Today’s Micro.blog Analog Tools meetup featured bags of all sizes, shapes, and purposes. π All the better to carry our analog tools! ποΈπποΈ We’ll meet again in June. Let me know if you’d like to join us!
β This morning's cuppa: Golden Assam from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company here in Portland. It's lighter than our usual Scottish Blend, and it's growing on me.
Twenty-six years of writing online! π The “on this day” plugin isn’t surfacing my first post, so here it is. In it, I recount my first bout with depression and internet addiction. It feels both dated and prescient. But hey, I’m still here.
My second attempt at gluten-free rosemary focaccia had better results texturally, but still wasn’t the taste experience I wanted. π I’m looking for a better recipe. Any gluten-free bakers out there willing to share theirs?
![close-up of loaf of gluten-free rosemary focaccia, sliced open, on a wire rack](https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/2708/2024/img-3394.jpeg)
Todayβs baking project was the rosemary focaccia recipe from Americaβs Test Kitchen. π Results were poor. I learned not to use yeast too far past its best-by date, and also to use the specific all-purpose gluten-free flour blend ATK specifies, or else.
The reminder for the next Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup has been emailed. ποΈπποΈ If you’re not on this list and would like to join us, let me know!
After some deliberation, I replaced the battery in my iPhone 12 Pro. π± Its battery capacity had degraded so much over the past three years that I had to carry a backup battery everywhere I went. Now I won’t feel rushed to upgrade to a new phone.
Finished two drop-stitch scarves recently. π§Ά I love Malabrigo yarn.
Today’s Micro.blog Analog Tools meetup was an entertaining show-and-tell session of our favorite pens. ποΈπποΈ We ran out of time, so part two will be next month. Let me know if you’d like to join us!
My friend and I, seated outside with half-melted hazelnut lattes. Bees start buzzing around us. Smiles across the table: we love bees. One alights on my labradorite ring, crawls into the dark cool space between thumb and forefinger, tiny footsteps tickling my palm.
The reminder for the next Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup has been emailed. ποΈπποΈ If you’re not on this list and would like to join us, let me know!
Some days the gap between the leader I want to be and the leader I currently am is so wide, and it hurts. This is also true for the gap between the writer I want to be and the writer I currently am. And pretty much everything else in my life.
πΆ I seem to have forgotten how to write online.
Mandy Patinkin in concert last night! π΅ This musical theatre nerd’s heart is full. His interpretation of “Wandering Boy” by Randy Newman moved me to tears. And more tears when he sang Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat”, a song I love dearly.
After @bapsi mentioned Jillian Hess' “Re-Noted: 6 Ways to Use a Diary”, I got completely stuck on Lynda Barry’s basic quick diary format. I grabbed my copy of “Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor” and I’m adapting this format in my Hobonichi Weeks.
Another interesting, thoughtful, and fun Micro.blog Analog Tools meetup this morning! ποΈπποΈ We talked about hybrid analog/digital tools and processes, how friction can help slow thoughts down, and much more.
Saturday nosh on yesterday’s baking project. π FunkyPlaid served the soda bread with two excellent condiments: maple orange cranberry spread and ube (purple yam) spread, both from Trader Joe’s, the ultimate snackiverse.
![top-down view of a grey plate with a piece of fig and caramelized onion soda bread and two white square containers with red and purple spreads](https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/2708/2024/hmoriginal-72b1535c-de47-4541-955d-282124d7ecab.jpeg)
Today’s baking project: Fig and Caramelized Onion Soda Bread from Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple by Aran Goyoaga π I don’t recall making soda bread before today, but this turned out great! π I appreciate how it’s basically a giant scone.
![close-up of a lumpy loaf of bread on parchment paper](https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/2708/2024/hmoriginal-a9ea1ced-5eb8-46ca-adef-830d5cc6ff0e.jpeg)
Four years ago today, I made the difficult and necessary call to shut the library. I had been the director for just over eight months. I went home, drained yet resolved, and had no idea what would happen next. And then everything else happened.
Currently reading: Molly by Blake Butler π I’m used to being upset by what I read; I prefer it to indifference. But this … I can’t decide if I’m feeling the “good” upset or the upset I felt when I watched “Funny Games”, complicit in witnessing a horrible inevitable.