Now

This page records what I am currently working on and thinking about. It is updated occasionally rather than continuously.

Last updated: May 2026

Current themes

I am refining a personal publishing system built around Markdown, Vim, iA Writer, Obsidian, MkDocs Material, and static HTML. The aim is to keep writing and publication close together: the same source document should be readable in an editor, suitable for version control, and capable of becoming a clean PDF or web page without unnecessary ceremony.

I am also working on private, tailnet-only websites for personal and organisational material. The public web is useful, but not every useful website needs to be public. A private static site can be a better archive, handbook, or committee reference than a folder of scattered files.

A third strand is visual: a restrained DOS/Borland-inspired design language for documents and sites. The point is not retro decoration. The point is clarity, contrast, and a small set of colours used consistently enough that the interface becomes immediately understandable.

Current systems

My working environment is intentionally plain-text first. Much of the underlying editing is done in Vim, with iA Writer used where polished PDF output is required and Obsidian used as a convenient rendered view of the same material. Notes live in Markdown. Sites are built from Markdown. Documents are exported to PDF when they need to become fixed artefacts. Git records changes. Linux provides the stable base. iPadOS remains an important writing and administration environment, so the system has to work well away from a conventional desktop.

Current rule

Do not build a system that requires remembering how it works.

A good system should leave traces: sensible filenames, clear folder structure, visible source, readable configuration, and enough documentation that the next version of me can understand what the previous version was thinking.