No, of course I am not seriously offline. But something of that calm from the end of October has stuck around, helped by the intense being in the present of Øredev.

I am spending a little less time with podcasts reflexively in my ears.

I sometimes go for music instead(!)

I have spent a bit more time during the weekends watching longer-form moving images, instead of flipping between small things.

I have watched these things without also watching another thing for distraction on a smaller screen.

And I try to less often reflexively check various sources for little updates. I at least seem to have broken my Mastodon completionist urge. Now, I read up on, at most, the batch of 30-odd messages my Mastodon app seems to load as a default, and

I do not click to load more to fill in the whole gap.

Little things. Perhaps not even much difference at all in total device time. But it feels ever so slightly calmer, and I want all of that I can get.

Especially when it is not dramatic to do so.

Small note-taking joys

Realizing it is a good time to make a separate note for something, creating that note, then immediately recalling more things you want to write down in it. The act of capturing a thought making me think more thoughts worth capturing. Such a nice little feeling.

Wow, that went by fast.

Again.

On Tuesday, I once again (I need to go through and actually figure out how many times it has been) got on the train to Malmö and this year's Øredev conference. Writing this, it is Friday evening and I am once again back on my own couch, dog snuggled up next to me, only just beginning to process the highly compressed injection of information that was three days and at the same time the blink of an eye.

Last year, I somewhat by accident filled almost all my time with podcast recordings. This year, I actually learned from the past (for a change) and actually left space in my schedule to both breathe and attend some talks. I have plenty more I want to catch once the videos are released, but it was great to actually be in the room for a change.

Otherwise, things went much like previous years. Above all, there were of course lots of great people - I think I ran into more people I knew to some degree than ever before, and talked to more listeners of Kodsnack as well. Plus I got to be someone else's spotting of a Hypercritical t-shirt in the wild, which is just great fun to be.

The coffee from Sandby kafferosteri was as great as always, and three bags of beans came along home with me.

My hotel room was on a higher floor than I recall having before, and this was mainly noticeable in serious waiting times during any type of rush moment. I and many other conference goers headed for the stairs when we happened to arrive at or leave the hotel in a large group, and even with nine stairs to climb I think I saved time. But I did feel it in my legs as I finally reached my floor.

I kept my morning routine of hitting the hotel gym's treadmill for a 20 minute run, followed by climbing all those stairs and then spending at least as long trying to cool down before showering and having breakfast. It is probably great that my body is this good at regulating its temperature, but it is a little annoying when you realize you hit the shower slightly too early for the third day in a row … Beside that annoyance, I find that routine to be great for me - starting each conference day feeling fresh and with a bit of circulation already going. (Plus breakfast tastes even better.) A strange detail is that I enjoy this despite never running first thing in the morning under any other circumstances. It helps that there is not really any other time of day that would reilably work during the conference, but it could still just as well have felt miserable the whole way through.

I brought plenty of Kodsnack stickers and a bunch of slop goblin ones too, and whenever I spread some out on tables they quickly disappeared. Printing and giving out stickers: I highly recommend it!

As for talks and interviews and stuff, there will be Kodsnack episodes. And I do not think I can get much more coherent thinking out of my brain today in any case.

Good night!

I spent last weekend in a cabin in the woods near the sea, hanging out with friends, having great coffee, playing games, taking long walks in the sun, and seeing my first northern lights. Among other things.

It was just as good as it sounds. All the regular shoulds and coulds were completely gone, and my Airpods spent the entire stay in their case, on the charger.

I think I have managed to retain a bit of that calm during the week and this weekend as well. The week was a bit more crammed than I would have liked, including the catching of a cold of some sort which currently seems to be slowly ebbing out. But I have managed to not feel overwhelmed, and to not feel like I should be doing a hundred different things at once. I have done what is actually needed and felt completely fine not doing anything else. (The cold thing helps a bit here. I admit.) I have read a bit, napped a bit, watched some long-ish stuff without second screens, and done my fair share of work as a dog resting spot.

Can I keep this nice feeling going?

Probably not, but I can at least enjoy it while it lasts.

Very much on the same topic, we officially wrapped up the Björeman // Melin // Åhs podcast last week. Ten years felt like a nice spot for a break, and I think we did a very nice final episode without getting bogged down in sudden nostalgia or anything.

I will try not to immediately fill the space left open with other scheduled things.

I might at least be able to finish a book or two before something comes up …

Øredev is shockingly close as well, which in turn means it will pretty much be next year before I blink, catch my breath and realize what is going on. Any sense of calm I can retain going into that whirlwind will be most useful. And perhaps early december will end up being calm?

It could happen.

Anyway: good times!

Earlier this year, I read and enjoyed A pattern language. I have a lot left to absorb from that book, but it also quickly led me another exciting step forward. I became aware of The timeless way of building, the book which explains the thoughts and philosophies behind pattern languages.

A pattern language - the book - is exactly that: one language of patterns, among infinite possible languages and patterns.

A pattern language - the book - is a thougt-provoking and enjoyable list of things which make places of all sizes life-affirming. The timeless way of building is a much more flowing creation, a journey of thoughts and experiences which lead up to and define what patterns are and how they work. There is no one set of them, and no pattern has one and only one way of being applied. In fact, if things are not different each time something has gone wrong.

The timeless way of building is very calming and very, very vivid. I find it almost cinematic at times, when places and moments come alive as I read about them.

It is a book and way of thinking I believe I would have enjoyed a lot at any time in my adult life. But these days, it feels more refreshing and important than ever before.

It is a book full of optimism.

Of belief in people and the good we can do.

It knows we can all make things better, in ways large and small, and it reminds us we do not need permission from anyone to do so.

All of this flows through A pattern language as well, but it becomes so much clearer and more concentrated in The timeless way of building because it focuses squarely on the philosophy.

I want to make things in the timeless way, full of the quality without a name. Software especially. I have wanted to more or less forever, but Alexander has given me new and clearer thoughts around it.

Spotting the book next to me, the thirteen-year old quipped "Oh, you're on to the New testament now." There are so many ways I could object to that comparison. Still, something about it feels right and good at the same time.

I do not feel like dissecting that any further, I am fully content to enjoy that contradiction just the way it is.

Goatmire Elixir was excellent.

I could stop right there.

Three days of Elixir - a language I do not use - in a theatre in off-season Varberg may not sound all that amazing. If so, it could be because you are missing the fact that a theatre in off-season Varberg is a fantastic place to gather a small, high-energy community. Everyone was nice and approachable, speaker, participant, and organizer alike. There were always people around, but never a long line. Everything worked so well that it looked easy and completely natural.

All talks were great, and a ridiculous percentage were completely stellar. Speakers had been encouraged to lean into theatricality, and many did to great effect. Murder mysteries. Multi-act stories. Frequent use of props.

Fantastic Hamlet-inspired monologues about pull requests.

And of course puppetry set to live music.

Wow.

There was also a programmable e-ink badge which spawned its own sub-theme, several mentions of _why the lucky stiff, live coding music, great evening discussions, and plenty of coffee.

I am still very much processing everything. I am going to start the work week in a few minutes, and it feels like I have been away for ages, in the best possible way.