After over a month of waiting for the voucher to appear in my email I finally have my new bike.
I took it out for a test ride on Friday and ended up going all the way to the nearest town in a 15.5 KM loop. I was not expecting to go so far but the assist on the bike made it a much easier ride.
On Saturday I decided to see how long it would take to get to work. That ended up at about 30 minutes which is only 10 mins longer than if I took my car. Then as I was on my way home I decided to see how far I could push myself and ended up doing a big loop around the villages where I live for a total of 51.11 KM. Of course, I was absolutely shattered the next day.
Overall I’m very happy with the bike and over time I will add stuff to it to enable me to go further, as it is currently there is nowhere to mount a drink or snacks so I’ll need to get a top tube bag or something.
Back in January, I received a message asking something like: "How did the permacomputers predict-?" I forget which self-inflicted calamity it was referring to, but the question has stayed with me. I don't think permacomputing is about predicting anything, especially not collapse. The idea driving it is based on a simpler observation: our culture will either figure out how to live sustainably, or it won't.
Daniel Quinn put it like this: "If there are still people here in two hundred years, they won't be thinking the way we do, because if people go on thinking the way we do, then they'll go on living the way we do, and so there won't be any people here."
This reads, to me at least, as both a reminder that minds can change and an invitation, that if we're paying attention, we can already catch glimpses of a new holistic thinking emerging, one that positions human culture as a participant in a wider ecosystem. Maybe we're collectively holding our breath, just as people did before each renaissance, tending an ear for the sound of something that'll tear the Middle Ages wide open.
The Sibylline Books offer a similar wisdom: We can either willingly learn about the world the better to participate in it, or reach that same knowledge from merely getting caught and swept into its tempers. The knowledge is coming either way, but nobody is ever predicting the future.
E pur si muove.
Added signed arithmetic and comments support to Heol.
April started with changing weather, but otherwise quietly. I've been writing down some notes about the Scheme programming language in the same format as a Learn X in Y Minutes tutorial. Turns out it's a good pretext to try out a bunch of implementations and see how they compare. In turn, that yelded useful insights.
All of a sudden it's Easter (mid-month for us). I'm looking at static site generators again, for no particular reason. Found a couple that deserved a second look, but frankly? They're still not worth it for the most part.
How did we manage to mess up web development so badly? I was just talking options with some friends who would rather avoid handcrafted HTML... except most other options are worse. All those apps we've built to make it easier for non-technical people (not to mention ourselves) somehow do nothing but add mental overhead.
So I'm working on a SSG of my own again. Amazing how little code you need when you just try to fill your time, have fun and get something useful working instead of trying to magically solve all the world's problems with a piece of software. In a first for me, this one is hosted fully on Codeberg, including the website, and doesn't have my legal name anywhere near it. People liking the logo I designed for it, my first in a while, has been a nice bonus.
It's been good to see the Neon Kiosk pick up again lately. We're not done quite yet.
Linux app of the month: Wike, a stand-alone desktop client for Wikipedia that's so lightweight it doesn't even register in top. Good for those who want a distraction-less environment but still need to do research while writing.
"You're going to-", a slit throat for good measure but really, it was the arrow. Back to our small, sufficient priceless things that make up our lives. They'll be back.
See, I told ya, here they are again. And they've brought trinkets, cameras, efficiency and other diseases that rot the mind and body. "You're going to be left-". That arrow shut him up good, we didn't let him finish, yes! That's what we want, please leave us behind. Back to the treeline.
Are you fucking kidding me, "-going to be left behind" these god damn missionaries. Yes, please! Only you won't let us. More arrows.
Spring means Devine & I must begin preparing Pino for our time at anchor. We replaced the backstay a few weeks ago, and have now taken the forestay down too. Removing the front stay is tricky because it is concealed under a roller furler. We took the whole thing apart, to learn how it was put together but also just to see if all of it is still safe to reuse. The hardware is really well built, we'll re-install it again as is. I have started filling the boat with food, making numerous runs to the hardware and grocery store, I sanded and re-varnished many surfaces, Devine and I are also making minor repairs aboard. Summer is coming fast, Pino has to be ready.
HEALTH. I found a true squash racquet for 5$ at my local thrift store. It is way lighter than the wooden racquet I had before, better suited for a rapid-pace sport like squash. I replaced the worn grip tape, but it is otherwise immaculate. I respond a lot faster than I used to when playing, a very good sign. I am trying to get better at doing push-ups, but the most I can do currently is 3(in good form). In sadder news, I had to say goodbye to the family dog recently, shortly after the vet diagnosed him with stomach cancer. I've always been close to him, despite living far away from my parents... in a way, he was my dog too. I went with my dad to pick him up as a puppy, we spent a lot of time together since then. I miss him terribly. Devine helped organize a short trip to Seattle to see Health Live to help distract me from the pain of his loss. It helped.
MUSIC. I am still reeling from the Health performance. It had been a while since I'd gone to see a show in person, especially one in which it was possible to thrash around in a mosh pit. I hadn't been in a mosh pit since I was teen. The crowd erupted when they played Ordinary Loss, a song that continues to bring me to tears. Music that hits hard with themes like this are exactly what I needed. Thank you Greg and Devine for making this happen. I got to ride a floatplane for the first time, this amazing experience also helped to further brighten my mood. There was a moment while in flight where the plane was at level with the rain clouds, "I'm where the rain begins...!" I said to myself with a laugh.
ART. I'm currently working on contributions to a permacomputing book project, nothing I can share now but I will once it is released (I don't know when). I spent most of my month finishing up assets and animations for the new version of donsol. The game will have illustrated monsters, unique face cards, etc. Devine & I are mostly finished with the game, but we still have a few finishing touches to do(soundtrack, testing, etc). I finished the last 2 pages of sabotage study for hakum, ending with a single illustration, I also made a first comic page for Rabbit Waves.
MOVIE. After going to Sidney to drop off Pino's backstay, I went to see Project Hail Mary at the cinema. I enjoyed it, although sometimes Weir's overdependence on humor has a way of dampening what would have been really powerful moments. Rocky's design was excellent, it was exactly how I'd pictured it. I watched Jeunet's Delicatessen(1991) for the first time, I now count it as one of my favorite films. It is no secret that I have a penchant for black comedies, but this film also stands out because of its bold characters, decors and storyline. Silvie Laguna's character, Autore Interligator, as well as the intricately decorated sets that she found herself in, were especially striking. I've always been a big fan of Trigun. I thought Trigun Stampede was enjoyable, while imperfect, but Stargaze was very disappointing. It is hard to explain why without spoiling it, but in all it was flavorless. Nothing had weight.
READING. I ought to have continued to read Red Plenty, but I instead listened to the French audiobook version of Orwell's 1984. Someone had already borrowed the English version at my local library, I generally prefer to read books in their first language, but the French translation, I thought, was very good. The book is as chilling as I expected it to be. I devoured it quickly, entranced by the story, finishing it all under 3 days. I had a lot of art to clean up, permitting me to listen to an audiobook on the side. I realized after finishing that I hadn't listened to a book in over 5 years.
If you stay alive for no reason at all, please do it for spite.
Maria Bamford
i'm truly entering my exit era. i've taken back-to-back-to-back breaks from a certain social media site that it feels weird to even be there for long periods. mostly i'm using it to find out what my online pals are doing, especially those i rarely talk to. i hardly know what to say there anymore. it's just funny to me that last year i was on the app(lication) for HOURS. it's sickening. but now? well, today i read and practiced a bunch of HTML tutorials. i've succeeded in converting most of my current layout to semantic HTML. i've yet to figure out how to wrangle the CSS-- i've been trying but the styling doesn't show up on my page. oh, well. all in due time. i have a lot more of it since i'm not really on social media much. hooray!
my really big goal re: my website is to use it as an archive of all the zines i made. which is a LOT. i also installed 11ty on my computer today. i have to watch/read more tutorials!
