The Whole-Brain Child 🔗
A healthy, harmonious life is one that involves your whole brain. By Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson Rating: 4 / 5. While this is very much wri [...]
Matt Stein
Posts
Empire of AI 🔗
Amazingly-detailed account of a company we should all be watching closely. By Karen Hao Rating: 5 / 5. This was a fascinating and unsettling read. I’m [...]
NuPhy Air75 V3 Q&A 🔗
Interview with myself about a mechanical keyboard. What are we doing here? I’m glad you asked! I’ve been enjoying a new mechanical keyboard I’ve wante [...]
On Tyranny 🔗
Succinct advice for the present gleaned from historic fascist movements. By Timothy Snyder Rating: 4.5 / 5. It was chilling to read this knowing it wa [...]
Eleventy Rebuild 🔗
I folded my Kirby and Astro sites into a new Eleventy build. I’m finally launching a brand new Eleventy site at this domain, combining my shy Kirby bl [...]
A Field Guide to Awkward Silences 🔗
Autobiographical essays from a hilarious nerd. By Alexandra Petri Rating: 3.5 / 5. I was dazzled by Alexandra Petri’s humorous and self-deprecating At [...]
It’s Only Drowning 🔗
Man takes up surfing with discordant in-law and it’s a pretty good life metaphor. By David Litt Rating: 4 / 5. A blog post from Dave Rupert landed thi [...]
Replacing Logi Options 🔗
I replaced Logi Options+ with BetterMouse. BetterMouse is the best option I’ve found for my MX Master 3, and so far it’s working great and a relief to [...]
2025 Wrapped 🔗
A look at the year we just finished. It seems like every company suddenly puts out a “wrapped” summary, and it gives me a sinking feeling that even ou [...]
Zerobyte on Coolify 🔗
Swapping Duplicati with Zerobyte for local filesystem backups. I’ve been going on about Coolify because I’ve enjoyed tinkering with it, and after the [...]
Hum 🔗
Mother holds on to her family in a cautionary, near-future dystopia. By Helen Phillips Rating: 4 / 5. I picked this out with a friend at the library, [...]
Default Apps: Default Apps 2025 🔗
Apps I used regularly in 2025. Cold on the heels of the 2023 and 2024 editions, the emoji list of apps I used regularly in the past year: 📨 Mail Clie [...]
A Year with Coolify 🔗
Self-hosting spree continues. A little more than a year ago I consolidated most of my self-hosting to Coolify. Despite my technical wanderlust, I’m ha [...]
How I Manage Photos 🔗
A simple, desperate workflow I can’t recommend. I’m not a “photographer” as much as a person with cameras that’s fastidious and prone to overthinking. [...]
Selling Thunder Nugget 🔗
Goodbye, gaming PC. I decided to wipe and sell my beloved Windows gaming PC, Thunder Nugget. It started as a pandemic project I took on because I was [...]
Mastering Stand-Up 🔗
Open yourself to an audience and work hard to refine material that’s uniquely yours. By Stephen Rosenfield Rating: 4 / 5. A friend liked reading this [...]
Artificial Coding Friends 🔗
Thoughts on AI-assisted coding. I mostly approach what we’re calling AI with skepticism because of who controls it and the impact it has on power dyna [...]
Creating a Laravel Unsend Transport 🔗
How to send Laravel email using Unsend. I’ve been using Unsend all over the place now that I’m self-hosting it. In my Laravel apps I’d started out usi [...]
The Screwtape Letters 🔗
Rude uncle writes incompetent nephew about their work in hell. By C.S. Lewis Rating: 3.5 / 5. I faintly recall reading this somewhere in late high sch [...]
Excellent Advice for Living 🔗
A collection of powerful tiny thoughts. By Kevin Kelly Rating: 4 / 5. Brie Wolfson wrote an essay called Flounder Mode that recently introduced me to [...]
Mastodon on Coolify 🔗
I migrated my Masto.host instance to Coolify. Masto.host has been great in the year and a half I’ve had my Mastodon instance running there. Hugo guide [...]
Butte Scoote 🔗
Walking a lump of earth. Now that it’s nice outside, I’ve recommitted myself to a walking goal for this year. A friend drew my attention to an inconsp [...]
I Created a LinkedIn Account 🔗
Let us gather and weep. Sit down, friend. I have something to tell you. There are times in our lives when we must make hard choices. Surely we can del [...]
Carry On 🔗
Magic-wielding teen coming-of-age mystery/adventure. By Rainbow Rowell Rating: 4 / 5. I exchanged book recommendations with a friend, and she chose th [...]
Unsend on Coolify 🔗
How I got Unsend and its SMTP relay running. Unsend is an open source transactional email service that sits on top of Amazon SES. If you’re a non-deve [...]
Please Continue to Hold 🔗
Please continue to hold. We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes and a representative will be with you shortly. Your call is important to [...]
Seven Random Facts About Me 🔗
Alexandra You’re right, Alexandra! I had fun reading your post and I have spontaneously decided to share seven random facts of my own. Fact #1: I t [...]
Craft CMS on Coolify 🔗
A Docker setup for running Craft CMS on Coolify. A few people have asked whether I’ve managed to get Craft CMS running on Coolify, so I figure it migh [...]
Unknown Roads 🔗
The wanderer is happiest in motion and must always choose a path. Sometimes he lingers, letting fear or wisdom survey the fork and choose a direction. [...]
Being Wrong 🔗
Our experience with error is vital to our humanity. By Kathryn Schulz Rating: 5 / 5. I finally finished this after starting way back in October. A few [...]
Surprise Trench Run 🔗
Growing up I watched Star Wars on VHS because my parents taped it from a TV broadcast. I distinctly remember how it ended with the Millennium Falcon l [...]
The Let Them Theory 🔗
Boundaries, self-control, and initiative can be transformative. By Mel Robbins Rating: 3 / 5. I read this with a friend and appreciated Robbins’ warmt [...]
The Timeless Importance of Flopping Penises 🔗
Many years ago, my parents came from Ohio to visit my first post-college home in Seattle—a place that geographically and culturally is far away. Someh [...]
Landline 🔗
Protagonist overcomes avoidable communication problems. By Rainbow Rowell Rating: 2.5 / 5. I read this because it was a friend’s reference for casual [...]
Default Apps: Default Apps 2024 🔗
Apps I used regularly last year. This was a fun emoji list to compile last time, so here we are again! 📨 Mail Client: Mail.app, MailMate + SpamSieve [...]
The Courage to Be Disliked 🔗
Find the courage to own what’s yours, let go of what isn’t, and live now with others. By Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga Rating: 4.5 / 5. I’m a proud [...]
Joyful Damp 🔗
I’ve heard you say that the wet side of the mountains is stifling. Too much gray, too much damp, too much gloom. Maybe there’s nothing we can do to ch [...]
Thought From a Long Walk 🔗
There is beauty Do not be afraid. [...]
Home is Not a Place 🔗
Home is where you belong and where you can be entirely yourself. Your home can be small and cramped and quiet, or vast and lively. Your home changes c [...]
Writing Month #4: Future Self Awaits 🔗
A me in the future is waiting. It is the same entity that was me twenty years ago, and the same entity that is me today. But just like teenaged me is [...]
Writing Month #3: Why I Write Here 🔗
Earlier this week I arrived to an improv class that had new faces. This always stresses me out, because I’ll learn new names I need to remember despit [...]
Writing Month #2: Here Lies Civility 🔗
We are gathered here to today to remember civility. And frankly who cares. It died clutching its heart at the growing roar of “fuck civility!” Good ri [...]
A Five Star Review of Dogs 🔗
It’s been said before and I’m saying it again: dogs are great. How bizarre that our monkey ancestors surely went through some weird, rough times to li [...]
WeblogPoMo AMA: What’s one of the best laughs you can remember? 🔗
I’ve got an AMA question for you: what’s one of the best laughs you can remember? Mine takes me back to a middle school math test, somewhere around tw [...]
Be the Deer You Want to See in the World 🔗
I’ve never lived around so many deer. Imagine a quiet, aging suburban neighborhood in a dry, dusty version of the Pacific Northwest United States. Mod [...]
WeblogPoMo AMA: If you could instantly change one internal pattern/thing about yourself, what would it be? 🔗
First, I apologize for the visual assault of long titles on this site right now. I’m trying to focus more on the writing than endless tinkering, but i [...]
Writing Month #1: Things I Was Wrong About 🔗
Thanks to Apple Annie I made a last-minute decision to hop into Writing Month, and I decided my challenge should focus on fear level rather than word [...]
WeblogPoMo AMA: What are you doing to prepare for this coming winter? 🔗
I liked reading Magpie’s AMA post and got excited to answer, because I actually have one this year and normally I wouldn’t! Magpie I live in a plac [...]
Car Detailing Life Hack 🔗
I like driving and I like getting to know my car. I read manuals front to back, I find shop guides to see how you might take apart or replace bits and [...]
VPS Tunneling with Tailscale 🔗
How to ignore a bunch of unwanted traffic by using a private tunnel. While I’ve been playing with new Coolify servers, I’ve started the new habit of l [...]