Trying to install Windows 11 on a laptop is turning out to be more trouble than it is likely worth. Having to first install Windows 10, update everything possible, and then install Windows 11 on top of it means that a normally 20min task is taking almost two hours.
What's laughable about this is that the only reason I'm even doing this is because I find it easier to complete my corporate work from my personal device than to use the locked-down business machine I am provided.
To add to the mayhem, trying to set-up a dual-boot of Windows 11 with Zorin OS (my Linux distro of choice) means even more headaches. Moving to Linux at the beginning of the year as my default operating system was one of the better technical decisions I've made in life. That is, until I realized I also still needed access to Windows on the same device.
Cristina Jerney offers four weeks of general education for the masses:
"In recent years, there’s a tendency towards specialism and specialists, from the job market to identities to relationships to education and more. ... As a result, people are quick to try to categorize themselves based on interest or skill, as a way of telling the world who they are quickly, before an audience’s attention runs out, which can lead to tunnel vision, bias, and a sense of social entrapment. ... A syllabus for generalists ... contains something for everyone—for specialists looking to branch out, and for generalists searching for new beginnings of knowledge."
The content contained within each week at seems random enough at first glance, but when you take a closer look and consider what this syllabus aims to achieve, it all makes sense. I love it.
Moreover, the Syllabus Project as a platform with a highly specific purpose also speaks to the curious voice inside my head.
I need set some time aside to dig into both of these.
Words for a mother who has passed.
...
Buoyant ships, steady and slow,
Moments where time seems to suspend,
Yet the journey always continues.
Grandkids, like time itself—
Always enough in the moment,
But never enough to fill a lifetime.
Blue Jays on a summer afternoon,
The crack of a bat echoes,
Always waiting for the season
That might come again.
Mustard, bright and simple,
Her joy in every bite,
A small piece of her passed down.
And the Browns—
Through all the seasons,
Her loyalty never wavered,
Faithful till the end.
I think I'm finally done fussing over digital notes and writing apps.
Like Jack, I've tried every note-taking and organizing app under the sun, but none of them seem to stick. I got lost in the endless customization of Obsidian. I loved TiddlyWiki, but the default markup language and finicky saving functions drove me nuts. I thought Logseq would be the one, but I couldn’t get my head around its linking protocols or outlining structure—and iCloud syncing for these apps is painfully slow and cumbersome.
Back in the early days, around 2007-2012, I was all about plain text files using nvAlt. Those were simpler times. The portability, the lack of distractions—it was a perfect system when I only had to worry about personal devices like my MacBook and iPhone. But as time went on, my setup became multi-platform: iPhone, MacMini server, Linux personal laptop, Windows for work. This complexity pushed me to search for a single, cross-platform app that would give me a consistent experience everywhere I worked.
That app doesn’t exist. Go ahead, try to prove me wrong—you won’t.
So, it feels inevitable that I return to what I know works: Markdown-flavored text files.
No more fussing. No more bloated apps.
Just text files and two simple tools—1Writer on iOS and QOwnNotes everywhere else.
I’m done. I’m spent.
It’s time to stop fussing and get back to writing. Time to come home, back to simple systems that allow my time and energy to be spent where they matter most.
