For the sake of readers' eyes, I've redesigned the blog index. This post explains what changed, and why.
Before the Changes
Here are the problems with the "before" picture.
Cluttered presentation of notes
The reader can be told, "This is a note," without nearly as much text as shown at (1). Let's take a lesson from Tufte and not put so much ink on the screen.
Notes are the foundation on which specialized IndieWeb post types are built, and are so basic they don't even need titles. The note's presentation should get out of the reader's way.
Furthermore, if there are multiple consecutive notes (not pictured), then, whether they are on the same day or not, the clutter pointed out in (1) makes it hard to tell when the date changes.
Pictures coming soon. This is the first Sith Lord to manifest in 3D; all the previous entries have been drawings. Though sadly incomplete, Darth Unfinished's chicken wire and papier-mache construction represents a significant advance for Sithnology.
On 2019-08-04, my friend Chris Stasse gave me this collection of stories (Chinese title: 老舍小说集). I've been working my way through the collection; as of today, I've read these stories:
《东西》 [2019-12-04T12:14:16-0800: one of the two main characters has a fixation on the contrast between Western and Eastern schooling, manners, lifestyle, etc. The title is thus best translated as "East and West", not as "Things".]
Code for converting between Gregorian and Chinese year numbers already exists. Wikipedia highlights the current year on the sexegenary cycle list, and somebody programmed that. But, all the same, I can amuse myself by thinking about it.
Things to be defined would include:
the Ten Stems and the Twelve Branches
the 60-element cycle formed from pairing Stems and Branches by the traditional method
the 60-element "false cycle", formed by all the pairs not in the traditional cycle
given a number indicating 1 thru 60 as the starting year, and a number +/-N, return the Stem and Branch for the year N years after/before the starting year
I hope you'll be able to forgive me for being so slow. I am thinking about you and many others. Even though I am somewhat manic, I'm socially glacial and autistic.
No problem. You need never apologize to me for communication speed or length. When I need a particularly timely response, I send a follow-up email.
Hell yeah! I'm really glad you took the time to hit me up. It's my honor to meet you, nomad.
You too, you big drongo. (What's a drongo? Answer Number 1, Answer Number 2.)
Sundown. My latest letter is complete:
I post it to the madman's house of black.
His call for correspondence thus fulfilled,
White ink on parchment fuligin comes back.
The auto-philosophe greets me with cheer.
He's scoured my tubes; he's scanned my public face.
"Your site's delightful" — so reads his review.
No lesser turbo-hermit has such grace.
I swear I see him through Eye Number Three:
Thin fingers, stained with e-ink, sweep the keys
That lock him to the ever-growing Book
Of Life, which he attends on hands and knees.
From ones and nones, h0p3 builds a prophesy,
And from his labors may he never tire.
In 2020, Montaigne essays on.
His precomputed smile floats down the wire.
There won't be an in-person IndieWeb Summit this year, but in its stead, the all-online IndieWebCamp West has been announced! Come join us for two days of discussing and developing personal websites. There's something for everyone in the IndieWeb, so whether you're a first-time blogger or an old hand at web development, you're sure to walk away charged up with the creative spirit.
