Work Log

This file is the messy "what am I doing" log to help keep focused. I literally write out my thoughts as I ponder what to do. It links to other srigarten files that are clickable on the public website.

Note: See Tickler File for auxiliary tasks and other "top-of-mind" items that Sri doesn't want to forget. Project scratchpad for synthesizing ideas are on the ThinkSpace on Whimsical.

Stream of Consciousness Thinkin' Space

Tue Mar 14

I'm trying to push on the creation of software. I have spent a bunch of time trying to straighten out my typescript setup. I've got it working, I think, for the server-side. But how to handle it for the client side?

  • new src-apps directory which will be a separate webpack configuration using the entry: { name:entryPage } syntax writing a distinct bundle
  • webpack will be used to generate bundled scripts in _site/_plug/ that all initialize via a <script src> include that initializes from some data embedded on the page or (if possible) front matter through a shortcode.
module.exports = {
  entry: {
    app: './src/app.js',
    search: './src/search.js',
  },
  output: {
    filename: '[name].js',
    path: __dirname + '/dist',
  },
};
  • standalone apps can use a special base template for more expansive screen-based stuff and won't be directly indexed in collections.

Wed Mar 08

  • CGT for Writers draft
  • update elbs, elbs-neurodivergent entries
  • update multidisciplinary-channels
  • mouse in the house
  • discussion in writing group: character voice as anchor for details.b

Tue Mar 07

  • character voice as writing strategy?
  • booked travel to STL (major stressor)
  • reviewed and made SVG cheat sheet in whimsical
  • discussion in leadership-log: word=violence reactions, puppies, conflating a term of art with a negative attitutude toward a class of labeled people.

Mon Mar 06

  • add stage filter to ATOM feeds
  • quick review of SVG concepts
  • make quickie SVGJS import in artifact section of PKMS

I have a choice of doing either SVGJS or SVG. I think to start I'll just prototype how things look in pure SVG, and then figure out how to redraw it using SVGJS. So...draw a form element using SVG markup is the current plan!

Remainder of Monday

  • print out CGT, ETT, ETP
  • make an SVG version of the ETT

Tue Feb 28

Looking at PaperJS...

Looking at it more deeply:

  • it's like it's own operating environment using older Javascript conventions to create its own scope. The author has created their own operating system-like loaders and scope managers, installing a custom scripting language called PaperScript which is Javascript with new global classes like Point and operator overloading for them for mathematical operators. It appears to do this by incorporating an actual Javascript interpreter (Acorn).

  • This grew out of Scriptographer. Here's a History of PaperJS. In short, Scriptographer was a plugin for Adobe Illustrator CS (before Creative Cloud) to create a scriptable plugin. PaperJS is the "open web" subset of the useful parts of Scriptographer. I gather that Scriptographer used Adobe Illustrator just as a drawing environment before the web was mature enough to support such things.

  • On a side note, Adobe does provide scripting support in Javascript, but it is terribly underdocumented. Here's a reference of all the elements in the scripting language (InDesign and Illustrator seem to share the same scripting language). Here's an old tutorial on how to get started with it, referring to the ExtendScript Tookit IDE (in Creative Cloud Apps). Apparently it's a 32-bit app only available on Windows and only supports ES3 Javascript; Mac has deprecated 32-bit apps so it's no longer available. There's a new hotness called UXP Developer Tool which is a new packaging system that works with Visual Studio Code. However, it's not yet available for Illustrator. There's also something called CEP which is a Chromium-based solution but it's older (and also uses ES3).

Looking at PDF packages for Javascript

  • React-PDF claims to render PDF in a React App, and is built on Mozilla's pdf.js open source renderer. It also mentions another package also called react-pdf which generates PDFs using a set of exported React components. It references node-canvas that implements a canvas-compatible object through C libraries Cairo and Pango.

    ASIDE: The Cairo 2D graphics library which can output to PostScript, PDF, and SVG. However, that means you need to compose your page using C/C++. That said, the library is implemented in C and seems to be very mature. It can be used with Pango, a text layout engine, since the text support of Cairo is apparently not great.

  • pdf-lib can create/modify PDF. It's written in TypeScript and i dependency-free. This seems to the the pure Javascript library to use.

  • An alternative is using Puppeteer, which is a NodeJS library that controls Chromium (headless or not) and can generate PDF. So, you could style a page using HTML+CSS with placed SVG graphics into it. This article describes three approaches to generating PDF and it settles on Puppeteer.

Javascript PDF Generation Notes

• PaperJS is very cool but too "pre-ES6" in its paradigms for me. Has its own mini interpreter for JS-like language! Deal breaker: no PDF export.

• SVG looks like the common vector tech that works with all PDF generation solutions

For programmatic generation:

• PDF-LIB is the dependency-free pure JS lib; other libs like react-pdf use it under the hood.

• Adobe's new scripting solution is called UXP and works with VSCODE, but isn't available for Illustrator (yet?) The existing tools (ExtendKit, CEP) are 32-bit so are Windows-only, and also are ES3 (!) NO THANK YOU.

• For server-side, C++ libraries Cairo and Pango will produce PDF and SVG (and more) documents. Node integration available through node-cairo.

• Puppeteer will output PDF in headless mode, allowing you to style pages using HTML+CSS+SVG. This might be a good hybrid approach.

Mon Feb 27

I awoke again feeling I'd "lost the thread" of what I'm doing. It's the second time this month, and I wondered what it meant; I've classified it as a "rational panic attack" (e.g. Egon Spangler: "I'm sorry, Venkman. I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

I've theorized that my #ASD traits are the pattern-analytical-rightness side of me. Perhaps the #ADHD traits are the emotional excitement-seeking side that wants to live an entirely heartfelt existence. Both of these can give me energy, but there's a gap in coverage for days like this when NEITHER set of traits is firing.

I think this is one of those days, feeling a bit lost because neither trait set has purchase on the unutilized megabits of time that are rushing past me.

The mitigation? Remember that I can trust myself to be captivated and optimistic in the long run, swept up in the sense of adventure and discovery with like-minded explorers. When these lapses occur, it's entirely fine to just coast until I catch the next wave. What I think I'm missing is a framing of the "adulting traits" that helps me get to the next wave, operating independently and cheerfully. Until now, I've thought of it instead as a horrible chore to suffer through.

No more! I need to give this a new name and expand the metaphor. The TL;DR is that there's a form of "adulting" that can help manage the #ADHD and #ASD trait sets without GETTING IN THE WAY.

Perhaps each trait set can be embodied as a Spotify playlist? I've been putting together a ridiculous "Sri Mood" playlist and I wonder if it would cleave cleanly into ADHD, ASD, and [adulting trait] songs?

Thu Feb 23

Yesterday I made the printer-friendly card thing. The next step is probably to figure out the webpack setup to enable "mini webapps with shared coredata operations", because I want to be able to code modularly using Typescript. Eleventy Template WebApps.

  • adding custom templates to Eleventy can kick-off the build process
  • This eleventy-react repository uses custom templates, using the jsx extension to kick-off a webpack build process. I think it's assumed there's a single entry point per jsx file.

I need a piece of paper to think on, so deferring the design until I can return home. But let me force myself to outline some approaches

webapps need

  • a script tag that loads a bundle, possibly multiple bundles on a web page
  • a build process that can recognize a web page template that has a bundle loaded. This can be JSX or HTML I think.
  • a build process that compiles a root bundle that can talk to servers and manage data

Q. Where does this root bundle live? It can be something like URSYS? A. It's another entry point javascript code that a webpack build will watch and recompile

Q. Can this root bundle have its own dynamic data that it writes to? A. No, not at this time. However, we can store data we want to generate. And we want to design some kind of API that can be converted to use some kind of data store.

Q. How would the build process work from the command line?

npm run dev would

  • use webpack to build a bundle of the root library from src-garten
  • (for v2) run the garten processor, which would include file processing of src files into derived data documents (e.g. automatic cross referencing, hybrid docs)
npm run dev

Wed Feb 22

I have a short expedition list defined, and some pre-expedition preparations:

  • make a printer-friendly 4x6 card framework
  • Make expedition printer-friendly page

A general issue I'm hitting is that I can't import modules like I might for a webapp, so maybe I need to make that webapp compile pass sooner than later.

But for now, let me monkey-prototype a print friendly stylesheet inline for expedition-context...

  • add inline print styling to expedition context
  • add clickable button to print a handy reference

Next, want to add the card for the expedition list.

Fri Feb 17

  • review GHDR
  • write multidimensionality document
  • fix bug in garten new introduced by changes to code
  • composing journal update
  • add new garten ghdr-report command
  • add 0202~15 ghdr report entry

Thu Feb 16

What's on my mind? I've been thinking of the colony and what it looks like, and also how there is a bridge to build between ASD systems complexity and ADHD systems execution bottlenecks.

  • review the big rocks list...

It looks like I haven't really gotten a grasp on GHDR.

  • Rudimentary DATA-DRIVEN RENDERING in page
  • Try to get eslintrc.js and tsconfig.json to play nice with ESLint Extension

Wed Feb 15

Today I'm working on what? I don't know!!! But we need TUNES FIRST...

  • review the notes I left in dsri-studio
  • write two-sentence summary of how GHDR is going
  • write garten jot-to-cat? NAH. It can wait...just use jot as is for now.

I'm noticing that I'm pursuing a lot of different directions today, loosely connected through the exploration of ADHD/ASD and theorizing about the ways it expresses as challenges and also as relative strengths. The great thing is that the DISCORD is a good public generating space to write, and the PKMS is a great place to capture those thoughts in categories that come to mind naturally.

I'm missing a checklist for GHDR this year.

  • rename post

Tue Feb 14

  • pick an outfit for 11AM session
  • write notes on public, protected channels and the sanctuary
  • write notes for Jenn

break

  • recycling to dumpster
  • find ghdr post
  • read ghdr first sentence

new

  • look into migrating away from MediaTemple
  • how to set up dkim (via google workspaces)
  • pointing nameserver to opalstack on Thursday
  • setting siteurl and homeurl in wp-config
  • using better search replace

Mon Feb 13

  • Wrote garten jot and related commands! A couple hours.
  • Pondering rising stars program Susan is working on
  • Pondering multidimensionality and what gets in the way of expressing it.

That does it for today. Tomorrow is therapy day so I am going to rest and think about what to wear.

Sun Feb 12

Just bumming around, pondering what to do. Difficult to initiate any action, probably due to poor eating habits over the last day or two. Too many carbs.

  • hydrate
  • take vitamins, hormones

Sat Feb 11

  • articles in personal dev on reflection and helping people imrpve without getting mad
  • oh, squish clan creation and commentary on values spread through online activities like this
  • more progress on my Typescript Build Setup in Eleventy

Fri Feb 10

Thu Feb 09

The starter expeditions that are bread-and-butter to enable PDF generation and data entry into some kind of system are:

  • text file processor that recognizes simple section dividers
  • directory file filterer that globs directories and feeds them into the text file processor
  • data structure that represents The Colony and all its elements

Reminder: My main goal is to have a representation of an Expedition, so I can start creating them and recruiting for them to see how that works. This is all new, so I have to maintain regular progress and tag the stuff I discover until I deem this a good place to set up base camp for launching the next Expedition.

0730 - adderall seems to have kicked in
0745 - distraction with Amazon Prime, Brain Spa
0800 - distractability is not being helped with adderall
       maybe need to dump out all thoughts

Enforce focus mode...pick a two minute starter task into /dev/ideas/null

  • read expedition card (fail)
  • make sri insights log?
0915 - fixing formatting of code in site.js
     - distracted by missing comment highlighting
     - readded afterglow remastered (my modded one)
     - looked into `yo code` 
     - packaging instructions with @vscode/vsce

Ok, it's 0915 now so let me try to focus on the expedition card instead of being annoyance driven in my actions. This lasted, due to social media griping, until 1030!!! I lost over an hour to this, and I have at most 90 minutes left before brain shutdown.

Again...

  • sidetrack into fixing INDEX collections on main site.
  • sidetrack into fixing repo workpace annoyance, clean repo
  • 1145 read expedition card

I now have a bunch of data objects that could use further definition. But I'm not sure if this is actually necessary at this point.

  • 1215 did some cleanup of content...but am losing focus
  • 1230 finish editing the about text screen

I'm starting to feel tired around 1345 so wrapping things up...what the hell did I do today?

WRAPPING UP

--- random stuff ---
worked around lightroom export issue
pkms: regroup related categories, about page
      remove .code-workspace from repo
      refactored site.js to match order of menu, easier cut/paste
signed up amazon prime again
created Sri Afterglow theme project for vscode
talked to sid about new clan owned by meee
posted about #adhd and #asd engaged people on mastodon
(is mastodon my microblogging platform?)
monitored ADHD Adderall
monitored biphasic sleep
--- purposeful stuff ---
spent 30 minutes on Expedition Card

NEXT

  • data structure that represents The Colony and all its elements GOOD ENOUGH
  • text file processor that recognizes simple section dividers
  • directory file filterer that globs directories and feeds them into the text file processor

BRAIN SPA NOTES

  • my model is sharing because I'm baiting traps. I don't expect what I do.
  • creating.
  • masking spectrum -
  • walking in a dense fog of uncertainty and trusting yourself.
  • publish vs share different?
  • regulation vs

Wed Feb 08

  • Made expedition/the-colony/expedition-card with javascript support.
  • Renamed collection index "subgroups" to "tagged" because tags span categories and therefore are not subgroups within a larger group.
  • Started writing specification in expedition-card rather than coding the data structure.

Open questions:

  • Overall ritual system for morning, biphasic, naps, types of work
  • How to effectively share writing in fun, interesting, inspiring ways

Tue Feb 07

  • Named possible "stages" of writing: indulgent, temperance, big rocks, and precis
  • Expedition Card draft (paper)
  • Posted initial Expedition Card to dsri studio
  • Renamed project category to expedition
  • Renamed prototype category to artifact
  • Added notes to dsri studio on Discord, also in Planner Party

Wed Feb 01

  • list all the strategic horizons in a whimsical doc
  • add critical path starting tasks to each strategic horizon
  • see where that leaves us
  • outline the February 2nd post...what is at top of mind?

Tue Jan 31

  • make GHDR master reference list on davidseah.com (work in process)
  • where to put the 2022 Review? In 2022 folder? Yes.
  • Write 2022 Review
  • Outline 2023 Ideas

Mon Jan 30

  • move GHDR out of srigarten projects as its own thing

Fri Jan 27

What's on my mind today? I'd like to finish transcribing the thingy I was doing with the "major insights" before my energy poops out.

  • Also I need a nice full body stretch motion warmup to do every morning.
  • Got 2023 Plan Bits laid out; still need to write the actual plan starting with "mood bits" that's on the 2023 Scratch Sheet

Mikael Project

  • Sri looks at the initial writeups from Mikael and writes down thoughts about it to share with Mikael. The eventual intent is to have a specification that can then be expressed as a set of data structures and the kinds of manipulations that can be performed on them.

  • Mikael describes lower levels of the system, describing their function relative to the intent of the overall system or other modules

Thu Jan 26: Windows 11 Update, Vitamin and Veg Reboot

So what's on my mind today? It's 1100AM. I restarted my vitamin and vegetable regimen, eating less processed foods. I have my HD3s back going with decent bass response on the new subwoofer, and I've just reset my PC to Windows 11 permanently with a clean install. Copying SSD games over to the NVME drive though its throughput it a little lower than expected; need to check the BIOS to make sure it's allocated enough PCI lanes to work. It may only get 2 lanes.

There's a lot on my mind, so I have to remember that I'm preparing for 2023 starting on February 2nd in less than a week. So what does that entail? There is a lot of self-guidance right now that's hard to manage. The clarity has to come from me.

840PM

I want to transcribe notes into a new Whimsical document, then find some pictures to post for desi in style-n-fashion.su