Personal

Below are all of the posts with the Personal tag. A post tagged with Personal means that it is about Personal. If a post references Personal but does not have the tag, then the post will not be in the list below. If a post has the Personal tag or mentions Personal, then it will be in the Glossary for "Personal".

I have ordered the posts from newest to oldest:

2026-02-27 Local Library Programming
Establishing intentional plans for personal enrichment.
2026-02-05 Serendipity and Verse
It is through epics and poetry that I my home.
2026-01-07 Bolstering Against the Permeating LLM Language
On being human, embracing the analogue, and working through private deep introspection.
2025-12-31 The Books of 2025
Not all of the books of the year, but an overview of the ones that stuck out.
2025-12-31 The Books of 2025
Not all of the books of the year, but an overview of the ones that stuck out.
2025-12-30 Yuletide
I can think of no better time than that between Winter Solstice and New Year’s Day.
2025-12-29 That Time In Between
On that sacred time during winter dark.
2025-11-09 A First Snowfall
Awaking to a lazy Sunday morning.
2025-11-06 Gnome and a Trixie Debian
A brief recollection of a journey amongst the open sources.
2025-09-27 Enchantment and the Morning Star
Venus shining bright as night slips away.
2025-08-25 On Sunrise Arriving Later Each Day
A morning reflection on summer slipping into fall. Of the hours of the day shrinking amidst the striking clock.
2025-08-07 Living and Being through Meditating, Playing, and Reading
Thankful for a fantastic day with friends, a good game, and a good book. A day that spilled over into the next.
2025-08-06 A Dream of Chemistry Test Given by a Childhood Friend
A confounding dream of childhood friend administering a quirky chemistry test.
2025-08-05 Thanks for Nothing
Hoping to fill my sleep with dreams of thankfulness, I instead awake with nothing.
2025-08-04 Waking Up
Of books read, wise ones littering my history, and relationships dissolved across an event horizon.
2025-07-28 Re: Read «What We See When We Read»
A reflection on blogs and books read, letters sent, and the accretion of words.
2025-06-28 Summer Morning on a Small Lake
Each morning I wake to a south eastern view of a small lake. The night to day transition bringing about moments serene.
2025-06-11 Writing as Reciprocation
Sharing of books read and of an opening to a story I’ve long-considered.
2025-05-30 Morning Rituals Formed
Reflecting on mornings as the days stretch longer.
2025-05-16 A Dream of a Memory of a Dream
Exhuming a draft from a winter’s dream; recalling a place I’ve journeyed to on a few occassions.
2025-04-18 Slowness: To Idle Against this Age
An ambling through memories of a slower time and mindset; all triggered by a fellow blogger.
2025-04-14 Personal Limitations and Self-Exploration
Re-surfacing a draft blog post, sparked by a departed online friend. (Hint: the last sentence is “More as I know it.”)
2025-04-12 Welcome to the World of Tomorrow
Dredging up a post I wrote over new years, but figuring I’d release it into the world.
2025-03-25 Re: On Keeping a Notebook
Learning of a book that sparks a meandering through the compulsion of a writing life.
2025-03-23 A Walk Through My Digital Neighborhood
A bit of a walk about through digital neighborhood: as analogue, specific, and digressive. Or, a reflection on the written word in many forms.
2025-03-16 Updating About Me
A reflection on adding “gatherer of books” to the list of “about me” items.
2025-03-10 And Dark Enough to Spare
Pining for a little more winter; or at least some nights of solitude in which thoughts flow freely.
2025-03-09 A Weekend in Review
A few notes from a contemplative weekend.
2025-03-01 Reorganizing My RSS Feed Reading
Revisiting a wise and reflective post by Tracy Durnell; and from there better managing how I engage with my feed reading.
2025-02-07 Forever Ago…Remembering to Dance
A gift unwrapped, a book finished, and a hobby remembered…all of which is to say our stories and myths are important.
2025-01-29 Seeking Inspiration from the Notes I've Taken
Seeking inspiration from what I’ve already gathered, I wrote an #Emacs function to randomly render quotes I’ve collected.
2025-01-29 Love (and Share) What You Do
Reflecting on a novelist finding no joy in writing.
2025-01-27 Go Down Swinging?
A childhood of sand lots and #baseball makes way for a reflection on a recent “About the Author” section I just read. And then a #poem.
2025-01-20 Together We Could
2025-01-20 Awake Amidst the Hallowed Night
Learning to appreciate letting my mind and body find its rhythm, regardless of what the clock might say.
2025-01-18 Forking from a Step in a Stacked Habit
Taking a personal #writing habit and mapping it to the realities of work; with a goal of helping keep my work goals salient throughout the quarter.
2025-01-17 Re: Creative Questions Challenge from James
Responding to a Creative Questions prompt.
2025-01-16 Some Entries from My Personal Journal
Here I draw two entries from my #journal; annotating some thoughts as well as how I’ve expanded my #writing process over the last two months. There’s a #poem in here as well.
2025-01-14 Re: Writing on a tablet
Thinking about the back and forth thoughts others (and I) have regarding digital and analogue. Especially in regards to writing.
2025-01-07 Morning at the Lakeside Home
An early morning of traveling home, to sit beside a warming radiator. Listening to #birdsong and looking upon a frozen over lake.
2025-01-06 A Pilgrim at the Library
An ongoing reflection of #books that have stayed with me. In which #libraries are spaces for reflection and rest; themselves housing a mixture of memories. All triggered by a quest for a “Little Known” essay and touching again a book I once had checked out and read.
2025-01-05 Updating my Phone to a More Secure Setup
Installing #GrapheneOS on a new #Android #Pixel phone, while also being deliberate about how and what I bring along for my new installation. All while working at further de-Googling.
2024-12-28 A Year in Review: 2024 Edition
Some reflections the year ending: life changes, readings, and writings.
2024-12-27 The Fading of Winter
A brief reflection on #Winter amidst the #GreatLakes. Then a bit of #Poetry.
2024-12-18 On Prescription and Description
Feeling an urge to think/write, I pulled up my Epigraphs and found one to write about.
2024-12-13 Clutching Wood and Graphite
A #Haiku along with a reflection on preservation; namely that preservation is not solely about technology but also about community.
2024-11-25 A Grey Pain-Filled Day
A dreary day bound by acute pain. One in which I read of various sources and thought of the season in which we’re heading.
2024-11-24 Reflecting on Listening to My Ancestors
Delving into my ancestry seeking wisdom and a sense of place. I also recognize that my ancestor’s seeking of whiteness drained the vibrancy of colors from our histories.
2024-11-20 The Marks of Isolation
Reflecting on bell hooks’s imploring us to interrogate our hearts.
2024-11-17 Farewell to Facebook
Facebook offered an illusion of relationship cohesion, but it had most certainly become like that cursed mirror in Harry Potter.
2024-11-16 An Hour and a Half To Go
A reflection on waking in that in-between time of the dark wintering nights.
2024-11-09 Warmth, Resolve, and Illegibility
2024-11-08 I Consider Myself a Writer Who Codes
A post in which the title sprang forth and I though a bit more about it. Plus, a bonus Haiku!
2024-11-06 Numb
Numbness leading to memories of walking through Buchenwald amidst a heavy fog. And struggling yet finding connection and embers of hope.
2024-11-06 Three Years On
A reflection on fostering a litter of puppies while morning the death of a family dog.
2024-11-05 Guarding Against Hugo's Breakage
Thinking about removing Hugo from my build chain; in part because I have guards against its breakage. I’m curious about what the alternative might/will bring. And I’m exploring with caution.
2024-11-01 What Makes Me Vulnerable?
A reflection on vulnerability, prompted by a blog post I read. I’ve found that vulnerability and trust go hand in hand.
2024-10-27 On the Respite of Empathy
A reflection on books I’m reading, waiting in line, the fight for empathy, and travels both physical and otherwise.
2024-10-22 On Letter Writing
Reflecting on the act of hand-writing letters; one I’ve found to be a theatrical monologue performed as the bleeding of pen onto paper.
2024-10-20 An Owl, Thrice Seen
An early afternoon along a different path, both physical and mental, leads to a sight of wonder and myth making. An owl, thrice seen.
2024-08-31 Fog over Unpainted Lake
A brief poem in memory of a morning when the Divine had yet to paint the canvas of the day.
2024-08-04 Becalmed Morning
A meditation on a quiet Sunday morning.
2024-07-28 Piling on the Seasons
A reflection of life in seasons, one presently filled with moving and a new job all amidst the backdrop of memories and so very many things.
2024-07-22 Attachment and Release
A reflection on stiff hands and the lake shore calm.
2024-07-17 To Blog about Blogging
A reflection on writing, possession, release, negation, and seances.
2024-07-09 On Leaving the Land of Goshen
In July we plan to move from Indiana to Michigan. In this post, I reflect on the trees that have grown up during our residency at our Goshen home.
2024-06-02 An In/Aspiring Morning Ritual
A walk through of what is my late Spring morning ritual, most parts typical and a few parts aspirational.
2024-05-18 A Quiet Morning of Practice to Address an Observed Personal Computering Workflow Snag
I spent 90 minutes pairing with someone I haven’t previosly paired with. I appreciate their thought processes and also used that time to note that I should practice additional window management strategies in Emacs.
2024-02-25 A Journey of a Thousand Posts
A reflection on the first 1000 posts for Take on Rules.
2024-02-24 Quick and Dirty Function to Sort My Feed
A technical walk through of a little function for sorting my RSS feeds by their domain.
2024-02-11 Setting Aside Reading “Quicksilver”
Shaking my head at a lazy two word description of a likely backdrop character. And from there setting aside the book, recognizing that there are so very many books I want to read and that available time to read is my constraint.
2024-01-31 Adjusting My Time Tracking Again
A walk through of changing how I track time; first paying attention to some friction and then making some incremental changes to my time tracking by creating a new Org-Mode capture template and functions.
2024-01-27 The Fog of Winter
A personal lament of the loss of winter, a small part of the climate crisis, through the voices of coyotes hidden amongst the fog.
2023-12-31 Reflecting on 2023
A terse reflection of 2023, with links to a few of my personal favorite blog posts.
2023-08-25 Responding to "Focus"
Reflecting on focus and distractions. And some of thing things I’ve done to identify my distractions and make adjustments.
2023-07-21 Ephemerality and Permanency in Regards to Discord
De-Prioritizing Being Even More of a Ghost in the Machine
2023-07-19 Working Whilst Listening to Birdsong
Out of Doors and Amongst Verdant Greenery
2023-07-14 In response to "Do blogs still have relevance?"
From a Maintainability Standpoint, I Think So
2023-07-13 What I've Been Reading
And Some Gaming Material
2023-06-26 Going to the Sun
A Moment in Glacier National Park
2023-06-24 Reddit as Yet Another Canary for the Death Spirals of Disruption
Slow and Steady Lives the Life
2023-06-17 At the Foot of the Six Grandfathers
Visiting the Black Hills
2023-04-16 I am Presenting at Rails Conference 2023
Come Join Me and Share Your Tools
2023-03-26 Life and How to Live It
It’s the End of the World and I Feel Fine
2023-03-25 If You Are True to Yourself, It Will Be Sustainable; You Can Do It Forever.
To Be Everything and Nothing
2023-02-05 Ran Dungeon Crawl Classics at PopiCon 2023
To Once Again Play Face to Face
2023-01-28 PopiCon 2023 Game Convention in South Bend, Indiana
A Local to Me Game Convention
2023-01-26 SoftServ - Software Services for Life Science Research Companies
Proud to Be Part of Scientist.Com
2023-01-18 Listening to Phil Dragash's reading of “The Lord of the Rings”
Not Usually One for Audio-books
2023-01-13 A Moment on the Edge of Fey
To Find Magic in Paper and Place
2022-12-31 Wrapping up Another Year for Take on Rules
A Season of Writing
2022-12-18 Get to Know Me: Table-Top RPG Edition
Twenty Questions and Some Answers
2022-10-30 Deactivated my Twitter Account
Time to Move On
2022-03-20 Remembering Corrie, Our Black and White Border Collie
Our Black and White Border Collie
2022-02-02 An Eighth Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-02-01 A Seventh Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-29 A Sixth Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-29 The Alt-Right in Gaming and Outlining the Pipeline
Empathy and the Reflex of Victimhood
2022-01-23 Fifth Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-21 Fourth Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-16 Third Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-15 Second Winter Haiku 2022 Edition
2022-01-03 Retrospective for 2021
The Years Start Coming and They Don’t Stop Coming!
2021-11-14 First Snow
2021-10-21 Orienteering in the Time of Remote Work
Or Navigating without One of Your Senses
2021-10-12 Recent Readings and Serendipitous Pairings
Pairing “Three Rings” and “Ghostways”
2021-10-08 Trick or Treat, I’ve Joined the DEV Team
With the Changing of the Season comes a Changing of the Job
2021-10-04 Being the Partner of an Entrepreneur
Be Prepared for Streams of Creativity
2021-09-22 Caffeinated Dream States and Leaving a Job
And the Frustrations of Trying to Solve Problems in a Dreamscape
2021-09-20 What We Lose as We Change Platforms
A Season of Change
2021-09-17 Slowing Down to Synthesize
Paper and Pencil Sooth My Soul and Feed My Brain
2021-08-24 Coming Up on the 8th Anniversary of Full-Time Soapy Gnome
Stumbling Down Memory Lane
2021-08-15 Once Again, Vendors at a Festival
Remembering the Hustle of Years Past
2021-07-17 An Evening Poem
2021-07-02 Whom Do You Miss the Most?
Reflections of a Blog Post, an Epic, and Parenthood
2021-07-02 Night's Garden
2021-06-28 “Borges and Me: An Encounter” by Jay Parini
2021-06-21 “On Self-Knowledge” by Kahlil Gibran
A Truth from a Certain Point of View
2021-06-18 The Steadfastness and Mutability of Fiction
We are the Light that Illuminates the Stories
2021-06-17 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-17)
Campaign Play, Mystery, and Group Mythology
2021-06-08 Insomnia, Language, and Poison Ivy
A Potent Mix to Agitate Both Body and Mind
2021-03-17 “On Children” by Kahlil Gibran
Poetry Reviews Deep Truths
2021-02-27 Giving Platform
That Which I Give Energy Invariably Owns Me
2021-02-26 A Journey to Conjure Those Now Gone
Memories that Stick and Haunt
2021-02-12 Project Initiation and Change
Building a Coalition to Clarify, Ideate, Design, and Implement
2021-02-08 Winter's Pitch
The Otherworld Calls
2021-02-06 Holding Off on Chasing a COVID Vaccine
And I Hope You Reflect Deeply on When Should Be Your Turn
2021-02-06 Winter's Reverie
To Conjuring Memories Old and New
2021-02-05 To the Ghosts, Haunt Elsewhere
This Blog and My Coding Image Is Not For Sale
2021-02-02 Happy 10th Birthday Take on Rules
With a Decade Behind Me, Let’s See What I Learned
2021-02-01 The Light Hangs Low
But Not Low Enough for Me
2021-02-01 Perhaps An Odd Farewell
Reflecting on a Dream, These Days of Mine, and Wishing Well A Friend Moving On
2021-01-31 Eager to Spill Ink
I Explore My Love of Winter
2021-01-31 Winter's Passing
The View from My Window
2021-01-17 Separated from the Cadence of Life
On Fleeting Winter and Exhaustion
2021-01-14 Letter Sent to Samvera Community in Regards to Github
A Call to a Community Response
2021-01-12 The Why of a Blog?
Because Writing Helps You Learn
2021-01-07 These Opening Days of 2021
In Which 2020 Isn’t a Fluke, and a New Year Won’t Deliver Us
2021-01-02 A Beauty in Winter's Burden
Grey Skies and Snow Covered Ice Cling to this Day
2020-12-31 Wrapping up the Year
Accomplishments Echo Hollow when We’ve Set the World Aflame
2020-09-27 To Father Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame
Please, Ask of Yourself What You Ask of Others
2020-06-05 An Open Letter to My Graduating Children
The Illusions, I Hope, Are Dissolving. Now We Must Work to Shape Something Far Better.
2020-05-17 “Bread and Freedom” by Albert Camus
“Freedom is made up especially of duties” – Albert Camus
2020-05-14 Today Has Been a Hard Day
Looking for Hope in Dreary Days
2020-05-09 Documenting Decisions to Build Buy-In
Don’t Rely on a Group’s Memory, Write It Down
2020-04-26 Free Time During a Pandemic: Three Weeks Later
Writing Software, Retelling Folktales, Reading Camus and Leiber
2020-04-19 Software to Migrate Data from Square to Shopify
I wrote some custom migraiton software for Square to Shopify. Let me know if you’re interested.
2020-04-12 Switching from Inoreader to Newsboat for RSS Reader
An introduction to Newsboat and my 1-week experiment in using a command-line based RSS reader.
2020-04-04 Free Time During a Pandemic
I’m playing “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”, contributing to Samvera, reading Italo Calvino’s “Italian Folktales”, journaling, and playing “Lost Ship” by W.M. Akers.
2019-12-20 Influences on my Blog's Design
Waxing philosophical about marginalia, unique and durable tables, pedantic tests, javascript, and updates.
2019-09-15 A Morning Walk Through Gray Skies and Steady Rain
2019-09-14 End of Summer and Campfires
2019-07-11 Books in Progress and Recently Finished
I have found that I enjoy reading 3 or 4 books concurrently. As one raps up, I dive back to another, then pick up a replacement. In this way, threads of thinking intertwine and commingle.
Right now I have six books in progress, two teetering on abandonment, and six recently completed (and four academic papers).
2019-07-04 “Ode to a Nightengale” by John Keats
2015-03-27 My take on a terrible law
2014-12-28 End of Year Organizing
2014-12-14 Divorce - A Personal Experience
2011-10-04 Family Role-Playing and Unexpected Events