Personal
I may share more personal thoughts at times. These are the posts where I will open up a little.
-
Dear, Will You Read My Blog?
Me: “My new French blog is nearly ready to go live. Will you read it?"
Her: “Well, yeah, sure, but how will I know there is something new to read?"
Me: “Well, you just have to go to the website, just like you read the news."
Her: “Mmm, but it’s not the same. I have to remember the website’s address. Can you send notifications instead?"
Me: “Well, I’m not sure this would fit the idea of a blog, but you just need to save it as a bookmark. Also, I can show you a great RSS reader?"
Her: “🤔”
Me: “It’s an app where you can read blog posts. There are many great ones for your iPhone or iPad."
Her: “Well, yeah, but I must remember to open it just to see if something is new?"
Me: “Yes, exactly, just like when you open up your favourite news website or when you just tap on the Facebook icon on your iPad…"
Her: “🤨”
Me: “If there was a weekly newsletter, would it be ok for you to read it?"
Her: “That would be better, for sure, but… you know… I already get so many emails!"
Me: “M’ok, but my hosting service doesn’t provide a newsletter feature. Maybe I could just tell you: there is something new on my blog that you might find interesting because I wrote a story about you."
Her: “👩🏻💻”
The challenges a blogger may face can be unpredictable.
-
Putting Something Out There
I’m about to start a recording session for my next video about Craft and the PARA method. I wonder: why am I doing this? Is it because it might help Craft users to better take advantage of the app features? Is it because I just like being in a creative process? Is it because I love working on the Mac using different apps together to put something out there? Is it all the reasons above? Or is it simply because it provides a subtle reminder of being human is being creative and putting something out there? Maybe I’m asking myself too many questions.
-
I NEVER take and share pictures of cats… but this one living in the building where I’m currently staying for a few months 🤩… worth enough to push to Pixelfed, too!
-
Returning to work this morning is really hard and cumbersome after two weeks of intense personal life. I really disconnected from work. So, I mostly forgot about my passwords, my pending items when I left back in late December. Is this what we call “work & life balance”?
-
I’m Getting Old Apparently
I old enough to be one of those who witnessed the birth of MTV and music videos… but I rarely watch those these days… but today, I decided to spend some time watching what’s « hot ». A few observations are in order: video duration is short (less than 3 min), hyper-short scenes abuse (less than two seconds in duration), 4:3 screen ratio is strange (is this a thing now?)… I barely can stand this shit now. I’m getting old, I guess.
-
The cool thing about our new (and temporary) apartment is that, both my wife and me, have the feeling of being traveling somewhere in the world1. We stay right beside a beautiful park with a lot of mature trees. I already see myself going out to do some photography. Too bad it’s winter time, though. 🤷🏻♂️
We often travel to places, rent an Airbnb for a week, so that we can feel being part of a small community. It’s really a nice feeling making the whole thing more bearable.
-
We are 1km from our house! ↩︎
-
-
And we’re finally settled in our temporary apartment. Now, it’s time to explore the surroundings, including marking coffee shops and restaurants that I plan to try over the course of the next three months. I started using Apple Maps Guides for this. Not super intuitive but it does the job. I shared the guide with my wife.
-
Thought and sentiment of the moment: my sheer physical exhaustion makes my mental exhaustion more bearable.
-
I’m moving to a new (temporary) apartment in two days. It’s the first time in 17 years that I’m changing places. It’s crazy how much we gather over the years. We’re giving out a lot of stuff (also selling on FB Marketplace). It’s like spring-cleaning, right in the middle of winter!
-
Fun fact: I often play “Did You Know?” with my wife to let her know about special features on her Apple Watch, iPad or other tech devices. She doesn’t like to remember things and the fact that many things are hidden by default in the Apple ecosystem.
-
Always fun to learn something about Micro.blog while recording the “What’s Up With Micro.blog” video. 🤭 Stay tuned for those who might be interested.
-
Craft & Gumroad - A Match in Heaven?
I’be been trying to build a small business around Craft using Gumroad in the last 18 months. So far, it’s a hit or miss. I’m currently having paying 20 subscribers for The Craft Bible1. I sold quite a few Craft templates, too. I have many more ideas for 2025 to continue to grow this offering. Yet, it won’t replace my day job.
I like Gumroad as a selling platform but also for writing articles and sharing them with my customers. This is not something that I planned on doing when I started, but I must admit that it’s fun to build a small community around an app like Craft, away from the public scrutiny of Reddit and Slack. Today, I shared a long op-ed article on my feelings about Craft. It’s a long piece that I took quite some time to write. I’m quite happy with the results. I can’t wait for user reactions and feedback.
-
I’m currently running a promotion until the end of December where new subscribers to The Craft Bible get a one-week trial. To my surprise, It is not attracting more subscriptions. I must be doing something wrong. ↩︎
-
-
It’s easier for me to discover (and like) a new photographer than discovering a new writer. Information absorption is faster in photography.
-
I’m in a writing lull. Not too many things worth writing about, I guess. So, I focus on photography.
-
Perfect day for a long road trip. I’m going to a music show close to New York City: Sting.
