Tag, you’re it!

Léonie Watson tagged me last week in her blog questions entry “tag, you’re it!”. It’s a thing that has been going on since the start of the year, I think, where people are all answering the same set of questions about their blog, and then pass the baton. I’m in good company, being tagged by Léonie, AND being tagged with Lola Odelola and Mia (Miriam Suzanne)! I’ve known Léonie for a long time (over a decade for sure), but I’ve met Mia only twice at meetings in Seville (2023) and near Los Angeles (2024), and Lola I just met once on Zoom a few months ago as we attended the same meeting. All most excellent women!

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

It all started as a joke. A prank, really. Me and a couple others at work created a parody blog on Blogger in 2006 to tease a colleague of ours who had a blog where he wrote very seriously and quite assiduously (and still does!). His blog being called “la-grange”, we called ours “& la paille” as a nod to “La grange et la paille”, a parody of an old epic show on French TV in the late 80s. We attempted to create badly whimsical, poetic or philosophical short entries and kept that up for 2 months before we lost steam. Good fun!

Meanwhile, since 2005 I was blogging for myself, as a diary. I used a local instance of Blosxom on my laptop and created entries in command line via the Terminal. Every now and then I opened them in a browser because I liked how the blog posts were adorned by a black and white blossom.

I also blogged as Barbie-dull on my friend Amy’s blog “Dullicious” between 2005 and 2008 (all of those posts have since then been added to this blog). I blogged then about things I was doing (reading, movies, dreams, what happened to me that was notable, etc.) because I was spending some time abroad in the USA, and blogging was a way to combine diary, postcards, and newsletters for me and my family and friends back home.

Today I continue to blog for myself, about things I don’t mind others seeing. Mostly things I learn, things I draw or paint, things from my kitchen or garden, tracking my progress exercising, etc. I have a truly bad or odd memory, so I find this works for me as useful references for the future.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Today, I use WordPress which is hosted on a storage instance that I rent from Infomaniak. I chose it because it was the only blogging application they offered when I looked. I hate it. I wish I were more knowledgeable technically so I could do without.

I blogged on wordpress.com before, on MyOpera, I used Blosxom, Blogger. For work, I blog on CraftCMS since June 2023. We previously used Movable Type until September 2013, then self-hosted WordPress until June 2023. I micro-blogged on Diaspora, Identi.ca, Twitter (which I left before it became X), Mastodon (still do).

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?

In a panel/dashboard that is part of the blog. I used to use the Jetpack mobile application which was pretty convenient both on iPhone and iPad, but it has stopped working at some point and does not let me add any media anymore. Now I added a shortcut to the blog Dashboard to the home screens and use that. But the user experience has further degraded because the input focus disappears for no apparent reason at some point, requiring me to save the entry and reload the page. It’s a mild bother, really, since I blog less than once a month.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

Inspiration strikes any time. But I usually write during weekends, as the rest of the time it’s not convenient because I’m too tired from work, from being a mom, or from exercising, or “all of the above”! So when I am inspired, I open a draft blog post and write the title to continue later.

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

Immediately.

Who are you writing for?

I write for myself, mostly. I do it in a way that I would not be ashamed if others read. That gives me both accountability and a sense of purpose.

What are you generally interested in writing about?

I would love to be an influential writer who has deep thoughts and can eloquently make points that are powerful and enlightening, and move the needle in important and meaningful areas. But in practice, I write about my pets, I document step-by-step some of my drawings and paintings, I post recipes, I collect quotes from books I read, or I write up on things I learn or care about that I may want to (and usually do) refer back to later.

What’s your favourite post on your blog?

This post is the 500th! in a blog that spans 2005-2025. It’s hard to pick one so I’m going to go for the one that tells an usual story: Grazie, Signore Poggi, where I knocked at the door of an Italian couple in a hotel while they were having an intimate moment, to retrieve outside their window the cigarettes I had clumsily dropped 2 stories above.

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

Every two or so years I wonder whether to keep the damn thing and I do, but grudgingly. So maybe one day I’ll finally look for someone to hire to help me figure out a setup that I like and can manage happily. Maybe that extends to the rest of my website as well, which is even older than this blog!

Next?

I would like to pass the baton to:

  • Kevin Lawver, who is an inspiring wise man who’s had many lives, and always has good thoughts and ideas.

Architecting

I realized this week that I seem to have a lot more interest in architecting than in execution.

I also remembered that we become different persons based on what happens to us or the choices we have, even based on how good or bad we feel. Change may occur gradually after a long time or repeatedly on a much smaller scale. I just know it happens, to all of us, and that it is more or less perceptible (to us, to others). We are not exactly who and how we were at some point, and it makes it challenging to plan or to predict reactions (ours, other’s), but after all, isn’t it a more interesting this way?

Although I feel exactly the same, I am no longer the same person I was the last time I asked myself what I liked doing. So when I didn’t understand why I wasn’t approaching anymore things the way I used to, why some things had become unattractive to me, I got more and more worried and blamed it on not having enough time, not prioritizing the right way, or being unqualified.

Then a few things happened.

First, I had a great time when I focused on building a list and qualifying why its elements mattered individually and made sense as a whole, but it was not that pleasant a few days after to sit (thankfully for a short time) with a group that was fleshing out and categorizing the list. Worse, the only part I enjoyed was observing the deftness of the meeting convener at turning input that was sometimes diverging into something concrete. I wondered what was wrong with me to even feel the way I did (frustrated at times of some people’s carelessness, bored at other times by the pointlessness of some of the input, awed by the patience of the Chair, and puzzled that others seemed to be having such a great time.)

Second, I set aside some time to make a dent in a part of my TODO that I have kept bumping down for over a month, only to witness myself not being able to make anything of everything about it that was in my brain. If only there was a button I could press to process everything. I was unable to make myself go through the exercise and it was a source of much disappointment and of course worry. Where did my abilities go? Why the block? Welp.

Today it seems I prefer to conceive and design future implementations than to put things together and execute. From the event celebrating 30th anniversary of W3C last year to the various projects and conversations I am involved in this year, it’s clear that I choose to set the tone and direction, impress key principles, assign certain people, make specific connections, monitor promising angles, and track that the course is as plotted.

I have a keen notion of where I want to lead my small team and how to best use our collective skills and inclinations. Therefore I became more assertive over the years, the more it looked like we were doing OK, then doing alright. There is positive reinforcement in approaching things cautiously and in a way to be able to adapt nimbly. Tomorrow is exactly the 10th anniversary of my appointment as head of the W3C marketing and communications team. What changed though is that in some cases I discover I have a really hard time executing, to the extent that I am unable to remember how to.

Exercising: 2024 review

2024 was the 5th year in a row I’ve been exercising daily. This is my review post of my exercising year 2024, similar to the summaries I wrote for 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.


2024 didn’t feel particularly remarkable but looking at the raw numbers it was a year with a lot more of almost everything sport. Compared to 2023, I did a lot more jogging (+200%), a little less biking (-8%). I’ve worked out everyday except on 26 September (I walked over 7 km, my Apple Watch logged 32 minutes of exercise and I stood during 19 hours that day, but I had no time for an actual workout as I was busy at work in Anaheim, California: we held the 30th anniversary celebration of the World Wide Web Consortium).

I purchased a new e-mountain bike last Summer (the same one I purchased last year!) and it lives at my father’s house.

Sport tracking applications

I am currently subscribed to several sports apps: Sports Tracker by Suunto (29,99€/year), Komoot (59,99€/year), Strava (59,99€/year) and Apple Fitness+ (79,99€/year), but have already cancelled the subscription for the last two.

Come next July at renewal, I will either ditch Strava completely or go without a paying account. For the same price, Komoot actually does map audio guidance. And Sports Tracker by Suunto is a lot more usable when it comes to finding or sorting workouts. Strava is good for me only to see friend’s pretty photos.

As to Apple Fitness+ I find it extremely expensive and the emphasis on Apple Music is annoying. I would rather sort on activity types (e.g., upper or lower body) than on Latino grooves or pop music. I would like an option to lower the music volume or increase the trainer’s voice. Also the library of saved workouts is at rock bottom and you have to scroll a long time to get to it. Finally, some workouts expire after a while so you can’t access them anymore. Do not recommend!

Raw numbers

Comparison between 2023 and 2024

Highlights of 2024:

  • 543h of exercise (22.5 full days)
  • 617 workouts (1.7/day)
  • 2132 km on feet (5.8/day)
  • Ran over 280 km –4 times more than last year (6/week)
  • Cycled 2762 km –26 fewer kilometers than last year! (230/month)

Monthly challenges

This year again I earned all of the monthly challenges suggested by my Apple Watch. They are determined based on recent activities and are meant to either keep you at the same level or elevate you a bit, so that at the end of the year you have at least maintained if not improved your fitness.

  • 7x walking workouts
  • 14x 85 min exercise
  • 14x walk/run 4.45 km
  • 6x walking workouts
  • 14x walk/run 4.66 km
  • 14x 781 kcal
  • 14x walk/run 5.37 km
  • 11x double “move”
  • 14x walk/run 6.08 km
  • 10x double “move”
  • 14x walk/run 5.09 km
  • 14x 542 kcal

New gear

Me next to a brand new Nakamura eSummit 950s (picture by my brother)

Non-car commutes

As a personal choice and preference, I don’t usually drive to where I want to exercise, I usually start from home, or where I am. Last year I did drive a few times to reach a meeting point and this year I didn’t, although I did ride my bike a few times to Daniel’s place or somewhere else and he drove us elsewhere, further high, loading our bikes in his van.

156 out of 617 workouts this year were me running, walking or cycling instead of driving.

This represents 104 hours (out of the total of 480), and amounts to 985 kilometers! In 2024, I biked to and from the office 3 times and drove once (I usually work from home).

For comparison, in 2023 I had 55 non-car commutes, covered 620 km and it took me 31 hours.

Car usage

I drove about 6700 km in 2023 (130km/week on average) and bought 355 liters of gasoline (7 tanks).

I drove three times to La Creuse. In early May with my brother and father after my mum died, then in July alone to spend a few weeks with my dad, and once more in October with my brother to close our mother’s estate.

Activity maps

Work took me to Hiroshima, Japan again last April and to Anaheim, CA, USA for the first time in September. I also spent several weeks at my dad’s in the Spring, Summer and Fall. So I have several activity maps for 2024!

Track colour key (a more contrasted colour indicates a more visited track)

  • Orange: cycling
  • Green: walking/hiking
  • Yellow: running

Year in sport 2024 (Strava)

Year in sport 2024 (Strava)

Strava running & biking statistics

Runs:

  • 1 per week on average
  • 25 minutes on average
  • 3 km per week on average
  • 60 runs in 2024
  • 32h in 2024
  • 278 km in 2024

Rides:

  • 2 per week on average
  • 3h per week on average
  • 42 km per week on average
  • 104 rides in 2024
  • 185h in 2024
  • 2712 km in 2024

Year in sport 2024 (Sports Tracker)

Sports Tracker’s simple visualisations show a calendar of the year where each activities is a coloured dots on each day (several activities are several ringed dots), and then tallies followed by the list from most to least time spent in a given activity. The last bit is a world map but it isn’t wide enough to show both Japan and California!

Apple Health graphs

2024 graphs
Exercise minutes: 2023 (80 min avg) , 2024 (89 min avg)
Active energy: 2023 (618 kcal avg), 2024 (659 kcal avg)
Workouts: 2023 (1h08 avg), 2024 (1h18 avg)
Walking + running distance: 2023 (4.7 km avg), 2024 (5.7 km avg)
Cycling distance: 2023 (34.4 km avg), 2024 (43.9 km avg)
Heart rate range: 2023 (33-173), 2024 (36-164)
Resting heart rate: 2023 (51 bpm), 2024 (55 bpm)
Weight: 2023 (63,12 kg avg), 2024 (62,97 kg avg)

Art: Torii in forest (more prototyping)

I would like to draw big! If only because of the person this will go to, but also because it’s a challenge in a good way, relative to my usual practice. I am still not there yet 😅

A combination of things that go in the way (procrastination maybe? fear of failure certainly) and there’s a lot going on too, and the pens I got aren’t right. So I got new pens which are good for coverage but not great for colors, though!

Reminder: This will be for my friend Amy who has a frame to fill and wanted a red Torii in a forest.

Loose pencil sketch on A3 paper (11×17 inches).

I found new acrylic markers in the shades of orange, red, greens which are the type I am used to: they have a sealed barrel full of paint that you have to shake before use and then press the nib a few times to pump the paint downward. I set again to make a small scale version prototype on a card in size 4.6×6.2 cm (about 6 times smaller than what I intend to paint).

The coverage is perfect: this is paint rather than the semitransparent inkwash that fills (presumably) some foam within the other markers, since there is nothing to shake and no nib to pump.

But the colors aren’t as nice.

For comparison, this is another prototype on the same kind of card, where I used the not-quite-paint markers. In small scale (4.6×6.2 cm) there is very little visible defects but in large scale, any pencil marks will be visible.

I think my next step will be to use another sheet of large paper, mark the sketch outline in thick black ink using my large light table (a large led-lit ceiling lamp that I use as light table), use it as a guide underneath a third large sheet of paper and paint the glorious Torii with my great-colors markers! That will hopefully yield the right tones without any pencil mark showing.