fortress on the cliff

3 minute read

I've finished up at the farm now and I'm in Sagres - the southern-most, south-western-most point in Portugal. "Here begins Europe!" they proclaim down at the old fortress on the cliff.

I got quite sick as I was leaving. I think it was to do with being run down; Not getting enough sleep and then overeating on our final night. We made pizzas.

It wasn't the stomach problems of my childhood. A different kind of cramp, then malaise, chills, soreness, fatigue, and fever. It seems to be a return of the giardia symptoms. My stomach has been sensitive for the last couple of days and I have to take it easy on eating, which isn't the end of the world.

I've been learning lua so I can more easily make little plugins and helpers for neovim, my primary text-editor.

I wrote some scripts to analyse the entries from the last couple of years. I've collected every "listening to" link and collated it here: Listened to.

I've collected all the questions here: Questions.

I've collected up a bunch of quotes, which was really nice to read through. Most of them are other people (most of them are Ursula K. Le Guin), but a few are me quoting myself in a retelling or memory. I've kept those in. Quotes.

memory

I'm trying to finish the "object" of my time on the farm. It's a small presentation, pecha-kucha style, trying to come to a conclusion or settle on a take-away from the experience. It feels very easy to let this experience disappear as I re-enter the non-agricultural world. I want to push against this, as I believe the whole worl is agricultural, and the division is an illusion and a form of control. It is a powerful illusion.

This morning I went down to the old fort on the cliffs and had a sublime time, outside of a brief dissappointment where I didn't get free entry like I thought I would (and should). Being I think the first visitor of the day I had the place practically to myself, it was amazing. It's this massive space, mostly rocks and plants, with a few structures hundreds of metres apart. There's the "Voice of the Sea", a structure by some artist (can't remember who, don't care to look it up) that's a small labyrinth with a blowhole in the centre. You reach the centre and hear the heavy breathing of air being forced through the deep holes below the cliffs. The only people besides me were the fishermen, who get to enter early. They sit at the top of these cliffs and cast their lines all the way down. Very cool. I took my binoculars and looked at some birds, looked at the waves, looked at some surfers. I really like being up on top of sea cliffs - they make me feel very calm.

very calm

I need to settle on a new journal soon. I'm happy to end this one, but I feel the need for a space to put my ideas and to improve my writing. I really want to write some essays. It's also nice to share things I've been doing. I made a "zen mode" style plugin for neovim that I'm really happy with, and I have some thoughts on the benefit of building your own little tools.

I also think if I write some smart things about programming and design I'm more likely to get the type of job I want (that is, a smart job with programming and design).

The GTD approach for managing things is going okay, but I have a little way yet to go to perfect it. I keep forgetting to do the regular reviews.

that's it

I won't do the "listening to" and "questions" for this entry, as I'm happy with the compiled pages being finished as they are. I'll be writing one more entry for this journal.