updates

2020 index:

november 25 » another podcast, a new RSS feed, & a virtual cafe

october 5 » onto the next

september 22 » my new podcast, a listening library update, and Doctor Who

september 2 » here we go!

august 19 » the return of VEDS

august 5 » perils of working in the cloud

july 26 » {{reverberations}} issue #002

july 19 » {{reverberations}} issue #001

july 15 » a tiny republic of newsletters

june 8 » a new reading

april 20 » a late april update

march 17 » in times of pandemic, still we blog

march 16 » gather round and I'll tell you a story

march 10 » hey gang: update time


go to 2021 ›

another podcast, a new RSS feed, & a virtual cafe

nov 25 2020

“November—with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes...Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape and dream about the lake.”

– L.M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

brisk winds, long scarves, warm blankets. bundled up outside or huddling at home. winter is here. I walked in the snow in the big wide world, then I returned to four walls, three screens, two minds, and just one life.

that's where my head's at. on to the update, and it's a long one today:

after a little clicking around, I've figured out how to set up an RSS feed for these updates! (if you were wondering who is manually writing RSS feeds in the year 2020, the answer is me.) you can subscribe by pasting the feed link into your preferred RSS reader.

additionally, there's now a link to a sitemap at the bottom of the homepage. might be useful if you're looking for something.

my pal Abbie has been rounding up a few friends (including me!) each month to watch a movie and record a commentary. it's sort of a resurrection of an old project, but it's got a brand new neocities site, thanks to me: the Title TK podcast. no name? no problem! what we lack in title, we make up for with our panel of clever, funny, enthusiastic humans talking movies. so far it's just musicals; we promise to expand our horizons in the coming months :D it's super casual, lo-fi listening and we do it just for fun, but the conversations head into some pretty interesting territory. if I were to recommend one episode, it would be our Prince of Egypt commentary in which Art and Esther discuss what makes it not just a great biblical movie, but a great Jewish movie.

in neocities news, I would like to welcome Aegi to our corner of the web! she's still setting up, but I encourage you to hop over to Aegi's Cafe and look around. tip: head over to 'Explore' to check out the observatory and do some stargazing!

a few folks lately have mentioned enjoying my recommendations, from the audio dramas to interactive fiction to free resources. firstly, I am so glad to hear this. secondly, I now put a note at the top of each page indicating when it was last updated, with anchor links to new additions. of course, I'll try to let you know here, too, if I add anything notable (but sometimes I forget). thirdly, there are so many things in my bookmarks I'd like to migrate to this site. this digital garden is always growing—sometimes slowly, sometimes in eager bursts.

what else...nanowrimo is nearly over. even with a mere 9800 words so far, I've beaten my word count totals from the last three years, and I'm proud of that. it's okay for writing not to be my top priority. I do so many other things.

and in my classic Doctor Who journey (happy belated #DoctorWhoDay), I am now enjoying the TARDIS team of the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria. heckin' love those three. also been watching the Third Doctor and Jo. adore them, too. not that I would ever pit Doctors against each other...

stay cool,
a.

onto the next

oct 5 2020

hey gang, just a quick check-in today:

o autumn! o teakettle! o grace!

a.

my new podcast, a listening library update, and Doctor Who

sep 22 2020

hi gang! a few updates for you loyal website-viewers.

First of all—I produced a podcast! It's called Good For All and is produced within posAbilities. Here's the pitch: In our work at posAbilities, we assist persons with developmental disabilities to lead meaningful and healthy lives by partnering with the community. On our show, we share stories about disability, community and inclusion and invite you to join us as we work toward our vision of “good and full lives for all.”

The show may or may not be your thing (if you are or know someone with a developmental disability who lives in BC, it may be your thing!) but I think the first episode has wide appeal. It's about innovation in the social services sector. How do we take systems that are designed to provide the essentials of life (housing, food, mental health & addiction suport) and transform them to also help people flourish? How do we bring beauty, meaning, and purpose into people's lives? I talked to our Director of Innovation, Gord Tulloch, about it. Gord is bighearted and curious and passionate, and he is one of my favourite people I've met through work. Listen for Gord.

In other news, a listening library update! I have added a page detailing some of my favourite audio dramas. I've got some Big Finish Doctor Who stories, some podcasts, and obviously some of Dirk Maggs' projects. As I write this, it is one giant page, but I may split it into multiple pages to make it more readable.

We are heading into the home stretch for VEDS. I've been doing shout-outs on Sundays, and this week's shout-outs were Doctor Who-themed because I am getting into Classic Who! One audio drama (linked on the new page!) and also the documentary series by Clever Dick Films on YouTube. Richard's videos are looking at the whole history of the show and everything that surrounds it, one Doctor at a time. (He is also, I'm proud to report, my 100th subscriber. Thank you, sir.)

His videos were the push for me to get into the Classic era, so I am starting with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. May as well start with the really iconic one, right? And you guys...I am loving it. I love Tom's Doctor, I love Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, I love the stories we get in seasons 12 & 13. For this brief moment, as I burn through classic episodes like an expanding star, I am filled with utter joy.

friends, I am very tired. lonely, and tired, and making all kinds of decisions I'm not proud of. (if I haven't messaged you back I'm probably agonizing about it, though of course that does you no good.) but then again, making so many things I am proud of. connecting with people. writing. listening. the world is terrifying and it is beautiful and I...am here.

you are here too. thank you for being here.

gratefully yours,

a.

here we go!

sep 2 2020

And we're back! Tessa, Caleb, James, Jeffrey and I are all back this year. Plus, my friend Graham—a musician and regular vlogger—is joining us! Keep up with the project here: VEDS 2020.

You can watch my first video below.

the return of VEDS

aug 19 2020

less than two weeks to go till september, and you know what that means—it's time for VEDS! and if you don't know what that means, well, you've got some new pages to explore. get the scoop on this vlogging challenge, check out last year's videos, and send me your ideas for this year.

in the spirit of vlogging, I've also added a couple more royalty-free music resources to the free resources page—the Blue Dot Sessions and Loyalty Freak Music.

perils of working in the cloud

aug 5 2020

not that anyone noticed, but there was no new issue of {{reverberations}} on sunday because I lost the file. pretty sure I had it open in two places at once and the old version saved over the new and it's not in my version history and WHATEVER it was a long weekend.

*sigh*

reverberations issue two

july 26 2020

there is great tension between the desire for what is ordinary and what is extraordinary. we want to be normal; we want to be special. in this dispatch: the difficulties of making peace with this tension.

{{ reverberations }} #002: extraordinary everyday things

reverberations issue one

july 19 2020

here we have it: {{ reverberations }} #001: obsessive remixing. a test of a new format. this whole site is intended to be a place where I can gather my thoughts. collections need structure. berries need a basket. this is the container I've woven.

I am...struggling to do meaningful work as of late. even on good days, it feels as if I am escaping my life rather than living it. but create something that's mine, even if no one reads it...just another in a long line of attempts to feel like a person.

a tiny Republic of Newsletters

july 15 2020

a few years ago, I read Mr.Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. it's a strange and wonderful book. then, yesterday, some clicking lead me from Twine to Tap by Wattpad to a "tap essay" called Fish by Robin Sloan. from there, to his website, to an archive of his 2019 newsletter Year of the Meteor.

a well-done email newsletter is a beautiful thing. diving into Robin's, I realized that he loves print (he would regularly print and ship zines to the newsletter readers), reads widely, sees the world in a way I understand, and is just generally very good at keeping a public notebook. it is an enriching reading experience.

it makes me want to write...something. I love journaling, but it's private. I've never had much success with blogging and yet—if I committed to making something, stuck with it long enough to find my voice, I think I could make something I'm proud of.

I'm feeling inspired, gang. and dang, has it been a while.

a new reading

june 8 2020

something new over at the diarist reads aloud: September - Litany - Miracles (15min) – "September 1, 1939" by W.H. Auden; "Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out" by Richard Siken; and "Miracles" by Walt Whitman.

a late april update

april 20 2020

still healthy, still safe, still sad some days. grateful for my good fortune. simultanously grieving the loss of the world as it was, trying to make sense of the new normal. making space for all the feelings.

recent updates to the pandemic page include: some stylish, downloadable Zoom backgrounds; journal prompts; additional ways to do good; and maybe one of my videos is hiding on this page somewhere too...

plus, a few new game additions to the e-lit page. no time like the present to dive into the world of interactive fiction.

EDIT (april 21): just added pandemic listening to the podcasts section.


in times of pandemic, still we blog

update • 10:10pm PST

I should be sleeping already but whatever!! the page now has a few uplifting news stories, a little entertainment, and links to trusted sources for more info. and now, for real, I am going to bed.

goodnight!
a.

4:37pm PST• march 17 2020

this page is only about 20 minutes old as I write this, but I will be updating this page about the coronavirus outbreak with resources, suggestions, and thoughts as they occur.

with you,
a.

gather round and I'll tell you a story

march 16 2020

a friend of mine had a pretty cool idea for keeping each other company while the COVID-19 pandemic restricts social gathering. we've got a little book club going—folks pick a book (ideally something creative commons or otherwise available for free online already) and read a few chapters each day. I've decided to serve as short story contributor, reading a mix of classics and modern works.

maybe you are in need of a little company. maybe you're like me, and audiobooks are one of the ways you keep up with your reading. I will be posting the stories I read here: the diarist reads aloud.

EDIT: if y'all have requests for things you would like to hear me read, let me know! I welcome your suggestions.

don't panic,
a.

hey gang: update time

march 10 2020

slowly but surely, this little site-seedling is growing. thanks so much to the folks who've said nice things about my self care & self keeping page. the subject certainly takes up a lot of my brain space, so you can expect updates to come.

the writing page now includes an faq about journaling and a bit of my experience mood tracking with daylio. over at links & resources, there's a nice little collection of free resources, communities I like, some music to relax to, and other stuff. and finally, the beginnings of a page on electronic literature—my interest has largely been hypertext fiction, but the e-lit umbrella also encompasses interactive works, online multimedia work, art games, digital poetry and generally work that is meant to live in the digital space.

the site is looking nicely minimalist & text-based—as much as I love some of the busy, throwback web design here on neocities, I've realized that I want to use this space to write more than to play with design. I've also embraced my unfinished, to-be-updated pages. blogging has never been my forte, in part because I'd end up with a lot of half-finished drafts. well, now we are going to end up with a sprawling web of "static" yet constantly evolving pages. I will try to shout out major updates here on the homepage. I encourage exploration.

lastly—neocities fam, show me your sites! I love seeing your comments on my profile and would like to get to know you. I make no promises (because I am the worst) but I will endeavour to be around, leave comments for all y'all, and be a good community member. grateful for you, gang.

much love,
a.

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