#blogging on Read Write.as

Weeknotes - 003

November 30, 2020

I would like to apologize in advance. I tried to edit this post to make it as coherent as possible, but it still feels like a mess. Welcome to what my brain and life was like last week.

I ran into an issue while working on the previous weeknotes post. My weeknotes post show up on this journal, but it has software dev related posts. That makes me think that those should be on my dev blog. And now I wonder, maybe I should have just one website in the first place.

Now the problem with having one website that houses all kinds of content, is that my personal posts would start showing up alongside my dev related posts. I remember Scott Hanselman said that you should keep overtly personal information out of your tech blog. That's pretty much why I have a dev blog and a separate personal blog/journal. I also think that the advice on separating them still makes sense. But I also feel, based on experience, that having to maintain multiple websites can be exhausting.

After pouring out my heart and soul, my personal life into this online journal, I now have this urge to move on and leave it all behind. I no longer want to post something overly personal.

Had I decided to remain with an anonymous journal like Inquiry suggested in the past, I probably wouldn't have a problem with all the personal posts I wrote. But I really wanted to “own my words”, so this is what I get for doing so LOL.

On a related note... I wish I could start over with my domain and websites. Or, just leave everything behind and start fresh on a new blog/site.

Spent an hour dumping my thoughts into Obsidian. They were about the four websites (dev blog, this journal, music blog, photo-blog) that I'm currently maintaining. The question I have for myself is, can I combine all four websites into just one? And if so, can I do it on Write.as, Micro.blog, WordPress or some other platform?

I am in the process of trying to figure out, how to narrow down the number of my sites from 4, to at most 2. One thing I've started to notice from other .NET developers, is that most of them don't have personal blogs. They blog about software development and that's pretty much it.

And now that I think about it, if my intent with blogs and personal websites is to remind people that I'm still alive, then putting out posts on my dev blog is good enough. I don't have to get all personal in a personal blog/journal like this one. I don't need to share all the personal details. If the point is really just to tell other people I'm still alive, then posting about something, and it doesn't have to be a personal topic, is good enough.

In the interest of trying to decrease the load of maintaining multiple websites at once, I think I need to stop writing a post for each song I add to the playlist for my music blog. I should instead write a post for when I have a new playlist out. I think this will lessen the load on my part, and will keep me less distracted during the day.

Fast forward a few days...

Instead of sharing music that I’m listening to right at that moment, I should just curate songs instead. Sharing music while I’m listening to them, can be distracting. And it doesn’t serve any purpose other than to share something I’m listening to at the moment. Building and curating a playlist though, is intentionally creating something that could be valuable to someone else other than myself.

I'm not sure what to do with my Above the Earth and Seas blog. It started out as a place to share photos of the sky. This was mainly to make use of my 3rd free write.as blog and to make use of the snap.as image hosting feature. But as you can tell, it doesn't really have a specific purpose, other than a place for me to share photos of the sky.

I'm not sure what benefit I'm getting from it. I'm not sure if it provides any value whatsoever. I'm not even sure if it is reaching people who are interested in photos of the sky. Currently, there's 1 email subscriber. Unlike this journal or my music blog, I haven't received any messages from a reader regarding any of the content in it. So the question I'm asking myself is, is there any value in continuing to post if no one is even benefiting from or appreciating the photos?

What I'm quickly realizing with regards to blogs, is that without a feedback loop, I don't know if my efforts are just being wasted. I don't know who is benefiting from it or even if I'm benefiting from it. Which is why...

Sometime this week, I ended up creating an Instagram account for my Above the Earth and Seas blog. As far as ease of use goes, it is so much easier to post to Instagram. While yes, I have to use a phone, I spend less time looking at a screen when trying to post something. There's also a feedback loop and the comfort of knowing that I'm not posting to a void. I know people on Instagram can find the photos through the hashtags. And there is a huge community of people posting photos of the sky in it.

That said, I now remember another reason why I was trying to post photos on a blog versus on Instagram. It's the way social media primes your mind to expect likes/hearts. It gives me the urge to want to check the app over and over again.

Anyway, like I did in the past, I plan on only having the Instagram app installed on my phone during weekends. That should limit the amount of time I have the app installed on my phone. And if that doesn't work out, I'll just call it a day on my photo-blog and move on.

While I'm on the subject of Instagram, I thought Sunlit was going to replace Instagram for me. It did not, or more specifically, it couldn't. While it is a great place to post photos (because there's no likes/hearts feature in it), I also have no way of curating a feed like I can with Instagram.

To be fair, I don't think the creators of Sunlit intended it to be a replacement for everything that Instagram does. I'm just saying, that to get my car photos fix, I still have to login to Instagram every now and then. Because that's where you can find the best Mazdaspeed3 photos on the internet.

On the subject of Mazdaspeeds, I installed a Chicco Myfit car seat, alongside a Chicco Nextfit convertible car seat in the Speed3. There's just enough space for me or my wife to sit beside the Nextfit, which is set up as rear facing in the middle. So, it turns out you can install car seats two across in a Gen2 Mazdaspeed3.

And lastly, finally bought lowering springs and shocks for the Speed3. I decided to go for the Eibach Pro-kit/Koni STR.T Struts combo. I'm refreshing the suspension because for the first time since I've owned the Speed3, some of the tires are showing signs of cupping. And well the ride can sometimes feel choppy. Not surprising since my Speed3 has now over 105,000 miles.

If a literature note contains thoughts and ideas from another author, then my own blog posts and journal entries cannot be thought of as literature notes. The ideas contained therein would be considered permanent notes, because they were my own thoughts and ideas.

This is me attempting to understand how to use the Zettelkasten method to build my personal knowledge base.

Wouldn’t digital be easier? Yes. But I don’t want this to be easy. Writing them down by hand forces me to take my time and to go over everything again (taking notes on a Kindle is too easy and that’s the problem).

~ The Notecard System: The Key For Remembering, Organizing And Using Everything You Read by Ryan Holiday

So, with the Zettelkasten method, you create “literature notes” when taking down notes while reading a book. Ryan Holiday uses something called a Notecard System. It's another way of taking notes while reading a book.

If you're looking for more ways to take down notes while reading a book, there's also the Idea Index method that Cal Newport mentioned in his blog.

We are all experts in something. Teach everything you know. Knowledge is squandered unless it is shared. Don't die with your greatest lessons still inside of you.

~ “Email is Where Keystrokes Go to Die.” by James Clear

No matter what you think of yourself, you are an expert in something. So, don't keep all your knowledge to yourself. What's the point of acquiring all that knowledge, of building a digital garden, of building a personal knowledge base, if you let it go to waste by not sharing it with others? Pass it off to your kids, to your peers, to anyone willing to listen and learn.

Going meta here, but the above is what I believe to be an example of a “Literature Note” in the Zettelkasten method. You find a good quote or idea from something that you're reading, you then write it in your own words and file it in a literature note.

I previously mentioned that migrating notes from my bullet journal into Obsidian seemed redundant. Well today's brilliant idea, is to not migrate them at all. If I need to look up info for writing my weeknotes post, then I'll look on both my bullet journal and Obsidian vault.

Spent some time watching Sword Art Online this week and it has its hooks on me once again. The ending to the first half of Season 1 was a great cliffhanger. Then the plot twist in the second half of the season caught me off-guard. If you love MMOs, or have played MMOs, you'll find plenty to like in this anime. If you love MMOs and anime, then you'll love Sword Art Online.

I have also noticed that this is the first anime that Davin has shown an interest in. It could be very well be that he is old enough to be interested in anime. But I also think it's the story and the characters. To an extent, Sword Art Online draws some parallels to Minecraft Dungeons. And I think that's what draws him in.

As far as blood and gore, there's not much in Sword Art Online. So, I'm not worried about Davin watching it. My only concern is that in the second part of Season 1, there's noticeably more sexy scenes and some nudity implied in the episodes. It's not enough to stop me from watching it around him, but it makes me a little wary of it.

Just realized that I'm publishing posts from my music blog, which has music exclusively shared via Spotify, into the read.write.as feed, where a lot of people seem to not be a fan of Spotify. I kinda feel like I'm putting a target on my back for doing so. Maybe this is not where I should be publishing my music blog posts to.

It's been awhile since we've had a Tornado warning issued where we live. Was trying to rock baby Caleb to sleep, when I kept hearing what sounded like a motorcycle going back and forth. It took me awhile to realize that it was the tornado sirens making the sound. Grabbed the wife and Davin and lead them into a closet, where we hid until the threat passed. Thank God that nothing serious happened around our home. Though I heard other people were not as fortunate.

New idea is to listen to “ambient” music while coding. It is an interesting idea, because it means I can stop getting interrupted by running into really good rock songs when working. Got this idea from Vincent's about page.

Tags: #Weeknotes #Bookmarks #Blogging #Mazdaspeed3 #Meta #SocialMedia #Zettelkasten