A Solitary Cabin

Good morning, friends.

When I want to just sit down and write to share what is going on, I struggle with coming up with titles. "Hello World" seemed like fun, so I'm going to roll with that title for what will likely be a series of miscellaneous potpourri.

Catching Up

It's been a bit since I wrote a straight-up blog post. I've spent most of the winter in the house, working away and puttering. After eighteen months in the new home, I am finally starting to feel like I have places I like to go. It was a big adjustment moving from the suburbs to somewhere as rural as my new hometown, but I like it here. I like the people I've met, and I am finding little third places to go to when I need to get out of the house.

Working from home is a luxury, and I really appreciate the ability to do so, but it can lead to a certain amount of... laziness? Too much comfort? That becomes a rut for me.

I was talking to my friend cmdln about this yesterday during our weekly Starforged session. I have a weird relationship with routine. I know routines are supposed to be helpful, but mine always seem to become ruts I fiercely desire to shake up. I shared with him that I viewed this as a personal failing. He was quick to push back on that, encouraging me to try to see what it is telling me about myself rather than beating myself up about it. I like his answer better than mine, so I am going to give it a shot. :)

The Turning of the Season

Upon reflection, spring is coming. Hardly a shocker, but I expect some of my restlessness comes from a few things: the weather is warming, and I love to be outside at the parks. I've been holed up hibernating all winter and am climbing the walls a bit, and... well... to everything there is a season, I guess.

I did get out this weekend: ran some errands, went for a drive to explore this new area. My go-to landmarks are parks and coffee shops. I have been on a quest to find a decent bagel in this area, and I finally found them at 5th Street Coffee and Bagels on Saturday. I was delighted. It was also nice to get out and walk around a bit. I've been very cautious after last year's medical shenanigans, perhaps too cautious. It felt great to get out into the fresh air and stretch my legs.

The Break from Socials

I take a break from the socials whenever I feel like the world is bearing down on me. Of late, my Mastodon timeline has been full of nothing but people going on about the evils of AI, Trump's bullshit, and just general negative feelings... all of which I understand and are appropriate. But I needed a break. So last week, I set my local DNS to block access to my Masto timeline and spent some time in that quiet. I also tuned out of the news.

Worth it. Was able to hear myself think again. Felt less chained to a boulder rolling downhill. I did miss my peeps, but... I mean... how can I miss them if I never go away? Going away is very helpful to me.

It is tough for me here sometimes. 95% of my interactions with people who aren't my wife come through a screen. I have met a couple of good folks through my local gaming store, but we are not yet at the stage of sharing feelings and such, like boon companions of the past who I would meet for drinks and a chat. So there is a constant tug of war between getting tired of screens but also dealing with a level of isolation I'm not comfortable with. Finding that balance is something I want to work on in the coming year.

Terminal Thoughts

One of the things I am doing to ratchet down the level of anxiety? Overstimulation? Oh god, oh god? is returning to the terminal as much as I can when I use my computer. I find the terminal very ordered, very comfortable. I enjoy using elinks for reading web pages and newsboat for my RSS feeds. Zellij is the bomb. I've not jumped out of my Cosmic desktop totally—I'm not sure that's even possible anymore—but the more I push myself to interact through that terminal, the less overwhelmed I feel.

I also enjoy learning about all the amazing tools and TUIs out there. Big shout out to Terminal Trove... great clearing house of terminal tools for everyone.

Closing

That's about all I have for today. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to check out How This Hacker Sees LLMs. It's a good meditation on how one experienced hacker has come to terms with the LLM situation around him. I might write a response or an add-on at some point, but I'm not there yet. As might be evident in the recent fiction I've posted, I'm still working through my own perspective on all of this.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a good one. Be careful out there.