Tagged in a 2025 blogging challenge

2025-01-23

I got tagged in a challenge by my friend, Joel!

Why did you start blogging in the first place

That's a good question. I started blogging in 2006/2007, on a website called GeekStinkBreath.net. It was a Green Day fansite that had a members only blogging area. I did it just for fun, I guess? I was a bored sheltered 11 year-old with unfettered access to the Internet, and my fellow Green Day fan friends were doing it too, so of course I started blogging. I didn't "actually" start blogging on a proper platform until a few years later. I got my first domain in high school and have been doing it ever since. I think I like the idea of having a place to let out my thoughts and talking to people on the Internet about them.

What platform are you using to manage your blog, and why did you choose it?

I use Grav, which is a CMS. When it comes to doing anything, I need the least friction possible. With Grav, I can access it easily on my phone, tablet, or laptop. I also feel like I'm actually writing. If I were to write in my terminal or a note editor or something, it feels too much like coding. I think I'm easily affected by my environment. I have to be in the right mindset, and where I do my writing influences it a lot. This is something I've learned since using static site generators like Hugo and Jekyll.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Yes. Yep. Sure have. I'll list them out in chronological order as best as I can.

1. GeekStinkBreath.net (Green Day fansite)
2. Piczo.com (a short lived website builder)
3. Blogger
4. Mibba.com (a fanfic site from the same people who made the GSB site)
5. LiveJournal
6. Tumblr
7. My own websites, on varying domains but using different software
   • CuteCMS
   • FanUpdate
   • Wordpress
   • Boltwire
   • Hugo
   • Jekyll
   • Publii
   • Grav

How do you write your posts?

Because Grav is a CMS, it's as easy as just logging in, creating a new post, writing it, and hitting publish. Most of the time, I just write it all in one go. A really boring setup but just thinking about adding more complexity is a sure fire way for me to not want to blog.

When Do You Feel Most Inspired To Write?

I'm someone who needs something to respond to. If I'm not moved to say something, it's hard for me to say anything at all. I don't like talking for the sake of talking (or in this case, writing for the sake of writing).

Do you normally publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer?

Post immediately. Well, after a read through or two. Usually I catch any typos after it's been published, despite the proofreading.

What’s your favorite post on your blog?

It's a toss up between Sweet Tooth and "I'm in love with this all" (Thoughts about To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf) . "Sweet Tooth" is, honestly, kind of a pathetic post for me to have written. At the same time, it is so genuine that I had to write it. And because it really came from the heart, I'm fond of it. I like how it was written, too, kind of prose-like. Now I want to go back and eat that same cake.

The other post, "I'm in love with this all" is about my favourite Virginia Woolf novel. I don't think I did a proper tribute to it in the post, but re-reading it now, I'm still in agreement with everything I wrote. She wrote the perfect book, and I really hold it to a high standard. I love how she moves from character to character, how she can capture the nuances of human behaviour, how she asks the big questions that we either avoid or pour over incessantly. A great book. Not a great post, but I like it nevertheless.

Any future plans for the blog?

I keep meaning to redesign the website, but I know that if I start on it, I will be utterly consumed by it, neglecting work and studies to do so. I think I'll (again) wait for the semester to be over before I attempt it. Other than that, I guess the plan is just to keep on writing?

Who will participate next?

I explicitly tag melo and Jam, if they are so inclined to do so (no pressure though).

And if you're reading this and want to do it, too, consider yourself "tagged!" Tell them isa sent you.

Week #29 - Jan 16 to Jan 22

2025-01-22

• 📚 I've been doing zero reading. I mean, I read a lot for school, but not like an entire book or anything. It's a little depressing how much of my time is being spent on school lately, but I think it's just a fact of life right now.
• 🎓 I say that all my time being spent on school is depressing, but I'm actually enjoying my courses right now. I have to take an American history course as a gen ed requirement. As a clueless Canadian, I'm learning a lot! So, I enjoy my time, but it's more that I lament my loss of time spent on other things. Obviously, not all is lost because I have enough time to be writing this blog post.
• 🎬 After work, I spend an hour on my stationery bike. I usually watch 20-30 minutes of Arcane Season 2 (so not an entire episode every session) and I just finished the first half of episode 4. I really think that Arcane is better as mini music videos. I used to really think that Arcane had great writing, but watching season 2, I'm not so sure anymore. It's just so utterly predictable, and doing a lot of telling instead of showing. It kinda makes me cringe inside, but Ella Purnell, pretty animation, lesbians, and Vi the character is what keeps me watching it.
• 🚲 Anyhow, I might switch out Arcane for reading starting tomorrow. I'm reading Murder on the Links with Joel in e-book format, and it might be easy to read on the bike? I won't know until I try it, I guess.

🎵 Music

• I am continuing with trying to listen to more albums. The nice thing about having moved to a downloaded library is that I can finally listen to a lot of Joanna Newsom. I listened through her entire discography twice. It's amazing, front to back.

• Ethel Cain's Perverts is still on my to-listen list because I want to really sit down and pay attention to it. I only really listened to the first two tracks, and it's amazing. It's like drone rock? Drone is really hit or miss for me, and I prefer my drone with a little sludge metal, but I like this a lot so far.

• New Lucy Dacus!!! I'm so hyped for her new release. The songs released are so beautiful, as expected.

• Top albums from last week:

  • Have One on Me by Joanna Newsom
  • Trilogy by The Weeknd
  • Symphony No. 3 / Piano Concerto No. 2 composed by Camille Saint-Saens
  • TANGK by IDLES
  • Divers by Joanna Newsom
  • The Unheavenly Creatures by Coheed and Cambria
  • Exodus by Utada
  • In Shallow Seas We Sail by Emery

Week Note #28 - Jan 09 to Jan 15

2025-01-15

• 📅 Truly, how is it already the second week of the year? It doesn't feel like it at all.
• 🚲 I've been trying to rebuild my schedule again. After considering everything that I have going on, I've realized that I don't have the 6 hours to spare to go to the gym. Instead, I'll be using my stationary bike that I bought in the middle of the lockdown years ago. So far I've been hopping on it to watch 30 minutes of Arcane (to keep me normal), and then 30 minutes of a lecture video (so I can feel productive, but I end up having to listen again later so I can take notes however it's nice having an idea of what the lecture is about).

🎓 School

I started the semester yesterday. I'm freaking out. I have soooo much reading to do this semester. A lot of it is dense history texts. Some of it is poetry (a lot of Whitman, thankfully I'm partial to Whitman). I estimated how much time it would take me to do each week of the course depending on my reading and note taking speed. Let's just say it's nigh impossible. My focus this semester is efficiency. Frankly, I'm sweating just writing this blog post. It feels like a waste of time, but I need something to keep me anchored as the weeks go by. Some hobby to make it feel like life isn't all school and work.

🖥️ Work

I'm supposed to transition into both a new role and a new team. I got switched to a team whose tech stack is entirely React. I have dabbled with React before, but nothing substantial. So I will essentially have to learn React in a professional context. I'm nervous, but I'm excited. I've always wanted to modernize my tech stack (Java an be quite uninspiring), but never have the will to do so in my own time. You know what they say, use your job to get paid to learn new things.

📚 Books

I've been slowly cracking away at both Rebecca and Anna Karenina. I also decided to start reading The Secret History all over again?? I really love the book, I think it's my all time favourite. I just love injecting myself into this group of oddball students who are too obsessed with aesthetic.

Along the way I've been reading a smattering of manga.

🎵 Music

Most listened to albums:

Help me I'm starting to listen to the same albums again and again. It's really hard to find albums on my phone, so I just end up listening to what I know I like. I do listen on Spotify desktop (cracked) in order to listen to new music, but that's about it.

1. SOS (Deluxe) by SZA - I just had to take a listen to the deluxe version. Honestly, I'm kinda over deluxe versions. Just release the whole thing at once. Or put it on a separate release! Gripe aside, I found that most of the songs I liked, were ones that were already from the original album. It was a good listen, but no new favourite songs were made.
2. Lush by Snail Mail
3. The Unheavenly Creatures by Coheed and Cambria
4. American Idiot (20th Anniversary Deluxe) by Green Day
5. The Human Fear by Franz Ferdinand - The latest single from Franz Ferdinand, Hooked was so good, that I needed to listen to the rest of the album. It was decidedly okay in my books. I initially hated the Audacious single , but I think it grew on me because I started singing along to it.
6. BB/ANG3L by Tinashe
7. KAI - The 1st Mini Album by KAI
8. Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES - Okay, I've listened to TANGK on repeat enough. I finally took a careful listen to a different album of theirs. I really like it! Someone once told me that IDLES is a lot more dynamic than what TANGK had to offer. I totally agree. This album was loud, brash, and high energy. I don't think one is better than the other, just different. I appreciated how raw the lyrics were. I came out with a few more favourites, namely June.