A month ago, The Tinkering Dwarf wrote that writing is hard when stressed. It was a small post, one of those “life happens” vents, but it resonated with me.
I was just before my vacation to Maine. I haven’t been sleeping well, which isn’t new, but I’ve started connecting a couple of dots with my physical health as well. I gained weight, and for the first time in my life, some of my pants stopped being comfortable. The RSI issue I wrote about occurred around the time I had an annoying eye infection. 5 Hours of sleep a night meant even less energy to do anything.
My mental energy is mostly spent on work, which means other areas like writing have been slowing down.
I started a process of correcting this, and in a way I hope that writing it down here would make it more “official” for me to follow. One unexpected difference between writing for work vs. writing for leisure has been my new keyboard: I use it fully now inside Emacs, but it’s still too slow for work, so I leave it for posts and writing in my journal. The quiet that comes with it (it doesn’t make typing sounds) and the slowness allow me to concentrate more on my intention writing, which I enjoy.
I wanted to post this yesterday but didn’t get to it. This is a good list, I think I should make myself one like this: good things I’m looking forward to this week — feel-good rituals included.
Highlights of my week francescrossley.com
Little things I love every week
I finished watching Pluribus Season 1 📺 without realizing it was the last episode. Started watching during the Main vacation. It’s different from Gilligan’s other shows, but it’s definitely him, with the show set in a parallel universe to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Glove80 and Emacs: Re-training my Fingers
Still getting used to the Glove80. Tangent has the layout but no Emacs practice layer with the actual key chords I need to relearn. So I asked Claude to help build one.
Today was the first time in years I read some news and didn’t cringe right away. It was more or less usual news. This article was interesting (sorry, paywall)
So Where did John Doe come from Anyway?
Another one of those questions that pops up while making coffee. John Doe (and Jane Doe) and Richard Roe were chosen because nobody in 14th-century England actually had those last names. Why, what’s in your morning coffee…?
Glove80: First Impressions — the Typing Reset
The Glove80 showed up ahead of schedule. Lighter than expected, smaller than expected, and immediately humbling — I couldn’t type a single journal entry on it. The ergonomics already feel right. More impressions once I learn to type again.
My Blog Fails Accessibility Tests and That's Okay
Ran my blog through WAVE accessibility checker and got a 4/10. But guess what? My low contrast isn’t a bug — it’s a feature and a way to resolve my halation issues. Redundant links? That’s how I write, depending on what kind of post it is. Sometimes accessibility standards clash with personal needs, and that’s okay. The indieweb is wonderfully weird.
Didn’t realize Claude comes with “Age assurance,” nor did I think you needed to be 18 to use it.
Claude, our consumer product, is only available to people over 18 years. You’ll need to confirm you’re 18 or over while setting up an account. When we detect signals that you may be under 18, we’ll ask you to verify your age before you can continue using Claude.
This is a blanket solution for a nuanced problem. What about high school students who want to use AI responsibly to help with projects? What about people who use it in a library and don’t have access to provide age verification? Why 18 (as opposed to 21? Or by region/country?)
The elephant in the room is the line “How we protect your data.” They don’t. If you believe anything else at this day and age, that alone should disqualify you from using Claude.
Almost time to leave. An odd vacation, with plenty of thoughts that invite more reflection. Glad I have a couple of days at home after. 📷
