Archive

Matt Gemmell’s Emacs post is terrific, but what pushes it over the top is the use of the word “festooned”, which is an all-time favorite. mattgemmell.scot/emacs/

The 1934 Corona Standard works very nicely, almost.The platen has hardened. I may never use the thing, but I’m determined to fix it, so that I have the option. Shame to let it languish. Appropriately photographed with a vintage (but not that vintage) Leica M3 film camera.

I can’t believe “The Detectorists” is more than 10 years old. I’m about to rewatch it because it’s one of my favorite shows ever.

For some repetitive typing tasks involving arrow keys, the HHKB can cause my pinky to hurt. When that happens, I go minimal with Apple’s keyboard and trackpad. That only lasts about 30 minutes before I dig out the giant Realforce.

I’ve come to the conclusion that all tagging systems will eventually become a tangled, unusable mess.

The wardrobe suits the mood.

I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume of nothing I accomplish every day.

I took a photo for my daughter using my favorite and very fancy Summilux lens. I’d stopped down a lot and the background was distracting, so I used Adobe’s new “Background Blur” feature. She loved the pic, but I feel dirty and can never share it.

But for Rock? For RAWK? It’s AC/DC. It’s Powerage into Highway to Hell to Back in Black. They could’ve ended the century there. Everything that came after was sustain.  source: Three Album Run: How Rock Music Never Bettered AC/DC’s Powerage, Highway To Hell & Back In Black | The Quietus

My notes are IMPORTANT!

Divided attention.

I’m thinking of migrating off Mastodon instances and using Ghost or Micro.blog as my Fediverse identity. Ghost isn’t ready, so I’ll need to wait to see. I hesitate to admit that I’m hung up on domain choice. I assumed micro.baty.net but too long? Maybe just use …

Took a cue from a recent Peter McKinnon video and impulse-ordered this cool blue metal toolbox. I’m using it as a “doodle box” with stationery, pen case, watercolors, brushes, stamps, sealing wax, etc. I didn’t need this at all, but it’s fun!

I keep this around for after the Big EMP hits.

Well, the mulch ain’t gonna spread itself. Catch you all later. Bring ice packs.

I love having options, but I hate making decisions.

I logged into my tilde.club account this morning, typed “mutt” and there were a bunch of threads still being posted to. Oh, and there are BBS, Gemini, IRC, finger, and other services still running out there. All on a little Linux box Paul Ford set up more than 10 years ago. tilde.club. …

While I tolerate and even encourage motion blur or slightly out-of-focus images when shooting film, I find these imperfections in digital photos to be annoying (as in the photo above).

This gets truer every day.

I’m typing this in MarsEdit for posting to Micro.blog and makes me feel nostalgic.

1934 Smith Corona Standard. It’s been in the garage for a few years, it needs some platen work, and it smells funny. But just LOOK at it!

My uncle Ray. He’s been suffering from dementia, and it’s been difficult. He still laughs a lot. Always has.

I love the new Peanuts screen savers on the Apple TV, especially when Snoopy does his impersonation of me.

I have things to do today that aren’t related to blogging. Weird, I know. And of course, I move the small posts and federation to Micro.blog just before running out the door. Who knows who I’ll be when I get back home later :).

It’s been a minute, eh?

I love Micro.blog, but I’m thinking I don’t really need a microblog right now.

I dare you to read the Denote manual and not feel 100% like it’s software you can use and trust. Prot is just so damn thoughtful about everything. protesilaos.com/emacs/den…

It’s a relatively minor thing, but uneven frame spacing bothers me. This is a sample from the Canonet, which I am going to retire for real this time. Not only because of the spacing issue, but that’s part of it.

I waffle between Capture One and Lightroom. I’m not an Adobe hater by default, but this is the sort of thing that puts me right off. It showed up as soon as I launched it on my phone. “Goodbye Distractions” my butt.

Photo from my station at last week’s sewing class. We made pillowcases. The next class is Monday and I need to go buy fabric. We’re making a drawstring pouch. I’m still giddy that last week’s project turned out OK. Making things is neat.

My iPhone fired off a few photos while in the pocket of my shorts. It’s kinda cool.

Still getting used to Nick Cave in a good mood, but I love this record.

Me too, Chuck.

I wrote a blog post this morning about how I didn’t renew my SetApp subscription. It was titled: “How long can I go without SetApp?” The answer was “about 30 minutes” 😆. I calculated the cost of owning the important apps outright, poked around, and concluded that SetApp …

Rewatching “An Impossible Project”

It was a different time.

The Sony BM-575 recorder, one of my favorite old-school devices, has finally died. I may not replace it this time 🥺. I do need a microcassette player of some sort or else my pile of recordings becomes useless so who knows?

The Nick Cave of “Wild Gods” is in a good mood, after a long while, and from it he’s made a beautiful, joyful record. “This flaming boy said, ‘We’ve all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy.'” youtu.be/Nyg8avpwR…

This resonates today.

I have the following table formula at the bottom of my weight log table in org-mode and I totally understand how it works… #+TBLFM: $3=vmean(@-6$-1..@0$-1);%.1f::@2$3=0::@3$3=0::@4$3=0::@5$3=0::@6$3=0::@7$3=0 Narrator:: He doesn’t.

I logged into the tilde.club server after a long time, typed “mutt” and found 678 emails in the inbox. Most are spam, but there are some threads between users, too. The longest one is an argument about rms, which is its own form of spam, I guess. Tilde.club was so fun. tilde.club

Speaking of records, I don’t buy a ton of vinyl, but when Nick Cave releases a new record, I’m going for the “Limited Edition (Grey) Vinyl”. store-na.nickcave.com/products/…

My mom (82) wanted to listen to music and her record player is broken, so I thought I’d introduce her to the joy of streaming using Apple Music on the AppleTV. What a mistake. The entire experience was confusing and horrible. I’m getting her a new turntable instead.

In any given 72-hour period, I can go from, “I’m going to live completely within Emacs using my 10-years-in-the-making custom config forever.” to “I never want to launch Emacs again!”… and back again. I’ve got note-taking whiplash (and obviously some other …

Spent today building this with my daughter. Not bad for a couple of complete rookies.

A few weeks ago I spun up a Ghost instance (on PikaPods). This was meant to be for photography-related posts and galleries. I never shared it because I didn’t know if it would stick around. It didn’t. I deleted it this morning. I don’t need a separate photo blog, I guess.

What my poor journal sees every day.

The comments on Verge’s article “Hello, you’re here because you said AI image editing was just like Photoshop” are all basically saying, “AI image editing is just like Photoshop”. www.theverge.com/2024/8/26…

I can’t remember if I shelved the wonderful little Canonet because of some issue or if it just sort of happened. I’ve loaded a roll of HP5 into it, so we’re about to find out

You can tell by my recent movie reviews that I must be in a sour mood, lately. I mean, 3.5 stars for Anchorman? c’mon!

I don’t really enjoy printing contact sheets, but I love having printed contact sheets, so that’s what I’m doing this morning.

I’ve been feeling the urge to have a separate microblog again, so I’ve dusted off the ol' Micro.blog account. Let’s see what happens.

My Leica SL2 is for sale if anyone is looking for a really really nice 47 Megapixel mirrorless camera. jbaty.smugmug.com/For-Sale/…

I replaced the yellow legal pad on my desk with DSri’s “Emergent Task Planner”. I used an ETP almost daily from 2012-2018. If you’re a paper person, I recommend trying them. baty.net/2023/the-…

I sometimes forget that film is expensive. (Kodak 400, expired, in the M3.) #film

I love this photo of my son-in-law and his dog during the pandemic, but the view count on Flickr seems a little crazy. www.flickr.com/photos/jb…

I should know this, but I’m looking for a way to share a bunch of event photos with family. I don’t want them in my iCloud library and I don’t want anyone to have to log in or follow me anywhere. They should be able to easily add them to their own photo library. Currently, …

I’ll go see Barbie, but not until they project it on a beach and I can pull up in this.

Last frame from a roll of expired Portra.

Me too, Joan! :) #vinyl #nowplaying

My goal today is to do something interesting in here. Anything.

Today strikes me as a Tangible Things kind of day. I may need to shut down the computer for a while.

I feel like I’ve printed many photos of various sizes with this little Epson (ET-8500) and the ink levels have barely moved. It’s nice not worrying as much about ink cost and just making prints whenever I want to.

Rereading Camera Lucida.

I can’t think of a better record than this right now. #vinyl #nowplaying

Also relevant #emacs

The photos people are able to make with iPhones are amazing. It’s not a camera I want to use, though. daily.baty.net/posts/202…

I worry about unwittingly starting public conversations (aka “arguments”), so I temper my writing/posting. To mitigate this, I’m no longer automatically syndicating from the blog(s) to social media/Micro.blog. daily.baty.net/posts/202…

So every attachment in Obsidian gets dropped together in one big folder? That’s gonna come back and bite, for sure.

Caught a nice moment between my mom and dad today.

Current status: Channeling Nick Nolte in “Under Fire” #photography

Re: Which camera(s) to bring? Option one on the left. Option two on the right. An embarrassment of riches, and a good problem to have, but still, I can’t decide. #photography

I’m going to a family reunion today. Decided last night to only bring my big digital camera. This morning I “decided” to bring two film bodies instead, one with HP5 and one Portra. Now I don’t know. I’ve got two hours to figure it out. I suppose it’ll be …

As easy and flexible as digital journaling can be, for me it pales in comparison to physical journals/scrapbooks. The spread shown here covers more than 6 weeks, which shows how inconsistent I am with it. Still, it’s priceless, because over time those gaps seem much smaller.

Speaking of fatigue, I’m wondering if maybe this is all a symptom of some kind of overarching “Digital Fatigue”. None of my digital output is adding up to anything. It all feels so fungible and intangible and ephemeral. I may need to withdraw into the real world for a while.

When I was a kid I used to hide under the covers with a flashlight so I could keep reading after my bedtime. Now, I can’t read for 15 minutes without falling asleep. I don’t think it’s a focus problem, I think it’s a “getting old” problem.

I’ve been dragging my feet about pulling weeds behind the house. Good thing, because it turns out they’re not weeds after all; they’re deer food.

This is what happens when I run out of ideas. #film #photography #largeformat

I learned about rx structured notation in Emacs by seeing it mentioned in Denote’s release notes. Means my dblock queries can look something like this: #+begin: denote-links :regexp (and "_project" "_wip") :missing-only t One more place I can avoid writing incorrect regular …

Here’s a slide of my dad at the Acropolis in 1963. He has the place to himself. I wish I could have traveled back then.

Testing the new not-quite-makeshift basement studio. I need a stylist and also the button in Photoshop for “AI: Remove bags under eyes” but other than that I think it’ll work. One light camera right. Window light to left. Digital.

I’ve taken over the spare bedroom. It’s too small for a “studio” and it’s definitely too small for a studio /and/ a darkroom, but I’m going to try squeezing them both in anyway.

Using the Light Phone today because I guess I hate myself?

Mmmm, fresh chemicals. #darkroom

Have I mentioned lately how much fun TiddlyWiki is? It’s so much fun. This would be enough on its own, but good lord it’s also crazy powerful. It’s right up there with Emacs and Tinderbox on the fun/powerful scale.

Camera Identification Selfie

I waste a lot of film taking photos of movies playing on my TV. I still get a kick out of it.

Still excites me every time.

The Snoopy face is adorable and the best thing about watchOS 10.

I’ll be withdrawing from social media, for a while, anyway. Posts will continue, but only on baty.net. I may decide to post links here, but I recommend using your favorite RSS reader instead. Comments/replies via email are encouraged.

Backstage at “Everything Everywhere All at Once”? 😆

Aaah, film photography.

Remember when we could smoke in restaurants?

I’d like to open a video rental store. DVD, Blu-ray, and VHS. I’m serious.

I took this photo in 1982 of Judas Priest during their “Screaming for Vengeance” tour. The opening act was an obscure band named Iron Maiden, who were touring in support of their new album, “The Number of the Beast”. Cool.

iTerm has been crashing recently, so I’ve been trying kitty terminal for a couple weeks and have no issues or complaints. I really like the Layout features. sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/

Same here, Sam.

Mastodon posts aren’t a lot of fun. Bluesky posts are too much fun.

I’ve been using Bike Outliner (macOS only) as an antidote to the complexities that have otherwise been poisoning my process. Things were getting out of hand, and Bike is a refreshingly simple respite from all that. baty.net/2023/bike…

Can’t decide if I should buy a battery for it, or just move it right into the recycle bin.

I am “Used a ‘What would Jakob Do?’ mousepad” years old.

What do I want in a note-taking tool today? Usually anything other than what I had yesterday.

Software notes (from my Tinderbox daybook) - October 19, 2022: I was invited to the Tana early access release Tinderbox released a beta with a new file format that looks interesting TheBrain v13 was released Obsidian went 1.0 I’ll never change.

Subtitles help with the sound issues in modern movies/shows, but where is the “Someone turn on a damn light!” option?

Sascha, Zettelkasten Forum: Often, I don't need it after I have written it. However, I don't need it because I have written it.

I enable (English) subtitles in English-speaking shows about 50% of the time. Otherwise everything sounds like [INDISTINCT CHATTER].

I wake up each morning and tell myself to “Make something better.” So then I fart around with my Emacs config and call it a day.

I’ve noticed that I haven’t actually learned much while on Bluesky. I’ve been entertained, annoyed, and flummoxed, but I’m otherwise not gaining much from it so far. Maybe that’s what Bluesky is for?

This shirt still cracks me up.

A week with my old Fujifilm X100: baty.net

I’ve been head over heels in love with Arc for a long time now. There is one thing I don’t like about it and that is the lack of support for bookmarklets. Convert bookmarklet to Chrome extension to the rescue. Seems to work well.

Unpopular opinion: Obsidian is even uglier than Emacs

Speaking of Bear. I’m feeling an affinity toward apps that are simple-and-smooth rather than my usual tendencies toward powerful-but-janky. Think Bear vs Obsidian for notes. Or Things vs Emacs for tasks management. Or Blot vs Hugo for blogging.

Image test for crossposting

I’ve never understood why people might dislike or refuse to use an app because they don’t like its icon. On the other hand, an app’s icon might make me want to use it. See the Bear beta’s googly-eyed app icon. Irresistible!

I like the always-moving-forwardness of paper notebooks. Anything new goes in the next available blank space. It’s nice not having to think about it.

I threw away a gas mask while cleaning out the storage unit this week. This feels like just asking for trouble.

This is Pierre, the cleaner shrimp. He makes keeping a saltwater reef tank worth all the trouble.

How does everyone handle replies to folks who cross-post? There are people I follow who cross-post everything to e.g. Bluesky and Mastodon, and I follow them on both of those platforms, too. I don’t know whether to stop following in all but one place, or otherwise on which platform to reply.

Current status

I restarted my Micro.blog subscription this morning. I was feeling lonely all by myself over at baty.net, so I thought I’d revisit some old friends here. 👋

tap tap tap ::clears throat::

All That Breathes, 2022 - ★★★: I was looking for an uplifting story about rescuing birds. That's not really what this is. I left feeling way more melancholy than I'd planned.

Infinity Pool, 2023 - ★★★: Rich people are bad, we get it.

Babylon, 2022 - ★★★½: Too loud, too much, and way too long. But there were moments I loved.

Shotgun Wedding, 2022 - ★★★: Third star is for Jennifer Coolidge simply being there.

I’m going to start using my jack@baty.social Mastodon account for short posts, then pull them into Micro.blog’s timeline via RSS. We’ll see if that feels less or more confusing.

I’ve started making it easier to find things in my paper notebooks. Or trying to, anyway. baty.net/2023/inde…

“I began to read just after I was four. The letters on the page suddenly gave in and admitted what they stood for. They obliged me completely and all at once.” –“The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction” by Alan Jacobs Reading is awesome.

I shot a couple 4x5 frames of Ektar I had in the fridge and it was kind of fun so I thought I’d try some Portra. It’s around $7.50/sheet in 4x5. Pass.

The current state of the “photo wall” in my office. I love the chaos. (Reminder: print your photos!)

I love contact sheets, especially those made from medium format film. Here’s one of my former dog, Josie. baty.net/2023/cont…

I often think it would be a smart move to sell off some cameras and use the money to buy 100 books of photographs instead.

Finished reading: Antinet Zettelkasten by Scott Scheper 📚 You don’t have to convince me that analog note-taking is superior, but Scott spends the first half of his book trying to do just that. But after all that, things got useful.

Finished reading: Walking by Thomas Bernhard 📚 Repetitive and nihilist and negative and sometimes hilarious. Weird sentences that I got sucked into. Only 86 pages but in one long paragraph.

M3GAN, 2022 - ★★★: I could've used more dancing.

Yesterday, I was talking about how I miss smoking even after quitting more than 20 years ago. Then today, this photo of me smoking with my ex-wife literally fell out of a photo album I was carrying. Weird. I was good at smoking (Lucky Strikes), though.

I’ve been reviewing some of my older (early 2000s) photographs and have noticed that the 20-year-old film photos look great but most of the 20-year-old digital images look like shit.

Here’s a photo of my grandparents in 1931. How do I know that? Because my grandfather wrote it on the back. “In the rumble seat of my first car. Model T Ford 1927. Grand Haven, 1931” Please caption your photos! (And while you’re at it, print a few of them).

Here’s a (Digital) test shot outtake from yesterday that shows the superiority of double-wristing. 😆

“few things are more infuriating than a task or delay that’s foisted upon you against your will, with no regard for the schedule you’ve painstakingly drawn up in your overpriced notebook.” –Oliver Burkeman, “Four Thousand Weeks”

4x5 self-portrait on Ektar. I have an aging box of Ektar in the fridge, so I thought I’d make use of it in the Crown Graphic.

100%. From The Oatmeal theoatmeal.com/comics/ba…

Down by Law, 1986 - ★★★★½: A somewhat slight, gorgeous, funny delight from start to finish.

I appreciate all of the feedback on my blog post format question yesterday. I summarized the results here: baty.net/2023/surv…

I was worried it would be way too chunky on my dainty wrist, but I think it’s fine. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, I’m a G-Shock fan.

It’s just a dumpster, but I like the lines and colors. At least it’s something that’s not about blogging. Or is it? 😜

An informal survey: When visiting a blog (not via RSS), which layout do you prefer? (I like them all, so help me decide.) Full posts Titles and a brief excerpt Titles only

I find WordPress capable and easy. It does everything. But dammit, it’s been uncooperative the last few days and it’s ruining my plans. Custom CSS disappears. Comments missing. And that editor is killing me! So this is just me posting somewhere simple and nice instead. 👋

Continuing the conversation with myself about where to post. baty.net/2023/blog…

This is very much how I’m feeling lately.

A little about my Evernote 2023 experiment: baty.net/2023/ever…

Chompy & the Girls, 2021 - ★★★: I swallowed it whole.

Dio: Dreamers Never Die, 2022 - ★★★★: As a ginormous Dio fan since, I don't know, 1980 or so, what's not to love here.

Decision to Leave, 2022 - ★★★½: I would like to revisit this.

Apple Notes keeps launching itself on my MBP without my permission. I can’t make it stop so now I probably need to switch to Linux.

Guess which one even I can’t believe I’m using again.

Last night I dreamt that I was giving a presentation in a large auditorium. I was editing a simple web page by hand and every time I refreshed the page the crowd would go "Ooooh!" in amazement as I continued typing furiously with my HTML-stained hands.

Tinderbox as a blogging platform: Tinderbox as a blogging platform I'm pretty good at using Tinderbox, so I made this blog with it. I've used Tinderbox since the mid-2000s for all kinds of things and it's one of the deepest, smartest, most flexible apps I know. Tinderbox's export features are powerful, but can be hard to understand …

All I wanted to do was watch media and not exist. –Martha Wells, “Fugitive Telemetry” I know just how you feel, Murderbot.

Someone should remind the UI folks that they’re check boxes not check balls

I made my first photogram in the darkroom today. This is an 8x10 print using a drinking glass. Neat!

The thing that most improved my enjoyment of shooting/developing/printing film was to stop worrying about the details. The less fussy I am, the more fun I have.

If I were to post every passing thought here on Micro.blog rather than on baty.blog as I do now, I worry that: A) I’d bore everyone to tears with all the noise, and B) I would turn those who remain off completely. I’m not convinced consolidation makes sense.

I have yet to muster any interest in AI-generated artwork. "Prompt writing" is the most useless and least creative form of "creativity" I can imagine.

Emily the Criminal, 2022 - ★★★: The more I see Aubrey Plaza, the less I understand her. And therefore the more I like her. This was a tense, straightforward thriller and I enjoyed it.

Our obsession with being informed makes it hard to think long-term. We spend hours consuming news because we want to be informed. The problem is, the news doesn’t make us informed – quite the opposite. The more news we consume, the more misinformed we become. Farnam Street, Stop Reading the News …

My wife needed a new passport photo so I took advantage of the rare opportunity of her posing to snap a few extras.

I’m impossible and will never stop changing my mind. baty.net/2023/my-p…

I took the same route on my walk yesterday, but brought a digital camera instead. It’s not the same: baty.net/2023/tryi…

I happily blurt out whatever I'm thinking about here. Over on Micro.blog, however, I hesitate. Knowing that everything I post ends up in some number of people's feeds prevents me from posting freely. If I'm going to hesitate like that, do I even want a separate microblog? I fleshed this out a bit …

Bodies Bodies Bodies, 2022 - ★★½: Everyone please stop talking.

Nope, 2022 - ★★★½: More like Nah.

A darn good record.

I’d have more room if I could just let go of things. This original Kindle in its original packaging, for instance. I miss the little wheel and its foil-like indicator.

I’ve configured MarsEdit to post to Micro.blog. I’m typing this in MarsEdit’s global micropost window. If you’re reading this…success!

TÁR, 2022 - ★★★: I know I'm supposed to like this more than I did, sorry.

This time I took a digital camera on my walk. Not much good came of it. This one was taken toward the end. I was too far away and had to crop the dickens out of it. And of course, the subject demanded conversion to black and white. Some nice leading lines help.

As of right now, I’ve decided to keep using the jack.micro.blog domain (and @jack@micro.blog for Fediverse) rather than custom. My own domain makes things more “future-proof” I suppose, but it adds complexity and I don’t know that I want to hide that I’m using …

I don’t understand why I continue to think that the solution to having too many blogs is to start another blog.

This is just a quick test of posting photos. It’s been a while! I took the Hasselblad and some very expired Delta 100 on a recent walk. The “scenery” was dull, but some of it still looks neat when photographed.

I set up a Mastodon instance planning to use it as a microblog. Then I remembered that Micro.blog has ActivityPub features and is /already/ a great microblogging tool. So, should I cross-post from here to my main Mastodon account or rely on ActivityPub? Thinking the latter.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, 2022 - ★★★★½: Well, goshdarnit that was good.

The Menu, 2022 - ★★★: Four and a half stars during the movie. Three stars when it was over.

Petite Maman, 2021 - ★★★★½: Just a sweet, lovely 70 minutes that I already want to experience again.

Depth of Field: Documentaries on Photography: The Man Who Saw Too Much Camera Store Everybody Street Rock Prophecies Finding Vivian Maier 1341 Frames of Love and War Shooting War A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks Diffuse Light Exposing Muybridge ...plus 181 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Mandibles, 2020 - ★★★★: Dominique and the Doofuses. Very fun.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, 2020 - ★★★★: Looks like Nolan has had is ass handed to him, using an iPhone.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, 2022 - ★★★★: A rollicking good time overall. Also, I'll no longer be pronouncing Benoit as "Ben Oyt"

Something in the Dirt, 2022 - ★★★★: I love everything Benson & Moorhead do.

The Banshees of Inisherin, 2022 - ★★★★½: How can a thing be so hilarious and sad at the same time? Lost half a star because of that thing I don't allow to happen in movies.

The Fabelmans, 2022 - ★★★★: I love movies, too.

The Last Resort, 2018 - ★★★: Watched on Saturday December 10, 2022.

Funky Forest: The First Contact, 2005 - ★★: Nope. Not the good kind of funky.

Werewolf by Night, 2022 - ★★★★: Great vibe

Tiny Cinema, 2022 - ★★½: I didn't care for it.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, 2022 - ★★★★: Delightful all the way through.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, 2021 - ★★★½: It was all about the visuals for me.

Triangle of Sadness, 2022 - ★★★★: That was a LOT of vomit.

I'm using Tinderbox to generate this website, so RSS feeds are not a gimme. I have to build them myself. For short, title-less posts such as this one, I wanted a toggle for whether to include it in the allposts.xml RSS feed. I have been using a user attribute named "Crosspost" but that name no …

When I grow frustrated with indecision around my note-taking process, I seek refuge in paper notebooks. That's often not the answer either, so the carousel continues to spin.

I keep trying to enjoy using Obsidian, but I still don't like using Obsidian. I wish I understood why. I think it's simply that it doesn't feel comfortable. I don't love the way it looks or behaves. I think the availability of so many plugins is as much a hindrance to me as it is a benefit. The …

Nothing Compares, 2022 - ★★★★: I remember, at the time, loving the songs but disliking the artist. I'm not sure yet how watching this has changed things.

The Pez Outlaw, 2022 - ★★★: That was fun enough

When the Screaming Starts, 2021 - ★★: I think this was supposed to be funny.

Vinyl Nation, 2020 - ★★: Maybe there's nothing more to be said about vinyl.

Pearl, 2022 - ★★★★: Goth is so good

Found this photo of drawings on my bedroom’s bulletin board in 1982. I think I’m weird.

10 rolls of HP5 from B&H runs nearly $100. Not long ago it was $72. I hardly flinch at paying many thousands of dollars for a digital camera, but then balk at a few extra dollars for film ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OMG, I just learned I can add my Obsidian vault as a “Library source” in Curio. Then, I can drag those Markdown files into Curio as “File-backed text figures”, making them “live”, editable views of those Markdown files. Edits anywhere (macOS & iOS) update/sync …

So I guess every movie from now on has to be either a horror movie or "based on the graphic novel..."?

I'm indexing my test Obsidian vault in DEVONthink. It's reminding me of the advantages that local files in things like in Obsidian offer over remote-first tools like Tana/Roam. The journey continues!

Generating a blog with Tinderbox is tricky but fun. One thing I’ve added is a “crosspost” field. Checking this box makes the post available in the “allposts.xml” RSS feed, which feeds into Micro.blog. This way I can easily pick and choose which posts end up here.

I don't want another blog: I don't want another blog <img src="https://baty.blog/img/small/shrug.jpg" alt="I don't want another blog" class="sideImage"> I don't want another blog, but I seem have one anyway. Or, more accurately, I've re-purchased the baty.blog domain and am using that with …

I love that Leica has re-released the original M6 (but with a brass top and upgraded finder). I recently tried and failed to sell mine, so I’m good for now (dust and all). leica-camera.com/en-US/pho…

The reef tank is so weird. I have all kinds of critters in there that I didn’t invite. Here’s one I spotted today for the first time. It’s an Asterina Starfish. Not harmful. It’s about the size of a US dime.

Vengeance, 2022 - ★★★½: I removed half a star about an hour after finishing the movie because I wondered why I gave it four stars to begin with. Funny and sometimes clever. Didn't stick the landing, IMO.

I think I’ll retire the little Canonet. My focusing ability can’t be /that/ bad. I don’t trust the shutter speeds. Frame spacing was all over the place, and a few frames were scratched (from travel through the camera, pretty sure). At least the self-timer works, as you can see.

Finally caught up on creating a digital index of my current paper notebook. This is the first notebook I’m trying this with. It’s work! I’m using Soren’s mindex tool (tab-delimited file -> LaTeX -> PDF). github.com/sobjornst…

After following the Tana Slack channels for a few days I’m ready to just go back to paper.

How I plan to spend my day

Here I am looking out for bad guys with my super cool binoculars from Andor.

“I have sad news that I have decided to shut down the mastodon.technology instance.” Looks like I’m going to need a new instance: ashfurrow.com/blog/mast…

While visiting the new bookstore near me yesterday, I was reminded how pleasant it is to wander through a bookstore instead of clicking and scrolling online. I always leave a bookstore with a sort of serene, mellow vibe. And books!

I am disabling cross-posting to Mastodon and Twitter. It still feels weird pushing the exact same nonsense to three different platforms every single time. I’ll do it by hand if needed. I’d love for Micro.blog to allow for more granular (per-post, per-service) x-posting.

“‘It Just Works’ causes a pervasive ethos of incuriosity that’s marketed to us as a luxury.” “The Dark Side of Frictionless Technology” newsletters.theatlantic.com/galaxy-br…

These instructions are on the TAOCP page (by Donald Knuth), but should be universal: “your message should be readable on brand-X operating systems for all values of X”: www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/ta…

Every single person pulls the handle first. Every time.

I see the race is on to be in the first group of Thought Leaders around Tana.

Vesper, 2022 - ★★★½: I loved the mood of the film, even though it was grindingly bleak. Great visuals. Interesting ideas. A bit too long and a bit too thin on narrative and characters.

If I could keep just two 35mm film cameras, these would do nicely.

I do not keep a diary although I plan to start doing so any day now. Every preparation is in place and it only remains for me to begin. – I do not keep a diary - Will Rees

Thinking about how I think is, by hours spent, my number one favourite hobby. As hobbies go it fits somewhere between self-flagellation and NFTs. Serenity Now

My “Inspiration Board” is telling.

I wake up every day swearing off Emacs and go to bed every night having put even more of my life into it.

Maybe renewing my Micro.blog subscription will cheer me up. Let’s find out!

Bullet Train, 2022 - ★★★½: Moved right along, while going nowhere. And for too long.

Dinner in America, 2020 - ★★★★: Simon's character needed to bring it down a notch, but the second half was great.

Strawberry Mansion, 2021 - ★★★★: Sweet, weird, lo-fi, candy-colored fantasy. I love movies that make me say "WTF?!" in a good way. I'm totally naming my turtle Sugarbaby.

Confess, Fletch, 2022 - ★★½: I like Hamm, but he's not Fletch. Not for me, anyway. His snark seemed pasted on and used inconsistently. I found it...boring? Maybe the next one will be better.

Three Thousand Years of Longing, 2022 - ★★★½: I'll watch Tilda Swinton do anything. Like most, I loved the visuals. Thought things just sort of fizzled out toward the end. I didn't buy the love story. Was there no chemistry? I didn't see any chemistry.

Thor: Love and Thunder, 2022 - ★★½: You get a joke, and you get a joke, and YOU get a joke. An extra half-star for the screaming goats.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, 2021 - ★★★★★: 100% wonderful through and through. I loved everything about it.

The Phantom of the Open, 2021 - ★★★½: Sweet and charming and there's nothing wrong with sweet and charming.

Absolutely Anything, 2015 - ★½: I laughed zero times

Paterson, 2016 - ★★★★★: That was beautiful

Minions: The Rise of Gru, 2022 - ★★½: Too much Minions is too much.

Official Competition, 2021 - ★★★★½: The make out scene among the microphones. The cherry screensaver behind her. The closeups of Cruz. Her dance in the bedroom

Dave Made a Maze, 2017 - ★★★★: Inventive and fun. Feel free to ignore the script.

Elvis, 2022 - ★★★: Everything Elvis All At Once

The Rescue, 2021 - ★★★★: I nearly drowned while sitting on the couch.

Prey, 2022 - ★★★½: I don't give a whit about the Predator universe, but I enjoyed this quite a lot.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, 2022 - ★★★★: What's wrong with watching a nice person get most of what they wish for? Nothing is wrong with it. In fact, it's delightful.

Lightyear, 2022 - ★★★: Turns out I didn't need this as much as I thought I did.

The Princess, 2022 - ★★½: Some fun choreography in what is otherwise mostly a video game.

Crimes of the Future, 2022 - ★★★: I was riveted for a while, but then I wasn't.

Top Gun: Maverick, 2022 - ★★★★½: This is what a good time at The Movies means. It's great when a film delivers on its promise and is exactly what it should be.

Mad God, 2021 - ★★★★½: Vile, disgusting, incoherent, disturbing, and bleak. Also exhilarating and stunningly intricate and beautiful. There is nothing like stop motion and there is nothing like Mad God.

Hustle, 2022 - ★★★½: Adam Sandler is great when he does a "Good Movie" This was one of them. Too bad it was NBA fan fiction. I don't know basketball.

RRR, 2022 - ★★★★½: An absolute over-the-top blast, start to finish.

Chip &#039;n Dale: Rescue Rangers, 2022 - ★★★★: How is it possible I had that much fun?

Metal Lords, 2022 - ★★★½: It pretty much is what it is, which is fine. Good to see some cameos from a few favorite bands, too.

The Lost City, 2022 - ★★★½: I smiled the entire time. What more can I ask for?

I get a kick out of Styx’s Wooden Nickel period. Some rough but fun rock and prog rock songs. #NowPlaying “Styx II”

The Photos widget might be the greatest thing on my iPhone. This morning, it surfaced this photo of me water skiing (1981, maybe). Kodachrome!

There’s a googly eye instead of the normal “Watched” icon! I never tire of googly eyes. Another reason to love Letterboxd. letterboxd.com (and that movie).

Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022 - ★★★★: Pretty great, but maybe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

And then there’s this self-portrait in which I didn’t realize my head was in direct sunlight. None of this is the Linhof’s fault. I’m just still very clumsy with it.

I sometimes don’t know why I bother with large format photography.

Some days are more analog than others. Today is one of those days.

I recently returned to using an automatic mechanical watch. Mmmm, I love mechanical watches, but the convenience of an Apple Watch is hard to resist, so I gave my Apple Watch to my dad.

Lots to do today. But first, a quick selfie with Alice 👋

The Northman, 2022 - ★★★★: Well, that was impressive. Weird and brutal. Beautiful.

Sure, why not? #iPod

Lightroom’s window was acting strangely on my MBP. It got smaller when I switched to it. Learned about this setting today: “Scale to fit below built-in camera”. Turned it off.

I need to take a break from my favorite keyboard: baty.net/2022/i-lo…

This wonderful painting by my great grandfather hangs on the wall at my mom’s house. I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. There are stories in there.

Love this letter (fax!) from Douglas Adams: news.lettersofnote.com/p/please-… American audiences do not need to feel disturbed by the notion that places do exist outside the US or that people might suddenly refer to them in works of fiction.

Manual-focus rangefinder selfies with a 50mm lens are a hit-or-miss thing. This one is close enough.

Here’s my original copy of “Frampton Comes Alive”, the first album I ever bought. It was pressed with sides 1 and 4 on one record and 2 and 3 on the other. This was for use on automatic record changers. Wild. Mine sounds pretty rough, probably because I still spin it regularly.

1970s Zimbabwean heavy rock: Watch Out! - Wells Fargo. #NowPlaying …the irony of the band’s name is not lost on founder/drummer Ebba Chitambo, who first saw it printed on the side of a stagecoach in an American cowboy comic book –AllMusic

I have failed to fall in love with the AirPods Max baty.net/2022/airp…

I prefer wired devices but I hate wires.

I enabled “stacking” on my Mac’s desktop a few weeks ago and I can’t believe how much I like it.

I still find it amazing that these were made more than 60 years apart. Top: Leica M3, 1960. Bottom: Leica MP, 2021.

“Nina Simone Sings the Blues” #NowPlaying

I haven’t liked a Kansas record since 1977 but I love everything up to that point, including this one, 1975’s “Song for America”. #NowPlaying

Here I am cheating on my darkroom with a digital camera.

Stopped at a Barnes & Noble on my way back from Cheesecake Factory (no, really!). I noticed that the new release book covers seemed to be designed by the same team. Others noticed too. It’s the “book blob”. www.printmag.com/book-cove…

And whenever I think I was cool, I remember this photo of my dad, taken in Hawaii when he was 50.

I keep this photo around as a reminder that I used to be cooler.

Listening to Swans' “The Seer” makes my stomach hurt but it’s so good that I don’t care. #NowPlaying

Calm technology

I’ve been using Logseq regularly for a while. Love it. But now with more VC money, they’re saying things like “Accelerate Growth of the New World Knowledge Graph” and it makes me nervous. Settle down, Logseq, you’re a note-taking app.

How mechanical watches work. Riveting! (via Gruber)

Judas Priest - “Rocka Rolla”. It’s an odd record that I’ve come to enjoy more over time. #NowPlaying

Men make these laws…and they also don’t know where a girl pees from – Patricia Lockwood, “No One is Talking About This”

I was in a foul mood this morning so I spent an hour making prints in the darkroom and now I feel much better. That never happens with Lightroom.

I miss DVD special features, especially audio commentaries.

After fixing a slow leak in my car’s tire, the shop told me it was caused by a bone fragment. There’s a short story in there somewhere.

I don’t have data to support it, but I’d wager that the computer I spent the most time on ever was the Macintosh IIci. It might be my all-time favorite.

New workstation. (in 2005)

1964 Hermes 3000. It’s not a light typer, but it feels good because it’s so solid.

Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny #NowPlaying

I’d probably be invited to more parties if I had this Spinnerette Turntable from Third Man Records.

Pulled the Hermes 3000 out of storage but it had a dead ribbon. Surprisingly, I had a new ribbon on hand.

Blade Runner 2049, 2017 - ★★★★½: This one is special.

The Outfit, 2022 - ★★★★½: As solid as it gets. Tight, fun, no gimmicks, and features the absolutely fantastic Mark Rylance.

Pleasure, 2021 - ★★★★: Well, that was brutal and disturbing. What a terrific debut.

I’m replacing Instagram with Glass as my social media photo sharing link. What I lose in “reach” I’ll more than make up for in “doesn’t suck the life out of me and is actually beautiful and very pleasant”.

The Batman, 2022 - ★★: People sure overthink the shit out of Batman. I was an hour and a half in before I realized it was only half over. Decided I didn't need another 90 minutes of dark, wet, and broody so I shut it off

Benedetta, 2021 - ★★★★: So, kinda nunsploitation, but really well-done nunsploitation and I loved it.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 2010 - ★★★½: Some of the slowest bits were dreamlike and mesmerizing. Others bored me to tears. It was worth finding out which were which.

Dog, 2022 - ★★★: This reminded me how much I miss my shepherd. His name was Zim and he was a good boy.

I’ve been testing the Orion browser and it’s quite nice. One side effect is that I haven’t gotten the Tweaks for Twitter extension working and it reminded me why I’ve been able to stomach Twitter recently. Without Tweaks, Twitter is kind of a nightmare.

Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), 2021 - ★★★★: That was amazing

Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off, 2022 - ★★★: Watched on Friday April 15, 2022.

I should never have sold any of my film cameras.

Liza, the Fox-Fairy, 2015 - ★★★★: Dark and Twisted Amélie.

I just looked up my EagleFiler serial number in DEVONthink because ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

X, 2022 - ★★★★: That was a blast.

The Bubble, 2022 - ★★: Wildly unfunny while trying way to hard to be wildly funny.

CODA, 2021 - ★★★: I'm sure it deserved all its awards, but it didn't move the needle a lot with me.

I noticed that all this was within arm’s reach and I think I’m on the right track.

Say hello to Glass on the Web. Well hello! 👋. A web UI makes Glass much more interesting for me. I’m jbaty there. glass.photo/jbaty

I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, but early indicators suggest that I have successfully replaced a cracked screen on the iPhone XR.

Instagram can sometimes make people feel inferior, but I just finished Isaacson’s biography of Leonardo da Vinci so yeah.

Carla Bruni: Little French Songs

Started consoldating my typewritten pages and printed digital journals into the new lever arch binders. This is better.

I like Hugo’s Page Bundles feature. It lets me keep all of the assets related to a post in one place.

Current blogging system. It’s all in this single Org-mode file.

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, 2022 - ★★★★: I'm so high on nostalgia right now.

I’m so high on nostalgia right now. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‎Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022) directed by Richard Linklater

Severance is the best thing on television.

The list of changes in Emacs 28.1 is ginormous: www.masteringemacs.org/article/w…

I finally found a lever arch binder in US Letter size. Everything about it is better than our typical (in US) 3-ring binders. Why are they so hard to find here? (Without switching to A4 paper and annoying everyone around me, that is). Is there a petition I can sign?

I always come back to this record. I just love it.

At the time, I fancied myself the kind of person who simply must have a fancy case for their fountain pens.

Found my first fountain pen, the Waterman Philéas. It punches so far above its weight it embarrasses much more expensive pens. It’s not pretty, but I love the 2-tone art deco nib. Bought mine at Office Max at like 20 years ago.

The fanciest and most expensive iPhone case I’ve ever seen. (Leica M3. 50mm Summilux on T-MAX P3200)

For films with longer processing times.

I would be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone using both Org mode and Hugo that ox-hugo is the bee’s knees and makes static blogging a joy rather than a chore. Kaushal Modi has done some great work here.

Speaking of enlargers. A helpful seller on eBay was kind enough to part out the Focomat IIc parallelogram he was selling and sold me only the threaded helicoid receptacle. I now, finally, have the 100mm lens mounted and can make prints from 6x6 negs. I’m very happy about this.

I tested the big Beseler in the spare room with the bare minimum of fuss and it worked! The filter mechanism is a little janky, so have work to do, but the takeaway is that I can once again make prints from 4x5 negatives!

Creator: “Welcome to the channel, where we do such and such! Today’s video is about such and such and I’m pretty stoked, so let’s get right into it!” ::Break for unnecessary 45-second intro…:: Creator: “Alright! Hi Guys. Like I said, todays video is about …

From one makeshift darkroom to another. The Beseler still works so I’m going to try printing some 4x5 negatives later. There’s no water in here, which is inconvenient, but it should be workable.

Gosh, the Technika is lovely. Shame it’s been unused for so long. Maybe I’ll fix that today.

Now Playing: Primus “Pork Soda”

Briefly considered going from Doom Emacs back to a home-rolled vanilla config but realized I’d just spend the next two years basically rebuilding Doom from scratch so never mind.

I like Bruce Dickinson fine, but I’d sure love to visit the alternate timeline in which Paul Di’Anno stuck around.

An email said, “You need a modern email client to view this email.” but my copy of Mu4e was released Nov. 2021 so I’m confused

Drive My Car, 2021 - ★★★★½: Beautiful. Melancholy. Rewards patience.

Poor Olaf

Trying something with Org-roam and Hugo baty.net/2022/publ…

This morning I thought, “Hey, I think I’d like to tinker with Linux” so I upgraded Regolith. Nope, it hung somewhere in the middle so I reinstalled it. Now, this happens if I try booting an encrypted disk. 10 Minutes later: ::downloads Mint::

It&#039;s Such a Beautiful Day, 2012 - ★★★★: Still amazing. Almost anything else you could spend an hour on would be worse.

This big guy is waiting patiently for when (if) I get a real darkroom one day.

The “dry side” of my darkroom is really just a bathroom closet, but I love it.

‎It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) directed by Don Hertzfeldt is still amazing. Almost anything else you could spend an hour on would be worse.

I’ve been using Emacs for 7 or 8 years now and yet I’m still new to Emacs.

I’ve been ironing fiber prints between two pieces of card stock and then pressing them under heavy books for a day or so. This gets them reasonably flat. Much better.

I’ve been dragging my feet on this little project. I’m too easily frustrated lately and I don’t want to throw anything against the wall just yet.

After a long search, I finally found someone willing to part with the 100mm helicoid threads for the Focomat. It’s coming from Germany and I really really hope I can make it work.

Bigbug, 2022 - ★★: I see no evidence that anyone involved with making Amélie was responsible for this.

I went into the darkroom this morning to test a new safelight bulb and made a handful of 5x7 prints while I was in there. Darkroom prints are special. Not only because of how they look but because of what they are.

I need reminding often enough that I pinned it to the board.

D’ya ever feel like you deserve more Likes? Whenever I start to feel that way I want to delete my accounts.

My dad’s garage is like some sort of art installation. This wall is a Dali within a Dali.

Defrosting the little fridge I use for film.

Once I stopped worrying about making perfect, “archival-quality” prints, darkroom work got a lot more fun.

The Adam Project, 2022 - ★★: Reynolds doing the only thing Reynolds knows how to do is fine, but man I hated that kid.

Paper nerds: I would like to try lever arch binders but I only see them in A4. Is there such a thing as lever arch in US Letter size? Also, do you find them better/easier than 3-ring binders?

I love Nic Cage, and was worried that making the Nic Cagiest of Nic Cage movie was a bad idea, so I was happy to see this today. I can’t wait!

I was hoping I could use a brighter safelight in the darkroom, so I bought a random red light bulb from Amazon. I ran a 5-minute test for light-tightness. As you can see, it failed miserably 😆. The entire sheet should be white.

I’ve been having a ball printing from some old negatives. I made these last night (from 2003).

Sometimes I abruptly change my Emacs theme to trick myself into thinking I’m trying a new app

Still frustrated by current point-and-shoot film camera prices. Here’s my B&H Order for a Stylus Epic in 2004.

I suddenly don’t feel like “Blogging”. There are things I’d like to write about but can’t bring myself to sit here and put more than a sentence or two together. So, I don’t. I’m fine with just the wiki and “micro” blogging for the moment.

I started today by revamping my Org mode config so now I have every possible tweak to my tasks and projects and journals and notes. I then spent this afternoon writing detailed notes and tasks in my notebook because I need both I guess?

Interesting how my initial reaction after developing film is often “Darn, it’s grainy and not sharp!” but then a week later I love it. With digital, anything that’s not perfectly sharp and clean is junk and stays junk.

Wings of Desire, 1987 - ★★★★½: Well that was beautiful.

Gave up 30 minutes into “Spider Man: No Way Home” and watched Wim Wenders' “Wings of Desire” instead. Glad I did. The special effects and story were much more believable and interesting.

She doesn’t like the popping or beeping sounds that the flashes make so she’s “hiding”.

Forgive me, I’ve misplaced my slogan mug.

I’m loving “Prioritize Pleasure” by Rebecca Taylor.

Made a couple more fiber-based prints in the darkroom. It’s fun digging through old negatives and printing some favorites.

I’d made a huge mistake.

New posts will be via baty.net or other external feeds for a while.

Fresh, 2022 - ★★★½: I don't have a better ass joke, sorry.

West Side Story, 2021 - ★★★½: Dazzling and terrifically well-made. Visually stunning and occasionally breathtaking. Spielberg is a genius. And yet, and I'm not sure how this is possible, I was kind of bored.

WordPress is fine. Medium is fine. Facebook is fine. Twitter is fine. Mastodon is fine. Your self-hosted static-HTML website is fine. Instagram is fine. A typewriter in your basement is fine. Write wherever you feel like writing.

Is there something I can use to automatically unfollow and/or mute anyone whose Twitter avatar is not round?

The Kodak Retina IIIC is neat. baty.net/2022/the-…

My dad called me from Florida and told me that a friend had no need for “some old Kodak” camera. Turns out it was a Retina IIIC, which AFAIK is far and away the best camera Kodak ever made (in Germany, no less). It arrived today. So cool!

Well, I got the Focomat IIc in place, but it doesn’t quite fit. I was able to make 8x10 prints but it can’t be raised high enough to do any significant cropping. I guess I’ll have to get it right in camera, then.

Contact sheets are no longer technically necessary, but I find them to be beautiful on their own, especially with 6x6 negatives. I often make 2 prints, one for the binder and one to hang.

I woke up and went with a real blog (Hugo again) for my daily notes posts. I think I’ve turned waffling into a hobby. baty.net/2022/the-…

I found half a box of Blackwing Naturals in a drawer so of course I immediately sawed that obnoxious eraser off all of them.

I’ve been highlighting key phrases in my paper notebooks and it’s awesome. baty.net/2022/high…

If you need photos of my dog, desk, notebooks, cameras, or self… I’m your guy!

Here’s one I like from that roll of TMAX-100 in the OM-2n.

How many times a day do you think I click that Move “button” in Apple Mail thinking it’s the search field? Lots of times, that’s how many.

The OM-2n looked lonely so I loaded it up with some TMAX-100 and bolted on the flash. It’s the lovely 85mm Zuiko that keeps me coming back.

Guess Who’s not rockin' no more.

Hair and makeup didn’t arrive in time for my self-portrait session. Apparently.

I slipped the leather case off the 1960 Leica M3 and put it on the 2021 MP and it fits perfectly. I find that to be amazing. Oh, and the MP is back from Leica (warranty) repair and the sticky rewind knob works like butter again.

I’ve been buying more music lately, but streaming isn’t going anywhere. write.as/jackbaty/…

I seem to kill every single one of them.

I lost interest before completely conquering my cable management problems, but it got much better at least.

BBEdit 14.1 write.as/jackbaty/…

This is the room of the wolfmother wallpaper: This is the room where Jezebel frescoed her eyelids with history’s tragic glitter, where Delilah practiced for her beautician’s license, the room in which Salome dropped the seventh veil… I still love this trippy mess.

I just noticed that I got my date stamp 11 years ago yesterday. Guess I’ll need a new one next year.

While reading back through the past few days of my blogs, I’ve noticed that my tone has been rather negative. That’s OK on the wiki because it’s not cross-posted anywhere, but my poor attitude has leaked elsewhere. I’ll work on that, sorry.

I love everything about playing records

Pressfield’s “The War of Art” is one page about an anthropomorphic “Resistance”. That page is then repeated 150 times. This was my 3rd attempt but I’ve decided everyone is wrong and that it’s just a terrible book.

I got one of these fancy BenQ screenbar lights and it’s great, but now I’ve been made painfully aware how astonishingly filthy my keyboard is.

Well this took me by surprise. A pleasant, heavy surprise: Zeal & Ardor

I’ve been thumbing through my Henri Cartier-Bresson book and was reminded once again that not one of his photos would have been improved by using an apochromatic lens or high-resolution digital sensor. Quite the opposite, really.

I’ve been doodling as a form of meditation: write.as/jackbaty/…

A clean desk helps. write.as/jackbaty/…

I just discovered that this engineer’s scale ruler divides inches into 10 units per inch. Now I want all rulers to work this way. (If we can’t have the metric system here, that is.)

I used to be so much cooler

This all started with the best of intentions. Chaos ensued.

It’s feeling like an HCB kind of day. Photo books are the best.

Some “tools” can also be wonderfully tactile works of art. write.as/jackbaty/…

I would like to declare Sundays to be my “Stay Away From Screens Day” but I know me. Also, I’ve been sitting at this screen since 5:00 am with no signs of leaving.

I’ve been happy with NetNewsWire, so when my Feedbin subscription came up for renewal today, I closed the account. They sent me an email about it. Normal. But what was unexpected was they also attached my feeds as an OPML file, just in case. I didn’t ask them to. That was nice.

I keep breaking links and wish I’d do better. write.as/jackbaty/…

I had a screen protector leftover from the Q2 and it happened to fit on the M10-R so I carefully cleaned everything and applied it just so. Of course there’s a problem spot and I can’t decide if I’ll be able to ignore it or if I need to buy another protector.

The irony of my posting a link to this here is not lost on me, but: write.as/jackbaty/…

Recently discovered that Write.as has a “tiny” version of every blog. Mine is tiny.write.as/jackbaty and I kind of like it :).

I started naming files using CamelCase.jpg instead of lowercase-with-hypens.jpg and it’s my favorite new thing.

Thanks to all the recent mentions around here, I’m going to try blogging with Write.as for a while. Haven’t posted there since 2018. It’s come a long way. It’ll be fun! 😘. I’m at write.as/jackbaty/ for now. I can’t help it.

I’ve had a matte cutter for 10 years and today was the first time I used it. Pretty easy. I cut custom mattes for 2 prints. Only had to redo them twice. Still learning!

I made a camera-selling mistake recently and today I’ve corrected that mistake. All is right, again.

I printed a recent self-portrait on fiber-based paper in the darkroom and was a little surprised to find that I liked it much better than the inkjet prints I’d made. It’s now matted, framed, and hung and it makes me want to make more of them.

I snapped this photo yesterday of E.’s snack nook and was reminded of my long-dormant Refrigerator Project on Flickr. It’s like a family time machine.

Journaling is fun. It’s a great way to put the little Instax printer to use, also. My big journal has become a sort of scrapbook with supporting commentary.

I wish I needed one of these.

After a few days, I’ve fallen so in love with the i3 and Workspace setup in Regolith Linux that I’m questioning everything. I need to calm down.

Didn’t I just say I wasn’t going to do this? baty.blog/2022/linu…

Alice is enjoying the sun this afternoon. Also, ear kaboom! (Hasseblad 500C/M. Zeiss Planar 80mm. HP5 Plus.)

“Unknown”

‘68 Europe. This is how people used to organize “albums” 😆. Apparently we also wildly over-exposed our chromes, based on this sample.

Why didn’t anyone tell me that “Joe Pera Talks With You” is the greatest thing on Television? www.adultswim.com/videos/jo…

I need to stop installing Linux. baty.blog/2022/stop…

I can’t explain why, but it makes me uncomfortable knowing that 1Password has more than 500 employees.

This afternoon’s antidote to spending the entire morning futzing around with Linux.

Here’s another found negative. Mid-1960s. Not sure where. Nassau, possibly.

I spent the morning installing Regolith Linux on my old ThinkPad. I can’t stand the trackpad on that machine, so I plugged the thing into my big monitor, keyboard, and mouse. A well-implemented i3 configuration on a big screen is nifty! regolith-linux.org

Found a few new unknown negatives. Not sure who they belonged to. All transparencies (Kodachrome and Ektachrome). This one was labeled “Solar Eclipse, 1963” and it’s awesome.

Brought this back into rotation and gave it a prominent spot on my desk.

Tinderbox or Emacs for my daily blogging? I’m catatonic over it. I want both.

I don’t see many people talking about “The Righteous Gemstones”. I found it odd and hilarious. I guess you have to enjoy Danny McBride, since he wrote and stars in the show.

I recently (accidentally) spit on my SL2-S's sensor while trying to blow some dust off it. (Don't do that). The first swab cleaning didn't remove the smudges. I just tried again, and really "dug in there" with the swab. It worked. Whew! That was scary.

A frequent mistake we make is to believe that we can know the intentions of others.

After living with it for a couple days, I think I’ll stick with Hitchens, @pimoore’s Hugo port of @pat’s original Jekyll theme. I dig the bold but readable design and I’m a fan of its namesake. The people who must never have power are the humorless. – Christopher …

The change to using only one computer was the greatest thing I’ve ever done for my sanity. I didn’t realize how much overhead managing and syncing multiple devices added to my computing life.

Paul Ford, brilliant as always: The supply chain is fractal: Zoom in on your stuff and there’s more stuff, ad infinitum. A Grand Unified Theory of Buying Stuff | WIRED

I enjoyed “The Silent Sea” (Netflix) very much.

Charge me more for software but less for services: Charge me more for software but less for services I would like pricing pressure for software to go up, but for subscriptions to go down. I'll happily pay $250 for a great app, but don't want to pay more than $12/year for a read-it-later service or newsletter or magazine. The number of apps I need is …

Trying @pimoore’s Hitchens theme. It’s so vivid! But, I’m not changing anything, because without the bright yellow it would hardly be Hitchens :).

A short review of my blogging with Tinderbox experiment: daily.baty.net/posts/202…

Checking in after a couple months of blogging with Tinderbox: Checking in after a couple months of blogging with Tinderbox <img src="https://baty.blog/img/small/tinderboxicon.png" alt="Checking in after a couple months of blogging with Tinderbox" class="sideImage"> Early last November, in Welcome back, I guess, I wrote …

I’ve always considered printing these tiny Instax prints from my phone to be cheating. I preferred making them the “real” way directly out of the Instax camera. I’m changing my tune. They’re a lot of fun either way!

I dropped the Printfile sheet on the scanner and pressed the button. Then cropped to a single frame and here we are. I mean, if you’re going to “embrace the imperfections” of film, then go all in I guess?

I don’t know how to work an inkjet printer. copingmechanism.com/2022/abou…

Thinking about family snapshots copingmechanism.com/2022/what…

I learned today that I can trigger the camera by stepping on the release bulb. Look ma, no hands! (Leica MP. Summilux 50mm ASPH. HP5 Plus)

My wife surprised me with an ice cream maker for Christmas and I’ve since learned that homemade ice cream is the greatest thing ever.

There, that’s a little better. (Still playing with strobes in the basement)

Portraits are all about hair and lighting and I pretty much nailed both of those here, eh?

I spent some time over the past couple of weeks creating a new blog using Tinderbox. It’s to a point where I’m comfortable with the format (It works much like Drummer). I built a separate RSS feed for use syndicating here. I’ll test that soon. Hope I don’t break anything.

Well, hello again. How’s everyone doing? I’ve missed you.

Should I crosspost to Micro.blog?: Should I crosspost to Micro.blog? I find myself missing Micro.blog. The community there is unmatched by any that I've found elsewhere. I sometimes miss the occasional interaction around my posts. Living alone on my blog has been a deliberate choice. I wanted to make blogging less performative. After …

Programming note: We're now officially at baty.blog: Programming note: We're now officially at baty.blog <img src="https://baty.blog/img/small/meta-splat.png" alt="Programming note: We're now officially at baty.blog" class="sideImage"> I'd never intended for the new daily notes site to live at daily.baty.net. That …

New RSS feed for all posts: New RSS feed for all posts I built this site's RSS feed so that it only includes the big daily posts, one per day, but that post is appended to throughout the day. This feels right for most people. It doesn't work if I want to crosspost, though, since the first published version is usually only me …

What a great post by Moxie Marlinspike. Instead of storing the data on-chain, NFTs instead contain a URL that points to the data. What surprised me about the standards was that there’s no hash commitment for the data located at the URL. Looking at many of the NFTs on popular marketplaces being sold …

Shooting film when I'm in the mood: Shooting film when I'm in the mood Over the past several years, my interest in shooting film has regularly ebbed and flowed. This fluctuation wouldn't be a problem if the frequency and amplitude weren't so high. My brain does this thing where it decides, usually after a successful roll or inspiring …

Jack&#039;s Favorites: A selection of movies I absolutely adore and am happy to rewatch any time. Updated occasionally. Drowning by Numbers Big Night Raising Arizona Paddington 2 Magnolia After Hours Holy Motors 2001: A Space Odyssey Winter's Bone The Lure ...plus 43 more. View the full list on …