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Write up a quick thought, plus starting a few essays

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Z. Charles Dziura 2025-06-04 16:15:25 -04:00
parent 63ab56d0b3
commit 7fe9385efd
11 changed files with 69 additions and 11 deletions
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3
.eleventy.js
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@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
import { DateTime } from 'luxon';
import markdownit from 'markdown-it';
export default async function (config) {
config.setInputDirectory('src');
@ -21,4 +22,6 @@ export default async function (config) {
});
config.addFilter('formatDate', dateObj => DateTime.fromJSDate(dateObj).toUTC().toLocaleString(DateTime.DATE_MED));
config.addFilter('md', (content = '') => markdownit({ html: true }).render(content));
}

10
package-lock.json generated
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@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
"": {
"name": "blog",
"version": "0.0.0",
"dependencies": {
"markdown-it": "^14.1.0"
},
"devDependencies": {
"@11ty/eleventy": "^3.0.0",
"luxon": "^3.6.1"
@ -397,7 +400,6 @@
"version": "2.0.1",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/argparse/-/argparse-2.0.1.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-8+9WqebbFzpX9OR+Wa6O29asIogeRMzcGtAINdpMHHyAg10f05aSFVBbcEqGf/PXw1EjAZ+q2/bEBg3DvurK3Q==",
"dev": true,
"license": "Python-2.0"
},
"node_modules/array-differ": {
@ -1338,7 +1340,6 @@
"version": "5.0.0",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/linkify-it/-/linkify-it-5.0.0.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-5aHCbzQRADcdP+ATqnDuhhJ/MRIqDkZX5pyjFHRRysS8vZ5AbqGEoFIb6pYHPZ+L/OC2Lc+xT8uHVVR5CAK/wQ==",
"dev": true,
"license": "MIT",
"dependencies": {
"uc.micro": "^2.0.0"
@ -1393,7 +1394,6 @@
"version": "14.1.0",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/markdown-it/-/markdown-it-14.1.0.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-a54IwgWPaeBCAAsv13YgmALOF1elABB08FxO9i+r4VFk5Vl4pKokRPeX8u5TCgSsPi6ec1otfLjdOpVcgbpshg==",
"dev": true,
"license": "MIT",
"dependencies": {
"argparse": "^2.0.1",
@ -1411,7 +1411,6 @@
"version": "4.5.0",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/entities/-/entities-4.5.0.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-V0hjH4dGPh9Ao5p0MoRY6BVqtwCjhz6vI5LT8AJ55H+4g9/4vbHx1I54fS0XuclLhDHArPQCiMjDxjaL8fPxhw==",
"dev": true,
"license": "BSD-2-Clause",
"engines": {
"node": ">=0.12"
@ -1440,7 +1439,6 @@
"version": "2.0.0",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mdurl/-/mdurl-2.0.0.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-Lf+9+2r+Tdp5wXDXC4PcIBjTDtq4UKjCPMQhKIuzpJNW0b96kVqSwW0bT7FhRSfmAiFYgP+SCRvdrDozfh0U5w==",
"dev": true,
"license": "MIT"
},
"node_modules/merge2": {
@ -1802,7 +1800,6 @@
"version": "2.3.1",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/punycode.js/-/punycode.js-2.3.1.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-uxFIHU0YlHYhDQtV4R9J6a52SLx28BCjT+4ieh7IGbgwVJWO+km431c4yRlREUAsAmt/uMjQUyQHNEPf0M39CA==",
"dev": true,
"license": "MIT",
"engines": {
"node": ">=6"
@ -2194,7 +2191,6 @@
"version": "2.1.0",
"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/uc.micro/-/uc.micro-2.1.0.tgz",
"integrity": "sha512-ARDJmphmdvUk6Glw7y9DQ2bFkKBHwQHLi2lsaH6PPmz/Ka9sFOBsBluozhDltWmnv9u/cF6Rt87znRTPV+yp/A==",
"dev": true,
"license": "MIT"
},
"node_modules/unpipe": {

3
package.json
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@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
},
"devDependencies": {
"@11ty/eleventy": "^3.0.0",
"luxon": "^3.6.1"
"luxon": "^3.6.1",
"markdown-it": "^14.1.0"
}
}

2
src/essays.njk
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@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
<main>
{%- for post in collections.essays | reverse -%}
{%- if post.data.type == "essay" and (post.data.publish == true or post.data.draft == true) -%}
<div class="essay">
<header>
<img class="hash" src="/assets/document.svg" type="image/svg+xml">
@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
Posted on {{ post.date | formatDate }}
</footer>
</div>
{%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
</main>
{%- endblock -%}

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src/essays/2025/04/millennial-generational-frustration.md Normal file
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---
title: Millennial Generational Frustration
draft: false
---
When I look at the state of the country, one feeling bubbles up: frustration. When I talk about this with others in my age cohort&mdash;being born in 1991, I'm a younger Millennials&mdash;they all are equally frustrated. Regular living expenses are far too costly, we don't feel like we have enough family and community support while raising our kids, and we have to find new employment every few years just to earn enough income to meet cost-of-living increases.
And to top it all off, the generations in power cling to it far beyond when they should have retired!
<!-- excerpt -->

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src/essays/2025/06/my-previous-house-was-a-mistake.md Normal file
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---
title: My Previous House Was a Mistake
draft: false
---
Several weeks ago, I sold my house. I should have sold it much earlier. In fact, I should never have purchased it in the first place. The house was pile of crap wrapped in a thin veneer of "good enough".
<!-- excerpt -->
Shortly after I got married, my wife and I bought a house within the same school district that we both graduated from. The building sat on just slightly less than 2 acres of land, was less than a half-hour away from the nearest grocery store, close to family, and a straight-shot to get to the highway. It had a small garage&mdash;barely big enough to pull our vehicles into&mdash;and there was an attached "toolshed" with enough space for our outdoor lawncare equipment. Though the building was old, it had been kept updated over the years. The kitchen was newly redone, and the basement was reinsulated. While we lived there, we replaced the roof and the siding, and we updated the oil furnace to a propane furnace, which made the forced hot air system much more efficient.
Sounds perfect, right? So why did we decide to move?
Lack of space.
For whatever reason, people in the 19th century didn't consider closets necessary for a home. Perhaps they only had a few outfits to choose from, and a simple wardrobe was suitable. Perhaps they didn't need to store anything away for future use. Who knows! But in the 21st century, that extra space is absolutely a necessity; at least for my family.
Additionally, after my eldest kids were born, we didn't have the extra space for an office. Both my wife and I were working from home at the time and wanted a separate space for our desks and computers. We moved our workstations into the master bedroom (which was not very big to begin with), and the reduction in what usable space remained was a great annoyance. So, with that in mind, we began looking for a new house with more space to better fit our needs.
What a colossally terrible mistake!
In hindsight, I would have just moved my kids' beds to be in the same bedroom and then utilize the other space as our office&mdash;as we had done before they were born. I could have also set up a better storage system in the basement, kept the garage and toolshed cleaned and better organized, and maybe finished the attic. There were plenty of options that merely required time and effort to complete.
We bought our next house in the middle of winter (this detail is important for later). It sat on 8 acres of land, with a full acre of that being usable lawn for my kids to play in. The house had much more interior space, though it was very spread out; the master bedroom was on the other side of the house the nearest bathroom and from my kids' bedroom. There was space for my wife and I to have our own offices, though, which was great. The kitchen and bathrooms weren't as nice as what we had in our first house, but they were spacious; the kitchen had 3 ovens! Think of the dinner parties that we could host with that level of capacity!

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src/essays/2025/06/on-magic-in-a-dnd-setting.md Normal file
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---
title: Magic in a D&D Setting
draft: false
---
I'm listening to a recent [Eldritch Lorecast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_xFqAmhDk&t=1220s) episode where they are talking about Wizards of the Coast's latest attempt at the [Psion Class](https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/ua/the-psion/mXCPWlh2yy5tBKqP/UA2025-ThePsion.pdf), and I'm left with some thoughts on how D&amp;D structures magic within its system. Specifically, I think they funnel too many ideas about what magic is (or should be) into too broad a system, and any attempts to add "distinguishing flavor" to that system fail (or at least come up short).
To expand on this, I think the Fantasy genre can/should support only up to three types of magic: Arcanism, Faith, and Psionics.
<!-- excerpt -->
Arcanism is the study of magic as a science, in the way contemporary people would think of it. Arcanist magic comes from some source&mdash;in D&amp;D, this source is the Weave&mdash;and it affects the world in predictable-ish ways; that is, it's not exactly known what the limits of Arcanist magic are, but there is a detailed body of knowledge that can explain quite a bit of its known capabilities. Just as in contemporary science, there are frontiers that are being continuously pushed and new discoveries are being made all the time. This explains D&amp;D's spells that make use of their creator's names, like Tasha's Hideous Laughter! But fundamentally, Arcanism embodies magic as a "real thing".
Faith comes from the Divine and is channeled by Their mortal priests. Those priests act as conduits for their chosen God and enact their will. So long as they remain pious and true to their God's will, they can ask and receive Their miracles. The trick is denying access to certain types of spells based on the Gods' "portfolio": perhaps a god of peace won't provide offensive spells, or maybe a god of justice won't allow Their priests to target the innocent. Faith magic is all about the Divine and the limits They place upon them. It's up to the mortal conduits to use magic within those limitations.
Psionics is the most tricky of the types of magic to place. It's typically portrayed as coming from the person's mind influencing the world directly, often in the form of telepathy or telekinesis. It's usually more common to see Psionics used in a science fiction/space futurism setting, though you also see Psionics appear in superhero comics. Fundamentally, Psionics is all about the practitioner channeling that magic directly; the source is themself and how far they can push their power. It's a common trope for someone channeling Psionics to have a nosebleed or faint if they use too much of their power.

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src/essays/essays.11tydata.js
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@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export default {
date: 'git Created',
tags: 'essays',
type: 'essay',
publish: false,
layout: 'essay.njk',
permalink: function ({ page }) {
const { date, fileSlug, outputFileExtension } = page;

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src/index.njk
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@ -27,14 +27,14 @@
Posted on {{ post.date | formatDate }}
</footer>
</div>
{%- elif post.data.type == "essay" -%}
{%- elif post.data.type == "essay" and (post.data.publish == true or post.data.draft == true) -%}
<div class="essay">
<header>
<img class="hash" src="/assets/document.svg" type="image/svg+xml">
<a class="title" href="{{ post.url }}">{{ post.data.title }}</a>
</header>
<div class="content">
{{ post.page.excerpt | safe }}
{{ post.page.excerpt | md | safe }}
<a class="read-more" href="{{ post.url }}">Read more...</a>
</div>
<footer>

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src/styles.css
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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ body {
grid-template-areas: "nav content";
grid-template-columns: 3fr 9fr;
margin: auto;
padding-top: var(--gap-md);
padding: var(--gap-md) 0;
max-width: 1200px;
}

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src/thoughts/2025/05/thoughts-to-essays.md Normal file
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I've been thinking to myself a lot lately that I need to start writing more and sharing thoughts and essays on my website. I'll start by writing a quick thought, and then that thought grows and grows until it justifies a full-on essay. And then I get discouraged because I just want to tweet out my basic thoughts and not take the time to write an essay. Then I don't post anything, my website continues to languish.
It's the circle of life.