Finished reading: Surrender by Bono 📚
I was really looking forward to reading this…and now I’m sad to be done.
One of the practices I’ve been returning to so far this year is some kind of daily writing. 📝 It’s not words to publish anywhere… it just one of my favorite ways to think.
I’ve used this iPad Mini for the last year as a ‘focus’ device – it doesn’t have any ‘input’ apps on it like social media or mail. I’ve mostly used it for reading or for taking handwritten notes during meetings.
But it’s also turned out to be a good solution for this writing practice. Anything with the input apps makes it too easy to break away with a quick keystroke and ‘check’ something. But here…it’s just easier to start writing.
Funny thing is, this keyboard dates back to when I had almost this same physical setup about 6 or 7 years ago when an iPad Mini was my primary iPad. It was so darn portable then, and it’s so darn helpful for focus now.
Final call to sign-up for my spring spiritual formation cohorts:
Finished reading: 24/6 by Tiffany Shlain 📚
This is a book that could probably just be an article. But…it counters ideas so ingrained that it might take a book to convince someone to even consider a day a week without screens.
I keep an Intel Mac Mini on my desk because I’ve worked with a few old codebases that couldn’t compile on my M1 laptop. (And it works well for a Channels server.) I just updated to the last Intel Mini – I ordered one on clearance when they were discontinued.
Realizing, though, that it also might work well as a simple setup for focused work with my bigscreen. Just a few key apps, like Obsidian, and I’m good to go.
I’m surprised to see how little Bono has to say about Zooropa 🎵 in Surrender. 📚 I didn’t appreciate it enough when released, and it has become one of my favorite U2 albums.
⚾ Count me among the large, or at least vocal, majority of Angels fans who are disappointed to see that Moreno has decided not to sell.
Years ago, when Micro.blog was still called Snippets, @manton set me up with a beta account. (Thanks Manton!) I’ve mostly been a lurker since, appreciating what was going on while also not engaging much.
I’ve also mostly been a lurker on Twitter for the past few years, keeping up with a few friends, but primarily gleaning baseball and football news. For reasons that likely don’t need explanation, even lurking on Twitter has become…tedious.
I spent some time these past few weeks revisiting a Mastodon account I setup years ago, but also exploring Micro.blog more deeply. I discovered that they are linked, with Micro.blog allowing me to both follow, and be followed by, any Mastodon user. Add to that the way Micro.blog is setup to sustain what was fun about Twitter (and blogs) in the early days, and you have something very appealing to me.
So here I am…I suspect I will mostly use this as, um, a micro blog, with shorter posts of what I’m learning or thinking about. But I suppose, from time to time, there will be some longer posts like I used to toss on my blog(s) years and years ago.
I’d be glad to be in conversation with the likes of you here on Micro.blog, or if you can connect on Mastodon: @john@byjc.co.
But if you too are looking to make a change and considering where to start with Mastodon…I’d encourage you to consider Micro.blog as your first option.
Spent some time this past week with my wife’s mostly dormant ReMarkable tablet. It’s still a very interesting and nifty device to me, and the latest software updates with handwriting recognition make it even more interesting and nifty.
But I still just can’t quite see how it would improve my toolset. Using an iPad Mini and pencil combo as a note-taking and reading device is hard to beat for my workflows.
🎙️ Consortio Dei Podcast: 19: Steve Cuss
