changes

I’m trying out Alegreya as the regular text font on this website.

I’d been using Merriweather for a few years and I liked it okay, but occasionally something felt janky with the width and spacing between characters. I’ve wanted to try something else, but messing with fonts seemed like a distraction when I don’t do enough of the basic stuff here, like actually write things, or keep the home page and menu working properly.

However, seeing how excited this guy got about a cool font inspired me to start looking at fonts again. (One of the growing number of personal-ish websites I lurk follow via RSS, a topic for another time.) The font he geeked out about wasn’t the one for me, but I encountered the Novel font, tried out the demo on a local build of my site, and really got my heart set on using it. Eventually I came to terms with the reality that I can’t or shouldn’t spend that kind of money on a font for this little hobbyist website, though.

So, I pulled myself away from browsing Fonts In Use and artisan font foundries, went back to Google Fonts to settle on something I can afford. Some of the Google Fonts, such as Alegreya, do appear to have come from cool artisan font foundries, so at least there is that. I don’t think I open up my “indieweb” site to tracking and other garbage just by using Google Fonts, but I could be wrong. I’m using free services for almost every aspect of this website, so I’m likely compromised and beholden to all sorts of interests.

Headings remain IBM Plex Mono. I have a vague sense that this pairing of a mono heading with a serif is not ideal and wasn’t ideal with Merriweather, either. However, the probability that I’m breaking design rules and conventions is admittedly an energizing agent. There’s something in me that wants things to be purposefully off and ugly and wrong; part boredom with convention, and part fear of the inability to ever get it “right.” Maybe this isn’t off enough, though? Mainly I’m just weirdly committed to these precious mono headings, while I don’t want a sans font for my text because I just prefer serif fonts for printing or displaying text. So it is what it is. I can do whatever I want here, and I can always change it again, and, to quote my old favorite band’s blog quoting Jean Genet, “to achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance.” These are individually good fonts, though, so is this cacophony in good taste? Power clashing? Or just sloppy, inelegant.

Standalone post link: A note on the type, 2024-08-04

Made significant updates to the text and layout of the home page, about page, footer, and ‘[ + ]’ menu ordering. Changed the text font to Alegreya.

Standalone post link: joshuawxyz changelog 20240804

Standalone post link: Books

I track my music listening pretty exhaustively using last.fm, and have about six full years of history there. This is a place for me to manually highlight particular listening projects or obsessions of the moment.

Not sure how retroactive I can be - weird, but I might go back roughly to the beginning of 2024 or even the end of 2023 to make sure I cover some key repeats or personally meaningful listens.

Standalone post link: My 2024 Listening Log

I’m hooked after starting this on a whim one day while browsing Apple Arcade for the first time on my laptop. I’d wanted to play something on the Switch but not enough to kick my kids off the Switch.

Standalone post link: Playing Log: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Pushing up new listening, playing, and reading logs with several entries, though still not exhaustive, and with old clutter still not cleaned up. More changes, details, documentation pending.

Standalone post link: joshuawxyz changelog 20240512

Now

• bought a new-to-me car a few weeks ago and I’m really enjoying it +

  2020 Subaru Forester Sport, dark gray, orange detailing, black wheels with chunky all-terrain tires, and moderate acne from having been in a Texas hailstorm (saving me possibly $8-10 grand?)

• at work, keeping up with Sora collection development +

  new releases, renewals, keeping the hold ratios down

• also at work, cleaning up the catalog +

  fixing book series, building out records, which is a satisfying practice in the moment but feels possibly fruitless afterwards when having worked on it for an extended amount of time - like playing a video game? An arcane MARC record video game.

• getting ready to do a presentation at UCET+UELMA 2024: Cataloging Tips for Busy Librarians +

  which is super boring and nerdy, even for a library and edtech conference, but maybe useful? I was about to cancel out of anxiety, embarrassment, and laziness and not go to the conference, but when I saw 84 people had expressed interest in attending in the Sched app so far, and there just aren’t that many offerings for librarians, I realized I couldn’t flake out quietly.

• still trying to establish a sustained writing and learning practice in my “thoughtgarden" +

  what I call my Obsidian vault instead of a “digital garden” now, because its digital-ness is not the most essential thing about it)

• trying to re-establish a personal sharing and curation practice on this website +

  and likewise re-establish a professional sharing and curation practice with work colleagues

Next

• thinking about getting some gardening going
• thinking about going off on some kind of overlanding-ish adventure in my new car
• building out this website again
• reading a bunch of books, watching a bunch of movies

This page was last updated on March 17, 2024. See my prior ‘now’ updates here.

Credit for the ‘now’ page concept goes to Derek Sivers. I tend to get aspirational when I update it, so I’ve decided to embrace that by calling it ‘now and next.’

Standalone post link: Now and Next (March 15, 2024)

Test:

1. If this note appears, I’ve figured out how to post a note to my website (static website run through Hugo/Github/Netlify) just by creating a note in my Obsidian vault. Cool.

2. If this note also appears, I’ve further figured out how to edit the Obsidian note to have it push an update to the website post.

3. If this third note appears, I’ve successfully done an update via Obsidian on my phone, and I now finally have an easy way to post quick notes to my static website from my phone. Neato burrito.

I guess I’ll have to put together documentation and credits for all of this now.

Not sure why the “last updated” timestamp says tomorrow, though. Have to figure that out.

Thanks for reading!

Standalone post link: Posting to my website from an Obsidian note?

Some things I’m working on and thinking about now…

Now

• making a little progress on activating and functionalizing this website again - I’ve set up my reading and listening logs for 2024, and I have them propagating to the main ‘now’ page

• inspired into reading kidlit and yalit again after the ALA Youth Media Awards, book talks to librarians from King’s English booksellers, and otherwise finding a lot of intriguing titles while doing collection development work for Sora

• focusing on collection development work for Sora, and also carving out space for myself to actually do some catalog improvement work

• laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, cooking, &c.

• taking baby steps towards being more deliberate and thoughtful about food and shopping choices in terms of quality, variety, supporting local businesses, paying in cash at local businesses, sustainable and fair trade products, &c.

Next

• a bunch of movies I want to see in the theaters, award nominees coming back, etc, but I haven’t gone once yet

• Plan and prep the garden and yard for spring

• cook a bunch of stuff

• compile and share ‘top titles’ in the school libraries for 2023

• research and plan my cataloging breakout for UCET/UELMA conference in March

• get doing stuff outside - hiking, snowshoeing, or at the least yardwork and taking Luna on walks

• honest writing

Visit the main ‘now’ page to see my growing library of dynamically generated activity logs and links to my past ‘now’ updates.

Credit for the ‘now’ page concept goes to Derek Sivers. I tend to get aspirational when I update it, so I’ve decided to embrace that by adding a ‘next’ section.

Standalone post link: Now and Next (January 28, 2024)

Below is a running list of books I’ve read in 2022, with my current reads listed at the top.

You can find a list of links to articles, essays, poems, and other shorter works I’m reading [here], and you can find all of my reading updates [here].

—–

Grow Now [73%]

by Emily Murphy

[currently reading - started on 2022.10.02]

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers [60%]

by Henry David Thoreau

[currently reading - started reading on 2022.06.01]

Poetry [July/August 2022] [35ish%]

Various Authors

[currently reading - started reading on 2022.10.09]

Poetry [October 2022]

Various Authors

[read from 2022.10.06 to 2022.10.08]

Successful Gardening in Utah

by Caleb Warnock

[read 2022.10.05]

The Words in My Hands

by Asphyxia

[read from 2022.10.01 to 2022.10.02]

Moonwalking

by Zetta Elliot and Lyn Miller-Lachmann

[read from 2022.09.09 to 2022.09.12]

Poetry [September 2022]

Various Authors

[read from 2022.09.03 to 2022.09.05]

The Hobbit

by J.R.R. Tolkien

[read with my son from 2022.06.unknown to 2022.08.29]

Nightcrawling

by Leila Mottley

[read from 2022.08.18 to 2022.08.23]

ttyl

by Lauren Myracle

[read from 2022.08.17 to 2022.08.18]

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out

by Susan Kuklin

[read from 2022.08.15 to 2022.08.16]

—–

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins

[read from 2022.08.12 to 2022.08.14]

—–

The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta

[read from 2022.07.29 to 2022.07.31]

33⅓. 9, Unknown Pleasures

by Chris Ott

[read from 2022.07.10 to 2022.07.11]

ain’t burned all the bright

written by jason reynolds, artwork by jason griffin

[read on 2022.07.09]

Loveless

by Alice Oseman

[read from 2022.06.29 to 2022.07.09]

Heartstopper. Volume 4

written and illustrated by Alice Oseman

[read on 2022.07.07]

The Beatryce Prophecy

written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

[read the first half to both of my children, the second half to only my son after they got separate rooms - read from 2022.unknown - 2022.06.04]

Melissa (formerly published as George)

by Alex Gino

[read on 2022.05.22]

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

written and illustrated by Kristen Radtke

[read from 2022.05.12 - 2022.05.14]

Heartstopper. Volume 3

written and illustrated by Alice Oseman

[read on 2022.05.unknown]

Heartstopper. Volume 2

written and illustrated by Alice Oseman

[read on 2022.04.unknown]

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

by Malinda Lo

[read on 2022.03.28]

Heartstopper. Volume 1

written and illustrated by Alice Oseman

[read on 2022.03.28]

Moon Witch, Spider King

by Marlon James

[read from 2022.02.16 - 2022.03.05]

A Snake Falls to Earth

by Darcie Little Badger

[read from 2022.02.02 - 2022.02.11]

Beyond the Mapped Stars

by Rosalyn Eves

[read from 2021.12.27 - 2022.12.29]

Me (Moth)

by Amber McBride

[read from 2021.12.unknown - 2022.12.27]

[A gallery and history of stand-alone reading updates and notes follows.]

[I’m also going to start messing around with Goodreads again because I actually know people there.]

Standalone post link: My Reading in 2022 (reading updates)