I have successfully restrained myself from writing a lengthy response to someone about free speech and the role of journalists

live with a journalist for over a decade and this particular gap in US civics education becomes blindingly obvious

The more I poke at hobby web development, the more I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get better at at least some sort of programming language.

JavaScript seems an obvious choice.

I've been using my TWSBI 580 as my daily driver lately instead of my Pilot Metro, which had been my unthinking default for, like, multiple years. Generally, I love the TWSBI, but I think there might be something wrong with the section, because I'm always ending up with ink stains on my fingers.

I'll try hitting it with a little silicone grease to see if that helps.

#fountainpens

I would like you to picture a robot vacuum. Round. Bright white. Shiny plastic panels. Lots of cutouts for sensors.

So now you understand my dismay when I walked out of my room this morning and saw the cat had thrown up his breakfast all over the top of ours.

As I've been working on rebuilding my blog, I've been surfing through the #IndieWeb more and more, and gosh... y'all, what a delightful community of people the IndieWeb is.

I can't quite express the bubbly joy it gives my soul to see page after page of unique, handcrafted websites, each belonging to a passionate, thoughtful person who believes in something enough to work at it.

As intended, I've been hacking away at an #11ty personal website all weekend. I don't know if I'll quite have the skeleton done by the time I return home, but I am building a robust understanding of how Eleventy works and manipulates data.

Feeling good about this.

$38 billion dollars burned. Think of how many lives that could have saved.

Fuck the ghouls who made this.

#PopBabyPop

I'd love to find some of my fellow Unitarian Universalists here on the Fediverse. Holler if that's you!

Boosts welcome!

#unitarianuniveralist #unitarianuniversalism

Molly Conger's podcast on the alt-right, Weird Little Guys, has been excellent from its very first episode in 2024, but her work this year has been truly next-level. She spent the first three months of the year diving into unexplored corners of Nazi serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin's killing spree to prove that "there are no lone wolves", doing some truly exceptional reporting to reconstruct the killer's social context.

The linked episode is not about Watson, but is instead a deeply poignant audio essay written the week of Renee Good's murder.

This NYT recipe for a crispy tofu sandwich is a winner in my book. Plant-based meals that are sloppy and indulgent are rarer than they oughta be, and this scratches that itch.

#vegan #vegetarian

Opposed to using AI for her software-engineering job, Erin Maus secured something of a miracle from her employer: a religious exemption.

Maus, a Unitarian Universalist, said she proposed the special treatment in April, citing environmental and ethical objections to AI that don't align with her religious beliefs. She also said she consulted an employment lawyer and her local chapter's minister to help make her case.

Love seeing Unitarian Universalists pushing back against anti-human, environmentally destructive forces!

I wish our justice system would recognize that deeply held convictions need not be religious in nature; and also, if anyone is going to meet that challenge by stretching the definition of "religious", it's the UUs.

#unitarianuniversalism #UnitarianUniversalist

On the one hand, I appreciate the neighbors-looking-out-for-neighbors aspect of a woman who, upon seeing me pick up a Buy Nothing gift from a neighbor's porch, opened her window to ask, "Is that yours?"

On the other, it is rather annoying that something as simple and neighborly as picking up a gift from a couple doors down is regarded with suspicion.

Just exited Pentacle Theatre's "The Lost Virginity Tour" in #SalemOR.

This was the worst show I've seen at Pentacle, and just barely avoids being the worst show I've seen in Salem. (That honor belongs to APE by Dano Madden, a convoluted Guy-In-Your-MFA ego trip of a play in which the obvious playwright-insert character, who is a playwright, receives a heartfelt apology from his wife after she has a miscarriage.)

rather taken aback by the business acumen of the twelve-year-old who just rang my doorbell offering a car wash

he:

• tailored his pitch to the car in my driveway
• told me he was offering a discounted rate
• gave me a business card with QR code for scheduling

Exciting developments in the #SelfHosting front: I've set up a Pangolin instance on a cheap VPS and am starting to configure it to point to my services! My vision for this server is starting to actually come to fruition.

Of course, with steps forward come new challenges: for some of the services that I access via apps on my phone (Navidrome, Wallabag, etc.), I need to figure out how to properly configure things so that the apps don't bounce off the Pangolin authentication layer. 🤔

Ah, phooey, my attempt at #fermenting pine needle soda doesn't seem to have panned out. After 5 days of primary fermentation, there's no pine flavor, just slightly sweet, slightly fizzy water with a yeasty funk.

#fermentation

Anyone have good reliable resources for making your own fountain pen ink? Ideally, I'd love to make my own black ink that is acid-free, from widely available plant or organic materials.

#diy #inkmaking #fountainpens

Curious, for those who have successfully started a #hackerspace, #repaircafe, #techcoop, or some other collaborative community space dedicated to technology:

What sorts of local partnerships did you look for when organizing?

I'm interested in building this kind of space, and I'm trying to brainstorm what local groups I might be able to join forces with. A local ham radio club, a mutual aid network, and a punk space are on my list. If you have other inventive ideas, I'm all ears!