M3 morning one

in

First morning with the M3 Air being one of experimentation, of figuring our way around each other, of making do with improvised risers (have an actual laptop stand coming later today), and adapting previous processes to this new tool: it's been a most welcome change. 15" M3 screen so good I don't miss the 20"-loss from the 34" I was using with the Mini – though Obsidian canvi are a tad unwieldy on the smaller screen (but the focus of going back to single documents has been grand). Only thing I do miss, rather terribly, is the Elgato Stream Deck, but I'll eventually get that hooked back up. Maybe that could be today's job; remembering all those custom Obsidian hot keys has been… challenging. Kinesis Freestyle 2 Blue keyboard and Logitech Ergo M575 trackball integrated flawlessly (though it'll be nice to spread the Kinesis out a bit more with the dedicated laptop stand).

in

As I've been experimenting with adding a third reading section to the day (basically, post-breakfast, lunch, and dinner), I'm finally using my Kindle for something other than hospital visits and waiting room time-slaying via short stories: reading non-fiction (currently, Cal Newport's latest, SLOW PRODUCTIVITY). Whereas I previously penciled up books with brackets and an overabundance of illegible scrawls that I'd hate myself for never reviewing, now I can read, highlight and, when I'm done, send the highlights to myself and put them in Obsidian. While fiction (except short stories) will remain corporeal-exclusive, it's not unlikely that non-fic will switch to digital-only - though if I want it on my shelf, I'll buy a physical version later.

in

Snow day number two, "superintendent caught shit for not calling off on Tuesday and (along with the rest of the northeastern part of the state) erred on the side of caution" edition. So far, flurries and somewhat covered roads but nothing terrible (that I can see from the frosted-over windows). Derbz thrilled with prospect of Derbzball in the snow; The Morkie, not so much.

Figured out the interplay between the reMarkable2 and my paper journals: the rM2 is NOT a replacement for paper journals, but for legal pads. A far more useful legal pad, especially since I can make a PDF and stick it in the day's Daily Note in Obsidian and reference when I need to.

Note re: Obsidian: side project of figuring out how to generate a list / table of files created and modified the day previous in Dataview plugin. Still haven't figured out the proper syntax. Once I do, I'll make a keyboard shortcut which should make it easier for me to forget how to do it.

There is new Mary Halvorson music in the world today: EarBliss inbound.

so yeah about that time I passed judgement on reMarkable-as-journal way back in Sunday's newsletter

in

A conversation with my closest friend brought me round to reconsidering it and I can report that, in spite of a few hiccups, the reMarkable is not only my journal again, but something different, something I had in the back of my head that I wanted to do but never knew how to do until now: a combination of my journal with my planner/timeblocking and – and here's the big change, thanks to the advantages of continuous scroll digital notes – my rough drafts / thinking vomits of the day's work: this is, i think, the best representation of my day and my brain – one that cannot be replicated on paper and one that takes advantage of the remarkable's unique abilities.

Taking it one step further: I've since combined all of this with Obsidian's Daily Notes feature, making a PDF of the previous day's scroll and embedding it on the sheet made for the day, along with that day's Attendance Card and accompanying alt text. I then add tags (or copy them from the ones I give in reMarkable, as, unfortunately tags aren't imported on a PDF conversion).

Result being a happy think place that combines the best of analog (oh, that Lamy EMR pen) and digital (continuous scroll FTW) to create something i didn't know i wanted or needed until now I can't imagine working without it.

Insert obligatory newsletter link.

reMarkable (2) incoming...

in

After a few years of looking at one, I finally took the plunge yesterday and purchased a reMarkable 2 writing tablet (along with the typepad folio)...

Goals: a capture device and an easy-on writing device for pieces here – as well as fulfilling (and amplifying) the usual functions of my Boogie Board: handwritten explorations of specific sections of a WIP. Planning to use the reMarkable app on desktop and mobile to facilitate the export and import of notes and scaps and other writings from reMarkable to Obsidian for work and zettelkasten archiving. Potential use as a Daily Note device too?

Should arrive next week. Penning this to start the tag and log its purchase.

spewflow(state)

in

Stumbled into a relationship with vomit drafting that seems to work: I use Flowstate with a five minute timer, and just let things come, spewing whatever’s in my brain all over the screen (handy that FS starts deleting everything after five seconds of inactivity). Once the five minutes are up, I copy and paste what I've “written” into Obsidian, and then sift through the carnage to find words or phrases that repeat and work / build from there. While the results are more often than not little more than gibberish, I’m occasionally able to use the repeating words, phrases, and rhythms to generate the bit, the fragment that I was looking for.

shut up linear brain

in

Pretty sure that my (one of my many) problem(s) over the last few writing weeks is that I've slipped back into a pattern of thinking too linearly. Seems to manifest itself most when working in fiction, so I probably should have spotted it before and recognized it as the problem, or at least part of it. Most likely some residual trepidation about fiction that I was long ago able to (more or less) abandon with non-fiction; like anything, it takes time and practice and the occasional renewing of vows.

Solution: return to "slips of paper" or the zettel/Obsidian way of parsing out individual notes from the notebook cacophony, tag them, and stuff in a project file (or the general digital brain catch-all if devoid of a certain project). Embrace the chaos, resist the urge to organize too soon; order and a whole comes later.

Tagging as Note to Self so I can reference if not the entirety of this piece then at least its title.

vertically infinite / infinitely vertical

in

Mightve stumbled / bumbled into my preferred method of working with Obsidian's Canvas feature: a main document in the middle and extended into one continuous scroll (infinite whiteboard space FTW) with little notes and extra scenes and variations and phrasings and notions and ideas etc etc etc added as cards throughout and along its length. While my initial method was to treat the canvas as a digital corkboard/chaosboard of index cards in widescreen, I found it to be too fragmented – even for someone who enjoys working with fragments – and unnecessarily busy for me to yield a satisfactory synthesis. Infinite vertical scroll + widescreen works as effective utilization of both scroll and widescreen, I think...