Or Something, 2024 - ★★★½
I was on a flight back home when I picked this movie up, not knowing what to expect besides that it had to do with New York. Happy I did.
It's a bit of a modern twist on When Harry Met Sally, but also, not really. It's a slice of life movie, a tale that can happen and probably does happen every day in NYC, with two city "muts" of mixed heritage and past.
As a New Yorker, especially one who lived uptown in the last couple of years, it felt very homey for me. The acting is organic and interesting, even though the plot is somewhat vague. It's basically just two people talking about a bunch of stuff. Or something.
But it's good. The questions they bring up, the stuff they talk about, it's questions I ask myself also on a regular basis. I've been in these shoes for a while now, and the movie serves as a sort of validation.
The ending of it threw me off a bit, I didn't see it coming - but then I just needed and said to myself, "yeah, makes sense."
starting to get annoyed with Zen on the Mac.
Can’t play Netflix and the like because DRM issues. Can’t view embedded MP4s on my own blog because of a decoder issue. With the fact that Zen never synced fully using my Firefox account, I am considering returning to Orion, or just using Safari again.
Org files to beatiful docx files with Pandoc
Did you know that Pandoc allows for seamless conversion of org files to docx format by using a customized Word style template to maintain consistent formatting? And it looks good too. Here’s how.
I have mixed feelings about stuff like www.resistandunsubscribe.com/.
Of course I agree with the sentiment.
But for folks out there, saying something like “it’s easy! Simply change how you buy stuff, get rid of your credit cards, get used to finding alternatives for transportation, entertainment, and how you talk to your family and friends! That’s all!” it’s just not gonna work. Not to mention many workplaces for Microsoft, Google, or Apple.
I don’t know what the solution is, maybe for folks to try and see how hard it is to change their ways and how dependent they are on all these things would do it, but I don’t know.
Of compliments: give them when the person you give it to has your attention and is not distracted. Be specific, not generic. Give it once, mean it, and do not repeat unless it’s something else. Do not expect a thank you automatically, that’s not the point.
This was encouraging to read through quickly. If teens worry about their relationships and students worry about lack of creativity, this is a good thing.
A bit of a teaser:
This bit of dwim-shell-command magic works nicely:
(defun jtr/dwim-shell-command-pandoc-org-to-docx ()
"uses pandoc to convert an org file to docx using a template docx file. The docx template file is stored in my synced notes folder"
(interactive)
(dwim-shell-command-on-marked-files
"converting from org to docx"
"pandoc -s '<<f>>' -o '<<fne>>.docx' --reference-doc ~/Sync/Notes/custom-reference.docx"
:utils "pandoc"))
It’s been fun, but would it shock you if I said the part I appreciate the most is the weather? It’s in the single digits in New York, and today it was 60 here, and sunny.
About to head out on short vacation. Hoping for at least some quiet time to reflect on my geek stuff (yes, that’s part of the fun).
Was in my apartment for the last two days, and had to get out. Had to get some food too. Deep snow. Stepped in a puddle at one point, and was glad to find out my Timberlands delivered their waterproof claim.
I’ve had it with Orion’s tabs. Since Zen has been a good experience on Linux so far, I decided to reinstall it on my Mac. To my surprise, workspaces did not sync even when turned on, so I ended up creating a new workspace. There’s also the weird issue that Grammarly works on Mac, but not Linux.
Good Night, and Good Luck, 2025 - ★★★½
This should be an obvious one when it comes to the 'why again' and 'why now,' so I won't spend words on this.
The Broadway idea is... interesting. It seems there are some references to the original movie (which I haven't watched yet) that I missed, or perhaps some jokes for Broadway goers.
Having something on stage like this means there's something happening everywhere all the time, and the stage for the show - the CBS newsroom - is an excellent example to demonstrate this. A movie tends to be too focused; if not by design, then by the viewers, who are used to being led by the eyeballs to the action.
This is also perhaps another subtle point that came to mind while I watched: media outlets, such as this show, are an art in leading an audience to see what the directors want us to see, which in turn is what Clooney delivers from his soapbox, which he does very well.
I say a soapbox because the end of this show (which is not included in the original film), though powerful, is unnecessary. By spoon-feeding us the point, I believe Clooney takes away from the moral of the real story - that of Edward Murrow - and his own, in the show, which otherwise he delivers brilliantly.
Why I use Denote?
I like Denote, but I don’t think I ever explained why - at least not after using it for about two years. After someone asked me this in a way, I decided to explain.
Spent the last day and a half on and off figuring out how to use pandoc to make my org-mode files in pretty, readable docx files, including tables. It was a challenge, but it’s worth it. The key is to use a reference doc and to know how to use it. Need to expend on that.
Reflection on my Emacs experience
Some recent discoveries in Emacs have led to reflections on past blog posts that showed me the importance of Emacs bloggers in the community.
Denote on Emacs is the only note system that can keep up with me. I keep wanting to use TiddlyWiki, but it’s too distracting; I want to change the colors, the font, add a log as to why I did a certain thing… my brain is too wired to resist. Denote keeps me focused.
I don’t think I have a single close friend who doesn’t love DnD. It’s almost as if I have it listed as part of some “friend role interview” qualifications.
As a kid at school, I was always a geek with my geeky friends, but as an adult… hmm… wait a minute. Well, I guess that answers that 😅
org-mode capture: menu inside a menu
Org-mode capture templates: it’s possible to include a submenu inside an org-capture menu. Here’s how I did it - but why? Well, I’ll get back to it. Hopefully.
I wonder if there’s a way to silence/delete any news brief or summary that starts with “Trump said…” It would help a lot. I’ve been avoiding news altogether for months, but some items I actually want to read about.
Microsoft Office vent number 2113: The Outlook Quick Menu.
How is this helpful?
The options are not categorized logically, with a separating line that seems random. There are over 20 actions in a quick action menu Options that are secondary at best (with Copilot shoved in, of course)
