2026-02-13 00:35:00
There I was minding my own business, plodding through the working day, getting on with my tasks.
A colleague asked me to proof-read his report and offer feedback. I am the kind of guy that lets a lot of things slip. I appreciate we all write in different styles, grammar, and tone; we all mangle punctuation to suit.
If am asked to critique, I prefer constructive rather than, "hang on while I rewrite this in my own style" kind of approach. Today I simply suggested that the report open with a summary paragraph, introducing the topic — it had launched into a discussion, assuming the reader was already familiar with the topic.
I kindly offered a topping paragraph, consisting of a few sentences.
and I quote:
Thanks for that. Totally agree. Your opening paragraph is amazing and sets the scene perfectly. Did you run it through AI?
Well, you can imagine my reaction upon reading this. I was incandescent with rage.
How 🤬 dare someone assume that I've used a machine to write this. I am more than capable of stringing a few sentences together. I am paid to do it. I am not paid to force words into a sausage machine and accept the resultant diatribe.
I put my flowery language to the side and offered a quick response, in a jocular fashion:
Hi Bob (fake name), have you ever met me? How long have we worked together? Surely you know my feelings towards AI?
Rest assured, those are all my own words. No super-computer, consuming megawatts of energy, was needed. Just my little brain.
Glad I could help with the report. It's a good read.
And breathe!
Is this what the world is becoming?. Everyone assuming that we are all sitting at our screen eagerly anticipating what the Artificial monsters will say?
Can I get off the world please?!
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https://gofer.social/@daj/statuses/01KH9BBGJ66S136XHJDJEH3MTX
2026-02-12 12:59:00
After attending tonight's dreadful Raptors game my son friend and I ended up at a bar. We had been to this bar together a few times and as such we recognized the bartenders, and one of them recognized us, and so we ended up in a few concurrent conversations (me/him, us/one of them, us/both of them) over the course of like, 90 minutes. One of the conversations included that Larry Nassar should get stabbed all the way through his head in prison. Another was about how our culture used to be more literate. The subtext of that second one is that a decline in literacy often coincides with the presence of autocracy, but we were also discussing it within the context of our culture's obsession with productivity and concomitant commitment to joylessness.
Like, I was born to be a satyr misbehaving in the moonlight in the meadow. Instead, I spend my days getting hatefucked by Microsoft Teams.
Anyway, eventually of the bartenders mentioned that she was interested in becoming a copywriter, and because I am a copywriter and also pathologically addicted to mentoring (and also two edibles deep), I gave her some advice on how to build a portfolio, explained how spec work works within that context, and then dropped two names that she (and you!) may want to deep dive:
My bff Helen Androlia, who is an advertising strategist without peer with track record of excellence, a beloved college prof, and an actual, literal character in the Marvel Universe (Earth-616)).
Aisha Hakim, whom I don't know IRL but with whom I chat from time to time (people used to make friends and acquaintances on Twitter) and who created The Art of Deckmaking.
Even if you are not in advertising, you should click around in there because you will almost certainly learn something.
Hard conversational shift in
3...
2...
1...
Over the past few days I have been in the middle of some challenging stuff, and that stuff made me return to "why am I the way I am?" type questioning. This gave way to "is it okay that I am the way I am?" The answer to that question, today, is yes. The answer to that question from 1989–2020 was not.
I have always known who I was, but for most of my life I didn't accept who I was, When I started to accept myself, the pain stopped.
If you don't know who you are, someone else will tell you, and the thing they will tell you that you are is almost always a person other people can use and exploit and drain until there is nothing left but a fingerprint that can unlock a phone with no photos in the camera roll because all the apps that spy and report on you are clogging up all the memory like Zach Edey in the paint.
Remember kids, the panopticon will not be televised.
Advice: don't bend, ascend.
🌲 gonna
🌼 go
🌱 touch to
🌳 grass sleep
🌷 now
Be good to yourself.
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2026-02-12 01:14:00
It’s already been over 2 years since you have left us. You still leave an incredible hole in our home and our hearts.
Only toward the end of last year, I finally got rid of your old medication and your food. I haven’t taken down the sign at my door with your face on it. Every year, we use the reusable photo calendar with pictures of you on it. We have Christmas tree decorations with your face, too.
The time shortly after was rough. Then it got a little easier, slowly. It all felt like one big vacation you were on. You weren’t gone, just somewhere else, living your own life, traveling. But recently, it feels like it’s been too long, like someone you love who’s taking longer than usual to return home.
It feels like slowly losing touch because everything is changing, we are changing, and you can no longer witness it. We can’t see you change, either. We are no longer growing together, and it’s becoming more apparent with time. You’ll always stay stuck the way you were, and we increasingly become different people than we were with you. It’s so scary to feel like it all happened in a parallel universe.
Each walk we go on, we miss you and want you with us. It’s surreal to know we used to walk the same paths in the forest together.
I’m scared that with time, I will forget the way you felt, the way you smelled, and all your little quirks and silly behaviors. We have videos and we still have your fur, but it feels like it’s not enough.
Vigdís wrote a poem for you yesterday:
Grief is not a Liquid
Though it flows
Grief is not a Plant
Though it grows
Grief is not a Thorn
Though it stings
Grief is not a Bird
Though it sings
Grief is not a String
Though it tears
Grief is not a Fire
Though it sears
Grief is not a Robber
Though it takes
Grief is not a Mourner
Though it wakes
Grief is not a Stone
Though it weighs
Grief is not a Friend
But it stays
At least I can write about you so everyone knows you existed and you mattered.
Your Ava
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2026-02-11 19:31:00
You’ve probably noticed the vinyl, film and digital cameras, journaling, scrapbooking and even retro gaming resurgence. You might call that a “trend” but when you look at the way it lines up with history, it becomes far more than that. Humanity has been here before, after periods of chaos, upheavel and global trauma, people naturally retreat into slow, tactile, curated experiences that they themselves alone can control. Think of it as a modern day Renaissance.
Back then, people like Federico de Montefeltro or even Galileo kept notebooks full of sketches, observations and reflections; a mix of science, art, and personal notes. Just like in today’s world where people keep diaries, journals and notebooks for a myriad of different things. Its the same instinct: documenting life, reflecting, planning, and playing with visuals and our own words in a very tactile, hands-on way.
In the same vain, Renaissance folks loved collecting and creating visual records of people, landscapes, and objects and they often did so in really vibrant colours. Photography using a real film camera gives us that same deliberate image-making experience; you have to really think about the shot, wait for the film to be developed, and then handle real print and storage. The delay and tangibility mirrors old-school etchings and miniature paintings people would often do in their Studiolos.
In the Renaissance, people didn’t just listen to music they interacted with it; copying manuscripts, practicing instruments, and curating their personal collections of scores. Modern vinyl collecting is more or less the same, and it isn’t just about sound quality either, it’s about curating, handling, and appreciating a tangible medium of music, and ritualising the whole listening experience.
Artists and artisans in the Renaissance had workshops and studiolos where every tool and material was chosen and used with intention. Today, people doing book-binding, calligraphy, pottery, crochet or even model making are recreating that hands-on, full immersive studio experience; you physically touch your medium of choice, control it directly right in front of you, and produce something entirely unique that carries a piece of you.
People like Ulisse Aldrovandi collected specimens, documented flora and fauna, and kept meticulous notes in their studiolos. Modern analogue nature hobbies such as birding and insect collecting (including photography and sketches), or just taking handwritten field notes echo this desire to slow down, to observe carefully and with thought, and to curate a pool of knowledge physically that withstands the test of time and the internet.
In short, the “analogue renaissance” is humanity’s natural refex after years of abstraction. We crave slower, tactile, curated and intentional spaces that belong to us. It gives us control in an otherwise chaotic and unpredictable world; Just like people did in the past. Some of the tools might have changed, but the brain and heart are basically identical. This is a very human response to the world we live in.
2026-02-11 18:43:00
We at the Gazette have a little repository of our own to collect any cool Bearblog resources we come across, and wanted to share it!
Below, you'll find links to code snippets you can implement on your blog, whole themes, browser extensions, dashboard scripts, help on how to add social aspects (guestbooks, webmentions etc.) to your blog, and more!
If you have any more, feel free to send them to us and we'll add it!
This affects the Dashboard UI on Bearblog, which includes the post editor and analytics page.
This is separate from the Themes because you might just wanna include this tidbit in your existing theme.
Consider also checking out:
For anything to interact with your readers that isn't email.
For when you wanna back up your blog, convert blog posts, or export them in general beyond the option in Bearblog's settings.
Thank you to the people who contribute so much to this platform or the web in general!
Stay tuned, because we are planning an event where you can contribute too :)
2026-02-11 05:25:40
I had a busy day today and one of the things on my calendar was to go to the dentist.
I finally got the glue for my retainers taken off today.
And they showed me a scan of my teeth, before and after.
It was crazy seeing my before because I do not remember it being that bad.
It's wild how quickly you forget where you started once you're past it.
And I think that's true for everything.
I can barely recognize that version of myself before I became who I am now.
And that's the proof you're growing.
The fact that my "before" feels so foreign now means I’ve actually changed.
Most people don't stop to appreciate that.
They just keep moving, keep grinding, keep chasing the next thing.
But every now and then, I think it's worth looking back.
Seeing where you once were.
Not to get comfortable.
But to remind yourself that progress is real even when it doesn't feel like it.