Oof
This week definitely felt like an off week as you’ll see from the significantly lower count of activity in the sections below. I think the flow I was tapping into the previous two weeks started to taper out a bit as we approached the new moon. Don’t ask me how it even makes sense that the moon has some sort of pull on my brain matter and impacts my ability to be a creative, writing powerhouse, but it’s a pattern and I’m just going to go with it for now.
What did I do this week
Website Progress
I realized this week that I was making things more difficult for myself by trying to design the three different versions of my website in parallel, when I should have designed the desktop version first, made it responsive, and then copied and downsized it to get the smaller screen versions. I took a break to do some digging into tutorials for Figma that covered this in more detail and I’m feeling more confident about next steps. While I could develop all of this in React, I think the initial version will work just fine with CSS, so we’ll see how that rolls out.
New Journaling App
I started following, and doing my “lemme see your cool work” thing, a user on Bluesky named @notanomad.bsky.com and found their new project called The Mind Nomad. It’s a journalling app that uses AI to prompt your journal writing and evaluates your entry as you write it to provide helpful prompts to continue writing until it senses you’ve hit a point in your entry that feels like a natural stopping point, or, in some cases, recommends you stop due to hitting a wall. This happened to me twice. That’s how I know.
I really like this app so far. There’s no mobile version, which is new to me as I usually wind up just logging a quick entry on Day One and moving on. This app encourages you, and believes, that some of the best journalling happens when you have created a moment where your attention is fully on writing and reflecting and that that space is easiest to create when you’re in front of your computer rather than just on your phone somewhere thinking about what you need to do next.
Podcast
Had a few issues getting the next episode of my podcast recorded as the first version had issues with processing and providing recordings. I’m a little bummed about it since it’s a sibling chat episode and my sister and I had a blast talking about family photos. Recording the same thing again didn’t feel natural and I was worried it would feel scripted, so we opted for a new topic covering friend circles and how we’ve integrated those into the family. It was a good episode and I’ve confirmed both tracks recorded correctly, so it’s on to editing and releasing it this week. Episode is out on Wednesday.
What did I learn this week
Training
While I’m almost never going to talk about my job publicly due to the nature of the work I do and wanting to just entirely avoid legal complications if I slip up, there are definitely going to be new learning events associated with my job, so those will get some airtime. While I’m not new to creating and leading trainings for my team, this new job is doing a lot to teach me how to adjust my teaching style and highlighting my struggle with being concise. I want to provide all the context I can and engage my audience on a level that feels complete, and that just isn’t always possible in the amount of time I have. Working with my boss, who understands both our team and how to train specifically on topics in our industry, I’m feeling more self-aware and noticing where I can improve how I build and deliver trainings. It’s a bit frustrating at times, but I keep reminding myself that I’m still relatively new to this industry, and that even though I’ve had years of experience in support management, I still have a lot to learn and need to temper my enthusiasm with structure to be more effective. At the end of the day, the goal is to equip my guys to be better at what they do, so my measurements are ongoing.
What stumped me this week
I mentioned this was a lighter week for me this week, and my big challenge this week wasn’t even technical, it was more personal in flavor. I know I’m on a downslope, or maybe chugging uphill depending on how you think about creative drive, and I’ve never taken the time to understand how my emotions and the environment I’m in affect how easy it is for me to get into a space where I can be creative and productive in service to that creativity. It may have been a busy week at work or just lower energy generally, but journaling about it definitely made me aware of just how stuck I can get and how fast that turns into a complete stop. I know that will kill my drive entirely if I handle it like I have a million times previously, so I’m powering through hoping I figure it out as I go. I have some ideas on how to harness my emotions to create a new drive, so we’ll see how it goes.
What did I listen to this week
New York Family by Puppet – I was really excited to listen to this one, but I’m not as much of a fan of the style of this album. Most of Puppet’s earlier work is what cemented me as a fan, but it’s hit or miss with recent stuff. I listen to very limited “noisy” music and only in specific moods, however, the tone of the album overall has that Puppet feel, so definitely check it out.
Lesser Town by I’MIN – Instantly hooked on this song. I have I’MIN bookmarked to listen to this week actually, but this song was so good right off that bat that I have high hopes for their other work. It had a NYC feel to it, but also had that downtempo easy sound that made it the right song for some focused time writing.
Born Again – LISA, RAYE, Doja Cat – Incredible. I recently found RAYE and I love her range and the Amy Winehouse style of her singing. Her high notes are a religious experience. LISA is always a win in my book as she’s yet to produce something I’m not into, but her range and ability to carry this song from start to finish were amazing. Doja has her moments and who doesn’t love a little DC.
What did I play this week
I mentioned I needed a break and I really took some time this weekend to finally get into Avowed from Obsidian. IGN’s review of the game was pretty solid, so check it out here. It has that Skyrim feel to it, but the dialogue is so much better than you get in games like this that I actually forget that every choice I make is influencing the branching trees of how this game could go and change in the future. I really appreciate that. Coming off of Baldur’s Gate 3 last year (and the year before that with the beta) I appreciate good storytelling and a unique path through the story, but I enjoy it even more when it feels like it flows despite your choices. I’ve killed a boss or two before I talked to someone with a quest for them, and the game handles it perfectly. I’m also finding it’s easier to play in line with how I think the main character should respond, and I’m not forced into being the hero who aligns with “good” guys until plot twists make it obvious who the good guys actually are. No spoilers. But I knew who my underdogs were and I was only going to be a fair, and objective hero, supporting the people and not the government in this game.
Solitaire Stories from Apple Arcade is a solid quick game for me when I’m not dipping into Rivals. I’ve been playing the game for a few years and a new deck dropped this week. It feels like a brain workout and I always love those. I had a couple days of Wordle as well, but Solitaire deserved the mention this week.
Week in emojis
👨🏫 🚆 📝 😓 🎙️ 📦 🧽
Weekly link
https://localghost.dev/blog/this-page-is-under-construction/ – This was an inspiring find this week. Part of wanting to tackle my website relaunch was not just necessity, but also to just create a website for me; something that felt like me, had character and personality, and wasn’t just another templated website that looked like hundreds of other websites out there. It’s the reason I have been taking my time to build this one from nothing up through every stage of design and eventually coding it myself, at least in part. This site really is a love letter to the websites that show who we are and what we’re interested in.