Good morning all!
Denote and org-mode instead of my TiddlyWiki?
While I just explained why I’m dropping some of the usages for org-mode, it’s still very powerful for what I do need it: projects and notes.
One of the thoughts that crossed my mind on a walk today was to convert my wiki into a collection of org files. This makes sense because I write my notes in org-mode anyway before I convert them into Markdown and then paste them into TiddlyWiki. At the same time, GitLab can read org files just fine, complete with images.
TiddlyWiki has a lot of functions built into it, but I might do fine without them, especially with Denote introducing dynamic blocks. Dynamic blocks are essentially meta notes, a key feature that allows one to build a wiki from their notes, as it introduces a hierarchy of links.
If I can make this work, the friction in my current workflow (write in org-mode, convert to markdown, edit, paste into TiddlyWiki, push changes to gitlab) will be minimized (write in org-mode, push changes into gitlab, edit after the fact) and will allow me to write more notes, more often. This sounds good.
Less org-mode, more Outlook? Why!?
It was one of our regular Wednesday date nights. Nat and I decided to meet in one of our favorite local spots instead of ordering in. Knowing Nat finishes work at 6:30, I calculated it would take me about 20 minutes to walk over, meeting at around 7 PM. When it was time to go, I showered, put on clothes and… realized Nat was already there. I was half an hour late instead of 10 minutes early as planned.
Nat leaves work at 6:00, not 6:30. He gets home at 6:30. My brain did one of its famous “brain farts” where it convinced me, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Nat had /always finished work at 6:30 for the last five years or so. I was so convinced that I even argued with Nat, saying he must have left work early.
Being the awesome person he is, Nat didn’t take it too hard. After all, living with me means dealing with these issues more often than not. It’s just something that happens now and then. Me, on the other hand? I had enough.
I was never good with dates and times; call it ADHD, call it scatter-brain, call it age, call it whatever. Many people who read this would probably think I should use a calendar. You’re right, most people! I should! The only problem with this is org-mode. Let me explain.
My life is organized in Emacs org-mode. Everything I do, big and small, is written down inside Emacs. It’s my personal database, with search capabilities, dates and hours, TODO lists, and an agenda. I love org-mode, and I’ve said many times it’s the one thing that made me able to organize my life, or I would be a complete mess made of incidents like the one I described above.
Emacs is awesome and all, but there is one thing it doesn’t do. It doesn’t sync with my work calendar.
Now, Before all of you Emacs champs (the rest of you can skip ahead) jump with suggestions about the various packages available to do just that: I tried those a couple of times. They don’t work for multiple reasons, and my workplace locks down some of Microsoft 365 abilities for a good reason. So sit back down, please (I know someone is going to leave a comment anyway. Go ahead you, get it out of your system.)
On with the story.
While contemplating my choices, I realized there’s another big area where I stopped using org-mode: my journal. I started writing analog about two months ago, leaving my digital journal in Emacs behind. I’m enjoying it, and I already have my next blank notebook waiting for me when I’m done with my current one.
Another thing that has changed since I started using org-mode is my work style. COVID introduced the option of working remotely, and the change in my role enhanced that. My daily work computer is a Mac, not a Windows PC, which is less distracting and works with many Linux applications, Emacs included. I no longer have many time-sensitive, urgent, small tasks, as I often manage larger projects with a long-term commitment. However, my work routine in Emacs hasn’t changed in years.
Here’s an example of my current workflow. Whenever there’s a meeting scheduled, I’d go into Emacs and call up a capture function, which will ask me for the title of the meeting and the time it’s scheduled for. It will create a sub-header for my notes, complete with bullet points. Handy, but as I mentioned, I can’t sync between Outlook and Emacs. Every week, I need to look at my work calendar in Outlook, manually add meetings for the upcoming week, and keep them in sync. If a meeting is canceled, I need to remove it in Emacs; if a new one pops up or the time changes, I will have to adjust it. And these days, I have more meetings than ever before.
Then there’s the problem I told you about at the beginning. org-mode’s built-in agenda doesn’t help with my visually-needy brain. The agenda is a wall of text with timestamps and numbers. Since I need to manually enter times and dates, I type the information into org-mode as I remember it. The problem is right there: “as I remember it.” I must have corrected dates and times in Emacs a hundred times. So, I decided to no longer update org-mode with events and meetings.
I’m not fond of Outlook or Google Calendar, but I’ve been forced to use them for years. My partners, friends, and family all have a Google account, which means they see what’s coming up in real-time and can call me out on erroneous times my brain comes up with. The calendars are color-coded and reflect the same visual interface that - very importantly - I also see on my phone in real-time.
While I’m telling you about Outlook and calendars, let me throw something else in: Reminders. I’ve used org-mode for those, and when I’m away from the computer, I use Orgzly on my Android to sync quick notes to my agenda. Since I switched to my iPhone, syncing with Emacs stopped (There’s another technical reason why I can’t sync Emacs notes with my iPhone, which I won’t get into here). When I want to capture a quick idea, the best way is to take out the phone and dictate my thoughts or perhaps record a short voice memo. If it’s a quick thing, like remembering to take the laundry out, all I have to do is ask Siri to remind me. If it’s something more complicated, like brainstorming this post, I would rewrite it as a project, completed with sub-tasks, into org-mode using the short memo as an introduction/outline.
On my Mac, I now have a widget for my Outlook agenda, which integrates my work and personal calendars. Below is a widget for my reminders from my “Oh Snap!” list, which reflects things I want to see in front of me. This list is meant only for quick reminders, while I have a “planning” list of reminders for events further in the future.
I’m still working with org-mode for anything project-related. It keeps me focused and organized at what it does best for me: breaking down big projects into doable tasks and keeping notes organized, private, and stored for the long term. This is an adjustment, and I will probably go back and forth a couple of times, but I’m pretty sure the days of my weekly files are numbered, as I don’t have use for those anymore.
The latte from Starbucks was awful enough to throw away, unfinished. Headed to WTC, where I know a better spot. Indeed, it saved me. 📷
I can’t start the new year without a good cup of coffee.
I picked up Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E Frankl 📚. I didn’t know what it’s about, it fell from my bookcase so I read a random page.
Woke up this morning to the alcohol remains of last year’s final night. Standing in a Starbucks at a low table facing Dey Street, sipping a weak latte. It’s a new year, just like that. Poof. 📷
Just a note for ya all wishing you a happy new year!
Don’t stay up too late if you don’t want to, being adult and grumpy means you can do whatever you want starting nowwww :D
I’ll be over there with my Earl Gray tea.
EOY Reflection #5:
I worked out more days and more hours this year than I probably did in the last 10 years combined, thanks to exercising at home.
I’m not running/jogging like I used to though.
Board Game Cafe Workers Went on a Quest for a Union and Won
Workers said pay was low and staffing was inadequate. Some described frantic scenes at birthday parties or tournaments that they had to oversee alone. Dungeon masters, who facilitate games, often did hours of unpaid prep work.
If you were to tell me that Dungeon Masters are going to unionize because they’re not getting paid for prep work, I would have asked you what planet you’re from. DnD was an after-school hobby that was anything but work.
Happy for them though. It’s an important role (har har) and a good occupation 🎲
EOY Reflection #4:
So less Emacs org-mode… For one, I could never integrate my calendar with it fully (due to work restrictions on access). For another, no longer keeping a journal in org-mode.
EOY Reflection #3:
I’ve been more analog. First the small pocket notebook for morning thoughts, and then back to my paper journal. Also less Emacs.
Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate!
EOY Reflection #2:
Luck is a component of what I have today. Perhaps not a big component, perhaps I hate to admit luck has anything with it at all, but even developing a skill of knowing when to jump on an opportunity is, in a way, learning to be lucky, isn’t it?
EOY Reflection #1:
I’ve made more friends than I have before. A big part of it is embracing more of my neurodivergent nature (a new word for me to use) and understanding that I don’t fit in places where most folks around me do (marriage, kids, mortgage, a normal job, etc.)
I just complained about Ridley’s Prometheus, so let me counter that with praise for a show I’ve been watching: Undone.
Go watch it.
It’s hard to explain and hard to follow, much like Jacob’s (Bob Odenkirk) explanations, but that’s part of the point. Part of the show’s charm is that it takes the ideas of time travel and alternate dimensions (kind of) and breaks them down into concepts we slowly learn to understand with Alma (Rosa Salazar). She’s having a hard time digesting everything that’s happening, not just conceptually but (even more importantly) emotionally, in a way that takes us along on the ride with her.
The show’s completely made with rotoscope animation, something I haven’t seen since A Scanner Darkly (thank you Undone, for reminding me to re-watch that one!) and it works beautifully here. It wouldn’t work the same if the show wasn’t animated, but lose a part of its unique reality if it was “fully” animated.
On a personal note, the idea of time travel like this is something familiar that reminds me of deep meditations and astral projection on levels I might write about in the future. Without a doubt, this last bit made it much more special to me right now.
Prometheus, 2012 - ★★
I had hopes: Ridley. A compelling story. Horror Sci-Fi.
Instead, what we have here is an "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" movie based on a tested and proven formula from Ridley's successful Alien movies. It's too much of the same to be unique. Where Alien was ahead of its time championing Weaver as Ripley (not to be confused with the director... or perhaps that's part of the point?), this movie is running after the trope's wagon, waving its hand desperately, "hey! Wait for me!"
The main problem we have here is lack of character development. There are too many secondary folks mixed with special effects and dark alien horror for this to happen. The movie's too busy telling us a unique story, providing background, and wowing us with special effects, all of this while also introducing the characters all at once, and as a result, it all feels too shallow. So I didn't care. Not when someone died, not about the story, and not about the movie.
It's a shame because if the movie would slow down a bit and take its time (squeals perhaps?), we'd have something much better that would get me invested. Instead, it's a marathon of flashy black oozy horror in a "been there, done that" sort of a feeling. Back to Alien for me.
The Muppets are amazing. NK and I grew up in different countries, yet we both enjoy the uplifting fuzzy entertainers of our childhood. I identify mostly with Animal (my favorite) and, of course, Statler and Waldorf; they are more of the Gonzo type. We watch The Muppets Mayhem regularly (give it a try, it’s one of those “for kids” shows that has plenty for adults as well)
Last night we went to see a performance based on the The Muppet Christmas Carol for adults. Seeing the others in the hotel’s lobby, drinking, cheering, and singing along at this stand-up-style comedy was a blast.
NYC can be annoying often, but it’s also one of those places you can go into a ransom Christmas Carol muppets style for adults out of nowhere.
At the moment, though, I’m stumped. I have no idea what Hasbro is doing. Yes, there are financial elements at play here. The company itself has had a difficult year. But the sheer severity of these layoffs and the senior roles they are targeting is beyond the pale.
I’m actually not surprised. The main owners of Hasboro, which owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns DnD, are financial groups that are all about pleasing Wall Street and its paranoia.
Over at Mastodon, Emily Gorcemski posted:
I asked for the source, but it was lost. In any case, the point made here is hardly original, though, for me, it hit the nail on the head. There’s a long discussion brewing in my noggin, and this might be a start.
First, to state the obvious, it’s sarcasm. As far as I know and remember, all of these things were called AI at the time; that’s the point. Second, even though I don’t like blaming rich people and capitalism for everything wrong under the sun, and I can’t stand the word “literally” anymore, there’s a second point here: the term AI was coined by those who made this technology. It’s not accurate as it is “cool” and buzz-worthy, and the whole kerfuffle (I missed this word) around AI these days proves it.