It was fun, but I would have preferred more 2001 and less Pixar.

This morning started off as another "Emacs tripped me up again so I should use something else." mood. It passed, because everything else is worse in more ways.

I don't mind tinkering with Emacs, but I can't stand fixing Emacs when something goes pear-shaped. It seems like something is always going pear-shaped.

My corner of the internet this morning is nothing but navel gazing and hand wringing. I may need to go do something else for a while.

What a day for networks. My UGREEN NAS suddenly dropped off the network. Reboots didn't help, so I moved ethernet cables around. It works now, but I wish I understood why. Mostly I either jiggled or restarted everything and it started working. You just know this is going to blow up again some day.

Then, while at my parents' celebrating Mother's Day, we noticed his internet was down. Turns out his WiFi had stopped working, so Xfinity sent a new router. It seemed like the network was insisting that he set it up. So I did. Different network name/password, which meant updating every wifi-dependent device in the house. I'm just glad my dad isn't a nerd. It was mostly iPhones, the TV, and a camera. Still took an hour and a half.

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Below are some various recent uses I’ve made of my typewriter collection

I have a handful of nice typewriters that sit unused. I would really like to change that. Chris' list gives me a few ideas.

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You opened this page. It already knows the following.

I already knew most of this, but it's still alarming to see it all at once.

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I get a lot of newsletters, the traditional way, via email. Those newsletters often contain links to interesting things. Unfortunately, people love metrics, causing many of those newsletters to obfuscate the URLs with tracking links. I don't usually bother clicking those, because I can't hover over a link and see where it's really going. The ones I do click are usually blocked by my network filters. I'm not paranoid as much as just annoyed. Parannoyed?

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I have many ways to listen to music. Vinyl, cassette, streaming, etc. Lately I haven't been listening to much music. I don't know why.

I cut myself on both edges of the Emacs sword. Even so, I've been having so much fun with Emacs I can hardly stand it.

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It's from Jonathan Chu. Here's the introductory post.

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I'm on my own this weekend, which isn't good for being productive in real life. I am on such a roll cleaning things up, digitally. My Emacs config, my Read Later process. Next up, backups. Or maybe more Emacs! I did make time for laundry, a water change in the fish tank, and cleaning the interior of my wife's car. Not a lot, but enough for me to finish the day doing some guilt-free farting around.

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Rather than using a normal-person's "Read Later" service, I print long-form web articles for reading later. I print them, pile them up, and read them all when I have some time away from the computer. It's the only way I can truly pay attention to them.

The process took some work to dial in, but I've gotten it close to how I like it. It goes like this:

1. Save the page as Markdown using the Obsidian Web Clipper
2. Convert the Markdown to PDF using Pandoc
3. Print!

First, the Obsidian Web Clipper. I have a custom "template" configured for this. The template doesn't use Properties. I put the entire block of front matter into the Content field, using variables to insert the specifics, so no need to worry about the way the clipper renders properties...

---
title: "{{title}}"
author: "{{author|safe_name}}"
source: {{url}}
created: {{date}}
published: {{published|date:"YYYY-MM-DD"}}
---

> ## Excerpt
> {{description}}

{{content}}

A copy of the template for importing directly into the web clipper is here

The magic comes from Pandoc. I convert the Markdown to PDF via LaTeX. The default.latex template that ships with Pandoc works well. It uses all sorts of variables that can be passed in via YAML front matter or via a defaults file. I only just learned about the default file option, so that cleaned up the front matter dramatically. Here's my ~/.pandoc/defaults/article.yaml defaults file:

pdf-engine: xelatex
template: ~/.pandoc/templates/default.latex

variables:
  documentclass: scrartcl
  mainfont: XCharter
  sansfont: Playfair Display
  linestretch: 1.15
  header-includes:
    - \setkomafont{title}{\sffamily\bfseries}
    - \setkomafont{section}{\sffamily\bfseries}
    - \setkomafont{subsection}{\sffamily\bfseries}
  classoption:
    - DIV=14
    - twocolumn 

This sets fonts, sizes, document class, etc. The DIV=14 is new to me. With KOMA classes, it sets the text width, taking font size into account. This is easier than including specific geometry. Smaller numbers = narrower text. Drop the twocolumn line to print full-width.

I could create separate default files for different layouts and styles. Use the -d option, e.g. pandoc -d article. I might make one for use on the Remarkable tablet, which likes a larger font and wider body.

A shell script, md2pdf.sh does the conversion for me. The script used to be about 10 lines of sloppy bash with a bunch of stuff hard-coded. I had Claude help me make it more robust, and here's the latest version:

#!/bin/sh
set -eu

DEFAULT_DEFAULTS_FILE="$HOME/.pandoc/defaults/article.yaml"

usage() {
    cat >&2 <<EOF
Usage: $(basename "$0") [OPTIONS] FILE

Convert a Markdown file to PDF with pandoc and open it.

Options:
  -o DIR    Output directory (default: same directory as FILE)
  -d FILE   Pandoc defaults file (default: $DEFAULT_DEFAULTS_FILE)
  -n        Don't open the PDF after creating it
  -h        Show this help
EOF
    exit 1
}

output_dir=""
defaults_file="$DEFAULT_DEFAULTS_FILE"
open_after=1

while getopts "o:d:nh" opt; do
    case "$opt" in
        o) output_dir="$OPTARG" ;;
        d) defaults_file="$OPTARG" ;;
        n) open_after=0 ;;
        h) usage ;;
        *) usage ;;
    esac
done
shift $((OPTIND - 1))

[ $# -ge 1 ] || usage

input="$1"

if [ ! -f "$input" ]; then
    echo "Error: input file '$input' not found" >&2
    exit 1
fi

if [ ! -f "$defaults_file" ]; then
    echo "Error: defaults file '$defaults_file' not found" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Default output dir to source dir
[ -n "$output_dir" ] || output_dir=$(dirname "$input")
mkdir -p "$output_dir"

stem=$(basename "$input")
stem="${stem%.*}"
output="$output_dir/$stem.pdf"

# Capture pandoc stderr so we can report it clearly on failure
log=$(mktemp)
trap 'rm -f "$log"' EXIT

if ! pandoc --defaults "$defaults_file" "$input" -o "$output" 2>"$log"; then
    echo "pandoc failed converting '$input'" >&2
    echo "----- pandoc output -----" >&2
    cat "$log" >&2
    echo "-------------------------" >&2
    echo "Command: pandoc --defaults '$defaults_file' '$input' -o '$output'" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Surface warnings even on a successful run
[ -s "$log" ] && cat "$log" >&2

echo "Created: $output"

if [ "$open_after" -eq 1 ]; then
    xdg-open "$output" >/dev/null 2>&1 &
fi

So the simple version (assuming md2pdf.sh is in your path) is:

md2pdf.sh my-article.md

It's not quite cross-platform (e.g xdg-open on Linux vs open on macOS) but that shouldn't be to difficult to do.

This seems like a lot, but once it's in place it's a couple of clicks and a quick shell command.

Let me know if there's anything unclear or incorrect here. Or if you have suggestions for improvements.

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Could I just scroll your web page without shit moving all over the place, please?

The last couple days have been a whirlwind of changes to my Emacs config. I have to admit that Claude Code made quick work of things I've been avoiding for too long. My config is now cleanly cross-platform. I've removed hundreds of lines of unnecessary lisp. I removed the complexities around using the minimal-emacs starter kit. My fonts work correctly. I cut startup time in half. Tons more. I'm pretty happy with it.

I was going to post something cool I did with Claude Code's help on Mastodon but the Never LLM! hoards would scold me and I don't want to deal with it.

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Someone mentioned org-roam and it reminded me how cool it is. I moved away from org-roam a couple years ago, shortly after denote was released. Denote felt lighter and less dependent on Emacs-ey stuff. Denote is great and I'm happy with it, but that didn't stop me from digging up my old org-roam config today, just to play around with it. That was 3 hours ago and I've not slowed down. I may need to revisit Using both Denote and Org-roam.

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...later...

::rubs sticks together to make fire::

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The dog's surgery went well yesterday. She had several large masses removed from her skin. This is the third time we've had to do this. The vet convinced me to send a sample out for a biopsy, even though the aspiration looked benign and cyst-like. The fact that they regrew on the same scar line as last time is concerning. Alice is recovering, but is in a lot of pain. It's killing me to hear her whine. She never whines. It'll get better, slowly.

I am (mostly) down to two blogs. I've spent a lot of time recently dialing things in with both of them. I'm enjoying both of them equally, which means it's hard to decide which one to use at any given moment. Been here before, many times. After De-ghosting my Ghost theme, I quite like that one. This one is static and has a fresh redesign. Now what?

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• Ghostty. TUIs and CLI tools never get old. And I still like using Vim as $EDITOR
• Obsidian. My resistance to using Obsidian is sometimes overcome by its utility, ubiquity, and ease of use.
• Emacs. My everything tool for the past decade. It's sometimes a problem for me.
• BBEdit. The venerable text editor that remains unmatched in utility and stability. It indeed doesn't suck.
• Tinderbox. Deep, powerful outlining, visual mapping, and general note wizardry. A favorite since 2004.
• Bear. The nicest, cleanest non-plain-text note app I know. It's so slick, and updates are gradual and deliberate.
• Apple Notes. It's always there when I need it, even though I don't love it.

You can understand why I love using these. They're all great, in their own ways. Which one I'm interested in at any moment depends on my mood. Hence, I have trouble finding things. Having access to so many wonderful tools is both a blessing and a curse.

(originally posted on copingmechanism.com but I'm not sure I want it there)

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Do you know why have trouble finding things? Here's why...

• Ghostty. TUIs and CLI tools never get old. And I still like using Vim as $EDITOR
• Obsidian. My resistance to using Obsidian is sometimes overcome by its utility, ubiquity, and ease of use.
• Emacs. My everything tool for the past decade. It's sometimes a problem for me.
• BBEdit. The venerable text editor that remains unmatched in utility and stability. It indeed doesn't suck.
• Tinderbox. Deep, powerful outlining, visual mapping, and general note wizardry. A favorite since 2004.
• Bear. The nicest, cleanest non-plain-text note app I know. It's so slick, and updates are gradual and deliberate.
• Apple Notes. It's always there when I need it, even though I don't love it.

You can understand why I love using these. They're all great, in their own ways. Which one I'm interested in at any moment depends on my mood. Hence, I have trouble finding things. Having access to so many wonderful tools is both a blessing and a curse.

Chris Wellons' post, I have officially retired from Emacs, made me a little sad. Not because he's stopped using Emacs, but rather that he was able to stop using Emacs. I've "retired" from Emacs at least a dozen times. I've done it twice in the last two weeks. Never sticks.

Fact-checking RFK Jr.'s claim there's more than one way to calculate a percentage decrease | PBS News

Kennedy said, "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. There's two ways of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction."

The depressing part of this, other than what the idiotic RFK Jr. said, is that PBS felt the statement needed fact checking. We're so lost.

My dog has surgery this morning to remove a handful of large cysts on her back. It's going to be a day.

I modified the theme I'd been using by gutting most of the subscription stuff. There's no more giant and distracting "Member Discussion", "Start the Conversation" section. It's hidden behind a "Post a comment" or "Load comments" button (depending on whether there are comments or not). There's a tiny "Sign up" link in the footer.

To me, this makes the individual post pages less cluttered and calm. I even shrunk the "Reply by email" link so it sort of fades back out of the way.

This means I still have member comments and newsletter signups, but they're not screaming at you.

See also: How I might keep using Ghost

As much as I love Emacs, I still struggle with it. I struggle with the endless tinkering. I struggle because infinite tinkering is always readily available. I wish I didn't enjoy the tinkering so much.

I used an HHKB Keyboard for years and loved it. At one point, I tired of the goofy layout and went to something more "normal". This morning, I brought the HHKB back. It still feels wonderful, but I feel like my fingers are all wrong. The Delete key is too close. The ~ and ` are on the wrong side. There are no arrow keys, and no function row. Why did I love this so much again? Oh, right, Topre switches.

I'm going out this afternoon and I am catatonic over which camera to bring. The photo above illustrates the struggles I have with myself every day.

Other than being 35mm film cameras, those two could not be more different. The Nikon is an SLR with auto-everything. The Leica is a rangefinder with auto-nothing. I enjoy both. Equally. But never at the same time (which is why I don't bring both). It's crazy-making.

I have an hour to decide. I'm not sure I'll make it in time and will simply bring neither. Am I the only person like this?

I've spent literally hundreds of dollars on themes over the years. I've abandoned all of them. OK, not true, the theme I'm using (as of today) is a paid theme, with my own tweaks. I haven't abandoned it yet, then.

Ghost theming is opaque to me. Local Ghost development is a mystery. This always leads to the following series of events:

1. Become enamored with Ghost once again
2. Install it with the default theme
3. Get bored with the default theme and hunt for a new one
4. Find a theme I like, and pay the $79-$149 for it
5. Become bored or otherwise disenchanted with the new theme
6. Go back to the default theme
7. Abandon Ghost altogether.

I'm currently at step 5 in the series. Except this time I have Claude Code. Using a coding assistant reduces or eliminates my fear of tackling a new or complex development task. I decide what I want, and the robot makes it. The robot is getting really good at making things. Do I care that I don't totally understand how it's done? Nope. I just want it done.

So, I'm currently evaluating the options for rebuilding this blog with a custom theme. One that I can continually and easily improve whenever I feel the need.

It's tempting.

There won't be much time for farting around today and I'm already feeling twitchy about it.

People who can do stuff like this are not the same species of human as me. Redbull downhill urban biking POV

It's not that I'm unhappy with what I'm using or doing with it. It's that I want to try something new, like, every day.

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Paul Ford is always so impressive and smart and sensible. I love reading and listening to him.

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my hunch is that we should prepare ourselves for way, way too many apps.

It's already happening, and that's just the ones I make for myself.

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I was able to prove my ownership of a copy of DaVinci Resolve Studio so they finally sent my activation code. That was A Whole Thing, but B&H and Black Magic came through. Now to properly test the new RAW editing features in v21.

I thought I would get along fine with Ubuntu, but I've found it unreliable on my Framework 13. Same with Mint. Anyway, I'm back to Fedora/KDE, which I've come to prefer anyway.

I should probably write a long, excuse-riddled blog post about it, but I have been committed to using Obsidian on macOS for nearly a month. Thing is, I have not been able to let go of either Emacs or Linux. I can't quit them. Using macOS again has been nice. It has the software I love and, Tahoe aside, the macOS is great. What's weird is that I prefer using the Framework 13 instead of the M4 MacBook Air, so I tend to grab that when away from my desk. The final straw has been that Linux doesn't (by default) use Emacs key bindings system-wide, like macOS does. I can't live like that, so I dragged Emacs along and here I am, writing this post using Emacs on Linux.

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I put the first roll (HP5) through the new (to me) Yashica-Mat LM. The frame spacing is too large, so I only got 10½ frames, but the ones I got turned out pretty good I think.

My dad brought home a Yashica-Mat from Florida in April, 2026. He saw it at a garage sale, thought I might be interested, so he paid $10 for it and stashed it in his carry on.

The camera was kind of a mess, but it was mostly just dirt and dust. I couldn't find any damage or broken bits. It cleaned up out pretty well, I think.

Here's the first frame (a mirror self-portrait, of course)...

There was one problem, though. The frame spacing...

Spacing was bad enough that I only got 10½ frames on the roll. On the other hand, they were all in focus and look better than I expected.

The Yashica feels much like my Rolleiflex. Maybe a little less "solid" but still good. The focusing screen is a little dark, but usable. It's a nice camera, especially for $10!

Here are a few things I've been happy with this week: Obsidian (gasp!), Neofinder, Capture One, Xteink X4.

Whenever I'm feeling like living in Easy Mode, I go all in and then regret it in a day or two. I'm more than a week into my version of it (Obsidian, Ghost, BBEdit) and there's no sign of it going away. Could this be it?

I've been helping friends on a SaaS product and it's been great to be involved with something real, for a change. Something not just in my head. Also, scary.

I shouldn't use multiple tools for a single task, but I do it anyway.

Speaking of multiple tools, why am I posting here instead of at baty.net? Probably because I don't feel like doing the work that it takes to post over there.

The last thing I care about in a lens is corner sharpness.

I've been off Mastodon (my only active social media account) for days now and I'm starting to like it. My thoughts aren't continually filled with those from other people at random. I'm thinking about moving all of the social stuff to Ghost's ActivityPub, but that would mean leaning hard into Ghost and copingmechanism.com for identity. I did this before with Baty.net but bailed after just a few weeks. Would I do that again? Probably. Sigh. Still noodling on it.

The most recent roll I put through the OM-1n was a disappointment, so I fell back to the trusty Leica MP. I've been using the Summilux-M 35mm exclusively on the MP for a while. It's an amazing lens, but it's also an amazingly expensive lens. And it's big, for an M lens.

I'd read some positive reviews of the new Mandler 7-element 35mm f/2, which currently sells for $348. A new Summicron 35mm sells for over $4,000. An original Summicron v4 (which the Mandler copies) is more than 30 years old, and still sells for close to $3,000. Makes the Mandler quite a bargain.

The Mandler is so small compared to the Summilux. It handles well and looks good. I'm not ready to sell the Summilux yet, but this new lens has me thinking about it.

My mom and dad are home from Florida. They seemed glad to be home. My uncle (82) has been suffering from dementia and is nearly immobile. It took him nearly 5 minutes to get into the passenger seat of my car, after which he leaned over, tapped me on the leg, and said, "Stay healthy". It makes me want to beef up my exercise program and tone down my eating.

I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to prefer this blog to my recently revamped baty.net. Now what?

Almost no one visits my blogs directly. 90% of visits are via RSS. This means that what the pages look like doesn't matter to anyone but me. I wish it didn't matter to me. Things sure would be simpler.

Claude Code's "slop" is probably better than what you would have written. It's certainly better than mine.

I have this unproductive habit of abandoning things once I get them how I want them. Blogs, for example.

A few weeks ago I started this blog using Ghost. I finally found a theme I didn't hate, worked with its developer to tweak a few things, and started posting.

At about the same time, I spent a day or two refreshing my blog at daily.baty.net. The Tinderbox file I'd been using had become bogged down with stuff I didn't need. I started over with a brand new document and made it work exactly how I wanted. Two days later, I completely rebuilt it again, this time using Eleventy.

Now that coping mechanism was in good shape, I started looking at Baty.net. It was working fine. I don't love Hugo, but I'd gotten it to a point where things mostly did what they were supposed to. One day I had a small issue with Hugo, so I abandoned it and recreated the entire thing, also using Eleventy. Me and the robots wrote some helpful shell scripts to manage content, and I was off and posting.

Since baty.net was settled, I got bored and came back here to Ghost, where I'm writing this post for some reason.

See what I mean?

This also applies to other hobbies. One example: I bought an expensive setup for scanning film negatives with a mirrorless digital camera instead of using a flatbed scanner. It was fancy and worked really well, so of course I went back to using the flatbed. Now that fancy digital scanning setup is in storage.

I'm sure there are many more examples of this. I don't know why I do it. Maybe it's because if I had to stick with what I had, I'd actually need to do something with it. Nah, I'd rather start over.

That said, for $200 a month (or $20), you have a team of cybercriminals on tap that you can call at any time. You are now an absolute elite hacker, if you take time to learn some basics. Congratulations! Seeing state-level cyberweapons become a commodity is kind of a new thing, and I thought you should know about it.

It's a wild world out there. I'm a little nervous about it.