things. Connect what you’ve noticed. Connect it into a picture. Think of how the picture might be changed; and act to change it. Some of your acts may turn our to have been foolish, but others will reward you in surprising ways; and in the meantime, simply by being active instead of passive, you have a kind of immunity that’s hard to explain.

– Neal Stephenson, The Confusion

My buddy Ken, who records as Carillon, released a new album called Venus. Stream it wherever you stream your streams. He also worked with an animator to make a music video for one of the songs which is really pretty neat.

We’ve had a mouse in our house for the last few months. It didn’t really bother me, seemed pretty cute and harmless, and I’ve got ZERO appetite for mouse murder. But eventually he did make his way into our HVAC system and start causing problems, so I did a little bit of research and ordered a few of these humane traps. Turns out our mouse was actually six mice and counting.

I ordered a copy of Pouch magazine, “a new indie magazine for stationery lovers.” Really cool if you’re into pens and notebooks and things like that – just very well done. I hope the creator publishes more issues.

This Month

Reading

Creativity:

Parenting:

Gadgets:

AI:

  1. See also Tools & Toys, Justin Searls, cliophate ↩︎

Dispatch #18 (August 2024)

Posted 2024-08-13

Our boy’s two months old today! Look at this little dude.

We did a newborn photo shoot with G. Lin Photography, though no one told Nevie she wasn’t the star.

We took the kids to a few Bulls games. Snacks consumed: many. Baseball consumed: very little.

I finished Nev’s art table as well as a few other small projects. I doubt I’ll ever be a great (or even good) woodworker, but I derive considerable satisfaction from building simple pieces and quickly modifying things around the house.

I signed up for Bull City Race Fest half-marathon for what’ll be the third year in a row. It is so hot out right now that afternoon long runs aren’t really tenable, but night runs work well with my screwed up sleep schedule (though that’s how I turned my ankle something fierce last year). Knowing I need to be able to run 13 miles in a few short months is doing wonders for my discipline.

Randomly:

This Month

Reading

Dispatch #19 (September 2024)

Posted 2024-09-15

Highlights this month were our annual trips to Rehoboth Beach and Beaufort. There’s something I really like about travel traditions, especially with kids. You get the benefits of breaking the normal routine, but you’re able to build familiarity and not feel the need to see and do everything. It’s different than visiting some place you probably won’t see again.

Half-marathon training is going well. The timing of the Rehoboth trip couldn’t have been better, hitting at 4 weeks into my 12 week training program. I love running up there – the weather’s better, the terrain’s flatter, and the gravel trail at Cape Henlopen is just perfection. Felt like I could run forever.

We got Nev’s art table set up in the living room. It’s been a delight to see her take to it, defaulting to creative pursuits during downtime. I added some LED lighting and coat hooks. That’s the nice thing about making your own stuff: the freedom to modify and adapt.

Musically, I found a good deal on a pretty nice polyphonic analog synthesizer which I think will be helpful in properly learning subtractive synthesis (though this thing has a lot going on). So far just enjoying poking around w/ all the various settings. I’m also slowly working through a book on drum programming.

I finished Moonbound – I liked it, though it didn’t knock me over. It was definitely unlike anything I’ve read before, which I appreciate. I also listened to the Brotherhood of the Rose trilogy during my runs and long drives. I liked these a lot – tight, efficient spy thrillers.

This Month

Reading

Dispatch #20 (October 2024)

Posted 2024-10-01

Note: I’m trying to get back to posting these in the first couple days of the month, so this dispatch only covers the last two weeks.

I turned 42 this month (apparently I have a very common birthday). Hitchhiker’s Guide aside, 42 doesn’t seem a particularly important milestone, but it is the product of six and seven, and so 42 represents the end of my seventh six-year cycle, which is an interesting way to think about the phases of life.

What will the next six-year cycle bring? Hopefully more of the same. Life is grand.

To celebrate, we headed to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which was a scene. Nevie loved Dollywood and visiting with her grandparents, and we enjoyed some time at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Nico started daycare last week, which is bittersweet; it’s been wonderful having him around all day. But we love our daycare and it’s fun to have him and Nev in the same place.

Just a few more weeks until my half-marathon. I’m feeling relatively good, hitting my mileage goals, though I’m discouraged with my pace and energy level on the longer runs. I’m trying to make time to run while it’s light out – I don’t think running in the dark after a long day is doing me any favors.

Finished a couple small house projects: a hanging system for Nev’s art table and some storage for our reusable grocery bags.

One of my favorite things about running is this: it doesn’t matter what else happens throughout the day – if I run, it was a good day. I feel the same way about these little home improvement efforts: any day I use my tools, skills, and agency to improve our living space is a good day.

This Month

Reading

Dispatch #21 (November 2024)

Posted 2024-11-07

Of all the ways I thought Tuesday’s election might go, Trump winning a decisive victory was not something I’d thought possible. 2016 felt so … illegitimate, between the popular vote discrepancy and all the Russia stuff. 2024 feels like the majority of America just wants what he’s selling.

I don’t know what the next four years will bring – our best case scenario is a bunch of chaos and incompetence; our worst is … pretty bad, a major restructuring of American life. I’m going to limit my exposure to all of his nonsense. I lost so much time during his first term on think pieces, Twitter threads, etc. that just made me feel like shit.

It feels kind of dumb putting this post together in light of these major events, but, maybe, the values I’m trying to put out into the world – family, community, creativity, mindfulness around information consumption – are part of the solution to the problems we’re facing. Onward.

We went down to Wilmington to meet our new nephew/cousin. It was bonkers to see Nico alongside a fresh newborn. LOOK HOW BIG MY BOY IS. LOOK AT MY LARGE SON.

I ran the Bull City Race Fest half-marathon for the third year in a row, hitting a personal best time of 8:50/mile (result, certificate). Claire and Nev met me at around mile seven with a bottle of Gatorade that got me through the hilly final stretch.

We spent a weekend camping (“camping” – the cabins were, uh, quite plush) at Fairy Stone State Park with a big group of friends. Highlights included taking Nev out on a paddleboard, trick-or-treating between the cabins, and cooking a bunch of food for folks. Hope to be back in 2025.

I made several website updates this month:

Finally, I’ve had Ian Ewing’s Sunday on repeat all month. Check it out.

This Month

Reading

I’m a big fan of Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman’s previous (anti-)time-management book. When I read the description of Meditations for Mortals, I was a little bit skeptical that it might just be trying to capitalize on the prior book’s success without much new to say. Happy to be wrong though! Each short chapter has given me something to reflect on. Favorite passage so far:

It’s not that systems for getting things done are bad, exactly. (Rules for meaningful productivity do have a role to play, and we’ll turn to some of them later.) It’s just that they’re not the main point. The main point – thought it took me years to realize it – is to develop the willingness to just do something, here and now, as a one-off, regardless of whether it’s part of any system or habit or routine. If you don’t prioritize the skill of just doing something, you risk falling into an exceedingly sneaky trap, which is that you end up embarking instead on the unnecessary and, worse, counterproductive project of becoming the kind of person who does that sort of thing.

Dispatch #22 (December 2024)

Posted 2024-12-04

I lost my notebook. I’ve been keeping a Bullet Journal-style notebook for the last several years. It’s got everything in it: my daily log, journal entries, short- and long-term todo lists, all my upcoming events, meeting notes, woodworking plans, everything. And I lost it. I brought it to a 1-on-1 meeting with one of my guys at a local bar, and then rushed out to make it to daycare on time, and somewhere along the way, I misplaced it.

Once I realized it was missing, I retraced all my steps from that evening, thinking maybe I’d left it on top of the car, but no luck. I was on grief stage four, wallowing in depression, when I stumbled on an article on Daring Fireball that’s really about Trump’s victory, but that uses his father’s lost wedding ring as a framing device. It hit … hard.

But that story ends on a positive note, and guess what? The next morning, I got an email from a kind soul who found my notebook on top of a parking meter, and got it back that afternoon. The first thing I did when I got home was to order an AirTag and a little holder to attach it to the wire binding. Never again.

We ventured to upstate New York to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. Ended up skipping the Troy Turkey Trot – it was miserable out, though I wish I’d just gone for it. The trip was a perfect way to welcome the winter – cozy, snowy. Sarah Beth & co. were wonderful hosts.

I loved this quote from Freddie DeBoer about what he’s thankful for:

Thanksgiving. No commercialism or materialism. No overt religiosity. No stress about getting the right presents. No pressure to find a cool party like with Halloween. The weather of late fall, the natural rhythms of harvest and feast before the winter, the pleasure of a holiday devoted to the concept of being grateful. The football, the family, the food. The after-meal nap. The wonderfully laidback nature of the whole affair. My favorite holiday.

I’ve outgrown the music setup I built a few months ago, and ordered a three-tiered rack to hold my synths.

This has been a ton of fun – I can play chords on the Prophet with my left hand, melodies on the Bass Station with my right, drums + sequencing with the Circuit, and then the SP-404 at the end for effects. Next up: build a simple workstation, add a mixer and MIDI interface to drive more instruments.

Random small stuff:

This Month

Reading & Listening

Dispatch #23 (January 2025)

Posted 2025-01-03

Happy new year! Nev turned three this month, and somewhere – not from us, as far as we know – she’s added the word “sucks” to her vocabulary. “This juice tastes like bananas … and it sucks.” This is, in my estimation, the hardest thing about parenting: how to raise a well-mannered child when there’s nothing funnier than a toddler being crass.

We threw a party for her at our local park, and it was super cool to gather the bulk of our little community all in one place to celebrate her. Nico hit six months, and he is flourishing: eating solids, starting to get some baby rolls, big smiles.

We spent Christmas in Greensboro with Claire’s family (and a bunch of dogs). Nev got a new bike and a dope three-string guitar (both pink, her favorite color). Nico got a taco.

Then we were off to Mexico to celebrate our FIVE YEAR anniversary and the new year (after a tense wait to see if Nico’s passport would arrive in time). We spent the better part of the week at Sensira Resort. It was grand.

Random small stuff:

I’ll end this dispatch with a recording of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” I made with a friend and former coworker, Eli, for our company holiday party:

Merry Gentlemen (/journal/dispatch-23-january-2025/Merry Gentlemen.mp3)

Comfort and joy to you and yours.

This Month

Reading & Listening

Dispatch #24 (February 2025)

Posted 2025-02-05

We actually got some snow here in Durham, which is not something that happens every year. We took the kids out sledding, and, well, I had a good time; they’ll grow into it. Nev and I built a wagon out of scrap lumber and some casters that roll a little bit too well. We let Nev pick the paint colors and so it’s three shades of pink. We built it for her to wheel her toys around, but you know we plopped that boy in there within the first hour.

My hi-fi audio setup is complete, for now and hopefully forever. The speakers I originally ordered were way too big, so I replaced them with a pair of Polk ES15s. I built speaker stands out of plywood and some hairpin table legs, and got everything wired up. It sounds great!

I’ve been on a bit of a digital detox the last few weeks. I’ve gradually cut the big social media sites out over the last few years in favor of RSS plus a few high-quality websites. But even the indie web feels fraught right now, and I don’t have the self-discipline to avoid following links that I know are going to make me upset. So I’ve blocked off all my usual haunts. I’ll probably implement some kind of scheduled time where I can catch up (i.e. Thursdays after the kids go to bed), but for now, I’m not missing it.

I’ve been an on-and-off journaler for a long time, but the notebooks I prefer aren’t great for long-form journaling as they encourage very small handwriting. I picked up a Stalogy Editor’s Series 365Days Notebook and have written a page every night for the last several weeks. It’s been a nice way to put a bow on the day. I also picked up Twelve South HoverBar Duo, which lets me point an iPad right at the kids for FaceTime calls. It’s a nice thing, and it’s definitely encouraged more calls to grandparents and cousins.

At work, I received a promotion to VP of Development. I traveled with the leadership team down to Tampa, Florida which was … quite nice? Guess I’ve really only ever been to Miami and Orlando and didn’t leave with especially favorable impressions. Highlights included a e-boat ride and a five-mile run along the Tampa Riverwalk.

I’ve spent the last few weeks rescuing a Drupal project that’s gone off the rails. ChatGPT has been invaluable as I hack my way through an unfamiliar platform; I’m not sure how it has such good information when all the content on the web is so bad. On the flip side, I suspect that a lot of the original code was written by an LLM – it is verbose and full of subtle bugs. The AI sword cuts both ways. It’s been gratifying to help my coworkers out of a sticky spot, to be sure.

Finally, I started writing these dispatches in March of 2023, and this one represents two full years of doing these. To celebrate/commemorate, I’ve wired up a Hugo template that dumps all the content out in a printer-friendly way, and I’m going to have a hardcover book printed. A little bit vainglorious? Perhaps! But:

I will leave you with a suggested question to ask other blog writers: What will happen to your blog after you’re gone? I ask because I don’t have a good answer for this. I don’t think anything I’ve written is critical for future generations, but I’d also like my eventual great-grand-kids to be able to read a bit about how their old great-grand-dad saw the world (if they care to).

– Steven Garrity

This Month

Reading & Listening

References

Dispatch #1 (March 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-1-march-2023/
  2. https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/designer/
  3. https://bookshop.org/p/books/burner-mark-greaney/18519742
  4. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-power-of-habit-why-we-do-what-we-do-in-life-and-business-charles-duhigg/7843601
  5. https://craigmod.com/essays/electric_bikes/
  6. https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2022/programming-is-a-pop-culture/
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/style/julia-cameron-the-artists-way.html

Dispatch #2 (April 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-2-april-2023/
  2. https://www.viget.com/articles/the-enduring-point-of-pointless-corp/
  3. https://capstoneraces.com/tar-heel-10-miler/
  4. https://www.aventon.com/products/pace500-3-step-through-ebike?variant=42381879279811
  5. /journal/dispatch-2-april-2023/catawba.pdf
  6. https://go.dev/
  7. https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-plan-b-a-jack-reacher-novel-lee-child/18543325?ean=9781984818546
  8. https://bookshop.org/p/books/make-time-how-to-focus-on-what-matters-every-day-jake-knapp/12094196?ean=9780525572428
  9. https://verbose.club/
  10. https://caddyserver.com/
  11. https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2023-03-14-how-to-tell-if-ai-threatens-your-job/
  12. https://jeffhuang.com/designed_to_last/

Dispatch #3 (May 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-3-may-2023/
  2. https://www.aventon.com/products/pace500-3-step-through-ebike
  3. /journal/dispatch-3-may-2023/10_miler_results.pdf
  4. /journal/dispatch-3-may-2023/10_miler_certificate.png
  5. https://bookshop.org/p/books/long-shadows-david-baldacci/18261851?ean=9781538719824
  6. https://bookshop.org/p/books/building-a-second-brain-a-proven-method-to-organize-your-digital-life-and-unlock-your-creative-potential-tiago-forte/18265370?ean=9781982167387
  7. https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/advice/podcast-816-building-a-second-brain/
  8. https://bookshop.org/p/books/this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war-amal-el-mohtar/18270911
  9. https://warpspire.com/posts/some-favorite-reads-2022
  10. https://www.viget.com/articles/simple-commit-linting-for-issue-number-in-github-actions/
  11. https://www.annahavron.com/blog/what-do-you-want-to-make-real-in-the-world
  12. https://maggieappleton.com/garden-history

Dispatch #4 (June 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-4-june-2023/
  2. https://www.tidesinn.com/
  3. https://www.segway.com/ninebot-kickscooter-max/
  4. https://www.jewishforgood.org/
  5. https://bookshop.org/p/books/building-a-second-brain-a-proven-method-to-organize-your-digital-life-and-unlock-your-creative-potential-tiago-forte/18265370?ean=9781982167387
  6. https://logseq.com/
  7. https://obsidian.md/
  8. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/obsidian-web/edoacekkjanmingkbkgjndndibhkegad
  9. /notes/
  10. https://maggieappleton.com/garden-history
  11. /notes/golang/
  12. https://bullcityrunning.com/our-races/running-of-the-bulls-8k/
  13. /notes/good-tests/
  14. https://bookshop.org/p/books/rapt-attention-and-the-focused-life-winifred-gallagher/7485226?ean=9780143116905
  15. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-graduate-naomi-novik/15537202?ean=9780593128886
  16. https://www.viget.com/articles/whats-in-a-word-building-a-verbose-party-game/
  17. /journal/dispatch-2-april-2023/
  18. https://www.annahavron.com/blog/why-have-a-values-plan
  19. https://thesweetsetup.com/turning-obsidian-into-my-perfect-writing-app/

Dispatch #5 (July 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-5-july-2023/
  2. https://bullcityrunning.com/our-races/running-of-the-bulls-8k/
  3. https://www.valetmag.com/the-handbook/living/how-to-slow-down-time.php
  4. https://1up-usa.com/product/2-super-duty-double
  5. https://www.thule.com/en-us/child-bike-seats/rear-mounted-child-bike-seats/thule-yepp-nexxt-maxi-_-12080211
  6. https://timharek.no/blog/my-thoughts-on-helix-after-6-months
  7. https://maggieappleton.com/apps
  8. /notes/good-tests/
  9. https://helix-editor.com/
  10. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-golden-enclaves-naomi-novik/17789027?ean=9780593158357
  11. https://bookshop.org/p/books/rapt-attention-and-the-focused-life-winifred-gallagher/7485226?ean=9780143116905
  12. https://bookshop.org/p/books/visual-thinking-empowering-people-and-organisations-through-visual-collaboration-williemien-brand/12408256?ean=9789063694531
  13. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-manual-a-philosopher-s-guide-to-life-epictetus/15150488?ean=9781545461112
  14. https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/ai-and-software-quality/
  15. https://benhoyt.com/writings/the-small-web-is-beautiful/
  16. https://maggieappleton.com/still-cant-draw

Dispatch #6 (August 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-6-august-2023/
  2. https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233954
  3. https://helix-editor.com/
  4. /journal/a-month-with-helix/
  5. https://exercism.org/tracks/go
  6. https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea
  7. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  8. https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea
  9. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/standalones-cosmere/#TRESS
  10. https://www.manning.com/books/the-creative-programmer
  11. https://brainbaking.com/
  12. https://inkdroid.org/2023/06/04/copilot/
  13. https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/phase-change/
  14. https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2023-07-12-the-looming-demise-of-the-10x-developer/
  15. https://mike.puddingtime.org/posts/2023-07-17-daily-notes/#notes-on-conflict

Dispatch #7 (September 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-7-september-2023/
  2. https://funlandrehoboth.com/
  3. https://delawaregreenways.org/trail/gordons-pond-trail/
  4. https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/
  5. https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/media/3784285
  6. https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/media/6525209
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Kinnear
  8. https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/media/2152378
  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Guidall
  10. https://www.wunc.org/news/2023-08-16/storm-damage-durham-power-outage-closures-north-carolina-816
  11. /journal/dispatch-6-august-2023/
  12. https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea
  13. https://www.getharvest.com/forecast
  14. https://github.com/stretchr/testify
  15. /journal/a-month-with-helix/
  16. https://twonerds.net/blog/radda-in-chianti-to-siena
  17. https://www.rosselbalepalme.it/en/glamping-lodge.php
  18. https://carillon58.bandcamp.com/album/the-whole-earth
  19. /journal/dispatch-4-june-2023/
  20. https://bookshop.org/p/books/forever-and-a-day-a-james-bond-novel-anthony-horowitz/7998118
  21. https://www.manning.com/books/the-creative-programmer
  22. https://brainbaking.com/
  23. https://calnewport.com/on-tools-and-the-aesthetics-of-work/
  24. https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/behavior/exit-voice-loyalty-neglect-why-people-leave-stay-or-try-to-burn-it-all-down/
  25. https://chrisnotes.io/digital-notetaking-stack
  26. https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/25/23845590/note-taking-apps-ai-chat-distractions-notion-roam-mem-obsidian

Dispatch #8 (October 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-8-october-2023/
  2. https://www.rosselbalepalme.it/en/glamping-lodge.php
  3. https://www.infoelba.com/island-of-elba/beaches/sansone-beach/
  4. https://www.infoelba.com/discovering-elba/communes-towns/rio-marina/cavo/
  5. https://ilpomodorino.it/
  6. https://www.airalo.com/
  7. https://us.novationmusic.com/products/circuit-tracks
  8. https://usa.yamaha.com/products/music_production/synthesizers/reface/reface_cp.html
  9. https://bonobomusic.com/
  10. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  11. https://cityofoaksmarathon.com/
  12. https://github.com/famendola1/yfquery
  13. https://bookshop.org/p/books/double-or-nothing-a-double-o-novel-kim-sherwood/18644028?ean=9780063236516
  14. https://bookshop.org/p/books/enemy-of-the-state-vince-flynn/6701730?ean=9781982147525
  15. https://bookshop.org/p/books/step-by-step-mixing-how-to-create-great-mixes-using-only-5-plug-ins-bjorgvin-benediktsson/9946155?ean=9781733688802
  16. https://www.stepbystepmixing.com/
  17. https://xeiaso.net/blog/gokrazy/
  18. https://www.wired.com/story/i-finally-reached-computing-nirvana-what-was-it-all-for/
  19. https://stephango.com/style

Dispatch #9 (November 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-9-november-2023/
  2. https://www.lifeandscience.org/
  3. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  4. /journal/dispatch-9-november-2023/bcrf-result.pdf
  5. /journal/dispatch-9-november-2023/bcrf-cert.png
  6. https://freematics.com/products/freematics-one/
  7. https://gin-gonic.com/
  8. https://github.com/jqlang/jq
  9. /journal/dispatch-7-september-2023/
  10. https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/clouds-varieties-radiatus.html
  11. https://lackofafro.com/
  12. /music/
  13. https://www.viget.com/articles
  14. /elsewhere/
  15. https://nokogiri.org/
  16. /elsewhere/pandoc-a-tool-i-use-and-like/
  17. https://git.sr.ht/~dce/davideisinger.com/tree/cc3cebb27c7d0340747a9ba0a406da2ad475a634/bin/renumber
  18. https://troyturkeytrot.com/
  19. https://edmtips.com/edm-song-structure/
  20. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635346/the-secret-by-lee-child-and-andrew-child/
  21. https://www.vinceflynn.com/mitch-rapp-17
  22. https://bookshop.org/p/books/step-by-step-mixing-how-to-create-great-mixes-using-only-5-plug-ins-bjorgvin-benediktsson/9946155?ean=9781733688802
  23. https://www.stepbystepmixing.com/
  24. https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/audio/a45461959/tascam-portastudio-414-mkii/
  25. https://samkriss.substack.com/p/the-internet-is-already-over
  26. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/magazine/stale-culture.html
  27. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/10/reasons-to-get-e-bike-emissions-climate-change-benefits/675716/
  28. https://josem.co/the-beauty-of-finished-software/

Dispatch #10 (December 2023)

  1. /journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/
  2. https://catskillmountainrailroad.com/event/the-polar-express/
  3. https://troyturkeytrot.com/
  4. /journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/ttt-result.pdf
  5. /journal/dispatch-10-december-2023/ttt-cert.pdf
  6. /journal/keep-markdown-links-in-order-with-mdrenum/
  7. https://git.sr.ht/~dce/mdrenum
  8. https://www.critterandguitari.com/201-pocket-piano
  9. https://equipboard.com/pros/bonobo
  10. https://www.viget.com/articles/maintenance-matters-good-tests/
  11. /elsewhere/maintenance-matters-good-tests/
  12. /notes/2023-holiday-gift-guide/
  13. https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/flisat-childrens-table-30298419/
  14. https://www.ableton.com/en/live/
  15. https://bookshop.org/p/books/remote-control-andy-mcnab/15505041?ean=9781787397231
  16. https://bookshop.org/p/books/step-by-step-mixing-how-to-create-great-mixes-using-only-5-plug-ins-bjorgvin-benediktsson/9946155?ean=9781733688802
  17. https://www.stepbystepmixing.com/
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/02/travel/things-to-do-durham-nc.html
  19. https://www.viceroydurham.com/
  20. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/20/a-coder-considers-the-waning-days-of-the-craft?currentPage=all
  21. https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/look-at-scientology-to-understand
  22. https://allaboutcoding.ghinda.com/ruby-open-source-feedbin

Dispatch #11 (January 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/
  2. https://mbcmuseum.com/
  3. https://www.visitgreensboronc.com/things-to-do/attractions/the-rotary-club-of-greensboro-carousel.aspx
  4. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V55KDRG
  5. https://www.chrbutler.com/organization-office
  6. https://analogoffice.net/2023/05/31/the-lifechanging-magic.html
  7. https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keystep-37/overview
  8. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dead-cells-switch/
  9. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/hades-switch/
  10. https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o
  11. https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-thousand-weeks-time-management-for-mortals-oliver-burkeman/18140090?ean=9781250849359
  12. https://luraycaverns.com/
  13. https://www.roland.com/us/products/ju-06a/
  14. https://bookshop.org/p/books/revenge-eleven-dark-tales-yoko-ogawa/8623565
  15. https://hackerstations.com/setups/kasia/
  16. https://bookshop.org/p/books/essentialism-the-disciplined-pursuit-of-less-greg-mckeown/9404336
  17. https://sive.rs/ti
  18. https://baty.net/2024/01/ending-my-openbsd-experiment
  19. https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2024-01-02-plant-your-flag-career-advice/
  20. https://vladh.net/wage-labour-resources/
  21. https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/december-2023/

Dispatch #12 (February 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-12-february-2024/
  2. https://luraycaverns.com/
  3. https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/WrightsvilleBeach/WrightsvilleBeachValentineRun
  4. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/01/iphone-grief-dynamic-wallpaper/677034/
  5. https://sixcolors.com/link/2024/01/grief-and-a-photo-shuffle/
  6. https://carillon58.bandcamp.com/
  7. /journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/
  8. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/piano-chords-and-scales/id714086944
  9. https://prayash.io/links/
  10. https://music.apple.com/us/album/weightless/1722942938?i=1722942941
  11. https://www.instagram.com/p/C2bWin4rSLG/
  12. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045V8CKU
  13. https://www.chrbutler.com/
  14. https://www.chrbutler.com/2024-01-21
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_one-time_password
  16. https://blog.thenewoil.org/changes-arent-permanent-but-change-is
  17. https://2fas.com/
  18. https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2023/07/11/ep-381
  19. https://gizmodo.com/stop-everything-enable-stolen-device-protection-iphone-1851188262
  20. https://bookshop.org/p/books/revenge-eleven-dark-tales-yoko-ogawa/8623565
  21. https://bookshop.org/p/books/stories-of-your-life-and-others-lib-e-ted-chiang/16687839
  22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film)
  23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)
  24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3m
  25. https://elliotjaystocks.com/blog/2023-in-review
  26. /journal/encrypt-and-dither-photos-in-hugo/
  27. https://bookshop.org/p/books/stories-of-your-life-and-others-lib-e-ted-chiang/16687839
  28. https://bookshop.org/p/books/bird-by-bird-some-instructions-on-writing-and-life-anne-lamott/8649952?ean=9780385480017
  29. https://www.irunfar.com/stride-by-stride
  30. https://kimberlyhirsh.com/now/
  31. https://hypercritical.co/2024/01/11/i-made-this
  32. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-rise-and-fall-of-getting-things-done
  33. https://dubroy.com/blog/cold-blooded-software/
  34. https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/cold-blooded-software/
  35. https://www.cygnoir.net/2024/01/20/how-i-pocket.html
  36. https://www.thecramped.com/how-i-pocket-notebook-cygnoir-net/
  37. https://macwright.com/2019/01/02/paper-notes
  38. https://timharek.no/blog/paper-notes
  39. https://macwright.com/2024/01/28/work-hard-and-take-everything-seriously
  40. https://askubuntu.com/questions/805014/getting-text-and-links-from-a-web-page/1493418#1493418

Dispatch #13 (March 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/
  2. /journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/wbvr-result.pdf
  3. https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/WrightsvilleBeach/WrightsvilleBeachValentineRun
  4. /journal/encrypt-and-dither-photos-in-hugo/
  5. https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/encrypt-and-dither-photos-in-hugo/48157
  6. https://gohugo.io/functions/images/dither/
  7. https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/pull/12016#issuecomment-1936664139
  8. https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/publish-your-work/
  9. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/remembering-hfstival-dcs-biggest-music-festival/65-60a8d4f0-68a7-4ac0-b79a-80d596e6ec67
  10. https://hfs98.tripod.com/
  11. https://hfs99.tripod.com/
  12. https://jasonmurray.org/posts/2021/rssfulltexthugo/
  13. https://favicon.io/favicon-generator/
  14. https://www.ansible.com/
  15. https://www.docker.com/
  16. https://caddyserver.com/
  17. https://textpattern.com/
  18. https://techoverflow.net/2020/10/24/create-a-systemd-service-for-your-docker-compose-project-in-10-seconds/
  19. https://buttondown.email/
  20. https://listmonk.app/
  21. https://dispatch.davideisinger.com/subscription/form
  22. https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/CarolinaBeach/LoTideRun
  23. https://www.amazon.com/Fidget-Rainbow-Stocking-Stuffers-Fillers/dp/B092M5DS4X
  24. https://threejs.org/
  25. https://www.roland.com/global/products/sp-404mk2/
  26. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dispossessed-ursula-k-le-guin/7899183
  27. https://bookshop.org/p/books/dilla-time-the-life-and-afterlife-of-j-dilla-the-hip-hop-producer-who-reinvented-rhythm-dan-charnas/18415833?ean=9781250862976
  28. https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/
  29. https://www.wheresyoured.at/sam-altman-fried/
  30. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/02/chatbots-ai-neal-stephenson-diamond-age/677364/
  31. https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/18/24075077/bose-ultra-open-superlist-bulletin-text-files-note-apps-installer
  32. https://blog.thenewoil.org/skiff-should-be-a-reminder-to-us-all
  33. https://www.theverge.com/23938533/self-hosting-local-first-software-vergecast
  34. https://stephango.com/file-over-app
  35. https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/more-files-plz/
  36. https://jenson.org/files/
  37. https://projects.kwon.nyc/internet-is-fun/
  38. https://jamesshelley.com/blog/writing-on-the-internet.html
  39. https://www.patrickrhone.net/14412-2/
  40. https://matthiasott.com/notes/the-year-of-the-personal-website

Dispatch #14 (April 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-14-april-2024/
  2. /journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/
  3. https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/CarolinaBeach/LoTideRun
  4. /journal/dispatch-14-april-2024/spltr-result.pdf
  5. /journal/dispatch-14-april-2024/spltr-cert.pdf
  6. https://www.roland.com/global/products/sp-404mk2/
  7. https://bookshop.org/p/books/sea-of-tranquility-emily-st-john-mandel/17768221
  8. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-glass-hotel-emily-st-john-mandel/15791463
  9. https://bookshop.org/p/books/winter-2023-tor-title-to-be-announced-announced/19018157?ean=9781250899651
  10. /elsewhere/making-an-email-powered-e-paper-picture-frame/
  11. https://www.mixbook.com/
  12. https://www.print-my-pdf.com/
  13. https://manuelmoreale.com/from-ink-to-pixel-to-ink
  14. https://www.slbenfica.pt/en-us/
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Belgariad
  16. https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/03/february-2024/#books-ive-read
  17. https://www.eddiedale.com/blog/why-keep-writing
  18. https://buttondown.email/ownyourweb/archive/issue-12/
  19. https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2024/the-software-crisis-easter-sale/
  20. https://andrewkelley.me/post/why-we-cant-have-nice-software.html
  21. https://johan.hal.se/wrote/2024/03/05/churn/
  22. https://www.fromjason.xyz/p/notebook/any-technology-indistinguishable-from-magic-is-hiding-something/
  23. https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/03/your-blog-should-have-an-about-page/
  24. https://www.chrbutler.com/2024-03-09

Dispatch #15 (May 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-15-may-2024/
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinta_da_Regaleira
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascais
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.L._Benfica
  5. https://www.shazam.com/
  6. https://www.viget.com/articles/stackstash-taking-bookish-musings-to-the-next-level/
  7. https://laravel.com/
  8. https://blog.landr.com/lofi-chord-progressions/
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/1ci0jcr/comment/l26rjp1/
  10. https://gospelmusicians.com/products/neo-soul-keys-studio-2
  11. https://www.moogmusic.com/products/minimoog-model-d-synthesizer-app
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Belgariad
  13. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-creative-act-a-way-of-being-rick-rubin/18543579
  14. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/parenting-anxiety-happiness-children/677960/
  15. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/opinion/parenting-mistakes-joy.html
  16. https://cliophate.wtf/posts/boox-palma-review
  17. https://www.citationneeded.news/ai-isnt-useless/
  18. https://defector.com/the-judgment-of-magneto
  19. https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/on-giant-piles-of-cash-and-their

Dispatch #16 (June 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-16-june-2024/
  2. https://bullcityrunning.com/our-races/running-of-the-bulls-8k/
  3. https://beaverqueen.swell.gives/event
  4. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44687.Enchanters_End_Game
  5. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10009377-the-12-week-year
  6. https://softwarecrisis.dev/
  7. https://timharek.no/blog/2024-may-recently
  8. https://www.theverge.com/installer-newsletter

Dispatch #17 (July 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-17-july-2024/
  2. https://nathan-long.com/
  3. https://buttondown.email/nathanlong/archive
  4. https://buttondown.email/nathanlong/archive/just-du-it-and-the-legend-of-link/
  5. https://carillon58.bandcamp.com/album/venus
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SySKeQDWtqA
  7. https://gerossi.com/product/humane-catch-and-release-indoor-outdoor-mouse-traps-pack-of-2/
  8. https://pouchmagazine.com/
  9. https://bookshop.org/p/books/mr-penumbra-s-24-hour-bookstore-robin-sloan/15554054
  10. https://www.robinsloan.com/
  11. https://bookshop.org/p/books/music-theory-for-electronic-music-producers-the-producer-s-guide-to-harmony-chord-progressions-and-song-structure-in-the-midi-grid-j-anthony-allen/11905226?ean=9781727863024
  12. https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/midyear-in-a-mid-year
  13. /journal/dispatch-9-november-2023/#music
  14. https://kylekukshtel.com/francis-bacon-creative-meditation-studio-space
  15. https://austinkleon.com/2021/04/01/give-yourself-what-you-needed-and-your-kids-what-they-need/
  16. https://waitbutwhy.com/2023/05/baby.html
  17. https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/
  18. https://www.theverge.com/24184777/boox-palma-e-ink-smartphone-reader
  19. https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/
  20. https://justin.searls.co/posts/dear-ai-companies-please-scrape-this-website/
  21. http://toolsandtoys.net/boox-palma-phone-sized-epaper-tablet/
  22. https://justin.searls.co/casts/breaking-change-v15-an-eink-ipod-touch/
  23. https://cliophate.wtf/posts/boox-palma-review

Dispatch #18 (August 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-18-august-2024/
  2. https://www.glinphotography.com/
  3. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  4. /journal/dispatch-8-october-2023/
  5. https://defector.com/the-limits-of-the-billionaire-imagination-are-everyones-problem
  6. https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-rot-economy/
  7. https://www.citationneeded.news/ai-isnt-useless/
  8. https://birocratic.bandcamp.com/album/ninety-nine
  9. https://bookshop.org/p/books/wizard-s-design-robin-sloan/20374751
  10. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-beyond-your-head-on-becoming-an-individual-in-an-age-of-distraction-matthew-b-crawford/8484056?ean=9780374535919
  11. https://macwright.com/2024/08/01/recently
  12. https://macwright.com/2024/07/07/world-beyond-your-head
  13. https://hauken.io/time-travelling/
  14. https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/24/24204706/marc-andreessen-ben-horowitz-a16z-trump-donations
  15. https://danilafe.com/blog/blog_microfeatures/
  16. https://johnpweiss.com/blog/196014/a-diminishing-portfolio-of-enthusiasms

Dispatch #19 (September 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-19-september-2024/
  2. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R66Z71S
  3. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M3Q6QHN
  4. https://sequential.com/product/prophetrev2/
  5. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6399596-drum-programming
  6. https://www.robinsloan.com/moonbound/
  7. https://www.goodreads.com/series/60498-mortalis
  8. https://www.pigeonforge.com/
  9. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6399596-drum-programming
  10. https://bookshop.org/p/books/son-of-the-black-sword-volume-1-larry-correia/7419811?ean=9781476781570
  11. https://kevquirk.com/blog/son-of-the-black-sword
  12. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-beyond-your-head-on-becoming-an-individual-in-an-age-of-distraction-matthew-b-crawford/8484056?ean=9780374535919
  13. https://rachsmith.com/lower-the-bar/
  14. https://culture.ghost.io/cultural-stasis-produces-fewer-cheesy-relics-like-rocky-iv/
  15. https://alexplescan.com/posts/2024/08/10/wezterm/
  16. https://doriantaylor.com/p-dumb
  17. https://snarkmarket.com/2010/4890/

Dispatch #20 (October 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-20-october-2024/
  2. https://www.zippia.com/advice/most-least-common-birthdays/
  3. https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/42
  4. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  5. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/fairy-stone
  6. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6399596-drum-programming
  7. https://bookshop.org/p/books/house-of-assassins-volume-2-larry-correia/218731?ean=9781982124458
  8. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-beyond-your-head-on-becoming-an-individual-in-an-age-of-distraction-matthew-b-crawford/8484056?ean=9780374535919
  9. https://austinkleon.com/2019/01/18/beyond-survival-mode/
  10. https://sive.rs/whn
  11. https://www.wired.com/story/attention-spoiled-software-engineers-take-a-lesson-from-googles-programming-language/
  12. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/23/the-art-of-taking-it-slow
  13. https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/to-learn-to-live-in-a-mundane-universe?publication_id=295937&amp;post_id=148918222&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=1dfk2&amp;triedRedirect=true
  14. https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/coming-home
  15. https://austinkleon.com/2023/03/20/a-good-assistant-to-your-future-self/
  16. https://macwright.com/2024/09/15/cryptos-missing-plateau-of-productivity.html

Dispatch #21 (November 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-21-november-2024/
  2. https://capstoneraces.com/bull-city-race-fest/
  3. /journal/dispatch-21-november-2024/bcrf-2024-result.pdf
  4. /journal/dispatch-21-november-2024/bcrf-2024-cert.png
  5. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/fairy-stone
  6. https://sourcehut.org/
  7. /journal/migrating-from-github-to-sourcehut/
  8. https://pinboard.in/u:DCE/public/
  9. https://git.sr.ht/~dce/davideisinger.com/tree/main/item/bin/links
  10. https://ianewing.bandcamp.com/album/sunday
  11. https://troyturkeytrot.com/
  12. https://melodics.com/finger-drumming
  13. https://bookshop.org/p/books/tower-of-silence-larry-correia/18647995?ean=9781982192532
  14. https://bookshop.org/p/books/meditations-for-mortals-four-weeks-to-embrace-your-limitations-and-finally-make-time-for-what-counts-oliver-burkeman/21068779
  15. https://bookshop.org/p/books/dilla-time-the-life-and-afterlife-of-j-dilla-the-hip-hop-producer-who-reinvented-rhythm-dan-charnas/18415833?ean=9781250862976
  16. /journal/dispatch-11-january-2024/
  17. https://xoxofest.com/2024/videos/cabel-sasser/
  18. https://kristoff.it/blog/static-site-paradox/
  19. https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/exploring-desktop-linux/
  20. https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai
  21. https://syllabusproject.org/a-syllabus-for-generalists/
  22. https://anniemueller.com/posts/how-to-do-the-rss
  23. https://www.theverge.com/c/24235606/world-of-warcraft-legacy-mmorpg-blizzard-2004
  24. https://werd.io/2024/it-turns-out-im-still-excited-about-the-web
  25. https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/
  26. https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go
  27. https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/
  28. https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/person-in-personal-website/

Dispatch #22 (December 2024)

  1. /journal/dispatch-22-december-2024/
  2. https://bulletjournal.com/
  3. https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/how_it_went
  4. https://www.belkin.com/p/secure-holder-with-wire-cable-for-airtag/P-MSC009.html
  5. https://troyturkeytrot.com/
  6. https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/what-im-thankful-for
  7. /journal/dispatch-14-april-2024/
  8. https://neuserivertrail.com/
  9. /journal/spellcheck-your-hugo-site-with-cspell/
  10. https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-lp120xbt-usb
  11. https://www.turntablelab.com/collections/j-dilla-vinyl-records/products/j-dilla-donuts-smile-cover-2lp
  12. https://bookshop.org/p/books/graveyard-of-demons-larry-correia/21080837?ean=9781982193737
  13. https://bookshop.org/p/books/dilla-time-the-life-and-afterlife-of-j-dilla-the-hip-hop-producer-who-reinvented-rhythm-dan-charnas/18415833?ean=9781250862976
  14. https://www.turntablelab.com/collections/j-dilla-vinyl-records/products/j-dilla-donuts-smile-cover-2lp
  15. https://calpaterson.com/porter.html
  16. https://bradfrost.com/blog/post/ellas-first-website/
  17. https://taylor.town/idea-kitty
  18. https://empr.cl/signls/
  19. https://macwright.com/2024/11/16/web-complexity.html
  20. https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-cleanse/
  21. https://openheartproject.com/getting-stuff-done-by-not-being-mean-to-yourself/
  22. https://jan.miksovsky.com/posts/2024/11-12-momboard
  23. https://www.citationneeded.news/wind-the-clock/?ref=wheresyoured.at
  24. https://theinternet.review/2024/10/29/generative-ai-2024-is-not-like-1998/
  25. https://www.datagubbe.se/passion/
  26. https://buttondown.com/monteiro/archive/how-many-hobbies-is-too-many/

Dispatch #23 (January 2025)

  1. /journal/dispatch-23-january-2025/
  2. https://loogguitars.com/products/loog-mini-acoustic-pink?variant=41406434803774
  3. https://sensiraresorts.com/
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQHWpvHauo0
  5. https://wiimhome.com/wiimamp/overview
  6. https://trianglehifi.us/products/enceinte-bibliotheque-hi-fi-borea-br03-paire?variant=42910258888738
  7. https://downtowncarypark.com/
  8. https://twonerds.net/
  9. https://kristoff.it/blog/static-site-paradox/
  10. https://melodics.com/finger-drumming
  11. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-city-the-city-china-mieville/266069?ean=9780345497529
  12. https://bookshop.org/p/books/feel-good-productivity-how-to-do-more-of-what-matters-to-you-ali-abdaal/19546785?ean=9781250865038
  13. https://www.bullcityrecords.com/products/dangelo-voodoo-2lp
  14. https://www.avclub.com/death-of-dvd-death-of-streaming-physical-media
  15. https://macwright.com/2024/12/29/maximization.html
  16. https://vrklovespaper.substack.com/p/software-for-stationery-lovers
  17. https://blog.fogus.me/2024/12/23/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2024/
  18. https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/
  19. https://www.theverge.com/24321569/internet-decay-link-rot-web-archive-deleted-culture
  20. https://macwright.com/2024/12/03/i-want-brands.html
  21. https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/12/03/meat-ax-your-news-consumption/

Dispatch #24 (February 2025)

  1. /journal/dispatch-24-february-2025/
  2. https://www.amazon.com/Swivel-Caster-without-Casters-Capacity/dp/B08TC3R3CH
  3. https://www.polkaudio.com/en-us/product/home-speakers/bookshelf/signature-elite-es15/300363.html
  4. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077SVPQ51
  5. https://www.jetpens.com/Maruman-Mnemosyne-N105-Notebook-A5-Dot-Grid/pd/27112
  6. https://www.jetpens.com/Stalogy-Editor-s-Series-365Days-Notebook-A5-Lined-Black/pd/43548
  7. https://www.twelvesouth.com/products/hoverbar-duo
  8. https://www.tampa.gov/parks-and-recreation/featured-parks/riverwalk
  9. https://new.drupal.org/home
  10. https://manuelmoreale.com/pb-steven-garrity
  11. https://thewoobles.com/products/fox-crochet-kit
  12. https://melodics.com/finger-drumming
  13. https://durhamcounty.overdrive.com/media/9706350
  14. https://bookshop.org/p/books/feel-good-productivity-how-to-do-more-of-what-matters-to-you-ali-abdaal/19546785?ean=9781250865038
  15. https://www.turntablelab.com/products/portishead-dummy-180g-vinyl-lp
  16. https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-social-media-sea-change
  17. https://www.wrecka.ge/bad-shape/
  18. https://cjthex.com/what-is-to-be-done/
  19. https://alexanderzeitler.com/articles/farewell-again/
  20. https://contrarian.substack.com/p/departing-the-new-york-times
  21. https://wwinks.com/p/how-i-journal/
  22. https://www.coffeeandcomplexity.com/cancellation-a-complex-mix-of-accountability-power-justice-anger-and-societal-change/
  23. https://blog.ctms.me/posts/2025-01-17-offgrid-internet-in-a-box-kickoff/
  24. https://sonic-pi.net/
  25. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/i-knew-one-day-id-have-to-watch-powerful-men-burn-the-world-down-i-just-didnt-expect-them-to-be-such-losers
  26. https://takeonrules.com/2025/01/16/some-entries-from-my-personal-journal/
  27. https://robinrendle.com/stories/this-glorious-machine/
  28. https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/09/my-planner-setup-for-2025/
  29. https://writingatlarge.com/2025/01/03/three-habits-worth-keeping/