matt @matt@writing.exchange

Sometimes you want to take a picture, capture how the morning light looks filtering through the trees; your cooled skin; the sound of birds.

But you can never smell the air in that photo. You can't look around to see the rest of the world from that spot you stood, capturing a split second of light.

The only way to remember it is to sit for a while; feel it as deeply as you can; accept that it'll never be as good as it is right now.

these past two days I've been in love with the world.
mid-april and it's still not scorching summer yet,
as it normally is by now.

yesterday morning: clear skies, yellow and low light.
today: featureless clouds
cool air rushing just like in the mountains.

#writing

Leaving New York; traveling back down the east coast on the ground instead of by plane. Passing cities I've stayed in, memories barely too far to touch.

#writing

Just realized the new influx of #WritingExchange users might have to do with the #deletefacebook push going on right now.

Welcome, everyone!

Hey, we passed 500 users and 10,000 toots! #writingexchange #milestones

Decided that I'll keep @write_as on this instance, but development updates are on @writeas_dev.

At the airport. Not leaving. #smallstories

#Architecture, #software, and the digital spaces we inhabit.

https://write.as/matt/architecture-and-software

Finally had a chance to set up a new Mastodon instance tonight made just for the different things I'm building, like @snap_as and @htmlhouse.

I think a dedicated instance is the way to go for these things -- it gives me less reason to announce their updates on birdsite, and avoids polluting the #writingexchange stream (or others).

I'll probably also migrate @write_as over there soon (👉 @write_as).

Needed this today, after struggling to sit down and write some code yesterday (and falling into procrastination again today).

"How To Be Creative: How an Artist Turns Pro" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lTcgSzf0AQ

From https://write.narwhal.space

We're now running on Mastodon 2.3.1! One small change I've made is to show the local timeline on the landing page (instead of federated) when you aren't logged in.

Otherwise now it's easier for me to change the image on our home page and the thumbnail shown when profiles/toots are shared on birdsite, etc. So if anyone is interested in creating some illustrations for our instance (especially @maer :) ), feel free to send 'em over and I'll put them up!

#WritingExchange

I should add: just DM me your email address and I'll send the invite!

A Hacker News-like link aggregator just for articles and news just about writing: https://write.narwhal.space

Signup is only by invite, but I have plenty to give out if you want to join!

Attending #AWP18 last week really helped me nail down what to focus on with @write_as, what writers need in software (if they even use it) and their careers. I feel much more certain in setting the scope of that product at particular boundaries now.

After my tent's rainfly failed us during a downpour this morning, soaked, I decided it was a good time to leave the woods and return home.

I'm less happy about not sleeping under the stars tonight, but happy to be clean and laying on something more substantial than a sleeping pad. The dog is happy to be home, too.

I wasn't sure what I'd find on that trip, but the trees or coyotes or something flipped the switch in my brain that I needed to move forward.

Sometimes you want to take a picture, capture how the morning light looks filtering through the trees; your cooled skin; the sound of birds.

But you can never smell the air in that photo. You can't look around to see the rest of the world from that spot you stood, capturing a split second of light.

The only way to remember it is to sit for a while; feel it as deeply as you can; accept that it'll never be as good as it is right now.