What I’m Doing Now

Updated March 26, 2025

I’ve been my Mom’s caregiver since 2017. Mom’s 100+. She broke her hip in 2020, and since then, taking care of her has of necessity been my primary activity.

Projects

• I’m still trying to blog about technology at IT:, and Celtic and Medieval Studies at DigitalMedievalist.com. Sadly, the updating of late is mostly repairing link rot, and lost images.
• I’ve added an archive of Now pages, or as Stephen Hackett calls his, Then pages.
• I’ve added an AI slash page about my (non-) use of AI & LLM technology.
• I wrote a post about why I Do Not Like You, Commercial AI LLM.
• I used Urban Hafner’s Fountain Pen Companion to catalog my bottles of fountain pen inks. I'm trying to branch out a little. I hear that ther are options besides blue-black and blue.
• I have been posting at Something Downeast (about life in Maine). Most recently, I posted pictures of a strikingly lovely snowfall.

My primary project since January of 2025 has been converting sites from the bloat and Gutenberg annoyances of WordPress to static sites or to newer, simpler platforms.

• I am slowly moving Something Pacific to Posthaven.com.
• I have moved Floccinaucical.blog from self-hosted WordPress to Pika.page. I really like the simplicity and ease of use of Pika.page, and enthusiastically recommend it.
• I am 90% sure that when I’ve finished moving my smaller sites to Posthaven.com, I will move my two decades-old main WordPress self-hosted sites lisaspangenberg.com and digitalmedievalist.com to hosted Ghost.

I began a new static hand-coded site about Chaucer. I’m adding extant content to it as I have time. It is currently a local only site. Mulling over whether to use a platform/service, or go with hand-coded.

In 2020 I began researching a possible new book about writing. I drafted most of it in 2021, and I am side-eying it and working on it as I can.

Technology Changes

I bought an M3 Macbook Air in late December of 2024. My 2018 MacBook Air butterfly keyboard needs another keyboard repair, and I foresee tariffs headed my way.

I gave up on the Kobo Libre Colour because I received a black and white Kobo Libre 2 as a Christmas gift. I very much prefer the Kobo Libre 2 for reading text over the lower resolution and poor contrast of the Kobo Libre Colour screen.

Last Super Book I Read

Roland Allen. The History of the Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper.

Roland Allen has a Website .

Roland Allen’s The History of the Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper is the best book I read in 2024. I reccomend this podcast episode featuring Roland Allen on the Erasables podcast. Erasables Episode 217: Posh Blond English Protagonist (with author Roland Allen).

Current Reading

So far nothing I’ve read in 2025 has really stood out. That said, I am reading Terry Pratchett for the first time and quite enjoying it.

Last Album I Loved

Keel Road. Danish String Quartet, 2025.

Current Obsessive Passions

Stationery, still, particularly notebooks, fountain pens and ink, and both woodcase and mechanical pencils. Current favorites:

• Woodcase Pencil: While I still love theMusgrave Tennessee Red, I’m currently using my other Favorite Pencil, the Mitsubishi 9852EW HB Master Writing pencil. Yes, I have a preference for natural wood pencils.
• Mechanical Pencil: The Mitsubishi Pure Malt, running slightly ahead of the very similar Pilot Legno.
• Fountain Pen: Lamy 2000 F with Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai. I have as of 3/23/20s5 also inked a Pilot Custom in Teal 74 with Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku and a red Lamy Aion with Sugar Turtle Studio x Diamine Turtle Belly.
• Paper: Writepads Their paper works with both F & M fountain pens, and with pencil. I’ve also been using this EMSHOI A4 Spiral Notebook College Ruled , 11.2" X 8.27", 150 Sheets/300 Pages, 100 gsm Thick Lined Journal for disposable notes and rough drafts.

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