sat/20220813

in

50ºF, clear skies: internet is back after deciding hell no during THE PROTEGE (solid, enjoyable - particularly the homage to THE BIG SLEEP's "sexy bookstore clerk" scene but with the sexy bookstore clerk being an assassin; would love to see Michael Keaton have a crack at Philip Marlow, actually); will finish later tonight... a general, pervasive frustration with writing fiction that I was going to discuss here but figured, in the process of writing the first half of this blub, that it's all about a lack of trust in my own process: need to figure out, then, what it will take for me to trust that process... checking continues for Salman Rushdie updates (definitely recommend his memoir of his life under the fatwa, JOSEPH ANTON)... great consideration being given to trying to buy a Steam Deck just so I can play SQUIRREL WITH A GUN whenever it blesses the world with its existence; also fuck tourists and their mopeds... in-lawn/more words/back to work/the day awaits.

fri/20220812

in

54ºF and clear: schoolyear schedule starting to come into focus, shifting various ablutions around a bit for that maddening nine months of the year when I'm glad to have time to myself but worried, from 0700-1500, M-F, that my wife will get shot (or get one of whichever iteration of an immuno-evasing plague is winding its way through their non-air-conditioned and poorly ventilated building in which they've been advised to not use microwaves) in her efforts to educate the middle school progeny of the teeming micropolitan masses... in that phase of the new Work when my scope is too broad and the frustation rife until I manage to bring it down to the single, smallest element, a phrase, a word, a rhythm (What is the smallest detail that represents the largest whole?) – the rest of the process being (I suppose, this is the first time I've tried three at once) a balance between the broad and the specific, different pieces at different stages, all without sacrificing the spontaneity that gives the work its life ... having fallen in love with my Kindle Paperwhite, I’m intrigued by this e-ink monitor but not $1800 intrigued... still seeking an iOS shortcut to access my note in Obsidian from my homescreen but alas... the day awaits.

thu/20220811

in

62ºF, clear skies: the same breakfast I've had every morning for the last six years always tastes best after I've had to fast for a medical blood sacrifice to be told in two weeks everything I'm doing wrong (elevated calcium levels strike me as the "check engine’ light of the body: it’s either too much cheese or cancer and/or everything in between): not something I enjoy, but I do appreciate the transformation of something that's become so rote - two egg omelette, greek yogurt - into something so wonderful... managed to extricate myself from pernicious habit of checking comms in the morning before breakfast and now I need to stop it before bed (One Sec is definitely helping)... "It may be funny to you, motherfucker, but it's not funny to me" = GO BETO... the day awaits.

shiny new (digital) implements

in

Update/202208101502: The makers of DoMarks replied to this post on Twitter, @DoMarksApp, and asked about the Reeder bug I so inelegantly shared here: said they will play with it and get a fix in the next update. VERY cool.

+++

A few apps / tools I've started using that have - so far - made my day a little less manic than it was before:

Structured, a visual hybrid of a calendar and a reminder that I've started using to track my routine stuff - write, read, pills, exercise, etc; had used Streaks for awhile, but got tired of the "MUST SHOULD HAVE TO" inculcation of the app. Structure is a far less powder-keg option – though I'd love a way to turn off the "surely you can come up with something else to fill this 2 hours with" at the end of an already 14-hour day (Yes, I can, and it's called POWERWASH SIMULATOR; that subway tunnel isn’t going to clean itself).

One Sec, an automation tool that makes you take a breath - yay for muscle memory interruption! – and decide if you really, truly want to open that bullshit loop - eg Twitter / email - and state, with intention, why you want to open it (one of my stated intentions is "assuage raging insecurity," for example. Takes a bit of setup via Shortcuts and Automations, but it's been a helpful way - far more so than Screen Time - to block out certain apps and shift from using them as mindless boredom relievers to actual tools.

DoMarks, my new preferred read-it-later service that lets me categorize bookmarks and sites by actions, turns the act of saving internet pennies and filling up the RIL jar into actual, actionable tasks. I've customized several – either adding my own or via tags – TO PR is for things I'd like to post here, while READ has a Kindle tag for the things – longform especially – that I want to take with me on the Kindle (which I still love) to read. A few bugs with Reeder interplay, but nothing fatal. Also: would love the ability to send to DoMarks at the top of the Share button (sorry, can’t think of its proper name right now), as opposed to the action further down (which changes based on the app being shared from).

And, finally: Upstract, where I can skim pretty much anything from major news sources that would have been otherwise filling up my RSS reader (Reeder). A quick way to get a sense of the world, of the different ways things are covered (along with allsides.com). Worth the small monthly pittance so far.

In other implements news, I've become obsessed with figuring out how to make shortcut for my iPad to jump directly to the day's daily note in Obsidian. Though I know I'm talking to myself here, any recomended ponds to fish in would be most welcome.