Coincidentally, while looking for the sweet setup link in my Sunday Review post this past week, I remembered that I once submitted a "setup" article for it that actually got published (all the way back in 2015). So, if you were at all curious what my setup was way back then, check out the link!

I thought it could be fun to do something of a Then & Now post to compare what I was using then with now. As I read through it, I realized my workflow has changed quite a bit. In some ways I'd say it's matured & in other ways I'm still trying to find my footing. Without further ado though, I'll dive in. To do this, I’m not going to copy everything on the Sweet Setup link - I’m assuming you can open it in a tab or new window. Instead I’ll focus on what my “today” is referencing the old. 

First off, I'll say my bio, socials & website has changed. Check out my about page for more on that though. There is more I could say about that but it's best left for another day.

Current Setup: the physical stuff (Today!)

I use a 13" M1 MacBook Air for everything related to my personal life (and any contract work). For my job I use a 15" M1 MacBook Pro. Dropbox is out and replaced with iCloud+ on the personal side. Headphones are Beats Studio Buds now as well. My bag for my gear is a Mission Workshop Monty that I got in 2016 (and still feels brand new even though it gets daily use and has been in some wild places...I can't speak highly enough of these messenger bags). My phone is an iPhone 14 Pro for personal stuff & a Pixel 6a for work.

the mac software stuff (Today!)

 I still use Mailmate for email (it really is the best). I don't do nearly as much design & graphic work though so just use the bland iWork & MS Office tools as needed. I still have Pixelmator to pull up if I need it (but that power is rarely necessary).

For writing & notes Obsidian is my goto. It currently also handles tasks (although I'd like that to change). Document management is now handled by Devonthink as well.

I mention Logos as an ideal part in that setup as well. I did end up getting a version and using it a lot (still have it actually) but like how Accordance functions on the Mac & iPhone a better. 

the iphone software stuff (today!)

I'm not using the 4 apps in the first paragraph anymore. Two of them no longer exist (as far as I know). Overcast I might go back to - I'm currently trying Mimir as I wanted something with a bit more depth organization wise. For audio AppleMusic is the winner. For books, I'm just using the Kindle app at the moment (would LOVE a Gerty/Marvin replacement though - they haven't seen updates since 2017).

Devonthink2go handles document management. Obsidian covers my text/note needs. And Afterlight covers my photo editing needs these days.

Other than that, Mona gets use for Mastodon. Hello Weather for my weather needs. Lungy helps my breathing and keeps me sane and AnyLog tracks my (almost) daily workouts.

Also - most messaging is done in Signal now.

I think this about covers it! I hope the comparison is interesting (or at least that the updated setup is!).

“Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler” Albert Einstein...maybe?

Over the past decade, I've had the privilege of participating in organizational development and social network development, primarily in church and nonprofit settings. I've witnessed the formation of networks of communities from the grassroots level, growing from zero activity or involvement to numbers of people much greater than zero. One of the principles that early on started guiding the work I was doing can be best summed up in the quote above: "Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler." While the origin of this quote is uncertain, its essence has been incredibly helpful and meaningful to me.

As this quote became a guiding light for me, I strove to apply its wisdom in all aspects of my work. I believe that finding the perfect balance between simplicity and complexity is crucial for building strong, sustainable and resilient networks and organizations. 

That balance though is a tough chord to strike. I've come to realize that there are dangers in both under-simplification and over-simplification. If we don't simplify enough, we risk building heavy, cumbersome structures prevent organic growth; any work that needs doing gets bogged down in red tape rather than healthy systems. On the other hand, if we simplify too much, our networks, organizations, and structures may not have the necessary foundations to support themselves. The opposite then happens - work stalls out because there is no guiding system or thread to support what needs to be done.

Again - it can be a hard balance to maintain but that sweet spot of as simple as possible but not simpler can empower so much!

Over the years church and community has meant a lot to me. Generally speaking, I think they were meant to go hand in hand. Church best expressed is a people gathered and doing life together (as appropriate and healthy...so not weird commune style). As we look at plugging into a church community where we live now, I've been reminded of a story that has pretty deeply shaped my perspective on things and begins to flesh out this dynamic of real community and life. It's a story about a friend I met overseas - a painter who struggled to find his own place in a community of faith.

The Painter's Story

My friend, who was a great painter, lived a simple life. He didn't have much in the way of clothing besides his painting clothes which were quite stained with paint and certainly nothing fancy. He had a deep desire to connect with a spiritual community though but he was constantly turned away from every church he went to due to his appearance. It wasn't because of his character or behavior but simply because he didn't fit the expected mold. He didn’t have the clean cut, dressed up, appearance that people expected.

A Lesson in Community

My friend's experience had a profound impact on my understanding of church. It helped me realize that all too often we create a "country club" atmosphere - a social club - where people feel pressured to present a perfect image rather than being their authentic selves. We put on masks and perform for one another, rather than creating a space for genuine connection and transformative growth. We meet others expectations of normal rather then living into who we are and were made to be.

Ultimately, his story has helped me become more aware of the masks I wear and the fronts I put up in my own approaches to community (whether it's church related or not). It's taught me to focus on building community and meaningful relationships rather than perpetuating a superficial sense of self and surroundings. It helped me learn to prioritize coming as we are and being ok with the stains (whether real or metaphorical). And now I show up to church as I am, flip flops, messy clothes and all. 

Today we are having friends over for fajitas (Cinco de Mayo and all but really we never need much of an excuse for fajitas or the like). That has meant lots of house cleaning and an otherwise low-key weekend. 

I'd describe the past week as scattered but good. Lots of activity which is good but not necessarily a lot of stand-out. Here’s to the upcoming week!

Looking at the blog, I wrote:

• An introduction to my joining weblogpomo2024
• A write-up on creating a auto share posting bot on Mastodon (for weblogpomo2024)
• A little write-up on a song that's super meaningful
• And a write-up on my newfound love of Album Whale

I've been able to post everyday in May so far - hopefully I'll be able to keep this trend going!

A few links I found interesting this week:

• "I joined a bunch of landlord groups to subtly manipulate them into being better people" The link title is pretty self-explanatory and I thought it was a great read!
• "10 Lesser Known But Super Useful Obsidian Plugins": I love obsidian and I love learning about how other people are using it. 

There were other links worth sharing but they come from Weblogpomo and I'm waiting to do a best-of post at the end of the month!

Apps I'm trying

• Sofa: A new version dropped and it's now a "catalogue and log anything in any way" app so I'm giving it another go. Currently monitoring media & restaurants. Liking it so far.
• Ketchup: This is more for my kids than me. A DB of all the Pokemon. Currently they are deciding if it's worth their allowance to do the full unlock. 
• Cleft: A note taker I saw mentioned on The Sweet Setup. I've been generally quite AI adverse but have had some close colleagues and friends encourage exploring it a little more and this one looked worth experimenting with a bit. 
• Tusks: I've loved being increasingly active on Mastodon so naturally Tusks emphasis on managing and maintaining your own feed was attractive. It's definitely worth checking out and experimenting with. 

I recently stumbled upon Album Whale, a cool site that embodies the spirit of the indieweb (in my opinion). This site allows anyone to sign up for free and create lists of albums the love (or hate or want to draw attention to for one reason or another), in a super easy way.

How it Works

The beauty of Album Whale lies in its ease of use, flexibility and simplicity. You can create lists around any theme - be it a genre, time frame, type of album cover or whatever comes to mind, and then add albums that link to Apple, Spotify, Bandcamp or anything else really. Each list allows you to add a brief note describing the list and then each album allows you to add a brief note explaining why you've included it. And one of the best parts? Each playlist has an RSS feed, making it easy for others to follow and stay updated on your additions (if you choose to make the list public).

I’ve made the most of this last part and set up Echofeed to auto-share new additions to my playlists on my Mastodon account. This means that whenever I add a new album to one of my lists, it gets automatically shared with my followers on Mastodon. All in all - it's a neat way to keep my online presence updated and share my musical tastes with others.

My Current Playlists

I've created a few playlists that showcase my musical tastes and I thought I'd list and link them here. I don't expect anyone to like every playlist by any means but you might find something fun and quirky...who knows?

• All Time Favs: Pretty self explanatory - these are albums I'd classify as "all time favs". This list gets posted to Mastodon currently.
• Pop-ish?: When I'm feeling like some pop. Some expected, some unexpected...some might not even be pop. This list gets posted to Mastodon too.
• Home Sweet Emo: A playlist dedicated to Emo-esque music that I grew up with. As I describe on the site, "emo. screamo. post-rock. basically the music that defined high school and college for me." This will get posted to Mastodon once I fill it a bit more.
• Worship That doesn't Suck: I don't like most modern worship style music. sometimes something surprises me though. It gets added to this list. Not sure I'll post this one on Mastodon as I'm not sure it would be as interesting.
• Old School Christian Rock: I describe this list on album whale as: "This stuff has to be documented somewhere right? music from growing up that I'll put on either cuz it's still awesome or because it's hilarious (or both). you be the judge." As with the prior, I'm not sure I'll post this one on Mastodon as I'm not sure it would be as interesting.

I'll probably add more lists as time goes on. I love music and always have.

Edited: 5/7/24 to update links

You taught me the courage of stars before you left
How light carries on endlessly even after death
With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite
How rare and beautiful it is to even exist
... Saturn by Sleeping At Last

A newer find, this song has really struck a chord with me. It's hard to get past the haunting, yet hopeful, music and then the lyrics just really drive the mood home.

I love this idea of stars and how their light continues on even after their death (and ours). I love the fragile hope of infinite and how that culminates in the beauty of existence.

Death is tragic. Grief is real. But as light carries on so does life...in the impact we leave, in the stories we create, in just the life that we live. Indeed, "how rare and beautiful it is to even exist."

I made a thing! A little bot actually. "Bot" may be a bit of a stretch but it's cool, pretty automated (once it's setup) and I think provides some value out there, at least for the month of May.

So what exactly is it? It's named Pomo and is a Mastodon bot you can find on the beep.town instance. She auto follows all of the #weblogpomo2024 blogs that she knows about and posts a link to their posts as they are made. She does this with the help of the awesome Echofeed app by Robb Knight. That's where the automation goodness lies. 

It has been a bit more work than expected - when I got the idea there seemed to be about 10 people signed up (at least in my mind), not close to 50 like now. To get Pomo all setup I:  

• I contacted owners to get their consent to post (I know I probably didn't have to do this but I think consent is important and it's all too often missing in the internet space).
• Once I heard back a yes (or no), I got their feed address. Occasionally this took some back and forth.
• Feed in hand I was able to add an echo in Echofeed.

For each post I've attached the hashtag #weblogpomo2024 so you can follow along in any mastodon client that supports hashtags. I also tried to include different intros to mix things up:

• X posted an update today!
• Look a new #weblogpomo2024 from Y!
• etc, etc. 

I thought that might be a way to humanize it a bit. I don't know if that was a success but figured it was worth a try. As far as ongoing maintenance goes, I just have to make sure new participants get asked and then respond to the rare echofeed error email (I'll get occasional "Item failed to post" errors that require a manual click to retry). 

Right now, there are about 40 blogs she's following. Add her as a friend (link above!) or just follow the hashtag to get access to some awesome posts from different people that you may not know for the rest of the month. If you really, really enjoy Pomo, feel free to get me a coffee! (Zero pressure on that though. Pomo is there for anyone and everyone to enjoy reading fun posts over the coming month.) 

Oh! I forgot to mention that Pomo was hand drawn by my daughter! I love her artwork and think she did a great job!

For awhile I've wanted to start writing more often. It's something I really love but because "life" I haven't had the opportunity to do it as much as I'd like. So, when I saw on the omg.lol social space that Apple Annie was promoting a Weblogpomo for May I decided to sign up! For it, participants are encouraged to post every single day (which I'll try my best to do!).

As to what I'll be writing, I've come up with a few categories that are broad which I'll try to use as a jumping off point. These are:

• Meaningful Lyrics - Lyrics that for whatever reason "stick" with me. I'll attempt to unpack why in the posts.
• Meaningful Quotes - Quotes that for whatever reason "stick" with me. Maybe from books, maybe from life, they'll be words that didn't originate with me (and I'll attempt to unpack why in the posts).
• Meaningful Stories - Stories that for whatever reason "stick" with me. I'll attempt to unpack why in the posts.

I'll likely come up with other things to write too - this is just a launching point!

I'm getting things laid out, thought thru and finalized, as far as my "internet presence" is concerned. While not all encompassing, I wanted to highlight where to find me.

This site you are reading on (https://wand3r.net) is my main jam for longer writings pertinent to what's going on in my head (at any given moment). You'll find links here to:

• A more in depth profile that includes links not included here
• A now page - where I talk about the now
• A defaults page - where I talk about what I'm using
• A page of the photos I take (that I want to share)
• A link to my main social media outlet

I'm currently using Echofeed to pipe some of this into my mastodon account so if you follow me there you'll get updates. I imagine this will sharpen up a bit more in the coming month(s) but this is a brief outline of how things look now.

Hello World! Giving this a test...

Markdown? 

I'm often slow to trends but better late than never, right? I loved reading other peoples defaults so decided to do my own; I think I might even pull it out to its own permanent page as well as it's nice to track where I've been.

• Mail Client: Mailmate / Airmail (iOS) / Proton (Work)
• Mail Server: iCloud with a custom domain / Proton
• Notes: Obsidian / Noteplan
• To-Do: Noteplan / Obsidian
• iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app
• Photo Management: Photos.app
• Calendar: Noteplan
• Cloud File Storage: iCloud
• RSS: NetNewsWire
• Contacts: Contacts.app
• Browser: Safari
• Weather: Carrot Weather
• Calculator: PCalc
• Chat: iMessage / Signal / Matrix
• Bookmarks: Actively Looking
• Read It Later: Omnivore
• Mastodon: Ivory
• Blog: weblog.lol
• Word Processing: Office365 - Word
• Spreadsheets: Office365 - Excel / Numbers.app
• Presentations: Office365 - Powerpoint / Keynote.app
• Shopping Lists: Twos
• Personal Data Log: AnyLog
• Budgeting and Personal Finance: spreadsheets
• News: Apple News+
• Music: Apple Music 
• Podcasts: Overcast
• Gaming: Switch / iPhone
• Password Management: Bitwarden
• Terminal: Terminal
• Code Editor: Vi (Need something better)

So I'm a 40+ year old white dude trying to figure out life. This is especially true after a pretty massive reset as we (I'm married with kids) spent the past 13 years living in a couple of different countries in Africa (Kenya & South Africa) and we visited a number of other countries across the globe. We initially moved as optimistic & hopeful white folks thinking we'd change the world. What we discovered is that we had a lot of good ol' colonization vibes & a definite white savior complex in us that needed to be divested of as quickly as possible. It wasn't what we expected to find by any means but it was necessary to deal with (and forever changed us).  

To say it another way, we moved thinking we had lots of answers with our bachelor degrees and all the experiences of American life but what we learned was that all of that was rubbish wrapped up in pride in our own (American? White?) abilities over and against "them". Degrees and expertise and the like have their place but we didn't have the lock on solutions and empowerment that we thought we did. 

We learned there was a world and wealth of possibility that our white systems naturally desired to colonize and squash. The reality though was that those other ways and systems and cultures were full of amazing possibility and had the answers the people there needed. We didn't. Here are a few brief examples of what I'm talking about:

Consider nonprofit structures. Boards, organizational charts, middle management and fancy titles are colonized structures rooted in notions of right & wrong, predominantly. Many of the indigenous spaces I've been in leaned heavily towards polycentric teams, more decentralized structures and mutuality rooted in honor/shame dynamics.

Or what of "licensing" which may look (very) different in decolonized spaces? Does operating authority come from a piece of paper, a long degree and governing board? or does it come from a body of experience lived out in a community or some direct community appointing?

Or how about how conflict is dealt with? Do we let important figures sit with us and work through things or initiate legal responses and follow typical organizational impression management routines that squash problems and problem people?

Or how about education? Is it Eurocentric? Does it happen in isolation of community and activities that have impact or is it prioritizing indigenous perspectives and partnering with communities?

These are just a few of the examples. As we began to reckon with them, our posture began to change and we sought to decolonize and divest. We were able to build some deep relationships and learn from people we'd come to help. We stopped trying to lead from the front and instead strived to empower others. That gave way to coming alongside them, which eventually gave way to celebrating and encouraging from behind local voices and people. "Do this" became "how can I help." Quizzing questions that judged solutions became (hopefully) powerful questions that sought to draw out local solutions instead. It wasn't always easy (and in fact pushing for this sort of change in colonized organizational spaces is part of the reason we are back in our country of birth) but it is always worth it. 

Now, back in my home country, my challenge as a white dude, personally, is to figure out how to open and let my colonized world be transformed into a welcoming/inclusive decolonized space, as much as possible. Personally I find this decolonization work to be really, really critical (and definitely not easy). It's worth it though. 

I'll add that only so much can be done if individuals seek to decolonize but the organizations and spaces they belong to stay the same. As we individually change we need to let our organizations and structures change as well. I'll also add an important note on conflict: one or the other doesn't naturally protect from harmful leaders. Power is power and the tendencies to misuse use it exists everywhere power exists and people cling to it. Decolonization in this sense isn't a panacea (although personally I think it's individually helped me divest of unhealthy relationships with power).

I really enjoyed this post from Derek Sivers on taking a year to read the Bible. Even if you aren't a religious person, there is value in understanding where others come from (and where, as Sivers points out, western culture originates). He has two main suggestions: sample translations and then pick something easy to understand and supplement your reading with the Bible Project; they are both great suggestions!

For the first, don't just blindly pick a translation. Read about them, their translation philosophies as well as academic reviews. Not every translation is the same. For example, while the Passion Translation likes to call itself a translation, it was made by one guy who has refused to disclose any sort of translation committee and adds a healthy dose of pet theologies that aren't in the original text. The Message is a paraphrase where the author puts everything into his own words and phrasing (I do like the Message quite a bit and respect that the author is upfront and honest about what it is and is not). Personally, I'd recommend the NRSV as it's pretty straightforward to read, is a good translation with a published/transparent committee and is used in a lot of academic resources. 

The Bible Project is also a great resource to help digest what's going on in the text. The team behind it have done a great job distilling out key themes and plot points that otherwise are easily lost in such a large and open book.

Ultimately I'll just say that I've found a lot of value in reading about the cultures and faiths of people different to me - it really has built understanding that has allowed me to connect with them from a place of understanding rather than fear or concern or superiority. If the Bible is different to you, consider checking out what it actually is (and isn't).  

Life has been interesting. 

As I've mentioned in various places, I'm in a bit of transition. Part of it, as alluded to in the last post, involves unraveling the stories told about me. Part of it is understanding where I've been and how that shapes things moving forward. To that end, a brief timeline of life has been helpful to consider:

• I grew up moving around a lot. The longest I lived anywhere was about 5 years until leaving for college. My parents were in the ministry and moved **"as the Lord willed"**.  My father's speciality (if you can call it that) is finding healing in broken church situations. 
• That continued until I left for university. I stayed in my university town for about a decade. Some key milestones here were:
• Working 8+ years in the university's IT department. I started as a help desk technician and quickly found myself on the sysadmin team were I worked primarily with various flavors of unix, some OS X and some windows machines. 
• I found a deep appreciate for simple church setups where church life is found in a genuine community of people living life together. 
• I met my wife and got married near the end of that decade. 
• Career wise, I made what turned out to be a dramatic shift at the end of this decade. Leaving everything behind, my wife and I moved to southern Africa where we spent the next 4 years.
• I had gone to focus on tech stuff in the ministry we had joined but that gradually shifted though as I increasingly got involved on the ministry side of things. 
• By the end of this 4 year window I was primarily in an active ministry role, discovering a love for coaching and training.
• At the end of this 4 years we transitioned to eastern Africa for 4 1/2 years. 
• Here, my primary focus was coaching and training indiginous church planting leaders and I loved it. 
• Near the end, it was increasingly challenging due to some tensions with the home base. 
• The tensions became worse and a transition became necessary. Organizationally we were asked to return to southern Africa to help rebuild after some unfortunate internal conflict. We did, and were there for the past 4 years. 
  • While there, my love of coaching and training continued to develop and I:
  • Helped revamp the core tranining curriculum
  • Worked to shift some of the paradigms of outside/inside workers
  • Began to develop additional training for decolonizing the work we were doing

• But it was also quite difficult due to some dynamics best left for another time.
• We have just transitioned back to the US and are settling into some new things now. Oddly enough, these new things seem to be marrying my time spent in IT and my time spent in ministry so I'm curious to see where it will all go.

It's been an interesting life so far. I wouldn't trade the majority of it for anything. The experience of living in new places, of learning new cultures, of seeing a much bigger world is worth more than anything I can think of. Our kids as well have such a unique view of the world around them. And my own personal journey in it all is so valuable as well. I found myself starting out adulthood as a tech nerd who found a love for coaching people he never expected to have. Who knows what will come? What I do know: other people don't get to write the story no matter how hard they might try.

If you want to decipher who you are, it’s good to begin with the question of what stories have been told about you. Do this not because they are true but because they will help you locate the mirages and their origins. They will help you rend mask from flesh. They may also help you grab hold of something real. Cole Arthur Riley from This Here Flesh

Deciphering the stories told about you is not an easy task. It's not often a joyous task. But it is necessary for moving forward. For discovering calling. For understanding who you truly are. May we all be able to do this and move forward.