2021/05 Ship's Log

Liturgies of Empire reminds me of Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom.

I found this article about motherhood and art while perusing Tom’s parenting wiki.

It never occurred to me before that WebMention technology might be used to communicate between pages on my own site and not only others. But it is a bi-directional link; a feature I’d love for my own site.

Now I have good motivation to implement WebMentions. I’ll keep the static vibe by running a WebMention aggregation post-build, then will read them onto the site just like Remark42 does with comments.

Thanks to Maggie’s post.

“Digital garden” is where I want my site to head. I’m anticipating reading the other sources Maggie Appleton references.

Finished my second COVID jab. After Amie’s three-day fever symptoms I’m nervous how it’ll affect me.

After a review of my existing tags, I wonder if it’d be better to create two tag groups to make it more zettelkasten. The first would describe content and would remain a tag. The second would describe type.

For example, a comment might have tags software,python but it would have type recommendation.

Alternatively, I could re-work the category system. Decisions, decisions…

There’s something to the digital note-taking approaches Edwin highlights here. I love Vim and could easily imagine using a similar system. I’ve found my own website achieves the same purpose and let’s me write notes even on a mobile phone!

A prayer from Graham’s godparents the Beans on his third birthday:

🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GRAHAMY BOY 🎊 (a nighttime blessing from your GodBeans:) We hope you’ve had a sweet celebration day full of joy and the hope that you bring, giggles and tasty things. May God bless you every day, shine his loving face on yours. May you find kind playmates, clean puddles to splash, lots of laughs with your Royal brother. May sleep bless you both every night and nap-time. May the force be with you in your fourth year, holiness abound and surround you, the Spirit known as a gentle guide. May you hold peace close on all your adventures, snuggle your mum and dad, know they are behind you and before you with every step. And the Maker of the Stars watching over them. May you knit together ever closer as a fam, even as you take more steps and wander farther and braver and with more strength. We’re all rooting for your joy in prayer, eager to see you grow as you bloom and blossom.

So happy birthday sleep dear boy. May you awake in peace, remember your dreams where you get God hugs and move forward with courage in the world. You are loved 💕💞💕

Have you seen my tags network? It’s color-coded by content type (blue tags are only in posts, yellow only in comments, green are in both" >}}, sized by number, connected by proximity in the same publication, and linked to the tag page. Nifty, right?

Amie received her second COVID vaccine yesterday and, like many of my colleagues, she feels like a truck backed over her. All the flu symptoms from the moment she awoke. This bodes poorly for my own second dose 😢

I’ve revamped how I publish new comments. Not only is comment publishing now mobile-friendly, but I can allow other users to create them! For now, only Amie has the privilege.

Note: “comments” here refer to published work, not comments at the bottom of a publication. Those kind of comments are still available for anyone willing to authenticate.

Long ago, I had included a cloud of every post tag with a line connecting multiple tags in the same posts. I’ve finally gotten around to re-writing the tag parser from PowerShell to Go. Check the results here!

Switching from PowerShell to Go let me build the command binary and load it into my Docker container with a minimum of fuss and a small image size. I was pleasantly surprised how easily I was able to create a Go project for the first time. I might have to consider it for future projects…

Over the weekend the four of us traveled to Madison, WI, to see the grandparents. It was an impromptu affair, but fun to visit family and a good test-drive of our summer vacation drive. We joined them at the start of a week cleaning out the great-grandparent’s hoard of wood, tires, lawn mowers, and more. My major contribution? Helping to pull an ancient appliance from the basement.

Tom paid for a hotel room so we could stay the weekend. Graham had a blast splashing in the pool, but Royal was undecided. He seemed uncomfortably cold.

Graham proudly carted wood to the garbage trailer and impressed everyone with his eagerness to help. In fact, both he and Royal brought joy to everyone. Especially when Graham’s laughter filled the air, riding in a wheelbarrow while I ran him around the driveway.

January 29th, 2020 was my first post.

June 27th, 2020 was my first mobile comment.

I’m so grateful for this place to write. To reflect on the year’s events, to store interesting ideas and TIL, and to learn tons of technologies. It was an experiment back in early 2020; now I don’t want to imagine being without a digital home.

On the wise advice of my wife I took last Wednesday off. After dropping Graham at school, I spent the first half of the day at the Botanic Gardens. In three hours I slowly toured the entire place, stopping to rest in the evergreen section and the Japanese gardens. The evergreens and birdsong reminded me of camping in the Colorado mountains, and the Japanese gardens were calm and peaceful. I watched a family of geese on the Island of Everlasting Happiness for a long time. Around noon I ate a salad at the cafe, then walked back to a secluded spot and napped under a tree.

I’m full of gratitude for Nick’s understanding about breaks. He encouraged me to take a day off when I was feeling like I shouldn’t because we’ll be on a two-week vacation in late June. And for Amie’s encouragement to take the alone time when my inclination is to stay home in case I’m needed.

I’m longing for Wednesday. I’ve taken the day off to catch a break and be by myself. It’s been months (years?) since I’ve had an entire morning alone with God. The plan is to drop Graham at school then spend the entire morning at the Botanic Gardens. Can’t wait!

Check out my new glasses! They’re transition!

Yesterday I received my first jab of the Pfizer vaccine. Except for a sore arm this morning, no discernible symptoms. By the end of the month I’ll be fully vaccinated!

Last night Amie noticed that the 2008 Toyota Highlander we’d been waiting a week for had become available. I called after work to verify and schedule a trade-in appraisal, then drove over to Elgin Toyota.

As I left the city behind for trees, meadows, lakes and fields of the outer suburbs, the stress of the purchase melted away. The environment was a factor, but Amie and Graham were praying. I was ready to walk away if we couldn’t negotiate a cash payment in our price range.

Ali was courteous and direct. He didn’t try to sell me anything more than I was there to buy. I took a test-drive of the Toyota and was grateful to find that it more than met our expectations.

I knew the number I was offering was more than fair, so the negotiation didn’t last long. Ali’s manager did manage to get me to concede $250. My negotiation skills could use sharpening, but I’m not disappointed.

Oh how giddy I was with relief and excitement when my offer was accepted! The paperwork took another couple hours but I drove away with the car we wanted and left our 2013 Hyundai Elantra in good hands.

As I drove home, I reflected on the favor of Yahweh in the entire process. His favor as Amie searched for a reliable vehicle for our growing family, and how she landed on one that met every criteria. His favor in the dealership and the salesperson. His favor in the financial and schedule freedom to walk away if the negotiation was sour, and His favor when both parties went away happy. It’s like His favor towards Abram who, whether in the land of God’s promise or in the foreign land of Egypt, was always multiplied under Yahweh’s covenant protection. May the name of Yahweh be exalted forever!

Goodbye old friend, you were a great vehicle for our needs!

!2013 Hyundai Elantra

On a whim I began a book recommended over 12 years ago. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. I had no idea it was an autobiography!

I’m a quarter of the way through and have delighted in his writing style and his description of the French countryside. I’m envious of his language skills.

The full list of causes is uncertain, but I am exhausted to the near edge of burnout. It’s evident in a limited recovery from Sabbath rest, in a weakened motivation to do more than watch television after the kids are asleep, in an absence of creativity or engagement in fun activities, and in a limited capacity to listen and engage with Jesus. In this state even the hope of a vacation is shaded in doubt. I’m so worn down I can scarcely remember what it was like to have energy or believe that energy will be restored. My emotional bandwidth is narrow but not trapped in sadness, anger, or despair, so I doubt that I am depressed. Only spent.

Thanks to Simon for a shout-out to a new visualization Javascript library, Observable Plot. I’ve used d3.js in the past and am excited for a simpler alternative.

I’ve added comments to my site! I don’t allow anonymous users, but anyone in the world who will identify themselves may write what they will!

See my newly-minted policies page to review how I handle your data and how I moderate content.

Where does Ben find so many amazing articles?!