Last week I ran a meetup for writers on the web. During the session, I brought up the topic of distance in writing. [...]

I was thinking about a design for a web page yesterday that I wanted to build with a few illustrations. I remembered that there was a site with old-timey illustrations that were available in the public domain. [...]

Every so often I open developer tools in the web browser and start tinkering with my website. I love experimenting with different design directions, not necessarily in pursuit of a complete design so much as fuelled by a sense of curiosity. [...]

Today the IndieWeb community hosted a Create Day event in which participants were invited to make something on the web. The theme of the event was “Build Don't Buy”, an invitation to make something this Black Friday. [...]

On the cusp of the snowy doorstep, I felt a child-like excitement. I wanted to run outside and embrace the snow — the first proper snow, as we would say here, in at least a year. [...]

My copy of Stephen King’s On Writing has been sitting on the shelf for a while. Why I stopped reading the book is one of those things lost to time. [...]

This evening I hosted an online event about writing and writing on the web. “Writing” is a broad topic, so I wanted a way to help get the discussion going. [...]

A dusting of snow blankets hills in the distance, left over from the snowfall two evenings ago. There are thin light clouds above the hills through which the sky peeks. [...]

I have been listening to a podcast interview between Ezra Klein and Brian Eno. In it, Eno referenced the concept of the “premature sheen.” I stopped what I was doing, paused the podcast, and started to think about what those words meant.. [...]

Over the last few weeks I have been working on rebuilding my morning routine.. [...]

The snow looks like drops of moonlight I thought to myself as the cool light from the street lamps illuminated the falling snow. It’s beautiful. [...]

On the ground floor of the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris – a long building by the river banks of the Seine, and at the start of the Jardin des Tuileries – there is an exhibit of eight Monet paintings. The museum website introduces the paintings like so:. [...]

Wherever I go, I usually bring my backpack. In it, I always keep a few things. [...]

Over the last few months, I have been taking a part-time online course with the V&A focused on the history of art. The course has taken me through eras from Classical art and sculpture all the way to Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. [...]

This morning, I ended up on chsmc.org’s “Applying Pixar’s rules of storytelling to writing” post. At the bottom, he quotes:. [...]

A recording of Alors on danse, news of a new exhibition of Michelangelo’s work, an event on creative writing, and information about art history courses all exist side-by-side in the ever-changing landscape that is my browser tabs. Every one is a train of thought: the tabs on music often recommendations by friends, there are bookmarks for events to which I could go, there are blog posts through which I connect with friends and develop empathy with people I have never met, there are tabs that are the precipice of new futures.. [...]

Every so often, I open up a blank HTML document and work on a concept design for my website. Sometimes I have a theme, like my blueprint-inspired design, whereas other times I play around and see what I can make.. [...]

As I write, it is the late evening. I am getting ready to go to bed. [...]

I am standing on Princes Street while waiting for the bookshop to open. There is a drizzle or rain falling from the grey sky. [...]

This blog post was written using my Royal typewriter.. [...]

I purchased a Royal typewriter from a charity shop today. When I got home, I was delighted to find that there was ink ready to use. [...]

This morning started as many this year have done: should I get up and explore, or stay in bed for one more hour. The warmth of bed, especially as the days get cooler, is comforting. [...]

For most days of the year, the name of my website – James’ Coffee Blog – is followed by a coffee cup emoji. But, on some days, the coffee cup emoji changes. [...]

One of the things I love most about blogging is that you can write about an explore an idea as it forms, without necessarily having a specific resolution or end state in mind. With that in mind, I wanted to document a line of thinking that has been on my mind for the last week: saying thank you as a primitive of the web.. [...]

After reading – and enjoying a delicious coffee – I let my feet take me where they wanted to go. At the intersection of two roads on the Royal Mile – the heart of Old Town in Edinburgh – I turned my head right and thought about how long it had been since I had walked down the hill. [...]