Weekly Note for Week Ending 6/6/25
We've finally hit the rainy season here, and I'm looking forward to afternoon thunderstorms. There's a lot of heat and humidity coming my way too, but I can deal with it as long as I stay in the AC. Here's what has my attention this week.
There's this brilliant article from Sally Kerrigan on alistapart.com entitled Writing Is Thinking, and it's really worth your time to read through it, particularly if you've wanted to start writing but weren't sure if you were a writer.
I also happened across this article from Thought Punks entitled Crafting Minimalist Settings for Tabletop Roleplaying Games that focuses on just that. It talks through the thought process around why minimalist settings are better because they allow the player to use their imagination to fill in the blanks or gaps.
- I think there's something to be said for more fleshed out settings for players who might be new to TTRPGs, though.
I learned about this gem from within the Terry Pratchett universe called the "Boots Theory" or "Sam Vimes Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness" which posits:
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
- From Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett
I think it perfectly sums up the idea, personally.
- After Senator Graham quipped about her, "I hope she can swim," Greta Thunberg posted a video about the aid work she's doing in Gaza. Her response was excellent.
"It says a lot about their priorities that in the face of #genocide and systematic starvation of 2M people, lawmakers, whose responsibility should be to protect people, rather than ending their complicity [in] genocide and the mass slaughter of civilians are focusing on mocking people who are at least trying to do their bit."
- If you haven't used Drafts before, it's actually really great as a place to capture your thoughts and streamline your posting. I had a bit of a lightbulb moment with it this week. I've had Drafts Pro for the last several months because of a deal, but I was having a mental block with it. I kept wondering why I would type in that to then choose the Messages app or Ivory or whatever I was hoping to post to, to then tap post from there. It felt like I was adding an extra step for no reason.
Then it clicked. While it may add an additional step in the mix, it does make it easier to find the specific app you want to post to more quickly if they're all in one action menu versus having to have your Home Screen covered in apps or search for the app you want.
I also really like it because it makes writing in Markdown a lot easier for my blog, too! Check it out! There's a great community and loads of videos on YouTube from people who are fans.
Confession of the Week: I can't stand guacamole. It's just a texture thing, I think.
Shoutout of the Week: Here's to another of my favorite blogs: @Annie. Her writing and the topics she chooses to write about are thoughtful, humorous, and charming. I look forward to her posts, and I think you'd enjoy them too! Check out her blog here.