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For a while now, I've been thinking about getting a new work bag. My current daily driver is of a canvas attaché-style, with metal hardware, and one chunky zipper that has stood the test of time. I've had this bag since I graduated college in the mid 2000's. I received it as a graduation gift and have used it almost daily for 20 years, before I transitioned to becoming a mostly remote worker. I have a sentimental attachment to this bag, love the look of the worn-in canvas, and plan to use it…

My childhood friend Eric lived in a yellow house at the end of a cul-de-sac. We spent our summers and after-school evenings playing video games (SNES, later N64), ping pong, and street hocky. We blasted the Mortal Kombat soundtrack on CD and played tackle football in the back yard. Young and indestructible, we never donned helmets or padding, but wore our bruises proudly. Eric had a neighbor named Matt, a regular kid, but two years older than us. Matt was lanky and tall and, owing to the age…

I recently visited my local public library and got a library card. I walked in and sheepishly explained to the nice librarian that yes, I used to have a card (issued in 1994, when I was but a wee lad) but alas: it's gone missing. No, I don't remember my card number either. And no, I really haven't used the library system in a while. She seemed slightly amused, which I appreciated, because I thought the whole thing was a bit funny too. Purged from the rolls As it turns out I was purged due to…

These days, my primary "third place" is my local game store (LGS). For those unfamiliar, an LGS is a small independent retailer of physical gaming merchandise that can include board games, card games, tabletop games, and role-playing games. Not every LGS serves all of these categories of gaming in great depth, but most will carry at least a few product lines of all of the major brands in each space. If you're new, you'll probably be able to get what you need to get started in whatever floats…

This post is written in response to Chris Shaw's August 2026 IndieWeb Carnival prompt, Purpose.[1] What is purpose? Purpose is an interesting construct. It can be assigned externally, as a concrete statement of utility ("the purpose of a hammer is to pound nails"); or internally, as a guiding principal of behavior ("my purpose in life is to provide for my family"). Purpose can be highly subjective and situational. You and I may have different views on the utility of a hammer, and that utility…

My weeks have been exhausting lately. Work has been a lot, I've been putting in some terribly long hours, and I spend most nights wishing I had the energy to do something creative, but failing utterly. Instead, I sit in a kind of numb shock, occasionally managing to progress in one of the books I've been reading, but mostly occupying that static void of anxious fatigue, unable to decompress before the cycle starts again the next day. One day this week, to my great pride and mild astonishment, I…

A few brief thoughts as I wind down the weekend. Today I felt happy in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. Reflecting on that feeling, I attribute it to spending time on the indieweb, which has motivated me to learn, to create, and to connect with others. This has been SO much more rewarding than being a "content consumer" on a big tech platform, and I feel that this is something that has been missing from my life for far too long. To my fellow smol.pub writers I'd like you to know that I…

Sometime in 1995 my friend Alex taught me something that would change my life. We - as nerdy middle schoolers - were new to the internet and were constantly looking for ways to use it to connect with others who shared our hobbies. At the time, these were primarily: D&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd edition) Computer games related to the above, such as SSI "Unlimited Adventures" Magic: The Gathering, then in its infancy One afternoon, he called me over to his house to show me something he'd…

Several weeks ago I saw my doctor for my annual physical. Thus far into middle age I have been blessed with generally good health, and for the past many years my exams have mostly resulted in routine lab follow-ups that haven't yielded any particular concerns. This time was different, and I went to that appointment with a problem. The Problem I explained to my doctor that I had been experiencing: Brain fog Difficulty maintaining focus on certain types of tasks Lapses in attention during…

Flipping Through more of the Past This is the second part in a series where I look through my old CD binder and write about what I find: Part 1 Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan (indie ~1999) I am almost certain that I picked this up in 2003 from the local record store near my college. I had somehow just discovered Pitchfork - at that time, still VERY much a small indie music blog out of Chicago - and spent my time at "work" in the student computer labs reading through their "best of"…

Flipping Through the Past I recently dug out my old CaseLogic (tm) CD binder and thought it would be fun to flip through it and comment on some of my past purchases and obsessions. To explain the contents, let's first establish a (very) rough chronology of my media format preferences: pre-1993: cassettes ~1994-2012: CDs ~2013-2020: digital downloads (purchased, not streamed) ~2020-2026: streaming and vinyl ...I haven't bought any records in a while, and I'm thinking about switching back to CDs.…

When I initially set up my personal website, I started on GitHub Pages. While I don't particularly like GitHub: I already had an account, and know how to use it I was facing a bit of analysis paralysis around choosing a web host and feeling blocked Since I just wanted to get started with, you know, actually making the site, I decided to stick with GitHub Pages initially, in order to get things up and running, with a plan to switch later. Well...later happened, and I was incredibly pleased to…

Let's get this out of the way: the world is pretty shit right now. Politics, technology, capitalism, oligarchy, freedom, economics. THE FUTURE. There are a lot of bad things happening, a lot of uncertainty around everything...and it's stressful. I am stating the obvious, reader, to let you know that I am not unaware of these things. I am CHOOSING not to talk about them here, on this blog. Why? One of the things that contributes to most of the internet sucking these days is that the topics I…

When I was a teen, I liked buying incense from the alternative/hippie stores downtown. I burned it in my room, with the windows closed, and never gave a thought to what I was inhaling or what it might be doing to my lungs. As a middle-aged person, I've given up on incense, but I have many, many scented candles. Some of these have a story: they were gifts, or were acquired on a trip or other memorable occasion. Most are without provenance: I have utterly no recollection of how or when they were…

In the mid 90's, I was young and bored and had access to the internet via the family computer. It had a 386SX processor, a turbo button, and ran Windows 3.11. Dialup internet, of course. Privacy when using the computer? Rarely. What did teens do online in the 90's? We made websites on Geocities, Angelfire, Tripod, and a bunch of others. Super nerds like me played MUDs and other text based games (that's a different post, someday soon). ...and we chatted of course, in chat rooms, or via the AOL…

I just finished a re-read of the first three books of The Black Company series by Glen Cook. I call it a re-read, but I haven't picked these up in probably 10 or 15 years; while I remembered some bits and pieces, it was essentially a spoiler-free experience. One of the benefits of having a swiss cheese memory is that I get a lot of replay value out of my media. I'm a chronic re-reader and re-watcher. Taking the long view, once something makes it into my rotation, it's probably going to stay…