@philbowell love this, Phil.
Replies
@jamietoddrubin.bsky.social I love the message here, and that picture of young Sir Rubin! Priceless!!
@jeknotes Nice to hear about your kids. You raised them right!
@heyloura I love these glimpses into your analog world. And I love that while you create literal magic with digital tools, you take such comfort (and productivity!) from old school pen and paper. Thank you for sharing!
@numericcitizen Micro.blog Family for the win!
@robj I didn’t register it. But you know what? You’re absolutely right. I registered it just now. Thanks for the prompting!
@numericcitizen Ha! No. Blogs are definitely not cool. I recently discovered the dot-com domain for my 27-year-old daughter’s name was available. I asked her if I should register it. She could start a blog, I said. She declined. “What would I even put on there?” she asked.
Sigh.
@lmika such a great plug-in! Thank you for your work on this.
@jim I am so glad to hear this! Heal up!
@patrickrhone I love this. It’s so hard to give good parenting advice. What worked for us won’t work for this next generation, and they know it. When my two kids were your daughter’s age, I asked them to watch Steve Job’s Commencement Address for inspiration. He stresses the importance of finding your own path with his own unique stories. As good as it is, I doubt they watched it. This is the way.
@patrickrhone Great stories and terrific life advice. For me, too, those leaps into the unknown led to the most significant periods of personal growth. It’s so hard to accept when you’re standing on the precipice, but the risks are worth it!
@birming I’ve been wrestling with the same question of long vs. short posts for over a year. I think I have finally landed on a solution that works for me.
I maintain a WordPress blog at robertbreen.com, where I share my long-form writing. This blog dates back a decade and has garnered a substantial number of comments and subscribers. My hosting plan is paid through 2028, so there’s no additional cost to keep this, and I like having a stand-alone site for my longer-form writing.
I keep an everything blog here on Micro.blog at robertbreen.micro.blog: all those long posts plus the hundreds of shorter ones, including imports from Facebook and Instagram. It has become my true home on the web, as it now contains all my online writing.
Between the gorgeous and flexible MNML theme and @lmika’s new Postlist plug-in, Micro.blog offers a great set of tools and capabilities for showcasing both long and short-form writing.
I love your writing and all the cool things you’ve done with the MNML theme!
@birming What a fantastic resource. Thanks for building and sharing this!
@philbowell If it’s any consolation, I felt like I was right beside you this morning taking in the sunshine. Evocative writing, Phil.
@danielpunkass The whole thing was nuts. Thank you for coming to @Manton’s defense. One unexpected benefit of all this is my renewed commitment to Micro.blog.
@lmika The Big 4-0!!! Happy Birthday!
@apoorplayer @rscottjones When we sold our RV, I did the math on what the “all in” cost per night worked out to be during our ownership. Let’s just say it was a little more than the Hampton Inn! The Cost of Adventure.
@jim Enjoy the day! I’ll be thinking of you and sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery.
@drwalt I saw this and followed you immediately. I love your spirit! And then I discovered your post about using AI to read John Locke. What a cool idea! I’ve replicated your experience using book one of Aristotle’s Ethics. Truly astonishing. What an incredible time to be a student — at any age.
@chronically-online.bsky.social The car trip with F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Moveable Feast!
@blog.ayjay.org Connecting this wonderful passage from Middlemarch to our collective digital distractedness is so perfect. I don’t often make comments, but please know your blog is a treasure of wisdom and reflection.
Thank you for sharing.
@lmika Whoa! This is awesome! I use short-codes via a plug-in on my Wordpress blog across almost every page, and it as one of the reasons I have shied away from merging blogs here. Very powerful addition to Micro.blog!
@AnthonyBaker Are you back with Obsidian? I’m still with Bear, but am always tempted to peek at what’s new and shiny with Obsidian. 🫣
@chrisheck This is one of the most beautiful and honest things I’ve ever read about being a father. I’ve read it three or four times, and each time, it gives me chills. I’ve saved this in my journal to read and reflect on all the Father’s Days to come. Thank you for sharing this.
@philbowell She is doing so much better. Feeling very lucky.
@writingslowly This is so true. And I love these Paris Review author interviews. I subscribed a while ago just to read the back issues with all the interviews over the many decades.
@markmcelroy.bsky.social Great insights here, Mark. I’ve had a very similar e-reader journey and keep coming back to Kindle. Long live my 2019 Kindle Oasis!
@rsjon.es Tomorrow! Road trip!
@johnchandler I experimented with cross-posting here and then having Micro.blog cascade the post to other sites, but I don’t think I will continue that. It feels disingenuous to me to post to communities without participating in return. I’m making an exception for Bluesky, where I often participate in group readings. You’d likely see all my posts if you follow me at @robertbreen.bsky.social. I hope you keep making videos!
@apoorplayer Thank you. I appreciated your feedback on Micro.blog vs. Wordpress. I love your take on things and enjoy following your adventures. You’re in my feed!
@binshi Thank you. I appreciate that!
@lmika You got it! I hope you like it. I’ve had mine now for five months, and I can type faster now than I ever could on a traditional keyboard. It took some adjustment though. 😎 If I remember correctly, you were already using an ergonomic style keyboard, so the adjustment period ought to be shorter. One tip: if you’re using the keyboard wirelessly on a Mac, make sure you don’t turn off the keyboard backlight. There’s a bug on the Mac only that when the backlight is turned off, you’ll type random extra characters. Not sure if that’s fixe yet, but be aware ….
@zibaldoni.bsky.social Just read this! You must be on cloud nine! Congratulations!
@peterw I love this, Peter, and I share the same enthusiasm for personal blogs.
@chrismatallana Chris - I’m very glad to hear from you. You’ve got a gift. Please keep writing!
@rscottjones love this. My dad and his buddies met at the local McDonalds in my small home town almost every day. I had the same mixed feelings as you, but they all seemed to love it there.
@bookedinthecity.bsky.social One of my favorites! Enjoy!
@rscottjones Thank you!
@toddgrotenhuis I’m straddling blogs between Wordpress and Micro.blog. What are the main things about Micro.blog that you’re unhappy with?
@yqrshawn.bsky.social Congratulations! And you’ve found a great group here on Bluesky for support and encouragement. It’s always a positive boost for me to read the positive messages here about sobriety.
@chrisheck If you’re anywhere near Seattle, I highly recommend Jim Blair and Seattle Acupuncture Associates. He saved me from surgery. Definitely worth a try!
@chrisheck Oh got it. That does not sound pleasant … Hoping you find something that works.
@chrisheck Hi Chris, from your question is sounds like you’re experiencing low back pain. I am sorry; it’s the worst! I had three epidural injections into my spine when I was dealing with low back pain; none made any difference for me, though I know they work for some. The typical path of a back pain sufferer is physical therapy, spinal injections, pain management, and ultimately back surgery.
I may be an edge case, but I found an acupuncturist in Seattle that worked miracles for me. That and a lot of physical exercise/core work and I haven’t had any back pain since.
Hope you find a solution!
@johnchandler Same boat. Lifelong Seattle Mariners fan.
@alexwolfe Ah, that’s frustrating. I haven’t had any errors on Wordpress, so you’re probably right about the hosting company. I’ve done some pretty rigorous testing of Micro.blog over the past few weeks to see how well it could handle the posts and images from two large Wordpress blogs. I’ve had zero issues. I even tested Micro.blog’s Wordpress export to a test site and everything came across perfectly. I figured it’s better to know if there are any issues before I leap …
By the way, I love the format and styling of your blog using @jimmitchell’s MNML theme. It looks amazing.
@johnchandler it’s been a long wait! ⚾️⚾️⚾️
@manton Very nice! The integrated bookshelves and focus on book blogging is one of my favorite features of Micro.blog and definitely sets the platform apart for avid readers.
Have you ever considered linking the book covers we can display on our websites back to our personal reviews of the book vs. the generic Micro.blog book page?
Thanks for all great work, Manton.
@manton microblog posts seem to be a growing trend lately. Established bloggers are cluing in to what you’ve been evangelizing for years and years!
@philbowell Thank you! And yours for me!
@philbowell I feel the same way. Maybe it’s a backlash from the current state of social media, but personal blogs are definitely making a comeback. It’s nice to be a part of it!