Is Micro Monday still a thing? @monday Anyhow, I wanted to let you know about a blogroll page I just set up. There’s a few very nice blogs there, and I’ll be adding more along the way. #thoughts

Dilemma. I have never not watched anything that features Slash. Watching anything with Ryan Gosling in it is strictly forbidden in my Religion™©. #thoughts

I have not detached myself from the habit of seeking feedback every time I post something in my blog. I want to go minimal, so I logged off from every social media account, deleted every app and turned off every cross-posting link. I told myself that I want to focus on my blog and look for other personal blogs and interact with their authors via email. Yet I still find myself looking for attention in micro.blog, the only app that I keep in my devices. Should I cut that tie too? I really like the small community around micro.blog and the people I once in a while chat with, so I don’t think I want to switch that off, but I have to look for some other way to prevent myself from seeking that social media dopamine reward. #thoughts
#geekery

I have given up on my country’s politics. I don’t feel represented by any of the multiple choices that compete in Spain. All political parties, regardless of their apparent ideological differences, have sequestered democracy for their own purposes. They only act for their own benefit and if it serves the purpose of gaining or maintaining power. No political leader talks to or thinks about all the people anymore. When they say “the people”, they are only thinking about “their people”, the ones who voted or could vote for them. Policies are not proposals for the Country’s well-being or progress, they are weapons that are thrown with contempt against the other side of an imaginary political spectrum. There is no checks and balances any more, all State Powers are in the hands of the political parties. Only a few independent judges resist in their every day lives in court. None of them have real power to change anything about how the country is governed.

In the Basque Country, a small region in the bigger State, the two main parties still talk about policy. And I really think they still believe in good policy. The problem here is that of the main political ideology, though, which is nationalism. At the best, it makes me sick how many times a day we repeat ourselves that there’s no better place than this and better people than us. At the worst, although nationalism is cool as long as it looks like a small country looking for its place in the world, we know how much pain and sorrow it has caused in our past, and we certainly know it is a seven headed hydra in the long run.

Looking at my countries (both the small and the big one) and the world around me, my only hope is in the small people. In you and me, in that, the day we meet in the field, because that day will arrive, we will not be willing to kill each other. Instead, that we will believe that we are brothers and sisters that need and want to live together. We will prevail over the leaders that sent us there. That’s my hope.

🚀 Notes on meaning, career, writing and blogging – Ratika Deshpande:

The mistake I was making, and which I think many of us are making, in a zeitgeist where people think that you should make a living doing what you love and retire early, is believing that narrative.

Here’s what I’ve learned: the thing that pays the bills does not have to be the thing that you enjoy doing. And the thing that you enjoy does not have to be the thing that helps you do good in the world. Here again, we suffer from the idea that we must maximize the good we do (or the profit we make). Of course, if we are able to do that, that’s great, but anything less than “the maximum possible” isn’t bad.

This is really helpful for me, in these times where I don’t feel good about all the time that I give to the thing that pays the bills and the very little time that I have for the things that I enjoy doing. I’m constantly thinking that I need to streamline my productivity so that I have more time for my personal stuff, and the only thing I do is make more time to work more. Ratika has given me a couple of good clues to think about.

🚀 100 Days To Offload

The whole point of #100DaysToOffload is to challenge you to publish 100 posts on your personal blog in a year.

Posts don’t need to be long-form, deep, meaningful, or even that well written. If there are spelling and grammar mistakes, or even if there’s no real point to the post, so what? What’s important is that you’re writing about the things you want to write about.

Your posts could be how-to guides, or links to another post you have found interesting. They could include your own thoughts about that post, or a response to it. It could be a simple update about what you have done that day. Tell us about your dog, your cat, your fish tank, or whatever hobbies you have. Someone will find it interesting.

Just. Write.

I found about this in Manuel Moreale’s blog and I think it’s a neat idea. I’m not completely sold, though. I like that it might make me write more. I also like the sense of community that it can bring to the people that participate in the challenge, and how it can help to spread lots of personal blogs. But it’s precisely the challenging part, the Hall of Fame and the need to publish the hashtag in social media that I disliked, I don’t really know why, it feels like a competition, or a personal goal that seeks a reward in the form of social media dopamine. I might set the goal for myself but not use a hashtag. Or I might just skip this garden and continue looking around. Anyhow, you might like it so there you have it.

Does it occur to you that a typo on an otherwise well edited book ruins the experience and distracts you so badly that you find it difficult to keep on reading? I started an illustrated edition of On Natural Selection by Darwin and one letter missing on the first page is making me crazy. #thoughts

Yes.

#thoughts

For a while now, Friday afternoons are my only free time of the week. I’ve needing to work full time on Saturdays and Sundays for quite some time and I don’t see that changing in the near future. But today is the day I nap until I no longer remember where I am. I thought I would not make it. See you later, if I wake up. #thoughts

Going through my spam folder right before cleaning it up, it still amazes me that reputable firms in my line of business send email offerings stating a «Exclusive offer just for you!». The contents of the email are nothing but exclusive and the emphatic language is just poor taste. I really can’t imagine anybody taking the bait. #thoughts

I want to focus on the good thing of the day. It’s taking me a while to think about them. I guess it’s easier for me to whine, I practice bitching and moaning more.

Two clients told me that they liked my work, after sending them the arguments I presented in court on their behalf. An important part of my job, since the outcome of a trial is not entirely in my hands, is that my clients feel that I did everything I could to defend them.

I did progress a little in the research that I’m stuck with. I still don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel (you’re whining again, Estebantxo!) but i’m getting there.

I had a delicious bocadillo for dinner. Thinly sliced and roasted chicken breast, Piquillo red peppers, Argelian sauce, on a toasted baguette.

I’m going to bed. That’s the best part.

Thank you for giving us micro.blog, @jean.

"Good things come in small packages." That was my first post on Micro.blog, 7 years ago today.

I wrote it to be cute, but over time, I learned to believe in the power of small:

Ever since I became the community manager of Micro.blog, I’ve developed an appreciation for the beauty of going “micro”: microposts, microcasts, micro meetups, microcosms of interesting humans interacting online on a human scale. (“Micro All The Things”; posted Nov. 30 2019)

I am quite impressed by the automatic transcription of podcasts on the Apple Podcasts app. That this is the highlight of the day does not speak very well of my achievements today. Anyway, that’s that. #thoughts
#geekery

🚀 It’s Time to Give Up on Everything but Email – Manu

In all seriousness, if in 2024 you’re using one single email address for everything that’s a you problem, not an email problem. Also, Ian, let me ask you a question: what’s the alternative here? Do we all move to Slack/Discord/Teams? Do we all move everything to DMs? Do you think that’s a better solution?

There’s a reason why emails are still here. They’re still here because they work. Is email perfect? No. Is there a better alternative? Also no.

I wholeheartedly agree with Manu. Separating work and personal email is easy enough. And filters are necessary to manage subscriptions and other types of messages, but with a minimum setup, email can be tamed. #thoughts
#geekery

I keep Cabify and Ubers apps on my phone for impractical and melancholic reasons. I can’t use them at home, but I keep dreaming with traveling to countries where public officials are not sequestered by the taxi lobby. #thoughts

I don’t even have time to catch a cold. #thoughts

I am pissed by SCOTUS’ 9-0 decision regarding Colorado’s ruling on the application of the 14th Amendment to Trump. I’m sure the progressive justices did what they thought was right. The problem is the conservative ones will never do the same. They will always find according to what the conservative agenda needs. Just like the Massachusetts Secretary, any official or court deciding on a local or state ballot should be able to decide that a former officer who engages in or gives comfort to insurrection is ineligible. #thoughts

🚀 Internet gardening | James' Coffee Blog

A few months ago, someone referred to be as an "internet gardener." This title has stuck in my head ever since. I often note that I love tinkering with my website. Whereas some people garden plants, I garden the web. I write the thoughts on my mind. Sometimes, these are technical. Other times, whimsical. Other times, emotional; the result of months of contemplation and years of processing. I experiment with new ideas (plants); when I am out of ideas, I try a new plant.

This is exactly my plan for this blog. I want to document here a fellow gardener that shows me the way. #thoughts

I closed February and planned the first two weeks of March today. It’s quite overwhelming. A few projects that needed to end in February did not, and they crawl into March menacing the projects that have mid-month deadlines. Still, I think I managed to identify two big rocks and several smaller ones for this week, so as long as nothing new shows up (which will prove to be a futile dream my Monday noon) everything should be OK.

Since I’ve activated my micro.blog ActivityPub user, replies sent from Mastodon to my posts show up both in the micro.blog timeline and like comments in my blogs' posts. I can reply to them from the timeline and they show back in Mastodon. This is exactly what I wanted. I can stay in my blog and in micro.blog and know that I can interact with people in Mastodon, and these interactions are not lost because they are recorded in my blogs, where they belong. #geekery #thoughts