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Finally biting the bullet and forking django-wiki. Don't really want to maintain another package, but with all the templates I override to use #Bulma CSS it's doesn't make sense to wait for upstream to support Django-6.0.
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“Stop leading on autopilot: here's what to do instead.” Notes from Bianca Gfrei’s newsletter
The quote above was the subject line. That was a newsletter I had to read.
I’ve been struggling with autopilot for years, mostly without even knowing. But on April 7, 2014, I woke up hungover in a Warsaw hotel room - disheveled and looking into the angry, disappointed eyes of my (now ex-) girlfriend.
That was the moment I realized I’d been living my whole life on autopilot. That was also the moment when I decided to stop. It was so important that I had it tattooed on my arm as a reminder.
No more autopilot. Live consciously.
BE HERE NOW.
This is why Bianca’s transmission landed so completely for me. In one email, she summarizes some of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the last 16 years.
It opens with an honest question:
“When pressure rises (and it always does) what happens in you first?
Do you pause?
Or do you [react] before you've even realized you're [reacting]?”For me, this is the core of everything. Osho talks about reacting vs. responding.
When we react, we’re in autopilot. Our ego is in control.
But when we pause, we can take the time to respond. That’s where we embody our values. That’s where we speak and behave authentically.
Quantum physicist Dr. Amit Goswami describes it as conditioning vs our authentic self. We *react* from conditioning, we *respond* from our authentic self.
So in my opinion, that pause is probably the most powerful skill anyone can cultivate. Because, as Bianca puts it, “…pressure doesn't go away as you grow.”
“But when you learn to regulate yourself, you stop transmitting that pressure to everyone around you.”
When I first read that, I felt it in my chest. I thought about all the times I’ve failed as a lover, partner, husband, team member, airman, leader, son, brother, and human being.
Every single time, I transmitted my pressure to others. I’ve created suffering for the people who love me the most. Those who trusted me, those to whom I was responsible.
Typing this now, I notice shame arising. But I also notice gratitude. Because I have the tools to do better, to be better.
I have the tools to live according to my values. To be the way I truly want to be.
That’s freedom.
I wrote about some of these tools a few months ago: https://d3e.co/y6
And Bianca’s newsletter reminds me why I use them. In the attached cheat sheet, she lays out the key differences between reactive vs regulated leadership.
In it, I see how I *can* be and how I *want to* be. How I’m working hard to be.
And honestly, Bianca’s newsletter helps. So if this resonates you on any level, I encourage you to subscribe: https://d3e.co/y7
Thank you Bianca for your deep inspiration. And thank you, dear one, for taking the time to read this.
Keep taking care of yourself. You’re unconditionally worth it 😉
#SelfCare #ConsciousLeadership #leadership #mindfulness #EQ #empathy
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I’ve been playing and really enjoying this new release Resilience by Daniel M Karlsson ( @t36s) on @EVEL a lot over the last day or so.
It's a swooping, swirling, swooning 91 minute continuous piece of utterly sublime computer music, full of sweeping drama and intense emotional resonance. Very highly recommended!
#ExperimentalMusic #ComputerMusic #Synthesis #DeterministicMusic #DroneMusic #ElectronicMusic https://social.ordinal.garden/@t36s/116623783188222602
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♪ My Weekly Top 10 #lastfm artists: Mastodon (29), Helmet (23), Dio (22), The Rolling Stones (21), Swervedriver (20), The Clash (20), Soundgarden (18), Gary Numan (17), Phoenix (16), & Primus (16)
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Another fun day of buying #comicbooks. This time at the Geek Meet Indy.
I also had a 1 through 5 run of Nick Fury Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the sick Steranko covers in my hands. It was way too rich for my blood. Awesome to see them though.
The Daredevil run was from a little booth that wasn’t even really primarily selling #comics. But they brought their 81 year old dad’s collection to share with the world and I couldn’t not participate.
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A few fun snags from the #comicbooks shop. A Sam Keith cover and Todd McFarlane’s first Detective Comics cover.
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Having spent the week in Yorkshire, I couldn’t resist picking up The Poems of Sylvia Plath, a new landmark edition edited by Amanda Golden and Karen V. Kukil and published just last week. This edition draws on decades of research and almost doubles the content of the 1981 Collected Poems.
The second image here is from a visit to Plath’s grave at the church at Heptonstall, back in September 2020. I still find it hard to believe that she was only 30 when she died, and yet she produced so much incandescent work.
#SylviaPlath #Poetry #Poets #Faber #AmandaGolden #KarenVKukil #Heptonstall #Yorkshire #Bookstodon @bookstodon
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♪ My Weekly Top 10 #lastfm artists: Rush (63), Baroness (51), Soundgarden (44), Electric Light Orchestra (21), Ozzy Osbourne (20), Crown Lands (18), Lynyrd Skynyrd (17), The Claypool Lennon Delirium (15), The Who (15), & Led Zeppelin (13)
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Feeling pretty smart this morning taking an existing Markdown iOS Shortcut, adding some things at the end to have an easy link sharing tool for #Pika!
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I've joined as a co-op member of @subvertworld - thanks to @jgrzinich for the heads-up about this.
I've only uploaded my most recent (2023) album for now, but in time I'll put everything there that's currently on Bandcamp.
Here's the link: https://www.subvert.fm/brianlavelle
#Subvert #Coops #ArtistOwnedInternet #BandcampAlternative #ExperimentalMusic #ImprovisedMusic @ExperimentalMusic @improvisedmusic
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So looking forward to seeing this!
A trinity of talent resurrects 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at Seattle's 5th Ave https://share.google/24kLyTat7ymA4R0mb -
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Four years ago today I visited the site of Robert Taylor's alleged encounter with a UFO at Dechmont Woods in West Lothian. There was a lot of rain.
https://brianlavelle.scot/unidentify-me-in-woods-in-rain/
#DechmontLaw #DechmontUFOtrail #DechmontWoods #UFOs #WestLothian #ufology
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Playing a bit of #Banished while we wait next month's Fallout 76 update.
twitch.tv/maeglin73 #Gaming #CityBuilding #Twitch #ExtraLife -
If you’ve never, do yourself a little holiday favor and watch the #Murderville “Who Killed Santa?” special on #Netflix
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Just discovered #Murderville via the Christmas special. How have I not heard about this before? Hilarious.
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Pretty good sleep + lots of calories yesterday + body feeling ok = good #deadlifts today. And my standing desk isn’t wrecking me so far. This old, old man will take it.
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No surprise it was the year of #Zelda. The next most played game was just 1/5 of the amount of time I spent dealing with the Upheaval. 🎮
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Shaba-shaba hey!
Now he has a friend!
“#Lego” #Zelda #Korok #TearsoftheKingdom #TotK #BreathoftheWild #BotW
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⛵️ Ahoy! Anyone looking for #sailing crew in or around the Netherlands in April? I’d love to get some experience in tidal waters 😃
I’m a proactive, fun sailor who loves making salads and omelettes. I hold an #RYA Coastal Skipper certification, 1402 sea miles (non-tidal), and 49 night hours.
I speak English, German, & Dutch fluently and would love to join your #crew for a week or two.
Let’s talk! 🙏🏼 😃
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Excerpt from my #journal today... 👉🏼 Live the truth. The only way to truly comprehend the truth is to live it.
The only way to truly comprehend any truth is to live it. Even then, we're susceptible to blind spots.
Perhaps true comprehension is when we can view, understand, and process any #truth on all three levels.
Third-hand: reading, #intellectual understanding
Second-hand: observation, #empirical understanding
First-hand: living, #experiential understandingMost of us are content with intellectual, third-hand understanding. We go to school, we read books, we learn from teachers.
Scientists take it one step further. We conduct experiments and observe the results. Still, there's an objectivity there that stands in the way of the deepest understanding.
That's where travelers, #lovers, astronauts, #explorers, and #psychonauts come in. We strive to live our knowledge. We live to experience the insights we've gleaned from other means.
We want to #embody our truth.
🙏🏼 Thank you for sharing this moment with me! What do you think?
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These days, I’d probably say #SwordsAndWizardry or #OldSchoolEssentials just for ease of use and adaptability, although I have a fondness for the #RulesCyclopedia too.
For more complexity, I’d say #OSRIC—I’m eagerly awaiting the new version being printed by Mythmere Games (and in landscape form too!)
But it has to have some weirdness to it, as you say!
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I just finished watching the #Marvel #Inhumans series on #DisneyPlus because I wanted to learn a little more about the characters. I heard it wasn’t great going in, but I can confirm that it is pretty, pretty,pretty bad.
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Looking forward to seeing Glenda Rome's documentary Expressing The Earth about Kenneth White and geopoetics. If you're in or near Edinburgh it's on at the Filmhouse on 22 April and there are a few tickets left. The trailer is really beautiful.
#Documentary #GlendaRome #KennethWhite #Poetry #ScottishPoets #Geopoetics #FilmhouseEdinburgh
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AMM - Aura
Matchless Recordings, 2024A superbly detailed and very welcome recording of the duo of Eddie Prévost (percussion) and John Tilbury (piano and harpsichord) playing live at the concert hall of the Sibelius Museum in Turku, Finland on 8 October 2016.
#AMM #ImprovisedMusic #MatchlessRecordings #EddiePrévost #JohnTilbury @improvisedmusic
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God bless a taper.
From Al W
“infinity hall tape #Eggy
38 min shatter! nice first set, deep second set, fun encore, great crowd
Check out this show by Eggy from Sat, May 2, 2026 at Infinity Hall on Live Music Archive! https://livemusicarchive.app/music/recordings/eggy2026-05-02%E2%80%9D
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Friend of #Eggy, Brad Goodall, released his new album “Hometown” today. You should listen to it!
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“Be where your feet are.”
- Jon Kabatt-Zinn -
Here’s an inspiring podcast for the weekend. It’s about art & play in the age of AI with Douglas Rushkoff and Brian Eno.
Art and play give us safe spaces to practice how we deal with different emotions. They allow us to imagine realities that don’t exist but we could create.
They also call our attention to things that exist but we haven’t noticed or maybe we take for granted. We experience objects or phenomena with a different perspective, essentially forcing us to ask “how do I feel about this?”
But the most inspiring part for me is this simple but profound reminder. It was a shift in mindset
As an artist, I too often feel like I don’t have time for drawing, writing, dancing, acting, singing, or drumming. There’s no time for messing around, taking a bath in the sun, sharing stories, making jokes, playing roles, or wearing costumes.
“I’ve got work to do.”
However, art and play are meaningful for their own sake, beyond any external, practical benefit.
Animals don’t play to practice hunting. They hunt so they have the energy to play.
Art and play are intrinsic to life itself. They give meaning to our human existence.
How do you feel about this? 💚+🧠
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J and I just got back from seeing The Choral, in The Ritz, the lovely little independent cinema in Thirsk in Yorkshire.
I enjoyed the film, helped by Alan Bennett’s clever and poignant storytelling, and the lead performance by Ralph Fiennes (plus some great work from the supporting cast).
One of the cast members popped in (unscheduled and a real surprise for the volunteers who run the cinema, it seems) and did a wee introduction at the start!
In other news, it is raining in Yorkshire.
A lot.
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I did Dr. @BreneBrown’s Living into Our Values exercise from #DareToLead. Here’s how it went for me 💁🏻 https://d3e.co/tw
3 simple (but not easy!) steps:
🥒 Identify your core #values
🥗 Turn them into #behaviors
🍱 Operationalize them for real #change -
#Integrity is “choosing courage over comfort; it’s choosing what’s right over what’s fun, fast or easy; and it’s practicing your values, not just professing them.”
- @BreneBrown 📕 #DareToLeadReflecting on my values & how well I’m living into them right now:
💚 #Compassion (maximize love)
🧠 #Efficiency (minimize waste)🙌🏼 What are yours?
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Ends the weekend by watching #TruthSeekers while waiting for the snow to start falling. ❄️ ☃️
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Wondering if anyone can recommend a (free) way to follow Instagram feeds in an RSS reader? I searched online for a way to convert an Instagram user's feed to an RSS feed but it appears it's “complicated”…
I self-host #FreshRSS and would like to be able to follow some music-related Instagram feeds which post about local gigs etc. I ditched my Instagram account a few years ago and won't ever go back, but it would be great to be able to see announcements of gigs and that sort of thing, from people who don't use anything to get the word out apart from the dreaded Instagram…
Thanks in advance!
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Gets into the holiday spirits with a viewing of #ViolentNight.
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Hey! 👋🏼 I’ll be in the Netherlands around the first half of April and would love to speak at your meetup, event, or gathering of friends!
I’d love to speak or host a workshop on #Empathy, #UXdesign, #SelfCare, #breathwork, and/or #meditation.
And I love to sing and play percussion at your #JamSession 🎶
For 23 years, I’ve helped startups and corporates turn digital strategy into (sometimes) award-winning digital products. Now, I’m a coach, bodyworker, sailor, and musician.
I hold a professional doctorate in Human-System Interaction, as well as certificates in meditation, breathwork, Jikiden reiki, and traditional Thai yoga massage.
Does any of this resonate? Then let’s talk! DM me or comment on this post. See you soon!
May you be happy, at peace, free, and unconditionally loved! 🙏🏼💚
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While in Glasgow yesterday, I couldn’t resist a visit to Good Press in St. Andrew’s Street. It’s probably for the best that this amazing shop crammed full of books, zines, music and other treasures isn’t on my doorstep, because I’d be there every other day…They have things I’d never find anywhere else!
Picked up a couple of interesting titles (it would have been rude not to!).
#GoodPress #GoodPressGlasgow #Books #Zines #IndependentBookshop #UrsulaKLeGuin #UrsulaLeGuin #ALargerReality #WinterTexts #WithABird #AvianKinship #Onomatopee #OnomatopeeBooks #Bookstodon @bookstodon
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“What we don't need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” - Brené Brown
#EmotionalIntelligence #grit #life #vulnerability #leadership
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Good article about the difficulty of adapting #ElmoreLeonard's books.
#TV #Movies #Books #Justified #GetShorty
https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2023/07/14/justified-elmore-leonard-adaptations/
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"[Y]our burnout, your lack of influence, your sense that the discipline has lost its way are not evidence of your individual shortcomings but symptoms of a system working exactly as it is designed to work."
In this poignant essay (linked below), Angelos Arnis describes the state of design in the age of AI. But it didn't start with AI...
"[T]he institutional arrangements within which design operates are configured to extract design's value while withholding design's autonomy and authority..."
Folks like Mike Monteiro, Erika Hall, Aral Balkan, and Laura Kalbag opened my eyes to this dynamic around 2014/2015. It started as a call to action for us designers to own the ethics of what we do, challenge expoitative business models, and 'do no harm.'
But I've long felt that the game is rigged against us on this. Angelos says this:
"The more I look at the state of tech, the more I recognize a specific structure operating in two distinct ways: the way business absorbs design's attempts at strategic influence, and the way AI tools absorb designers' labor while promising to liberate it."
Still, some designers manage to ake meaningful change, despite the obstacles:
"The designer who can navigate an organization that does not grant them autonomy and still produces meaningful work is doing something admirable. But the skill being developed is the skill of operating within someone else's terms."
I agree. And I realize that it's not easy to resist pressure from your boss, manager, or PM to just design the thing and not ask too many questions. We need to earn a living, right?
So we get beautifully designed products that effectively encourage behavior change that ultimately exploits the product's users to benefit the company that makes it. We get surveillance capitalism, predatory social media platforms, and tech products that enable fascist governments.
But I don't blame designers. I don't even blame the decision-makers who got us here. They are, indeed we all are, just humans doing our best. And most of us are too busy, burned out, or stuck in survival mode to feel the proverbial water heating up around us.
Also, people AI make very seductive promises about AI while convincing us that it's inevitable. Angelos says this:
"The technology generates a feeling of individual empowerment while producing deeper informal dependence. You feel more capable, yet you are truly more depending than ever."
So in Angelos' words, "How might we design the structures that would make design's autonomy a material reality rather than a perpetual aspiration?"
🤷🏼♂️ What do you think?
Thanks for reading, dear one! And thank you Matthijs for sharing this with me!
Here's the essay:
👉🏼 https://d3e.co/y5With love and light,
Brian#design #designers #business #AI #ethics #EthicalDesign #HumanConnection #DesignCommunity #MeaningfulDesign #ChangeManagement #SurveillanceCapitalism #fascism
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Walked along the coastal path today for 8 miles or so and found myself in this quaint Templar preceptory.
Bonus: I found an old whistle. I wonder what it sounds like…
#QuisEstIsteQuiVenit #OhWhistleAndIllComeToYouMyLad #MRJames #Fife #FifeCoastalPath
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Is there a #Shortcut to take an Apple News url then spit out the Source site url for sharing?