But what a privilege it is to read your code. I like that I can tell how it was worked out, with the occasional detritus of paths that were started and scrapped but imperfectly scrubbed over. I adore reading comments telling me what you were thinking about. I know you spent fifteen minutes figuring it out and you were kind enough to report on it, like leaving a trail marker as a quiet guiding hand for hikers to come. I know it was probably frustrating; I want to thank you for helping ease our…

pixel area I feel like one of the Chosen Ones, picked to go on a quest, or something esoteric, finding myself over on a very new website whose sole purpose is to connect us all to one another by a single pixel. A simple piece of art that is both fun and yet, purposeful. I feel seen. Seen at Pixel Area.

Putting a few photos on a new service is easy. Trusting it with years of your life is different. A while ago, someone who had bought a Lifetime Founder plan for Moments emailed me with a question. How do I intend to keep Moments running for the long term? When I first wrote about Moments, I described the idea simply: Bear Blog, but for photos. A quiet place for personal photo journals. No likes, no follower counts, and no pressure to perform. Just a small home on the web for photos from…

I’ve been into photography for a very long time. After using fixed-roll throwaway cameras, I got my first digital one in the early 2000s. Soon after, I got many more, like a Sony RX100, Nikon DSLRs (to name a few), finally falling in love with Fujifilm and ending my gear acquisition syndrome. Each and every camera that I’ve had and used, I’ve cherished. I remember the shots I’ve taken with them, where I used them, and how the experience was. Of course, cameras are not completely portable, so I…

As I have mentioned, I rarely see things completely one way or another. Whether we like it or not we are multitudes and nuance is always required. I can’t think of a single topic where this doesn’t hold true (I’m sure there is, I just can’t think of one right now). And then I read this post which is very clear and, in my opinion, very closed to nuance, and as an owner of a doorbell cam (Eufy (Anker) not Ring) I feel compelled to respond. I do not expect to change Ava’s thought process on this…

Mt Poroshiri (幌尻岳, poroshiri-dake) is a 2052m elevation mountain near the town of Biratori in Hokkaido. Its name comes from Ainu for "Big Mountain" and it's commonly called one of the most difficult Hundred Famous Mountains of Japan. With this in mind, I went into this hike with a fair bit of trepidation, but came out the other end feeling rather grateful for the experience. What a fun mountain it turned out to be. What makes Mt Poroshiri difficult? The hike for Mt Poroshiri itself is not so…

Growing up we’d gather round the TV to watch The Grand Ole Opry, Hee-Haw on the regular, and any countrified special that aired. Every character on those stages were larger than life, though sequins likely added to this magnification. Minnie Pearl had that tag hanging off her hats and a wide grin like my Aunt Mildred… Porter played the good guy, but it was the man in black that felt like the real hero… Loretta had frills, Patsy had jackets with long fringe, and Dolly? She had extra sparkle. She…

I have talked to multiple people using Ring cameras and similar surveillance tech at or around their home over the last few years, usually from the US. The reasons are mostly the same: We live in an area with a high crime rate. We had a break-in before. We wanna have proof for insurance/police, or when the delivery isn't delivered or my packages get stolen. I wanna see what my pets/kids/spouse are doing. I wanna check for fires, cheating, make sure things get done around the home etc. Most of…

For as long as I can remember, I've always had trouble "making" friends.Now that's not to suggest that I don't have friends, as I'm pretty sure I do (maybe not as definitive statement as I'd like), it's just that I struggle to make new friends and then in turn stumble trying to foster them long-term.And it's these issues which in turn amplify feedback I recently received from a doctor-supported program that suggested I needed to "focus on increasing the quantity and improve the quality of your…

I know some incredibly successful friends who have started writing blogs every day. They enjoy the process, but don’t see enough results. When they stop, they do so with the intention of writing somewhere else with greater visibility (e.g., social media, Substack, etc.) or with less effort (e.g., not just typing it out themselves). That works for a brief time. Eventually, they stop writing or publishing anything at all. My theory is this: when they write every day at their blog, they create and…

It’s not every day I read an email subject that makes my heart sink, only to find myself laughing out loud. Today I was told someone plagiarised my website!The snitch lol informant wishes to remain anonymous (they’ve obviously read my blog!)I wasn’t sure how to deal with this situation. At first I was mad. Should I go super saiyan on the culprit with fire and brimstone? That would be mean spirited but the dude did try to steal my vibe. I’ve decided to go easy and just call this guy out. You can…

I wonder when "people" will realise that taking videos (and photos) on your mobile device should be done in wide mode, rather than tall. So many News websites now utilise crowd-sourced video content when reporting stories, but the content can be so awkward on the eye. Taking a video in portrait (tall/vertical) results in the content moving erratically from side to side as the operator attempts to capture the full scene. Not only do we have to endure the wild panning, but the scene is generally…

Two absurdist anthropomorphized animal cartoons from the latest New Yorker (of 9/7/26, the Dolly Parton issue): Jared Nangle’s beaver resolutely doing what it’s programmed to do; and Joe Dator’s mountain goat trying to take a NYC cab to the nearest precipice. Beaver: use the tool that fits your hand. Excellent life advice, made slogan-size. Beaver has gone on to do what he was meant to do, regardless of context: (#1) Real beavers are inclined to act this way, but then real beavers rarely get a…

In 2014 we bought a car1, registered in my name. It’s a little long in the tooth now and we’re thinking about what might replace it, but for the time being it’s a useful workhorse and especially valuable when we need to move the entire family and still have space for luggage. This large car was super helpful for a trip to France via the Channel Tunnel earlier this summer… at least, once I’d hacked Le Shuttle’s API to work around their inability to cope with us bringing home different adults…

I have been writing consistently here for a year now. You can go back a year and find one essay published every single day without fail. I have broken a lot of the writing advice that gets thrown around on social media, except for one piece of advice—and that is something I didn’t learn from social media. Social media is filled with advice about maintaining a swipe file of ideas. They tell you to keep track of trending topics. Write about subjects that are most likely to go viral. Write on…

There have been various blog posts and social media posts in the last couple of years about people rejecting streaming services and going back to buying music, listening on handheld devices that - gasp - aren't phones. Vinyl's bigger than it's been for years. Multiple colleagues have shown me their CD collections - even cassettes have made a comeback, which makes me wish I still had the incredible glow-in-the-dark Sony Beans walkman I had as a child. I like that some people catalogue their…

He was staring at his feet and thinking these were the wrong shoes for snow. He had only taken two steps from the car, and his feet were already wet and cold. The gate in front of them was covered in ice, and it looked more like an entrance to an icy cave than to the small garden of a one-story house. “What am I even doing here?” “C'mon, it is not that bad; we just need to check that the house is in solid condition. We haven't been here since your uncle passed away,” she said and gently put a…

“Bakery”, “road trip”, and “tradition” are often associated with certain geographies in literature and tourism booklets. That’s probably why the next-word predictor in the heart of whatever LLM wrote the headline above decided to us “mountain town” to describe Yalaha, Florida, home of Yalaha Bakery. Florida’s the flattest state in the Union, and despite having places named Mount Dora, there are no mountains here. Any AI, no matter how well-trained, has no experience. It simply has…

“HOMES” is the first acronym I remember learning in elementary school. It is the example I reach for when explaining mnemonic devices to my school-aged kids. But “HOMES” is much more important to me than a handy learning trick. For me, “HOMES” is home. If aren’t aware, “HOMES” stands for the names of the five Great Lakes of North America - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. The lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and the second-largest by volume. They…

Like so many, I'm spending too much time on my smartphone. While I have reduced my smartphone use drastically, all thanks to a life without social media and a life without notifications, I'm still spending too much time on my smartphone. I've wanted to do this for the longest time: a 30-day break from technology in order to rediscover my values and figure out how technology can support these values (after all, isn't that what technology is for?). My undertaking is best described in the words of…

HTTP status code 204 means “no content”. No update. Nothing to tell you. Which I’m reminded of as I write about progress on our house repairs following the flood that swept through our home on Friday 13 February… 204 days ago. Because that’s how the summer’s repairs have felt: No updates. Nothing to say. It was already pretty jarring to return from an epic holiday and get back into work-mode. But it was doubly-regrettable to discover that the various tradespeople who’d been given access to our…

Manila has been in full swing thunderstorm/rainstorm season. Floods, lightning, roads closed, the full works.

This is my 15th blog post for the Blaugust 2026 community blogging project. Join me all this month for more blogging. Six months ago I bought an EV – my first. It’s been a (mostly) great experience and I’ve learned a lot. Or, more accurately, I’ve unlearned a lot. Much of what you read out there about EV ownership – specifically around charging – is fear mongering. Let me share what I’ve learned and see if I can dispel some of that. Chargers are confusing – at first I went into EV ownership…

A rare sketch of the shy store manager at my favourite deli/cafe. The place was busy so she chipped in with barista duties. Here it is with watercolour:

I write this on naff all sleep and I am probably going to put something on my freelance Instagram like I always do a bit later, but it was eight years and one day since I pushed live “If not now, when?“, which I shared to a few friends and socials from Frankfurt airport. The day after was the first day of being a freelancer. Despite recessions, COVID, the rise of AI, Brexit and god knows what else, I am still going. Dare I say this year is going….pretty well? Certainly better than last. Profit…

Recently, I have been struggling to follow any kind of routine at all. Sigh! It pains even to write that sentence. How often have I written that? And I keep writing that again and again. Why is it so difficult for me to stick to a healthy routine? What I do in my free time is a reflection of how free I am in my mind. Crowded the mind, the less I do in my life. I need some respite, and I have convinced my mind that my routine is not my respite. It is binging some movies or shows. Or mindless…

For almost a year now, I’ve been actively soliciting Internet strangers to send me a postcard (in addition to the usual ways of contacting me, via comments or email). I had no idea it would be so-successful: I’ve received a postcard almost every month! I’ve been keeping them in a mildly-interactive gallery if you’d like to see. Today was novel, though. Today, for the first time, I received a postcard from somebody… whom I can’t identify. The postcard is from “Tony”. I’ve transcribed the full…

I just wrote a draft post that was filled with doom and gloom and so much negativity. I wrote all that out of my system, then hit the back button on the top left of my screen, and hit “discard changes”. Poof. All that doom thinking gone into the ether. Here’s why I don’t want to give into it. Why I don’t want to share something so negative: it doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help me. You see, getting myself stuck in negativity is debilitating. It’s keeping me stuck, spiralling into rage. It…

An unexpected monorail - that breaks down! Fascinating.

Product: Gordon McLeanModel: GM-01Manufacturer: Lynda & Ian McLeanCountry of origin: ScotlandYear of manufacture: 1973Recommended operating environment: Somewhere with coffee, books, music and access to the outdoors. Before use Please ensure Gordon has had sufficient sleep. This is not a suggestion. It is a requirement. Coffee should be provided shortly afterwards. Snacks are optional but strongly recommended. Failure to follow these instructions may result in reduced performance, mild…