https://kedara.eu/blog
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Now, July 2026: Web Writers' Collective & Fountain pens Web Writers’ Collective I was invited to join the new Web Writers' Collective and it’s such a joy to feel part of a writing community! I’ve been lurking a bit more lately (now that the group is growing), but I’m enjoying the discussions so far. Honestly, I’m still a bit starstruck by all the amazing folks who have joined. Check out the new website if you’re interested in joining, or just want to see what we’re up to. James and I also…
Re: What is the oldest thing you own? In reply to: What is the oldest thing you own? — Thomas Rigby From time to time, I get the urge to just unplug everything and become a full-on Luddite, you know? The latest episode of this was triggered by the discovery that over 80% of the e-books I’ve purchased turned out to be locked by “Adobe DRM”. But I won’t bore you with that—today, I’d like to answer the question asked by Thomas: Over the Christmas break, a time of consumption for the sake of…
Repeat that, repeatJames and I have come up with a collaborative writing project that you’re welcome to join as well! The idea is to share your thoughts on a poem through writing: there are no restrictions on the format, as long as you publish your words on your website. Let us know when you’ve written something (e-mail), so we can add a link to your submission at the end of our posts. The poem is Repeat that, repeat by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889, poem published in 1918): Source Alt. text…
On making mistakes and not starting overLast week, I wrote a blog post that I now regret publishing. I felt it was too negative, I was complaining too much, and it didn’t feel particularly helpful to me or anyone else. In other words, it was the opposite of everything I try to do here. My first impulse was to delete it, and forget about it. I didn’t: instead, I put a small notice up top, and collapsed the more negative parts with “content warnings”. Trashing the whole post didn’t feel right to…
Junited 2026It’s June again, a month of many special occasions: Pride month, my birthday, and Junited! I’m very excited for this. Junited is simple, and basically what many bloggers already do: sharing others’ posts. No challenge, no pressure, just the good kind of blog joy. Robert is organizing this community activity for the third time in a row. I participated last year as well and thoroughly enjoyed it. Just like last year, I’m also compiling a Junited list to blogs in Dutch. So without…
Kedara.eu is 2 years old today! :) On 26-06-(20)26 of all dates! This is one of my postcards: short, handwritten messages—from me to you. Thank you for reading this via RSS! View this article on my website. Replies: E-mail / Fediverse / Webmention
Is this for real?! It’s 16:09. I’m lying on the couch. There’s a fan trained on me, circulating at full tilt. The temperature is 26 °C (79 F) inside, 33 °C (92 F) outside, humidity is high. Come again?! I live in the fucking Netherlands. Summer is supposed to be pleasant here. The average historical (1991-2020) maximum temperature for the end of June is 21 °C (70 F). Back in the days, we used to complain of too much rain and too little sun. No way it’s already this hot in June. And it’s even…
A year of reading the Tales and Teachings from the Bhagavata Purana One year ago, I started reading Bhakti Yoga, Tales and Teachings from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa by Edwin Bryant. I picked it up because I absolutely love his book on the Yoga Sūtras and after reading the Bhagavad Gītā, I wanted to learn more about bhakti yoga. This book provides a relatively “safe” way for me to explore these concepts: it’s approach is somewhat academic. To cut to the chase: I was not disappointed, this is an…
The next best thing to actually visiting a museum My memories of my younger years are largely lost to time. What little I can recall, is mostly what other people remembered about a younger me. I hope you’ll enjoy this secondhand memory I remember via my mom, about a visit to our museum of natural history, Naturalis. I was around six years old at the time. Musea have always felt like churches to me. Not only because of the often imposing architecture, but also because of the reverence I felt for…
I made a thing It felt a bit like going back to kindergarten: I made a thing today. A thing that’ll brighten up my home office. This is how it went: first, I spent a lot of time going through old nature and bird magazines, looking for the perfect pictures. I took out my scissors and got cutting. I hope I’ve made my old teachers proud (ignore the ragged edges please!). The photos I selected spent weeks, make that months, in a plastic folder, waiting for assembly day. Once I felt I had collected…
Book review: The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb This year, I plan to read a lot of books by Robin Hobb (thanks to Alex for the idea!). That is, 4 series of three books each: the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders, and the Tawny Man Trilogy. Then I’ll skip the Rain Wild Chronicles, as I’ve read and reviewed those last year. To finish it all off, I’ll read the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Let’s see how much of the twelve books I’ll be able to read this year—my plan is not to read them back to…
2026-06-04: Junited & Pride Month This is one of my postcards: short, handwritten messages—from me to you. Thank you for reading this via RSS! View this article on my website. Replies: E-mail / Fediverse / Webmention
Book Review: When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift In this book, we follow the lives of two women, from roughly 2020-2070. When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift isn’t so much science fiction; at least not in the sense of “exploring the galaxy in a spaceship”. Instead, we stay right here on planet earth, and see how these women fight for a fairer and eco-friendlier society, all the while facing the brutal effects of ongoing climate change. Please don’t be discouraged by such a bleak…
Five years since my PhD: Anisotropy, multivalency and flexibility-induced effects in colloidal systems The cover of my PhD thesis: Anisotropy, multivalency and flexibility-induced effects in colloidal systems. What do clouds, whipped cream, milk, photographic film, cheese, smoke and marshmallows have in common with each other? One possible answer to that question is that these are all examples of colloidal dispersions. (…) In this work, we focus on one class of colloidal dispersions, in which…
Now, May 2026: a letter from Scotland! I’ve received a letter all the way from Scotland this week! Let me explain. Some time ago, I was browsing James’ Coffee Blog, as I do quite often. As I was reading Noticing, I noticed (sorry) an Easter egg on the website. I reached out to James to let him know I had discovered it, and was delighted to learn I was the first one to do so (but not the last, I’m sure!). James was kind enough to send me a lovely letter full of stickers, some of which you can…
Falling in love with photography again My new Rolleicord V (manufactured in 1954-1957), more information can be found on camera-wiki.org. Recently, I bought a new (to me) camera: a Rolleicord V (manufactured in 1954-1957, shown on the right). It’s a beautifully crafted, analogue, all mechanical twin lens reflex camera. The first thing my partner M. said was you’re just going to sell it again in six months. Although he knows me very well, I hope this time he’s wrong. You see, I’ve never really…
Much to my own disappointment, I'm not a journal-in-a-notebook-with-a-fountain-pen kind of guy There’s something aesthetically appealing about notebooks and fountain pens. I love the feeling of resting my hands on real paper, of my pen effortlessly gliding over it. The paper in my notebooks is great for the ink I’m using. My fountain pen fits my hand just right, never dries out prematurely, and was a gift from my partner for my birthday. I’d love to be the kind of guy who journals, has a s...
Now, April 2026: everything tends to happen at once Why is it, that everything tends to happen all at once? I had the feeling that the past few weeks have been either very quiet, or too busy—like an on/off switch. This may not be objectively true, but subjectively, February felt okay, while March and now half of April went by in a flash. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, though it’s not quite the correct description for it. It’s more of a wired-but-tired state of mind: a kind of nervous energ...
Playing with FreeBSD What’s all the fuss about FreeBSD? What is it, anyway?, I remember these thoughts going through my head, sometime last year. There were quite a few people posting enthusiastically about FreeBSD on the Fediverse. Having used Linux for many years, I was vaguely aware of the idea that BSD is some flavour of Unix—a family of free and open source computer operating systems. My curiosity was triggered, and I decided to learn more about it. I guess even the Fediverse has infl...
Book review: The Greenhollow Duology I’ve read Silver in the Wood and its sequel Drowned Country, written by Emily Tesh. It’s a fantasy romance “duology” set in an old forest: When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart. I’ve bought the e-book as a pai...
