Last week I remembered why I chose to go with pen and paper for my bullet journal — it was to give my eyes a break from staring at screens all day long.

My only issue with this analog approach to journals, is how to digitize the text that I wrote so that they can be searchable in the future. Sure, bullet journals have an index for tracking down specific topics. But let's face it, that doesn't even come close to being able to search text digitally.

I previously tried to get around this by publishing journal entries on this site. As part of writing those posts, the content from my bullet journal would end up in a text (markdown) file when I download a backup of this site. This benefit went away when I decided to stop writing journal entries.

Now, I'm doing a similar thing with these Weeknotes posts. This time around though, my journal entries end up in my Obsidian vault. I still have to manually type them in though. This is the part I'm trying to streamline. But I'm not sure that's even possible. It's either I ditch my analog bullet journal and go straight to digital journal apps, or just continue what I'm doing — write on my bullet journal then migrate (type up) my notes into Obsidian sometime later in the day or week.

If you have some thoughts that are stuck in your head, write them down so that you can get them out of your head. This frees up your brain and allows it to think about or focus on something else. Like you know, what you should be working on instead.

An idea: Instead of creating a “microblog” to house micro/short posts, or creating one as a social media replacement, how about creating one to hold micro thoughts (or atomic notes) on a specific topic? I'm thinking more of a digital garden here versus a Twitter replacement.

I started trying to build a digital garden on Are.na using excerpts from my journal entries. This also solves one of the problems I've had for awhile now — how to take excerpts out of my Weeknotes posts and put them into their own stand alone posts.

I actually think Are.na is better suited for displaying excerpts, than it is for building a digital garden. But we'll see how it goes. The alternative to it would be another Write.as blog. One using the Novel format, which means no published dates on the posts.

For now though, the use of Are.na is free, at least until I hit the 500 block limit. So I'll try it first and see what I can come up with.

It doesn't do back-links like Obsidian does, but it is possible to connect blocks to a channel. I wish they would allow connecting a block to another block, but they don't. So I'll just try to work with what it can do.

Some great reads last week were Brandon's post about “Home” and Scott Nesbitt's take on digital gardens.

Regarding digital gardens. Scott mentions using Write.as to build a digital garden. I have thought of using Write.as as well, but so far have not figured out the best approach to it. I believe that once Write.as allows a custom static homepage, then it will pave the way to being able to use it to create a digital garden. Until then, it will look more or less like another blog.

This is also another reason why I elected to try building a digital garden with Are.na first.

Found this new site, habitica.com. It seems like it could be used to help accomplish some self-improvement goals.

This was a photo that the wife sent me last week. I definitely agree with that!

Content moved to... Basics of Using Git from the Command Line

Last week I managed to solve my first ever React issue. The React developer in our team had the day off, so I tried figuring it out on my own. After getting the location of the source code from a team member, I was able to figure out why the app was taking us to another page. I am not a React expert, but apparently I can understand it enough to figure out the issue. I'm so proud of myself. The work that I've been doing with trying to learn React is not going to waste.

The song “Where I Belong”, which features Simple Plan, State Champs and We The Kings is such a good song!

I found a reason And suddenly I'm not so alone I'm finally breathing Like I never could on my own Start the countdown, let's get it on Scream our lungs out to our favorite song 'Cause this is where I belong (This is where I belong)

Could listening to music possibly reduce the stress levels brought about by work? I think it does. I was getting stressed out at work and then “Uh Oh” by Junior Doctor started playing. I immediately felt this sense of relief come over me. I felt much more calm and settled. So yeah, I think listening to music while working does help lower stress levels.

Just noticed Davin going over a YouTube video on how to build a tower in Minecraft. He then tried to mimic what he saw in the video and build the tower himself in the game. I thought that was pretty amazing for such a young kid. And amazing that a game fosters that kind of learning and creativity.

The hardest part of raising an infant is the countless sleepless nights. You're not going to get any sleep until your infant is asleep.

And for this week's installment of #FunnyThingsMyKidsSay:

Me and Davin were in another room. I was on the PC, while Davin was reading a book. We heard Baby Caleb cry and then my wife called out.

Davin: Dad, Mom is calling you. Good luck!

***

Davin was trying to color Thor in his coloring book.

Me: Davin, Thor’s clothes should be colored dark blue. Davin: That’s not dark blue, that’s black blue!

I'll end this post with a photo of what dad life looked like last week.

Tags: #Weeknotes #Blogging #BulletJournal #DigitalGarden #FunnyThingsMyKidsSay #JuniorDoctor #Parenthood #Minecraft #Nutrition #PopRock #PopPunk #SelfImprovement #SimplePlan #StateChamps #WeTheKings

Second song for today is “Waking Up” by the band In Stereo. Really good punk-rock, pop-punk track. It's surprising that it doesn't seem to be as popular as I think it should be. Couldn't find any official music video on Youtube for this one. The video on this post comes from a fan who uploaded a copy of the song, because they couldn't find an official one either. Anyway, like I said, a really good track worth listening to.

Happy Friday and I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Tags: #MusicLog #ADayToRemember #InStereo #PostHardcore #PopPunk #PunkRock

First up is the song “Arrows” by the band Last Winter. I tried looking for a music video for this song on Youtube and couldn't find one. I tried looking for lyrics to this song on Bing and couldn't find them. So, like I said above, unfamiliar bands. The only link I could find to this song is through Spotify, so Spotify it is then. Anyway their Spotify bio suggests that they are a pop rock band, which I guess is only partly true. This song is more than just a pop rock track though, as it has hints of pop punk or emo pop to it. Either way, a pretty good song.

Second song for today is “One More Shot” by Take Cover. These guys fared a little better on my Youtube search as I found an official, albeit “audio only” music video for this song.

I love how the song builds up into the chorus, and I like the lyrics in the chorus.

Pardon me but you're a part of me, I'm now accepting all apologies. The least that you can do is stop my sky from falling.

You said we'd make it out in time, but you're getaway left me behind. I'll take the fall for you tonight, alright, if we can take it, we're gonna make it.

It does another great build up to the chorus later in the song, this time through the bridge of the song.

This track has a pretty good combination of pop punk and emo pop. If you like songs from All Time Low, you'll most likely enjoy this one. I for one, really, really like this track.

Tags: #MusicLog #LastWinter #TakeCover #PopPunk #EmoPop

Let's start off with “Keep You With Me” by Hot Chelle Rae. This is a pop-rock song that is more pop than rock, but it has a very catchy melody and is a good one. If you are in a long distance relationship, this is the song for you.

The next three songs are all from All Time Low. They are a pop-punk/emo-pop band that has made some really good songs throughout the years. First up is “Somewhere in Neverland”.

Second song is “Remembering Sunday”. Make it to the end of the song and it will reward you. I think the best part of this song is when the woman finally sings at the very end. She somewhat explains what happened to her and gives you a better picture of what story the song is trying to tell.

Last song is “Painting Flowers”. I love this song because of the beautiful lyrics in the chorus. If I'm not mistaken, this song was included in the OST for Alice in Wonderland.

When I wake up, the dream isn't done I wanna see your face and know I've made it home. If nothing is true, what more can I do? I am still painting flowers for you.

Happy Friday everyone!

#MusicLog #HotChelleRae #AllTimeLow #PopRock #PopPunk #EmoPop

To start it up, we have “Into Your Arms” by The Maine. Love this song, takes me back to my college years.

Next up is “All Over You” by The Spill Canvas. This a great track. Love how it transitions from the intro, to the verses, to the chorus, each piece sounding different, but combine them all together and you end up with a great song.

Last song is “My Life For Hire” by A Day To Remember. ADTR is awesome! They are one of the few metal/screamo bands who, in my opinion, gets just the right amount of screaming and singing in most of their hit songs.

#MusicLog #PopPunk #RockMusic #TheMaine #TheSpillCanvas #ADayToRemember

It's Friday, so it's time for another music log entry. This entry is going to be focused on music from the band Stand Atlantic. I just recently discovered this Aussie pop-rock band in Spotify. They seem to be an up and coming band. They remind me a lot of the pop-rock/punk-pop bands from my college years, like Simple Plan or All Time Low. Either way their songs are pretty good.

First up is “Skinny Dipping”, which is my favorite song from them so far. If you search for “Stand Atlantic” and “Skinny Dipping” on Youtube, you'll find an acoustic version that is really good. Skinny Dipping

Next up is another good song, “Toothpick”. Toothpick

Last one for today is a surprising one. I'm used to rock bands making covers of pop songs, but not the other way around. This one is a cover of Taking Back Sunday's “MakeDamnSure”. I would call it a rock goes pop-rock cover. I love it!

#MusicLog #PopRock #PopPunk #StandAtlantic

Here are 3 songs that gave me some much appreciated frisson today. I discovered them from a “Punk Goes Pop” playlist by some dude in Spotify, so they are all cover songs with a punk rock twist.

First up is “Soak Up The Sun” by the band Sincerely, Me. I am familiar with original song, but have never heard of the band before. Very nicely done cover though.

Next up is “Sweet But Psycho” by First To Eleven. I have not heard the original song nor do I know of this band, but this song is great! I don't even need to listen to the original.

Last one for today is the song “I Don't Care” by Our Last Night. I have not heard the original song but apparently this is an Ed Sheeran song. I have heard of Our Last Night though. They made some of the best rock covers I have ever listened to. Their cover of Taylor Swift's “Blank Space” was out of this world! This band doesn't just do covers, they make it sound like they wrote the song in the first place.

Happy Friday everyone!

Tags: #MusicLog #PopPunk #SincerelyMe #FirstToEvelen #OurLastNight