Wan Smol Blog

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:04:41 -0400

Well, the rains did come but the party never faltered. 100 people moved inside, loud loud loud, but good conversations among the many overlapping layers to our friends and family, including my college buddy Mark.

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:52:21 -0400

Big party here at the house tonight, to celebrate Anna’s first job as nurse and Malia’s next adventure. We’ve been prepping for days. Hoping we don’t get big rains (but if we do I may take everyone out to search for turtles).

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 09:52:58 -0400

Finished reading: Things Become Other Things A Walking Memoir by Craig Mod. Quite enjoyed this. Craig is a unique individual and writer, and I’m glad to read his newsletters, too. 📚

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:49:12 -0400

This box turtle found a smashed toad on the gravel road. I don’t recall seeing this turtle before and wonder what’s happening with the missing scutes. It scurried away when I approached so seemed healthy. It also snorted to get that yellowjacket away.

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:01:20 -0400

The forest is filled with fungi.

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 21:50:54 -0400

A band from my youth, 38 Special, will perform a free show on the UNC campus in November as part of the Chapel Thrill Game Day series. Just one original band member, though. Reminds me how I felt when my dad took me to see Danny and the Juniors. Hold on loosely …

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:51:23 -0400

Weekend road trip to D.C. to pack up Malia’s belongings. Stopped to see uncle and aunt, then south to Staunton River State Park. Clouds so no stars (park is Dark Sky designee) and rains this morning stymied my plans to hike. Black bear as I left. Drove blue highways through Virginia and home to NC.

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 23:08:07 -0400

Thom’s Guide to Tokyo - Supergranular

When I’m asked for Tokyo recommendations my standard answer is that you should just go there and walk around.

Shared this long and rich set of recommendations with my children and they immediately said they want to visit Tokyo.

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 20:39:59 -0400

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:36:50 -0400

I may not have added my feed to the Micro.blog sources correctly. Now I’ve selected the import option so let’s watch this flow to M.b and Wan Smol Blog. This has been a test.

Who will use this?

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:33:05 -0400

I've added my feed from RSS.storian to my Micro.blog account so that posts I write here will show up in my M.b timeline, and so also on Wan Smol Blog. This will be the first.

Yesterday Dave Winer wrote about how he sees the network evolving:

People will want to run all-size workgroups.

I've been thinking about how I'll use RSS.storian, and who would want to write in this ecosystem. As I've been doing since 2000, I first thought about my family, both immediate and extended, though the public nature of the chat would be off-putting to them. Then I thought about two other groups that might naturally understand this:

A team of journalists covering a live or ongoing event, similar to how the NYTimes reporters have a group blog during the State of the Union address or a team might cover a natural disaster. (Thinking about the damaging earthquake in Japan today, and I'm writing this just after a tornado warning for Chapel Hil lifted.)
A work group following the agile communications handbook in which Giles Turnbull recommends week notes and other open updates.

I'm just starting to explore the possibilities of RSS.chat. More ideas to come, I hope, and flowing through to my other streams.

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:38:09 -0400

Mushrooms on the woodchip pathway to my work studio. The Seek app identifies these as Golden-gilled Gerronema (Gerronema strombodes). The MushroomExpert has a long writeup.

Olsem wanem?

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 21:16:02 -0400

I'll start with my version of 'Hello, world' and the common Bislama greeting used up and down the Vanuatu archipelago.

My name is Anton Zuiker and this is the first post on my own installation of the new RSS.chat software.

Dave wants RSS.chat to be a coral reef. Having snorkeled reefs in Vanuatu, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and Australia, I like that concept. This is my (very small) part in helping to build a virtual coral reef that will stretch around the globe.

I'm calling my install RSS.storian because in Bislama storian means to chat.

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:24:02 -0400

Dinner date at our favorite pizzeria in Carrboro. Came back and kittens are doing great in the secure chicken run. Though, there was a curious owl perched in the tree above. It silently flew off when Erin approached.

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:10:43 -0400

Fascinating article in the NYTimes: A Once Outlawed Māori Art Form Is Alive and in the Flesh (gift article). Of interest to me because of that great novel I read recently, The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson, in which tā moko is a key part of the story.

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:40:21 -0400

I won’t win awards for carpentry skills but I’m proud of this project. All juniper posts were gathered from our property. It’s solid enough to last a few years, I hope. Inspired by the DIY instructions in Hentopia: Create a Hassle-Free Habitat for Happy Chickens.

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:33:00 -0400

Chicken run now has a fresh layer of wood chips. Until we build a new coop to replace the decaying kit coop, no chickens until we add pullets next spring. Erin will use the enclosure to train the kittens to stay close to the house and away from the coyotes (new fence around yard will help).

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:51:37 -0400

Now I’m sitting on the sofa, sipping Yunnan golden tips supreme and listening to latest album from Iron and Wine (pretty sure I saw Sam in the hair salon yesterday when I was getting my haircut and hearing about my stylist’s trip to Machu Picchu and Galápagos).

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:47:53 -0400

Erin and I finished constructing the chicken run. She told me I’ve been at this project for two years. I gathered the juniper trunks for the posts, a buddy helped me secure the side wire fencing. Oliver helped along the way. Today I added the last top rails and we secured chickenwire on top.

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 13:15:09 -0400

The Demon Next Door

In a more immediate sense, invoking demons can be a means of dehumanizing and delegitimizing political enemies, which has often been a precursor to actual warfare and political violence. “It’s a very useful way to get around the Christian imperative to love your enemy,” Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University, told me.

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 13:13:08 -0400

The True History of New England’s Stone Walls

People love walls, especially the weather-grizzled, lichen-blotched stone walls that crisscross the woods, hills, fields, and gardens of New England. I am one of them.

I was just in Rhode Island and saw thes stone walls. A few year’s ago here in North Carolina, I gathered up and placed granite stones on the property line between our old place and new, and I was thinking of gathering more for a wall. I did leave spaces for the turtles to cross.

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 23:17:20 -0400

Finally felt good enough to finish a blog post about our trip to Acadia National Park. Highlights include meeting Drupal creator Dries Buytaert on the trail (I also reference my appreciation of @manton and other CMS developers). If I’d felt better I’d have eaten better in Portland, too. [fixed link]

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:33:22 -0400

Tonight in the forest outside there are two young owls begging for food with their screeches. Every year I hear a single juvenile, so two out there is pretty cool.

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:19 -0400

Even though I wasn’t feeling well, I was glad to have been able to see The Heavy Heavy at Ocean Mist in Matunuck, Rhode Island. They put on another good show. Fun music.

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:57:19 -0400

Departed in the pre-dawn ocean air of Rhode Island, arrived back in North Carolina, and immediately hit with a head cold. Allergies to this humid home state, or new symptoms of last week’s (self-diagnosed) cyclosporiasis while in Maine? Either way, added misery.