Oh, hello there.

Intro

tl;dr - I'm a #queer, #pagan, #autistic software engineer from my beloved NJ. I write #fiction & #essays, play #videogames & #read. I like #tea, #comicbooks, #oldtech & #music. I'm older than most of you.

Most of my posts are self-indulgent ramblings about stuff that passes through my head and grumblings about technology. I don't shitpost. ymmv.

My alt is https://icosahedron.website/@pixelpaperyarn which I use for various writing talk and announcements.

My hub for finding me and my projects is https://paladin.space/

I enjoy showing my learning process, hopefully demystifying how the tech industry works. I chat about the ideas I have that I don't have time to manifest.

I'm a neutral good paladin and I am friends with chaos. Systems have their uses, but my moral code will always take precedence.

I believe in kindness and do my best to help when I can.

#introductions #reintroductions

Projects

I do a LOT of things, many of which are meant to be helpful to others and some just because I love doing them.

I run http://lunastationquarterly.com, a speculative lit mag for women-identified authors.

I run https://selfcare.tech & its bots for those that need self care resources.

I've have a newsletter (https://buttondown.email/commonplace), create web development guides (https://aquantityofstuff.com/guides/), and maintain a digital garden (https://www.woolgathering.xyz/).

Details on all this stuff and more are here: http://pixelpaperyarn.rocks/projects/

You can also find my books and card decks here (sales announced on my alt):
• itch.io: https://pixelpaperyarn.itch.io/
• gumroad: https://gumroad.com/lunastationpress?sort=page_layout&tags=jennifer%20lyn%20parsons
• amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Lyn-Parsons/e/B008A5Z8YA

Support

I'm fortunate enough to be financially stable right now so please feel free to donate elsewhere. That said, if you'd like to tip me for my community work, I always enjoy a cup of tea: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/pixelpaperyarn

I’m unabashedly proud of something I’ve made. “Take On Me” is the best thing I’ve ever written.

It’s a story about love, grief, food, music, and the people who accept you exactly as you are.

And now it’s not just mine anymore, it’s yours, too.

https://takeonme.xyz/

I switched to using FF Developer Edition as my main work browser. It's been great so far!

The only thing I immediately missed about Chrome was the grouped tabs feature. A coworker had mentioned https://workona.com/ a while back so I tried that out.

There stuff like task lists and notes which I might have tried out if it was a little more robust (I'm sticking with Todoist) but the tab management has been excellent for context switching and keeping organized.

Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #147 - My question is about how you perceive the utility of suffering. What is the value of suffering to us as individuals, and to us as a species as we go through our life carrying suffering around, like some mind-n
https://www.theredhandfiles.com/utility-of-suffering/

"The utility of suffering, then, is the opportunity it affords us to become better human beings. It is the engine of our redemption."

#Pinboard

@SetecAstronomy I admit that someone sent me the youtube link and I started hunting around how I could buy mp3s and it landed me on the Lego site where they have a whole "Lego for Adults" section and my wallet ran away in fear.

LEGO® White Noise - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mP2EgenHwUccb9AilVS2Tw5NXfUGPeq0Y

Apparently Lego made an ASMR album of brick noises and tbh it's actually helped me focus lately.

#Pinboard

I had an idea this morning for a modification to the spell slot mechanics that would allow a player to create a wizard (I only have vague ideas on this as I've never played a magic caster) that has a chronic illness and incorporates spoon theory:

Using current rules, you roll your level x d2 (representing having a good night's rest vs a bad one) and that’s how many spell slots you have. sometimes you’re extra powerful and sometimes you struggle to cast much.

An alternate rule mod would be that instead of a set number of spell slots you have a spell "pool" kind of like hit dice. Each long rest you roll a d4 and based on the result roll: (your level x the d4 result)d6 +1d6

So a first level wizard could have a minimum of 2 spell points and a maximum of 30.

In this version, spells would have a "cost" rather than a level with higher level spells costing more spell points.

This is all kind of rambly and not completely thought out.

Some more context: She's likely going to be using Mint because that's the distro I use and I know it so I can help more easily when she gets stuck. She also just likes the look of it from seeing mine.

It's unclear what she'll eventually want to be doing. atm she's going to be building her own machine, dual boot Mint and Windows like mine (yay more stuff I already know). After a decade on Macs, she's excited about having control over her system again.

A dear one is looking to get started on Linux. She's open to learning but a total beginner. She'd prefer a physical book, does anyone have suggestions on something really good?

Stopped myself three times writing this toot.

I kept going back to:
Is it true? Yes.
Is it necessary? ...No, if I'm honest.
Is it kind? Nah, and tbh there's no point if number 2 is already a no.

It's not just about not adding negativity to the world, it's about discernment and an active choice to not just share everything with the internet.

Curation over quantity.

Strange fact about me: I can't listen to "lofi beats for studying".

I guess it's an autism/adhd thing, but whatever it is, the particular pulses and beats they use are incredibly distracting from me. They are something my brain wants to listen to and I can't get it to fade in the background.

For focus music, I turn to post-rock.

Oh be still my fluttering heart, I only have ONE official meeting today. -swoons-

Oh hai. I've been away awhile.

Quick update: Vacation was chill. 2nd vaccine shot was Friday (better reaction than I anticipated!). Work is busy but good.

Currently thinking a lot about a "JOMO" journal I saw the other day. JOMO (joy of missing out) being the opposite of FOMO.

I'm trying to find my own balance between staying connected to you all and my other networks of people I like vs keeping thoughts and little joys to myself and what that now compulsive need to share is doing to my life.

Also, my workplace still has open L3 and L4 web engineer positions open if anyone's looking.

This is a strong argument and shows some of why I heart CSS so much. Also, the two tools listed are ​
https://css-tricks.com/css-is-a-strongly-typed-language/

We're open for an L3 Software Engineer! Want to come work with me on an awesome team consulting on big and small civic tech and commercial projects?
https://jobs.lever.co/trussworks/79434db5-b39d-476d-aeca-f93b799c3a6e

The company is 56% women identified cross-practice with a very healthy level of racial diversity (our CEO is BIPOC and our COO is a woman for starters). Fully remote, US only (sorry, we do gov contracts so it's a requirement), transparent salaries across the company (https://rework.fm/truss-the-process/), solid benefits including office setup budget and monthly employee effectiveness budget.

Our public employee handbook is here: https://guide.truss.works/ and our Engineering Playbook is here: https://github.com/trussworks/Engineering-Playbook

(I'm personally an L3 if you want perspective on what that level is like)

#pleaseboost #jobs #softwareengineering

Questions for myself

I recently started getting James Clear's newsletter. In it, he asks a question for the reader to ponder. This week's was:

"How can I create an environment that will naturally bring a

http://pixelpaperyarn.rocks/2021/04/15/questions-for-myself/

Oh wow. I managed to get to inbox zero. Lots of clear-cutting and I'll continue to purge things I just don't read.

Fiddling with LSQ work today and listening to a bunch of new things on Bandcamp.

It's raining and I have coffee and nowhere else to be. Later, there's a baseball game. The advantage of following a team outside your region is even on a rainy Sunday, there will still be bright sunshine and the crack of a bat.