I like to draw sketchnotes when I want to untangle a thought or build up a thought over several posts.¹ Following up on Playing around with org-db-v3 and consult: vector search of my blog post Org files, with previews, I want to be able to search my sketches using approximate text matches. I also want to have an approximate search interface that includes both sketches and blog posts.

Here's what I've gotten working so far:

(defun my-org-db-v3-index-recent-sketches (after)
  (interactive (list
                (when current-prefix-arg
                  (org-read-date nil nil nil "After: " nil "-2w"))))
  (setq after (or after (org-read-date nil nil "-2w")))
  (mapcar #'org-db-v3-index-file-async
          (seq-remove
           (lambda (o) (string> after (file-name-base o)))
           (directory-files "~/sync/sketches" t "\\.txt$"))))

(defun my-org-db-v3-sketch--collection (input)
  "Perform the RAG search and format the results for Consult.
Returns a list of cons cells (DISPLAY-STRING . PLIST)."
  (mapcar
   (lambda (o)
     (cons (file-name-base (alist-get 'source_path o)) o))
   (seq-uniq
    (my-org-db-v3-to-emacs-rag-search input 100 "%sync/sketches%")
    (lambda (a b) (string= (alist-get 'source_path a)
                           (alist-get 'source_path b))))))

(defun my-sketch-similar (&optional query hide-initial)
  "Vector-search blog posts using `emacs-rag-search' and present results via Consult.
If called with \\[universal-argument\], use the current post's text.
If a region is selected, use that as the default QUERY.
HIDE-INITIAL means hide the initial query, which is handy if the query is very long."
  (interactive (my-11ty-interactive-context current-prefix-arg))
  (consult--read
   (if hide-initial
       (my-org-db-v3-sketch--collection query)
     (consult--dynamic-collection
         #'my-org-db-v3-sketch--collection
       :min-input 3 :debounce 1))
   :lookup #'consult--lookup-cdr
   :prompt "Search sketches (approx): "
   :category 'sketch
   :sort nil
   :require-match t
   :state (my-image--state)
   :initial (unless hide-initial query)))

(defun my-sketch-similar-insert (link)
  "Vector-search sketches and insert a link.
If called with \\[universal-argument\], use the current post's text.
If a region is selected, use that as the default QUERY.
HIDE-INITIAL means hide the initial query, which is handy if the query is very long."
  (interactive (list
                (if embark--command
                    (read-string "Sketch: ")
                  (apply #'my-sketch-similar
                         (my-11ty-interactive-context current-prefix-arg)))))
  (my-insert-sketch-and-text link))

(defun my-sketch-similar-link (link)
  "Vector-search sketches and insert a link.
If called with \\[universal-argument\], use the current post's text.
If a region is selected, use that as the default QUERY.
HIDE-INITIAL means hide the initial query, which is handy if the query is very long."
  (interactive (list
                (if embark--command
                    (read-string "Sketch: ")
                  (apply #'my-sketch-similar
                         (my-11ty-interactive-context current-prefix-arg)))))
  (when (and (listp link) (alist-get 'source_path link))
    (setq link (my-image-filename (file-name-base link))))
  (insert (org-link-make-string (concat "sketchLink:" link) (file-name-base link))))

Previewing images

Displaying images in Emacs can be a little bit slow, so I wanted to have different options for preview. The fastest way might be to preview just the text to see whether this is a relevant image.

(setq my-sketch-preview 'text)

Another way to preview to load the actual image, if I have a bit more patience.

(setq my-sketch-preview t)

Sometimes Consult says "No partial preview of a binary file", though, so I can probably look into how to get around that.

Using an external program is another option. Here I have some code to use Geeqie to display the images.

(setq my-sketch-preview 'geeqie)

Using Geeqie feels faster and more reliable than using Emacs to preview images.

The preview is implemented by the following function in the Completing sketches part of my config.

(declare-function 'my-geeqie-view "Sacha.el")

(defvar my-sketch-preview 'text
  "*Preview sketches.
'text means show the associated text.
'geeqie means open image in Geeqie.
t means open image in Emacs.")

(defun my-image--state ()
  "Manage preview window and cleanup."
  ;; These functions are closures captured when the state is initialized by consult--read
  (let ((preview (consult--buffer-preview))
        (open (consult--temporary-files)))
    ;; The returned lambda is the actual preview function called by Consult
    (lambda (action cand)
      (unless cand
        (funcall open))
      (when my-sketch-preview
        (let ((filename (cond
                         ((and (eq my-sketch-preview 'text)
                               (listp cand)
                               (alist-get 'source_path cand))
                          (alist-get 'source_path cand))
                         ((and (listp cand)
                               (alist-get 'source_path cand))
                          (my-image-filename (file-name-base (alist-get 'source_path cand))))
                         (t cand))))
          (when filename
            (pcase my-sketch-preview
              ('geeqie (my-geeqie-view (list filename)))
              (_ (funcall preview action
                          (and cand
                               (eq action 'preview)
                               (funcall open filename)))))))))))

The following function calls geeqie. It's in the Manage photos with geeqie part of my config.

(defun my-geeqie-view (filenames)
  (interactive "f")
  (start-process-shell-command
   "geeqie" nil
   (concat
    "geeqie --remote "
    (mapconcat
     (lambda (f)
       (concat "file:" (shell-quote-argument f)))
     (cond
      ((listp filenames) filenames)
      ((file-directory-p filenames)
       (list (car (seq-filter #'file-regular-p (directory-files filenames t)))))
      (t (list filenames)))
     " "))))

Multiple sources

Now I can make a Consult source that combines both blog posts and sketches using semantic search. I wanted to have the same behaviour as my other functions. If I call it interactively, I want to type in text. If I call it with a region, I want to search for that region. If I call it with the universal prefix argument C-u, I want to use the current post text as a starting point. Since this behaviour shows up in several functions, I finally got around to writing a function that encapsulates it.

Then I can use that for the interactive arguments of my new my-consult-similar function.

(defvar my-consult-source-similar-blog-posts
  (list :name "Blog posts"
        :narrow ?b
        :category 'my-blog
        :state #'my-blog-post--state
        :async (consult--dynamic-collection
                   (lambda (input)
                     (seq-take
                      (my-org-db-v3-blog-post--collection input)
                      5)))
        :action #'my-embark-blog-insert-link))

(defvar my-consult-source-similar-sketches
  (list :name "Sketches"
        :narrow ?s
        :category 'sketch
        :async (consult--dynamic-collection
                   (lambda (input)
                     (seq-take (my-org-db-v3-sketch--collection input) 5)))
        :state #'my-image--state
        :action #'my-insert-sketch-and-text))

(defun my-consult-similar (query hide-initial)
  (interactive (my-11ty-interactive-context current-prefix-arg))
  (if hide-initial
      (let ((new-sources
             (list
              (append
               (copy-sequence my-consult-source-similar-blog-posts)
               (list :items (seq-take (my-org-db-v3-blog-post--collection query) 5)))
              (append
               (copy-sequence my-consult-source-similar-sketches)
               (list :items (seq-take (my-org-db-v3-sketch--collection query) 5))))))
        (dolist (source new-sources)
          (cl-remf source :async))
        (consult--multi new-sources))
    (consult--multi '(my-consult-source-similar-blog-posts
                      my-consult-source-similar-sketches)
                    :initial query)))

(defun my-org-db-v3-index-recent-public (after)
  (interactive (list
                (when current-prefix-arg
                  (org-read-date nil nil nil "After: " nil "-2w"))))
  (setq after (or after (org-read-date nil nil "-2w")))
  (mapc #'org-db-v3-index-file-async
        (my-blog-org-files-except-reviews after))
  (my-org-db-v3-index-recent-sketches after))

This is what it looks like given this whole post:

I tend to use different words even when I'm writing about the same ideas. When I use traditional search tools like grep, it can be hard to look up old blog posts or sketches if I can't think of the exact words I used. When I write a blog post, I want to automatically remind myself of possibly relevant notes without requiring words to exactly match what I'm looking for.

(use-package org-db-v3
  :load-path "~/vendor/org-db-v3/elisp"
  :init
  (setq org-db-v3-auto-enable nil))

(defun my-org-db-v3-to-emacs-rag-search (query &optional limit filename-pattern)
  "Search org-db-v3 and transform the data to look like emacs-rag-search's output."
  (org-db-v3-ensure-server)
  (setq limit (or limit 100))
  (mapcar (lambda (o)
            `((source_path . ,(assoc-default 'filename o))
              (line_number . ,(assoc-default 'begin_line o))
              ,@o))
          (sort
           (assoc-default 'results
                          (plz 'post (concat (org-db-v3-server-url) "/api/search/semantic")
                            :headers '(("Content-Type" . "application/json"))
                            :body (json-encode `((query . ,query)
                                                 (limit . ,limit)
                                                 (filename_pattern . ,filename-pattern)))
                            :as #'json-read))
           :key (lambda (o) (alist-get 'similarity_score o))
           :reverse t)))

(dolist (file '("~/sync/orgzly/organizer.org"
                "~/sync/orgzly/posts.org"
                "~/sync/orgzly/reading.org"
                "~/sync/orgzly/resources.org"))
  (org-db-v3-index-file-async file))

(defun my-blog-org-files-except-reviews (after-date)
  "Return a list of recent .org files except for Emacs News and weekly/monthly/yearly reviews.
AFTER-DATE is in the form yyyy, yyyy-mm, or yyyy-mm-dd."
  (setq after-date (or after-date "2020"))
  (let ((after-month (substring after-date 0 7))
        (posts (my-blog-posts)))
    (seq-keep
     (lambda (filename)
       (when (not (string-match "[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]-emacs-news" filename))
         (when (string-match "/blog/\\([0-9]+\\)/\\([0-9]+\\)/" filename)
           (let ((month (match-string 2 filename))
                 (year (match-string 1 filename)))
             (unless (string> after-month
                              (concat year "-" month))
               (let ((info (my-blog-post-info-for-url (replace-regexp-in-string "~/proj/static-blog\\|index\\.org$\\|\\.org$" "" filename) posts)))
                 (let-alist info

                   (when (and
                          info
                          (string> .date after-date)
                          (not (seq-intersection .categories
                                                 '("emacs-news" "weekly" "monthly" "yearly")
                                                 'string=)))
                     filename))))))))
     (sort
      (directory-files-recursively "~/proj/static-blog/blog" "\\.org$")
      :lessp #'string<
      :reverse t))))

(mapc #'org-db-v3-index-file-async (my-blog-org-files-except-reviews))

Searching my blog posts

Now that my files are indexed, I want to be able to turn up things that might be related to whatever I'm currently writing about. This might help me build up thoughts better, especially if a long time has passed in between posts.

org-db-v3-semantic-search-ivy didn't quite work for me out of the box, but I'd written an Consult-based interface for emacs-rag-search-vector that was easy to adapt. This is how I put it together.

First I started by looking at emacs-rag-search-vector. That shows the full chunks, which feels a little unwieldy.

Instead, I wanted to see the years and titles of the blog posts as a quick summary, with the ability to page through them for a quick preview. consult.el lets me define a custom completion command with that behavior. Here's the code:

(defun my-blog-similar-link (link)
  "Vector-search blog posts using `emacs-rag-search' and insert a link.
If called with \\[universal-argument\], use the current post's text.
If a region is selected, use that as the default QUERY.
HIDE-INITIAL means hide the initial query, which is handy if the query is very long."
  (interactive (list
                (if embark--command
                    (read-string "Link: ")
                  (my-blog-similar
                   (cond
                    (current-prefix-arg (my-11ty-post-text))
                    ((region-active-p)
                     (buffer-substring (region-beginning)
                                       (region-end))))
                   current-prefix-arg))))
  (my-embark-blog-insert-link link))

(defun my-embark-blog--inject-target-url (&rest args)
  "Replace the completion text with the URL."
  (delete-minibuffer-contents)
  (insert (my-blog-url (get-text-property 0 'consult--candidate (plist-get args :target)))))

(with-eval-after-load 'embark
  (add-to-list 'embark-target-injection-hooks '(my-blog-similar-link my-embark-blog--inject-target-url)))

(defun my-11ty-interactive-context (use-post)
  "Returns (query hide-initial) for use in interactive arguments.
If USE-POST is non-nil, query is the current post text and hide-initial is t.
If the region is active, returns that as the query."
  (list (cond
         (embark--command (read-string "Input: "))
         (use-post (my-11ty-post-text))
         ((region-active-p)
          (buffer-substring (region-beginning)
                            (region-end))))
        use-post))

(defun my-blog-similar (&optional query hide-initial)
  "Vector-search blog posts using org-db-v3 and present results via Consult.
If called with \\[universal-argument\], use the current post's text.
If a region is selected, use that as the default QUERY.
HIDE-INITIAL means hide the initial query, which is handy if the query is very long."
  (interactive (my-11ty-interactive-context current-prefix-arg))
  (consult--read
   (if hide-initial
       (my-org-db-v3-blog-post--collection query)
     (consult--dynamic-collection
         #'my-org-db-v3-blog-post--collection
       :min-input 3 :debounce 1))
   :lookup #'consult--lookup-cdr
   :prompt "Search blog posts (approx): "
   :category 'my-blog
   :sort nil
   :require-match t
   :state (my-blog-post--state)
   :initial (unless hide-initial query)))

(defvar my-blog-semantic-search-source 'org-db-v3)
(defun my-org-db-v3-blog-post--collection (input)
  "Perform the RAG search and format the results for Consult.
Returns a list of cons cells (DISPLAY-STRING . PLIST)."
  (let ((posts (my-blog-posts)))
    (mapcar (lambda (o)
              (my-blog-format-for-completion
               (append o
                       (my-blog-post-info-for-url (alist-get 'source_path o)
                                                  posts))))
            (seq-uniq
               (my-org-db-v3-to-emacs-rag-search input 100 "%static-blog%")
               (lambda (a b) (string= (alist-get 'source_path a)
                                      (alist-get 'source_path b)))))))

It uses some functions I defined in other parts of my config:

• Making it easier to add a category to a blog post
  • my-embark-blog-insert-link
  • my-blog-format-for-completion
• Tooting a link to the current post
  • my-11ty-post-text

When I explored emacs-rag-search, I also tried hybrid search (vector + full text). At first, I got "database disk image is malformed". I fixed this by dumping the SQLite3 database. Using hybrid search, I tended to get less-relevant results based on the repetition of common words, though, so that might be something for future exploration. Anyway, my-emacs-rag-search and my-emacs-rag-search-hybrid are in the emacs-rag-search part of my config just in case.

Along the way, I contributed some notes to consult.el's README.org so that it'll be easier to figure this stuff out in the future. In particular, it took me a while to figure out how to use :lookup #'consult--lookup-cdr to get richer information after selecting a completion candidate, and also how to use consult--dynamic-collection to work with slower dynamic sources.

I am going through a lot. It is not much compared to what other people are going through. But it is more than what I usually go through, so it's a good idea to slow down and give myself space to learn how to handle it.

Part of handling times like these is touching base with what I know. I know that to be human is to have challenging times, so I don't find this surprising. I know that it is objectively difficult and that other people have a hard time with situations like this, so it's not a personal failure and there are no easy solutions. I know that it is temporary and that things will eventually settle into a new normal. I know there will be many such transitions ahead, and I'm getting used to the process of leaving old normals behind and focusing on the next step.

I know the way my brain tends to behave when it's overloaded. My attention hiccups. I hang up my keys on a coat hook instead of the one near the door. My fingers stutter on the piano. I can't multitask. When that starts to get in my way, it's a good reminder to get more sleep and do fewer things. There are very few firm commitments in my life, and I appreciate the flexibility that my past self planned. There's room to wobble¹ without bringing everything crashing down.

I still notice my anxiety spike from time to time. My anxiety spills out as trying to either control too much, or (knowing that control is counterproductive) stepping back, possibly too much. It tends to latch onto A+'s schoolwork as the main thing it could possibly try to do something about. I feel partially responsible for helping her develop study skills and navigate the school system, but these things are mostly outside my control. It's good that it's not in my control. Then there's space for her to learn and grow, and for me to learn along with her.

Instead of trying to push futilely, it's better to step back, simplify, focus on getting myself sorted out, and build up from a solid base. Better to focus on connecting with rather than correcting A+, especially as she takes her own steps towards autonomy. It's okay for now to focus on making simple food, washing dishes,² combing out the tangles in hair and in thoughts. Maintenance.

Here's the core I'm falling back to for now:

• Sleep
• A good walk outside, maybe 30-60 minutes
• Making an effort to eat a variety of healthy food, picking up ideas from DASH/Mediterranean³
• Piano, maybe 20 minutes: low stakes, not intense, just enough to notice when my mind wanders or my breathing stops, and the ever so gradual improvement from familiarity;
• A little bit of exercise: doesn't have to be much, just enough to begin the habit (15-25 minutes)
• Writing and drawing to untangle my thoughts
• A little bit of fun for myself. Might be tinkering with Emacs, might be drawing. Simple lines and colours are nice.
• Giving myself permission to tell other people "That's not one of my priorities for now." There's only so much I can focus on at a time.
• The reminder that other people have their experiments too. It's not about me; how freeing! It's good to not let my anxiety (just my ego's occasional fears of not doing enough, not being enough) engulf what properly belongs to other people. Learning is mostly A+'s experiment, and I can see this time as collecting data for a baseline. I'm happy to help her when she wants my help. Let's find out what can she do when I'm not pushing.

It's important to me to start from where I am and work with what I've got. Where else could I be, and what else could I use? Only here, only this, and it's enough.

I'm working on embracing my limits. It would be unproductively egotistic to think I have to do this all on my own. It helps to unload my brain into my Org Mode / Denote text files, my sketches, and my index cards so I can see beyond the single dimension of thought. Some days, even that is difficult. It's okay for my brain to not feel cooperative all the time. Some days are more blah than others, and it's hard to shape enough of the thought-fog⁴ into a post or a diary entry. There's no point in grumping at myself over it. It's okay for those days to be rest days, "take it easy" days, "there's room for this too" days. Goodness knows I've had slow months, slow years.⁵ (And if that's good for me, why not extend the same grace to A+? She'll figure things out when she's ready.)

I'm practising asking other people for help and letting them actually do so. I know A+ benefits from a wider world, and I'm glad she can chat with her aunts and cousins. I can slowly experiment with finding tutors and enrichment activities for A+, maybe even starting out with classes for me sometimes. She's been going to 1-on-1 gymnastics class for three weeks now. I love seeing how she's slowly learning to check in with her body and catch her breath so that she has more energy and can work on her flips safely. I love the way she gets up and tries again.

I wonder what other teachers and peers I can help A+ find. Next week, A+ will join a small-group art class so that she can have fun with art outside the requirements of school. A friend of hers is in the same extracurricular class, and maybe the fun will get her over the initial hump of practising fine motor skills and tolerating the frustrating gap between taste and skill.⁶ I want playfulness to be the core of her experience with art, not the pressure my anxiety feels about getting her art homework done. Knowing what my anxiety whispers, I can keep that from leaking out to her. The goal is not to get things done; the goal is simply to have the opportunity to find joy. Someday, when she reaches for a pencil or a brush, I want that feeling to come with warmth, a smile, curiosity: what will we encounter on the page today?

As she learns to read and write and think more deeply, I want the same for her: not the compliance of "have I checked the boxes,⁷" but "where can these thoughts take me?" Can I find her role models who can share that ineffable joy or opportunities where she can discover it for herself? Can it take root deep within her, something to touch as she goes through her own challenges, something that grows as she grows?

A wider world could help me, too. How wonderful it is to deal with something that so many people have gone through, are going through, even if there are no universal answers. I'm checking out workbooks from the library, and it might be interesting to experiment with seeing a therapist. I have mild anxiety according to the screening tools, but it might still be handy to pay for the accountability and structured exploration of my thoughts. Consulting an intern therapist might be a more affordable starting point that can help me figure out if I need more qualified care. We don't have medical benefits, so I want to be thoughtful about how I use resources, and I want to push myself to try out more help so that I know what that could be like instead of trying to handle everything on my own. Like the way A+'s gymnastics teacher thinks about the next skill that might be in her zone of proximal development⁸ (not too easy, not too hard), maybe someone else can help me map out what nearby betters could be and how I might get there.

I know what it feels like when I can handle tough situations well: when I'm ready with a Band-aid or a hug, when I keep our basic needs sorted out so that we have a solid foundation to experiment on, when I get the hang of spelling new terms and organizing my hasty research into coherent understanding and ideas for things to try, when I can be warm and affectionate and appreciative and supportive.

I know what I hope A+ will feel: believed in, excited about her growing capabilities, supported when she wants help, open to things she might not know to ask about, able to straddle both wanting to be cuddled and wanting to be on her own. I want her to feel like she's the one figuring things out, so I want to get better at being a supporting character instead of letting my ego get in the way. (It's not a power struggle, it's not a moral judgment of me or of her, it's just life.)

When my anxiety wrings her hands, frets, whispers, worries that I'm not enough, I can think: ah, she is just trying to keep all of us safe, figure out how to make things better. I can use this imperative, this desire to try to help A+ live her best life. I know I don't want A+ to be driven by anxiety or controlled by conditional esteem.⁹ There'll be hard times for A+, like for everyone. I want her to be able to check in with herself, figure out what she needs, and feel her strength grow as she stretches. So I can work on getting better at that myself.

It's good to practise these things now, in this time that seems hard compared to the recent past but will seem easy compared to the future. Embrace the stress test while the stakes are low, so that I can reflexively use the skills when the stakes get higher, and so that A+ can take what she likes (kids are always watching) and use them as she figures out her own way.

Step by step. It's manageable. I can manage it. Could be interesting to see how we can make it slightly better. I'm not looking for answers. No one has them, and things change all the time. But the figuring out, that's the work of being human, isn't it?

This blog post was nudged by the October IndieWeb Carnival theme of ego.

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  • novoid/orgmode-ACM-template: Using new Emacs Org-mode LaTeX exporter to generate LaTeX/PDF files that meet the requirements of ACM (unmaintained!) (2012, @publicvoit@graz.social)
  • org-social 2.3: discover, edit, interactive Org Mode, my profile, improvements (@andros@activity.andros.dev)
  • Andros Fenollosa: Why your social.org files can have millions of lines without any performance issues (Reddit, HN, lobste.rs)
  • Org development:
    • etc/ORG-NEWS (Inline tasks in a clocktable…): Move to Miscellaneous section
    • Clocktables: Indent inline tasks under their heading
• Coding:
  • Tip about using emmet-mode to write HTML efficiently (@ArneBab@rollenspiel.social)
  • "It Works": More Adventures with Racket and Emacs (23:55)
  • Treesitter "show definition" in C with Emacs (06:21)
• Shells:
  • Piping In&Out of Emacs buffers in terminal. (Reddit) mx-piper
• Mail, news, and chat:
  • MastodonEl + eev = Fediverse Programming (@screwlisp@gamerplus.org)
• AI:
  • agent-shell-manager.el (Reddit)
  • ECA: Hooks support and many more! (Reddit)
  • Emacs gptel and mcp-searxng enable web search for your llm's with searxng (01:11:34)
• Community:
  • Fortnightly Tips, Tricks, and Questions — 2025-10-21 / week 42
  • Protesilaos Stavrou: Prot Asks: Maxim about writing, thinking, criticism, narratives, and productivity
• Other:
  • boem-weather: A simple weather package (Reddit)
  • Emacs time-zones (lobste.rs)
  • Showcasing Some of My Essential Emacs and Shell Tools on GitHub - YouTube
  • Emacs Maintenance — Where Are The Wise Men? (@mikehoss@appdot.net)
  • Jiewawa: Trying to do the last 20% - org-workout, koreader-import, eww-filters, meow-paren, Chinese helpers
  • oil.el: easily batch-add new files (Reddit, Irreal)
  • starling-el update: support for multiple accounts (@draxil@social.linux.pizza) - banking
  • my/jieba-chinese-word-at-point
  • cal-persia.el disagrees with Iranian calendar in A.D. 2025 - how to fix (@omidmnz@functional.cafe)
• Emacs development:
  • emacs-devel:
    • Some progress on cond*
    • Speeding up image scrolling/clipping with the Cairo backend
    • An idea for modifying the strategy for determining positions in byte compile warning/error messages - Alan Mackenzie
  • Avoid face inheritance cycles
  • Revert recent additions of 'split-frame' and 'merge-frames'
  • Document and announce 'split-frame' and 'merge-frames'
  • (custom-initialize-after-file): New function
  • Allow renaming of frames to F<num> on text terminals
  • Improve Dired handling of file names with newlines (bug#79528)
  • hideshow: Add new option for control how the block should be hidden.
• New packages:
  • acp: An ACP (Agent Client Protocol) implementation (MELPA)
  • auto-save-visited-local-mode: Buffer-local auto-save for visited files (MELPA)
  • ewm: Window manager (MELPA)
  • fj: Client for Forgejo instances (MELPA)
  • gtasks: Google Tasks API (sync) (MELPA)
  • org-social: An Org-social client (MELPA)
  • pretend-type: Reveal buffer as you pretend to type (MELPA)
  • renpy-mode: Major mode for editing Ren'Py files (MELPA)
  • starling: Starling bank interaction (MELPA)
  • time-zones: Time zone lookups (MELPA)
  • tts: Text-to-Speech (TTS) (MELPA)
  • zine-mode: Major mode for zine, the static site generator (MELPA)

Links from reddit.com/r/emacs, r/orgmode, r/spacemacs, Mastodon #emacs, Bluesky #emacs, Hacker News, lobste.rs, programming.dev, lemmy.world, lemmy.ml, planet.emacslife.com, YouTube, the Emacs NEWS file, Emacs Calendar, and emacs-devel. Thanks to Andrés Ramírez for emacs-devel links. Do you have an Emacs-related link or announcement? Please e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com. Thank you!

Following the tips in How to draw when you don't have time by Javi can draw!, I have been drawing trees. The video is 6.5 minutes long so it's easy to fit in. From the video:

Your main goal is to create a habit of drawing for drawing's sake.

Here are some of my trees:

Or in the little icon collection I've been building: trees.

I think my favourite simple tree is this one. I like the way it gives me a little bit of a feeling of leaves being in front or behind, and it looks like something I can get the hang of drawing quickly.

My favourite tree drawn from life is this one. I can think about where I was sitting when I drew it.

It's hard to pick my favourite from a tutorial or a reference photo. Maybe this one. I like the way it has light and dark.

A+ drew a tree too.

A number of related tutorials and references:

• How to Draw a Tree – Step by Step Drawing Tutorial - Easy Peasy and Fun
• How to Draw a Tree in 5 Easy Steps | Skip To My Lou
• How to Draw a Tree Real Easy - YouTube
• How to Draw Cartoon Trees with Easy Step by Step Drawing Tutorial – How to Draw Step by Step Drawing Tutorials
• How to draw BAOBAB TREE with easy - YouTube
• Tree Drawing Ideas to Spark Your Creativity - Beautiful Dawn Designs
• Easy Tree Drawing » How to draw a Tree
• How To Draw Trees
• The Oldest Tree in the World | Trees Atlanta

I found the video via Mike Rohde's Sketchnote Lab post for October. Looking forward to drawing more trees!

• Upcoming events (iCal file, Org):
  • Emacs APAC: Emacs APAC meetup (virtual) https://emacs-apac.gitlab.io/announcements/ Sat Oct 25 0130 America/Vancouver - 0330 America/Chicago - 0430 America/Toronto - 0830 Etc/GMT - 1030 Europe/Berlin - 1400 Asia/Kolkata - 1630 Asia/Singapore
  • Emacs Berlin (hybrid, in English) https://emacs-berlin.org/ Wed Oct 29 1030 America/Vancouver - 1230 America/Chicago - 1330 America/Toronto - 1730 Etc/GMT - 1830 Europe/Berlin - 2300 Asia/Kolkata – Thu Oct 30 0130 Asia/Singapore
  • Formations Emacs en présenciel (à Paris) pour utilisateurs motivés - Nov 24/25 or 27/28
• Beginner:
  • Emacs For Writers Unit 5: Basic File Management and Navigation (06:18)
  • Emacs Adventure | Exploring Vanilla Emacs (06:50)
• Emacs configuration:
  • Emacs as Microsoft Word killer part 3. Using Conditionals and Defvar to Simplify Multiple Configs Across Multiple Platforms. (25:25)
  • FunMacs lightweight modular Emacs configuration (Reddit, Reddit)
  • Medicated Emacs: A minimal, modern Emacs configuration that just works (Reddit, Irreal)
• Emacs Lisp:
  • Uncrustify config for Emacs
  • On Emacs theme precedence
  • Small utility package: lisp-toggle-docstrings (self explanatory) (Reddit)
  • [13] Emacs Reader's Development: Working on unmerged PRs and Catching Up - 10/19/2025, 3:01:36 PM - Dyne.org TV
• Appearance:
  • Emacs Theme: Tomorrow-Night-Deepblue (Release 1.2.3): A beautiful deep blue variant of the Tomorrow Night theme, which is renowned for its elegant color palette that is pleasing to the eyes (Reddit)
• Navigation:
  • The outline-indent.el Emacs package: Effortless Indentation-Based Code Folding for Emacs, the Modern Successor to origami.el and yafolding.el (Release 1.1.4) (Reddit)
  • easysession.el Emacs package: Persist and Restore your Emacs Sessions effortlessly (Release 1.1.6) (Reddit)
• Org Mode:
  • Directory-local Org Agendas
  • linkin-org, meet unbreakable links! (Reddit)
  • (udpate) org-luhmann: Now support shortcut key
  • dr.ops/keymacs: Tool that reads Org tables and creates Emacs keybindings from them - Codeberg.org (@spacecadet@masto.plaindrops.de)
  • Share with Org - Android with Tasker (2024)
  • Jay_Mitchell/pf2e-homebrew - Codeberg.org - Org source for a homebrew RPG (@amy@ice.ch3.st)
• Denote:
  • Protesilaos Stavrou: Emacs: Denote version 4.1.0
• Coding:
  • Alvaro Ramirez: Bending Emacs - Episode 3: Git clone (the lazy way) (YouTube, Irreal)
  • Linux Mint: Set Up Python, R , duckdb and Emacs (35:51)
  • My first emacs package: lsp-cargo-feature-switcher (Reddit)
• Web:
  • Simple elisp snippet for validating links in MD/HTML/… files
• Mail, news, and chat:
  • Slack search with results in Org-mode buffer. (Reddit)
• Multimedia:
  • Norm: SVG? (Irreal)
  • tusharhero: SVG? Yes!
• Fun:
  • nethack-el version 0.15.0 released
• AI:
  • (released) superchat 0.4: add a simple workflow excutor
  • dm-gptel-simple-org-memory.el: an MCP tool use your org-notes as context
  • Fulltext, semantic text and image search in Emacs (18:20)
• Community:
  • Protesilaos Stavrou: Prot Asks: Ovi about Clojure development and business, Emacs, and AI
  • How to use Emacs on the go (Reddit, Irreal)
• Other:
  • Alvaro Ramirez: Emacs time-zones (Reddit, Irreal)
  • GitHub - haji-ali/pretend-type: Reveal emacs buffer as you pretend to type (Reddit)
  • Emacs in the terminal: keybindings, client and more | Gribouillis (HN)
  • skangas/mentor: mentor is a GNU Emacs frontend for the rTorrent bittorrent client. (@onokoto@mastodon.social)
• Emacs development:
  • emacs-devel: continued discussion of cond-let*
  • Add any and all (bug#79611)
  • Add drop-while and take-while (bug#79611)
  • New value 'auto' of user option 'flymake-indicator-type' used by default
  • Uninstalling a package now removes its directory from `load-path'.
  • Add functions 'combine-windows' and 'uncombine-window'
  • Add support for su-rs and sudo-rs programs
• New packages:
  • agda-lib-mode: Major mode for Agda library files (MELPA)
  • calctape: Adding-machine, tape calculator, column sum-mer (MELPA)
  • eldoc-mouse: Display documentation for mouse hover (MELPA)
  • flymake-x: Simple flymake checker definitions (MELPA)
  • helm-elfeed: Helm interface for Elfeed (MELPA)
  • jbeam-mode: Major mode for JBeam files (MELPA)
  • romkan: Romaji/Kana conversion library (MELPA)

Links from reddit.com/r/emacs, r/orgmode, r/spacemacs, Mastodon #emacs, Bluesky #emacs, Hacker News, lobste.rs, programming.dev, lemmy.world, lemmy.ml, planet.emacslife.com, YouTube, the Emacs NEWS file, Emacs Calendar, and emacs-devel. Thanks to Andrés Ramírez for emacs-devel links. Do you have an Emacs-related link or announcement? Please e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com. Thank you!

One of the things I like about going through elementary education as a parent is thinking about my processes for making sense of things and how I can help A+ figure out her own way to do that. A+ is in grade 4, and she has a research project that's due in a few weeks. I helped her take notes on different websites using a stack of index cards. The next time she lets me help her with homework,¹ I can show her how to sort those index cards into piles by topic. Then she can take each pile and figure out their sequence.

Index card sorting is the slightly-larger version of the way I used to help her with writing by letting her brainstorm a whole bunch of keywords in any order she wants. Ideas for a paragraph or a school essay fit on a page, but a longer report needs more space and tactile experience. I write keywords as she dictates them, we move things around to cluster similar ideas, and then she can pick whatever she wants to write about first (or jump into the middle) and thread her sentences through those words. Get the chunks down first, get them to be the right size for your brain, and then figure out the flow. Someday I'll show her mindmapping programs (or even maybe Org Mode!). For now, index cards and drawing programs help us focus on ideas without getting lost in interfaces. She's still far from making her own Zettelkasten. I don't even know if that'll suit her brain. But if I show her the ideas in miniature and shift some of my thinking to forms she can observe, maybe that'll give her some tools that work for where she is right now. Like the way physical math manipulatives make abstract numbers more real, I hope that that moving ideas around helps her think about thinking.

Into the unknown

I wonder what better could look like. There's that meme of connecting the dots, when someone is trying to show a complex theory in an incoherent way. When connections are too lightly supported or too overwhelming in number, it only makes sense to me and not to other people. (Maybe not even to my future self.) A good connection, on the other hand, might lead to "Hmm, I hadn't thought of it that way," or maybe the insights you can get by extending a metaphor. Like when you start to fill in a visual framework and it guides you to think about things you might have missed. Mashing up ideas can reveal different aspects of them: similarities, differences, gaps.

There's something here, I think. A digression doesn't have to be to something I know. A connection can be to an amorphous question I haven't fleshed out. If I mash ideas together with enough energy, what particles come out of the collision? If I connect the ideas that feel similar, can I begin to sense the lacunae, the questions I may want to ask? Here are more signposts to things I'm still figuring out: not so much "Here there be dragons," but pointers to territory I've yet to explore.