Micro.blog Question Challenge

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Robert Birming (@birming) called me out to respond to his inaugural Micro.blog Question Challenge yesterday. How could I say no to such an interesting way to share a little about myself?

As is customary after posting my own, I’m extending the challenge to Numeric Citizen (@numericcitizen) and David Johnson (@crossingthethreshold) to answer the same questions:

1. Why did you start a blog in the first place?
2. Have you blogged on other platforms before?
3. Why did you choose Micro.blog?
4. Do you write your posts directly in the editor or in another application?
5. When do you feel most inspired to write?
6. Do you publish immediately after writing or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
7. What’s your favorite post on your blog?
8. Any future plans for your blog?

You don’t need to be called out to join in on the fun. Let Robert know by mentioning him on the Micro.blog timeline if you publish answers of your own.

Without further ado, here are my responses…

Why did you start a blog in the first place?

I started publishing online in the early 2000’s as a place to share updates about the Mac app I was developing named “Yasu” – which was short for “Yet another system utility.”

It was a Mac system maintenance utility written AppleScript Studio that performed the important system maintenance tasks Mac OS needed at the time.

I created it mostly because Cocktail, which I was using then, decided to move to a shareware model. I thought I could write a Mac app myself. How hard could it be? The very first version was really ugly, but it worked. That became a journey lasting more than 17 awesome years.

Yasu opened a lot of doors for me. It had write ups in most of the big Apple magazines of the day, and it got me invites to speak at a couple of small Mac conferences and a handful of local user groups.

Developing Yasu were some of the best years of my life. Blogging about the journey went hand in hand with it. I met a lot of super-awesome people I still keep in touch with today because of Yasu.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

I’ve tried nearly every major blogging platform at one time or another.

I started with Blogspot (Blogger), but didn’t publish much there. I tried MovableType, Tumblr, Drupal, and some others I can’t remember the name of anymore. I even tried Jekyll as a static site generator, and just doing my site 100% by hand.

Ultimately, I landed on WordPress in 2004 and stuck with it for most of my time publishing online.

When Ghost came around, I gave it a short spin, migrating all my WordPress content to it. That move lasted all of two months. In the end, it didn’t resonate with my workflow, so went back to WordPress.

I’ve used cheap as dirt shared hosting plans, run my own VPS – learning a LOT about Linux – and even served my WordPress site from a salvaged Bondi Blue iMac tucked under my desk in the early years.

Why did you choose Micro.blog?

I first heard about Micro.blog from John Gruber on Daring Fireball in 2017. I thought it was a cool idea and filed it away mentally. I was still happy with WordPress, so didn’t make the move then.

But, as WordPress became overly complex with features I didn’t want or need, I started considering other solutions. That’s when I really looked at Micro.blog – around three years ago.

I first migrated my WordPress site to Micro.blog in March 2023. But after 20 years on WordPress, I felt lost and moved back. However, I returned in May of the same year, and have been here ever since.

I chose Micro.blog for its simplicity. It was nice not to have to run a server of my own. The feature set is simple, making it easy to get my thoughts and ideas published.

But, the reason I stuck with the platform was the community.

I’ve become acquainted with many really cool people through Micro.blog. The community here is one of the big reasons I began giving back by developing plugins and my mnml theme.

I follow some really interesting people who inspire me by what they share. I completely grok Manton’s vision for Micro.blog now. I’m 100% in on the platform, Fediverse and all.

I don’t have plans to go anywhere else.

Do you write your posts directly in the editor or in another application?

I don’t have a single place I always write from.

For short “thought” posts without a title, I mostly fire them off using the iOS app, but I’ll also write them from the web interface if that’s where I’m at, or the Micro.blog macOS app if I’m using it at the moment.

I sometimes use Greg Morris' (@gregmorris) Micro Social iOS app too. Micro Social is a pretty rad app and I’m excited to see it mature.

For longer blog posts like this one, I exclusively use MarsEdit by Daniel Jalkut (@danilepunkass). I’ve been using MarsEdit since 2007 because it paired so nicely with WordPress. When I came to Micro.blog I was stoked to find the app worked here too. That helped my decision to move.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

Inspiration can hit me at any time. Usually it’s after I’ve read something that resonated with me, I’ve learned something new, or just have an idea I think others might be interested in.

For the “deep thinking” posts, I’ll ruminate on a subject for a few days before writing a single word, drafting and rewriting the post over and over in my head. This helps me get thoughts in order and research a topic if I need to.

Do you publish immediately after writing or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

For most long posts, I pretty much publish right away.

I’ll write the first draft fast, getting my thoughts down as they flow out of my brain.

Then I’ll go back to the top of what I wrote and begin editing, trying to make thoughts clear and fix grammar. Once the first edit is complete, I’ll preview the post in MarsEdit over and over to be sure it reads well. When I come across something I think is hard to follow, I’ll work on it.

Once I’m happy with what I’ve written, I hit publish and walk away.

After an hour – or even days – I’ll go back and re-read the post on my site as if I were a visitor. Four out of five times I find something I wrote still doesn’t communicate the idea I wanted it to, so I’ll go back into MarsEdit, make edits and republish.

These post-publish tweaks can happen a few times. I’ve even gone back and edited posts from years ago after re-reading them.

My short social media-like “thought” posts are rapid fire. I just write them and post. It’s what came to my mind right then, and once it’s out there, that’s what it is. I’ll only edit it if grammar makes me sound like a moron – so yeah, those get edited more often than I would like.

What’s your favorite post on your blog?

I don’t have many posts on my site. In 2014 I went through a tough time emotionally and creatively, deleting nearly everything I’d ever written except the ones I liked or saw were getting regular traffic.

One of the posts I chose to keep is titled “Memorable Cigarettes.” It’s the first post I wrote that gives a glimpse into my childhood, ultimately leading to meeting my wife, and making the right choice to stop smoking because I was so smitten with her.

I’d have to say that one is my favorite post. “A Bicycle and Barbed Wire," which is another glimpse into my childhood, is my second favorite.

Any future plans for your blog?

I’m pretty happy with my blog as it is. I like using it to post short thoughts and interact with other Micro.blog and Fediverse folk.

I’d like to start writing longer, more deeply contemplated posts. I have a lot of interesting stories from my life to tell. They should make for good entertainment. I think it’s time they see the light of day.

I might start doing short podcast (I call them “microcast”) episodes every now and then. People have always told me I have a great radio voice. We’ll see about that.

IndieWeb is Punk

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Jamie Thingelstad (@jthingelstad) posted a great analogy about the IndieWeb over on his site today, likening it to the quintessence of what makes Punk Rock special to so many…

As Punk Rock was to the music industry of that era, is the IndieWeb bringing the same ethos to the Web of today — minus the mohawks?

As someone who grew up on the Punk of the ’80s, I totally relate to where he’s coming from. To me the IndieWeb is a community of gifted misfits, doing it their own way with the tools they have, and without the need for big tech (the establishment), just like Punk is.

I think Jamie sums it up the best though…

We don’t need major platforms. We have the Web, keyboards, tools, and community. IndieWeb is Punk! Is it time to bring the Mohawks back?

Yeah, Jamie, I say we bring the Mohawks back. Oi!

In the comment thread, Robert Birming (@birming) had the brilliant idea of making Jamie’s rallying cry into a t-shirt.

Always one to answer a call when there’s a need, I hereby present you with the official “IndieWeb is Punk” t-shirts, available through Cotton Bureau, available in black or white designs.

Any and all proceeds ($2 a shirt) will be donated directly to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading nonprofit defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation for 35 years and counting.

Adding Insult to Injury

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

As I shared a week or so ago, I underwent an angiogram that found some really bad stuff and will require open heart bypass surgery in a week and a half.

Yes, I’m a little scared. But I won’t bore you any further with that one. It’s going to be a gnarly ride. I know I’ll come out aces on the other side.

Or… (cue morbid humor) I won’t know.

Anyway. To add insult to injury, imagine my joy to learn as part of a post-procedure ultrasound of my neck that “significant narrowing” of my right carotid artery was also found.

Yay me!

That’s right, one of the two arteries that supplies blood to my brain is pretty narrowed. Thankfully the left one is still in good shape, otherwise we’d have a big problem.

What does it mean?

Well, it means that just as I’m getting back on my feet, I get to go under the knife yet again to take care of this little inconvenience. Thankfully, the recovery is not too hard from what I’ve read and I should be good to go soon after.

Let this be a lesson kids… Take care of yourself early in life. Eat the good stuff. Avoid the burgers and fries. Don’t do like I did. It’ll catch up to you and bite you if you do.

Man, this aging thing is beginning to suck just a little…