mcclellangg.com

Update June 2026

Jun 30, 2026

Hello Summer

Overview

I didn't get out much. I spent the first 3 weeks adjusting to life with a broken foot. One of my friends said:

the friction of existing with an injury like that gets so much heavier

Observe a typical task I enjoy (with the exception of tupperware). I grab the spoons, I put them in the spoon drawer. I grab the knives I put them in the knife block. I grab the cups and put them on the shelf. And so on with bowls, plates, and specialty items. Everything in its place and a place for everything (minus the chaos of tupperware).

Now imagine you grab the thing, you then place the thing temporarily, then grab your crutches, move 2 steps THEN place it where it goes. It gets old. Heck you may even refuse to deal with tupperware land, you had to use up all your spoons putting them in the drawer.

Now apply that to all your daily rituals that normally help you regulate. Fuck.

My silver lining is that this is all temporary, and the situation is improving. I'm in awe of how other people manage. Humans are wild.

It has been a month of experiments.

new tools

I found a new habit tracker! Previously I used Matt Rickard's habit tracker. It sadly disappeared sometime earlier in the month. Loop Habit Tracker has become an enjoyable replacement.

I've been experimenting with stretchly to replace my tkinter timer. Over the past year timers have become a staple in my tool kit.

I've still been using Anki, I normally review during my morning coffee. In some subject areas I jump to encode information too soon. Others recommend to understand first. I'm still finding my rhythm of what exactly constitutes understanding.

neovim

I've been hacking around with Neovim the past month. I absolutely love it.

I'm also committing to learning one thing at a time. This month I broadly targeted programming, and specifically chose to learn Neovim. Although, I suppose "learning Neovim" is not specific. Learning to build my own config that works for editing Neovim is where I ended up.

Daily practice sessions in bursts of 15-30 minutes helps maintain skill levels in my creative outlets (programming, drawing). More importantly they are a consistent touchpoint for longer periods of creativity if time allows.

Although these bursts are valuable touchpoints, they do not directly foster learning new techniques, or advance my understanding or ability to use a medium (be it drawing or programming).

Improving a skill requires dedicated learning and projects. In other words, some kind of plan, long term time commitments and keeping your focus.

I'm in the process of cementing this experiment in 2 writeups (title TBD):

  • Mini learning framework
  • Creating your config - what I learned in a month of Neovim

I want to build a habit of "making it real" by cementing learnings in writing, and sharing them here. This is a rule I learned from Fernando Borretti

I try to apply a rule that if I do something, and don’t write about it—or otherwise generate external-facing evidence of it—it didn’t happen. I have built so many things in the dark, little experiments or software projects or essays that never saw the light of day. I want to put more things out. If it doesn’t merit an entire blog post, then at least a tweet.

I have SO MANY little things in the dark. I won't stop doing that, because it's fun, and tiny experiments have their value. BUT, I really love learning, and like I mentioned last month (I should have a link blog, that links on a heading level) I want to commit. I don't think actual learning will be possible for me if it is fractured.

Writing something public facing (even if no one will read it) forces you to acknowledge what you truly did or did not learn when you tell yourself "I'm learning something".

I'm also on a quest to find my playground. I have some ideas about what it could be, but we will see how that goes.

Anyways, hope you are doing well! Drink water, and enjoy your summer!

an icebreaker

If you could be any piece of furniture what would you be?

Content

Movies

  • Frankenstein (eh, washed out Crimson Peaks with great Nate Frankenperformance)
  • Dinner in America (Rewatch, We love this movie)
  • Hardboiled (B A N G E R)

Books

  • Shiver
  • Vuzz
  • Uzumaki
  • Reading ... Midnight Tides

TV

  • Euphoria S3 (I don't recommend this show BUT the finale did blow me away, relative to the rest of the show)
  • Buffy (In honor of Giles RIP)
  • The Bear S5 (Fuck I love this show)

Music

Games

  • Zelda Links Awakening DX (fk I love this game, on the 6th dungeon now)

Articles

Advice

What color is the light in the room of your mind?

Weigh your thoughts!

Perhaps you don't need to pick something to go all in on, it's about what you keep coming back to.

Stats

  • Working back from boot to shoe, hope to see you soon