Now Page layout and content update

_layouts/corrupt_now.html

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
       </header>
       <main>
           <article>
-              {{ content }}
+              <h1>Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}</h1>
               <div class="author_info">
                 {{ page.author }}
                 <a href="https://unlicense.org/"
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
                 This is a <a href="https://nownownow.com/about" id="now">Now Page</a>
                 inspired by <a href="https://sive.rs/" id="now">Derek Sivers</a>.
               </div>
+              {{ content }}
           </article>
       </main>
       {% include cor_menu.html %}

_posts/2015-01-01-Ireland-Log.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
      tabtitle: Ireland Log
      title: A Log of My Travels in Ireland
-     topics: other
+     topics: [life]
      pub: "2015-01-01"
      short_desc: "Once upon a time, I traveled to Ireland. It was quite the
      experience. Me, my 3 friends Suf, Chris and Cary, Scion, shenanigans,

_posts/2015-07-09-A-Friends-Father.html

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
      tabtitle: A Good Friend's Father
      title: A Good Friend's Father
-     topics: [philosophy, other]
+     topics: [philosophy, life]
      pub: "2015-07-09"
      short_desc: "A good friend's father died. What can I learn from this?"
 ---

_posts/2020-06-03-post.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
      tabtitle: 'An Update'
      title: 'It has been a while.'
-     topics: [writing, other]
+     topics: [writing, life]
      pub: '2020-06-03'
      short_desc: "It has been a while. Here's an update, of sorts."
 ---

_posts/2024-08-19-life-in-progress-august.md

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+---
+  tabtitle: "Life in Progress: August, 2024"
+  title: "Life in Progress: August, 2024"
+  topics: [life]
+  pub: 2024-08-19
+  short_desc: "Life In Progress update for August"
+---
+
+# Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}
+
+- Learning [Stan Rogers'
+  _Bluenose_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZVpvJsqTMM) on mandolin and voice
+- Building a few games in the [TIC-80 fantasy console](https://tic80.com)
+- Deploying my own ["Pages" server](https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/pages-server/)
+- Building a Forgejo Action for deploying game builds to Itch.io using
+  [butler](https://itch.io/docs/butler/)
+- Building a custom WordPress Docker container that uses SQLite
+- Starting my own business
+
+## Music
+
+Adam and I continue our semi-weekly jam sessions! We've settled on [Stan Rogers'
+_Bluenose_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZVpvJsqTMM) for our first piece. I
+normally pick up lyrics pretty quick, but this song eludes me. We worked on the
+chord progression last week, and I've been actually practicing!
+
+## Game Dev
+
+Still having a blast with [TIC-80](https://tic80.com/).  I made a small farming
+experiment game, to learn [Fennel](https://fennel-lang.org)  some more and also
+nail-down some basic design principles. Some of the ideas in that experiment,
+namely generating the map with a loop and `mset` instead of using the built-in
+map designer, gave me some insight for solving my darkness troubles in
+Nightgolf. I'm still wrapping my head around it, but I think this will be a
+solution.
+
+The farming experiment game lives on
+[Itch.io](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/farm-experiment-1) and the [TIC-80
+Webzone](https://tic80.com/play?cart=3965).
+
+## Tech Dev
+
+[Forgejo](https://forgejo.org/) continues to be rewarding, and I'm looking
+forward to expanding my deployment of it by deploying my own ["Pages"
+server](https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/pages-server/).  This will allow me to
+deploy my static sites on my own infrastructure. I'm also working on an "Action"
+for leveraging [butler](https://itch.io/docs/butler/) to publish games I publish
+the source code for from my Forge to Itch.io.
+
+In preparation for both my own use, and my business use, I need to learn more
+about Nextcloud. I'm also working on building a custom WordPress Docker
+container that relies on SQLite instead of MySQL.
+
+Hovering about all this is backups and monitoring, both of which I sprinkle into
+my learning voyage. I'm looking forward to writing up some documentation about
+my implementation.
+
+## Entrepreneurship
+
+I'm happy to report I was accepted into New York's Self-Employment Assistance
+Program, [SEAP](https://dol.ny.gov/SEAP). I will be starting a business offering
+managed online services, such as website design and deployment, personal cloud,
+and email. I would like to offer these services to local small businesses and
+not-for-profits. I think of it as "Silicon Valley experience" at reasonable,
+local prices. I'm excited to dive into the parts I'm not very familiar with,
+namely the business side of things. I have extensive technical experience and
+mastery, but I lack any significant business experience.
+
+## Gaming
+
+I've started a new playthrough of [Darkest
+Dungeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Dungeon).  It's mildly
+frustrating, but mostly fun. I have fun yelling at the game; it's like stress
+relief. I've been generally successful, but the Crimson Court has been very
+rough to me. It is a game about challenges and loss, though, so nothing
+unexpected.
+
+I've continued my play-through of
+[Sundered](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundered), though have put it down for
+a bit. I'm playing it on my Steam Deck using [Lutris](https://lutris.net/), and
+it works very well. Lutris continues to impress me, and I want to try writing an
+installer for a game.

_posts/2024-09-24-life-in-progress-september.md

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+---
+  tabtitle: "Life in Progress: September, 2024"
+  title: "Life in Progress: September, 2024"
+  topics: [life, gaming]
+  pub: 2024-09-24
+  short_desc: "Life In Progress update for September"
+---
+
+# Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}
+
+- New hardware: laptop, phone, and NAS
+- **TWO** game jams!
+- Finishing up Morrowind
+- SEAP/Self-Employment Progress
+
+## New Hardware
+
+### Framework Laptop
+
+This new [Framework](https://frame.work) is great! I've only had it for a few
+weeks, but it is wonderful. I've been slowly sync'ing and migrating workflows
+from my various existing options to it.  Being able to work for multiple hours
+without worrying about battery life is nice.
+
+Previously, the Chromebook I have was my go-to remote personal macine.
+Considering its age, and the inherent limitations of a Chromebook, it served me
+better than I ever could have hoped. However, I knew it's time was drawing
+near, and the Dell I got as part of my work severance was not going to cut it.
+Considering I'm starting a business doing technology, I needed a reliable,
+"all-day" machine with Linux. The ARM-based Macs are incredibly tempting, but
+I am not a fan of Mac. I've been eyeing Framework for a bit now, and their
+newest 13-inch model with AMD components checked enough of the boxen for me to
+dive in.
+
+### Phone
+
+For a while I've been eyeing Mint Mobile. In the US, they have a plan offering
+unlimited text and talk, plus 5 GB of data, for $15 per month. I generally use
+less than 1 GB of streaming data, so this seemed like a clearly better option
+than the $30+ I was paying for Google Fi. When I decided to switch, they had an
+incredible deal offering a Google Pixel 9 plus a year's service for a great
+price, so I not only switched carrier, I also snagged a new phone! I had a
+Samsung S21, which was more than sufficient for my needs, so switching isn't
+quite as significant as with the laptop, but it's still a nice new experience.
+The OS and environment on the Pixel is much nicer than Samsung phones, so
+that's quite the plus!
+
+### NAS
+
+I bought a 2-bay Synology NAS from a friend a few months ago, and with the
+myriad other changes, decided to set it up proper. I setup
+[Navidrome](https://www.navidrome.org/) for audio, and [Jellyfin](
+https://jellyfin.org/) for video. I had previously used Navidrome, then
+switched to Jellyfin for both audio and video, but with the new phone comes a
+return to form. I like [Ultrasonic](https://gitlab.com/ultrasonic/ultrasonic),
+and Navidrome plays nicely with it.
+
+The other big additions with the NAS is more backup scripts, and also pulling
+down some YouTube series I like for local copies. More details in a full post.
+
+## Game Making
+
+Two game jams! One for the entire month of September, [Clone
+Jam](https://itch.io/jam/clone-jam-game-a-month), and a
+[Mini-Jam](https://itch.io/jam/mini-jam-167-cyber). For the Clone Jam, I was
+working on building a ray-casting-based dungeon scavenger, similar to "Legend
+of Grimrock", but with less combat. However, while I have made great progress
+understanding how ray-casting works, and how to implement it, I won't have time
+to finish such a game. That knowledge won't go to waste, though! There's a
+game-jam at the end of October where I intend to make use of it. Instead, I'll
+be touching-up and submitting a clone of Minesweeper I made:
+[TICsweeper](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/ticsweeper).
+
+For the Mini-Jam, I decided to make a "runner" type game: you maneuver your
+sprite to collect and/or avoid certain projectiles. I also made this game in
+the [TIC-80](https://tic80.com). While I didn't pull any all-nighters, focusing
+on a single project for 72-hours with as little down-time as possible is still
+quite exhausting! My submission was called
+[RUNR](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/runr). It ranked 48th out of 66
+submissions, which is honestly disappointing, but not enough to demotivate me
+from continuing my game-making journey!
+
+## Game Playing
+
+I finally finished my play-through of Morrowind, and one of its two expansions,
+Tribunal. (Note: before "DLC", new game content for existing games was
+distributed like the game itself, on a piece of data-storing media, such as a
+CD. These were called "expansion packs.") I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in
+The Elder Scrolls III, and I definitely understand why many claim it as their
+favorite. I will talk more about my experience in a full post, just like I did
+for my recent Fallout 3 replay (I mean, just like I _will_. I _WILL!_)
+
+## Business Time
+
+Alas, while game making and playing are great uses of my time, they do not get
+me the resources I need to pay my bills. I continue to work on starting my own
+business. I've met with two mentors, one business and one technology, to help
+get me started and provide guidance. In fact, this week marks what I would
+consider the proper beginning of my business. With some dedication, I'll have
+more exciting news to share about this next time!
+
+## That's All For Now!
+
+I think the original intention of a "Now" page is to be less verbose, but I
+find the monthly cadence of a somewhat comprehensive update to be more
+appealing! Until next month!

_posts/2025-01-03-life-update.md

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+---
+  tabtitle: "Life in Progress: January, 2025"
+  title: "Life in Progress: January, 2025"
+  topics: [life]
+  pub: 2025-01-03
+  short_desc: "A retrospective of 2024, up to the beginning of 2025"
+---
+
+# Life in Progress: January, 2025
+
+My [now page](/now) is growing too verbose. Instead, I'll leave that page as a
+summary of what this/these page(s) will explore. I'll start with a retrospective
+of 2024, up to now, the beginning of 2025. Maybe a bit of ambitions too.
+
+## 2024 Retrospective
+
+2024 was a significant year. The most notable change being that I was laid off
+in April. The remaining 8 months were quite nice. Before April, the year doesn't
+feel much different or significant. From what I remember, I was stressed,
+unhappy, and overall dissatisfied with my situation. I was in the process of
+saving money to leave, when I was laid off and paid a generous (enough)
+severance. It's nice when the universe solves problems.
+
+Much of April and May was time spent decompressing. A bit too much drinking,
+from what I recall. I began receiving unemployment payments, and looking for
+jobs, though only half-heartedly. I was already decided I would start my own
+business. I also started my playthrough of **Fallout 3**.
+
+At the end of May, I entered into a game jam, and made my first video game,
+[L4-N-DER Training Simulator](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/lander). One thing
+I do remember from the beginning of the year was speaking with some friends
+about trying to publish a video game on Itch. I made the game using
+[Fennel](https://fennel-lang.org/) and the [LÖVE 2D game
+engine](https://www.love2d.org/). It was incredibly rewarding, and a great
+learning experience. This game would be the first of 5 that I published on my
+Itch page this year.
+
+Much of the summer was spent procrastinating starting my own business, and
+golfing. At the beginning of summer, in June, my grandmother passed away. She
+was about 2 weeks from her birthday, and so we round up and say she lived to 98.
+I spent some time helping to clean and clear up her house too. In the beginning
+of July I traveled to New York City to see Rezz. I also started properly
+exploring WordPress, and working to understand better the business I was still
+going to start. Around August, I began playing **Morrowind** for the first time.
+
+In the fall is when I "got serious" about my business. I signed up for the New
+York State Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEAP), and through them signed up
+with SCORE to speak with a mentor and begin some small business training. I made
+my first WordPress site, for a relative (and for free). I also entered into 3
+more game jams during this period, publishing
+[TICSweeper](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/ticsweeper) (a Minesweeper clone
+mde with the TIC-80); [RUNR](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/runr) (another
+TIC-80 game); and [Escape The
+Crash](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/escape-the-crash). _Escape_ was based on
+some work of mine over the summer to better understand and implement ray-casting
+in the TIC-80, which I then translated for use in Fennel and LÖVE. At the end of
+fall, my remaining grandmother severely injured herself, placing her in town
+through the end of the year. For the second year in a row, much of the holidays
+would be spent visiting a rehabilitation center (the same one as my first
+grandmother's). Since the pandemic, I don't think I've had a "normal" holiday
+season.
+
+At the end of the year, I formally started my business, [Niblock Technology
+Solutions](https://www.niblock.tech), and began working on websites for two
+additional clients. Exploring this new world has been exciting, and there are a
+lot of new challenges. I love working with others to solve problems, and I'm
+looking forward to it. I'm also beginning work on a second business idea for a
+game shop. I want to build a community space for people to play games, enjoy
+company, and relax. Rounding the year out was my first playthrough of **Deus
+Ex**.
+
+## Now: January, 2025
+
+Now. Plenty of plans and ambitions.
+
+Easiest: I started a playthrough of **Oblivion**. Similar to **Fallout 3** and
+**Morrowind**, my goal is to complete the main story and all DLC's. This time
+around, I explored a new modding setup, using [Lutris](https://lutris.net/) to
+install and manage the game (from GOG), and all the modding tools. For all three
+of these games I want to write up a brief retrospective about my experiences and
+any of the setup required for playing them on Linux. I already have two articles
+for Oblivion ([Part 1](/2021/11/20/oblivion-linux.html), [Part
+2](/2021/12/09/oblivion-linux-2.html)) detailing using Steam and Proton. I think
+the Lutris approach is a bit nicer.
+
+_Escape The Crash_ was fun to make, but it's not done yet. I want to add in a
+floor, sound effects, a skybox, and objectives. And an actual ending condition.
+
+Game-making in general I want to continue. I've started looking into the
+[DragonRuby game engine](https://dragonruby.org/). I also want to learn (more)
+Godot. I have no shortage of ideas, only my regular struggles with motivation
+and focus.
+
+I've fallen into a few bad habits, and my health is worse for them. Its absurdly
+easy for me to put on weight, and equally as difficult to lose it again. At my
+heaviest I was over 320 pounds, and I'm now at a much better 240. I want to
+bring that number down to 200, but I also want to remove as much significance
+from that number as I can. It should be a metric, not a grade.
+
+I've also set for myself several music goals. I want to get better at
+sight-reading, and so I have a goal to read a new piece of music each week. I
+also want to explore music production, and try making my own 45-60 minute mix.
+
+There are the business goals. I need to have an income that supports my
+lifestyle, which means more clients and (hopefully) more businesses!
+
+Finally, I want to write more. I think about writing, but rarely follow-through.
+As all my other ambitions develop, sharing them with the world will help me
+formally catalog my successes. Plus, if I have something useful and helpful to
+share, then I want to!

_topics/life.html

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+    title: Life
+    tabtitle: "Life Posts"
+---
+
+{% include topics.html %}

_topics/other.html

@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
----
-    title: other
-    tabtitle: "Other Posts"
----
-
-{% include topics.html %}

now.md

@@ -2,102 +2,20 @@
   layout: corrupt_now
   tabtitle: Now
   author: Bill Niblock
-  pub: 2024-12-26
+  pub: 2025-01-03
 ---
 
-# Life In Progress, as of {{ page.pub }}
+- The Holiday Spirit made me a bit too jolly! After many cookies and cocktails,
+  it's time to get active, and fix some bad food habits. Again.
 
-- Started a business!
-- _Morrowind_, _Deus Ex_, and Pathfinder
-- Another game jam!
+- My business, [Niblock Technology Solutions](https://www.niblock.tech),
+  continues to move forward. I have a second client! Next, I want to work on
+  expanding my offerings, and improve my coverage.
 
-Overall, while it has been a few months, changes seem to have slowed a bit.
-Looking back on the past several months, there are significant changes, but also
-fewer of them.
+- I've begun a playthrough of one of my favorite games, **The Elder Scrolls IV:
+  Oblivion**. I'm very happy with the modding setup I've got this time around,
+  and look forward to writing up the details!
 
-## My Own Business
-
-I have officially started my own business, [Niblock Technology
-Solutions](https://www.niblock.tech). I even have a few clients! Exploring this
-new world has been exciting. There are a lot of new challenges, and certain a
-demand of time, attention, and dedication. As someone who loves working with
-others to solve problems, this seems to be a great development. I've been
-enjoying looking for my own technology solutions to some of my own wants, in
-addition to helping my clients solve theirs.
-
-I'm also beginning work on another business idea I have. The area I live in
-could benefit from a game shop. I want a community space that people can come
-in, play games, enjoy company, and otherwise relax. That's a significant
-departure from my experience! I have some baby steps towards that business that
-I think will make significant impacts on the success!
-
-## Gaming Updates
-
-Recently our Pathfinder game had a fun and rewarding side-quest, for which I
-made a summoner. What a powerful class! Mine is a Tengu, but from an
-Egyptian-themed region, and thus more ibis inspired than crow. Summoners get an
-eidolon, so naturally mine is themed after a crocodile. This side-quest had us
-achieving mythic power, and so I've had an opportunity to explore not only a new
-class, but a whole gamut of new powers. Very fun, very exciting!
-
-The character really inspired a lot of creativity. Part of this character's
-mythic powers are tied to the Proteans, denizens of the maelstrom, Pathfinder's
-plane of chaos. They're a really interesting bunch, seemingly conflicted in
-their own right (they are of the primordial chaos, and yet adhere to a strict
-hierarchy of power). In exploring the lore about them, I imagined a visual novel
-of sorts, playing as my summoner acting as a scholar and historian traveling the
-maelstrom, interacting with these beings. They are described as civilized enough
-that I don't think it's a stretch for them to be welcoming and cordial of
-guests. Could make for a fun game!
-
-I properly finished up _Morrowind_. As I mentioned previously, a fantastic game.
-There is so much exciting modding happening in that community that I am very
-interested in diving back in soon! However, I decided to tackle another old game
-I've wanted to play but never have: _Deus Ex_. I'm probably 80% through the
-game, and I have been enjoying it a lot. I've bounced off playing it a number of
-times, and I think a big part of that was this unnecessary expectation to play
-as a silent, non-violent type. Instead, I've been loud when I want, running
-around with a kick-ass nano-blade. I haven't been taking the play-through too
-seriously, but I have been relatively thorough. Again: there's some compelling
-mods which are already making me excited to give it another play-through, and
-some game-play and story choices which I'll look forward to doing differently
-next time! However, there are several games I'm looking forward to in the
-interim. I've seen several streams of _Heroes of Might and Magic II_, and it
-made me consider if I'd ever played through the campaigns of _Heroes of Might
-and Magic III_. I know I haven't for _II_, since I've never played it! I picked
-it up, and I want to give each a campaign play-through. I may do that along side
-another game. _Oblivion_ is definitely calling me, and I'll probably setup a
-"vanilla-plus" mod-pack for it to play through with. Despite my love of
-_Oblivion_, I've never actually played through the main story, nor many of the
-DLC's!
-
-## Autumn LISP Game Jam
-
-Capping off the year in game development is the second of the bi-annual LISP
-game jams, the [Autumn LISP Game Jam
-2024](https://itch.io/jam/autumn-lisp-game-jam-2024). I implemented some of the
-ray-casting code I've been working on in my submission, [Escape the
-Crash](https://vagabondazulien.itch.io/escape-the-crash). I had a lot of fun
-learning and developing with this one. Ray-casting still fascinates me, and I
-look forward to understanding it better; at least well enough to get some floors
-and ceilings into the game! I also believe that I can use the ray-casting
-algorithm to draw a sky-box of sorts. Essentially: note the first wall
-interaction, and use that to draw the walls as per usual, but extend to ray
-until a "stopping" signal, at which point draw the sky-box. I also want to
-implement some sprites! I've also never played around with sounds, and I want to
-explore that more in Love2D. The game was received surprisingly well, given it
-was incomplete and also suffering from some performance issues. That's very
-inspiring! I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.
-
-## Signing Off
-
-I let slip a few months of updates, which will be a focus of mine for the new
-year. A monthly cadence will be nice. Though, I'm also now considering
-re-adjusting my approach. This page can be a summary of a post containing the
-full content (as it currently shows). I'm not holding myself to a goal, but
-writing two posts a month would be a nice flow. One of them could just be this
-monthly update, with a second being a game review or technology review or
-something.
-
-Regardless, this marks the end of both this update, and this year! 2024 was a
-doozie! Here's hoping 2025 isn't too bad...
+- I have a goal to improve my music sight-reading skill, and plan to do so by
+  reading a new piece of music each week. I've started off with some Bach, and
+  will likely continue with him for a bit.