<p class="translation-link" align="right"><a href="/zh/blog/now-202512">（點此閱讀中文版）</a></p><h2>Recent Status</h2>
<ul>
<li>I have two kids and work at a software company during the day. I’m grateful to have a full-time job that supports my family financially and gives me the freedom to pursue my passions.</li>
<li>I’ve been putting off our family yearbook for years. I recently started planning again and hope to finally finish the 2022 album.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Recent Interests</h2>
<ul>
<li>I’m trying out different tools and workflows to find what works for me. My goal is to build sustainable habits for both creating and documenting my work.</li>
<li><strong>Pen plotter:</strong>
<ul>
<li>I bought a <a href="md/blog/uuna-tek-idraw-2/index.en.md">UUNA TEK iDraw 2.0 A4</a> in September, and I’m super excited about it. I occasionally share various <a href="/tags/plotter">plotter art experiments</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Letterpress printing:</strong>
<ul>
<li>I’ve always wanted to try <a href="/en/tags/letterpress">letterpress printing</a>.</li>
<li>I bought a preloved <a href="md/blog/iletterpress-lao-shi-fu-de-pai-ban-zhuo/index.zh.md">《老師傅的排版桌》</a> in November have <a href="md/blog/iletterpress-desk-calendar/index.zh.md">printed a calendar</a> with it.</li>
<li>I’ve also been really into figuring out how to <a href="md/blog/iletterpress-embossing-wet-paper/index.zh.md">manually emboss paper</a> lately.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Favorite Tools Now</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Hardware:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://old.pragmatic.com.tw/shop/wu-shi-36ai-zhou-89">Pragmatic Choc36 Split Keyboard</a></li>
<li>Logitech Ergo M575 Wireless Trackball Mouse</li>
<li>MacBook Pro M1 14&quot;</li>
<li>Kobo Libra H2O</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Software:</strong>
<ul>
<li><strong>Creating:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://obsidian.md/">Obsidian</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cursor.com/">Cursor</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.affinity.studio/">Affinity</a></li>
<li><a href="https://inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Reading:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://feedly.com/">Feedly</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Website Setup:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://nextjs.org/">Next.js</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/">Cloudflare</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fonts.google.com/">Google Fonts</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/googlefonts/ms-madi">Ms Madi</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chiron-fonts.github.io/">Chiron Fonts</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ideas That May or May Not Happen</h2>
<ul>
<li>Exchange handmade postcards with someone.
<ul>
<li>I know about <a href="https://www.postcrossing.com/">Postcrossing</a>, but not everyone on that platform is open to handmade postcards. 😅</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Create something with my mother’s vintage typewriter, the <em>Olivetti Dora</em>.
<ul>
<li>Sadly, I don’t have the space for it right now. I’m looking forward to the day I can bring it home and add it to my creative toolkit.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ideas I Had But Have Decided to Give Up</h2>
<ul>
<li>Write monthly reports compiling and reviewing everything I’ve published and created each month.
<ul>
<li>Committing to a monthly update is too much pressure. I’ve decided to let it go for the sake of <a href="md/blog/midlife-crisis-what-i-truly-want.zh.md">mental health</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>This post is inspired by Derek Sivers’ <a href="https://nownownow.com/about">Now Page</a>.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="https://alexhsu.com/en/first-post">Alex Hsu’s introduction</a> for bringing this to my attention.</p>
</blockquote>


What I'm Up To

<p class="translation-link" align="right"><a href="/zh/blog/useless-things">（點此閱讀中文版）</a></p><p>I’ve never understood why I’m so fascinated by <a href="/en/tags/plotter">pen plotters</a>, <a href="/en/tags/letterpress">letterpress printing</a>, and vintage typewriters.</p>
<p>I did notice what these three things have in common: they were all invented to improve human productivity, and then they were completely replaced by more efficient tools.</p>
<p>I consider myself a <em>practical</em> and <em>rational</em> person. I can’t understand why I’m so drawn to these outdated tools—especially when they cost more combined than buying a computer and printer.</p>
<p>A few days ago, I read this quote from <a href="https://sive.rs/">Derek Sivers</a> in <a href="https://wiwi.blog/blog/derek-sivers-quotes#%E6%B2%92%E7%94%A8%E7%9A%84%E8%97%9D%E8%A1%93">Wiwi’s post</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Art is useless by definition. If it was useful, it would be a tool.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This suddenly made me realize: <strong>I’ve been trying to make these useless tools useful.</strong></p>
<p>But here’s the funny thing—I’m using them for artistic creation, so the results are still <em>useless</em>.</p>
<p>Or maybe, I’m <strong>empathizing</strong> with them.</p>
<p><em>They were replaced by computers, just like us engineers are being replaced by AI.</em></p>
<p>So can we—this group who are destined to become obsolete—work together to create something beautiful?</p>
<p>I’m still searching for answers.</p>


Useless things

<p class="translation-link" align="right"><a href="/zh/blog/now-202511">（點此閱讀中文版）</a></p><blockquote>
<p>This is an old archive. Please refer to the <a href="/en/now">Now</a> page for my latest status.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Recent Status</h2>
<ul>
<li>I work at a software company during the day. I’m grateful to have a full-time job that supports my family and hobbies.</li>
<li>I have two kids. I try to avoid mentioning them online to protect their privacy, <a href="md/blog/kids-drawing.en.md">though sometimes I can’t help myself</a>.</li>
<li>I’ve been putting off our family yearbook for years. I recently started planning again and hope to finally finish the 2022 album.</li>
<li>I finally decided to <a href="md/blog/start-a-personal-website-again/index.en.md">set up this personal website and blog again</a> in early November.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Recent Interests</h2>
<ul>
<li>I’m trying out different tools and workflows to find what works for me. My goal is to build sustainable habits for both creating and documenting my work.</li>
<li><strong>Pen plotter:</strong>
<ul>
<li>I bought a <a href="md/blog/uuna-tek-idraw-2/index.en.md">UUNA TEK iDraw 2.0 A4</a> in September, and I’m super excited about it. You can expect more <a href="/en/tags/plotter">pen plotter work</a> from me in the near future.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Letterpress printing:</strong>
<ul>
<li>I’ve always wanted to try <a href="/en/tags/letterpress">letterpress printing</a>. I bought a preloved <a href="md/blog/iletterpress-lao-shi-fu-de-pai-ban-zhuo/index.zh.md">《老師傅的排版桌》</a> in November have <a href="md/blog/iletterpress-desk-calendar/index.zh.md">printed a calendar</a> with it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Favorite Tools Now</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Hardware:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://old.pragmatic.com.tw/shop/wu-shi-36ai-zhou-89">Pragmatic Choc36 Split Keyboard</a></li>
<li>Logitech Ergo M575 Wireless Trackball Mouse</li>
<li>MacBook Pro M1 14&quot;</li>
<li>Kobo Libra H2O</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Software:</strong>
<ul>
<li><strong>Creating:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://obsidian.md/">Obsidian</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cursor.com/">Cursor</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.affinity.studio/">Affinity</a></li>
<li><a href="https://inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Reading:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://feedly.com/">Feedly</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Website Setup:</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://nextjs.org/">Next.js</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/">Cloudflare</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fonts.google.com/">Google Fonts</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/googlefonts/ms-madi">Ms Madi</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chiron-fonts.github.io/">Chiron Fonts</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ideas That May or May Not Happen</h2>
<ul>
<li>Exchange handmade postcards with someone.
<ul>
<li>I know about <a href="https://www.postcrossing.com/">Postcrossing</a>, but not everyone on that platform is open to handmade postcards. 😅</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Create something with my mother’s vintage typewriter, the <em>Olivetti Dora</em>.
<ul>
<li>Sadly, I don’t have the space for it right now. I’m looking forward to the day I can bring it home and add it to my creative toolkit.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Write monthly reports compiling and reviewing everything I’ve published and created each month.
<ul>
<li>With a full-time job and kids, I probably won’t tackle this side project anytime soon, but it’s something I’d like to do eventually.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>This post is inspired by Derek Sivers’ <a href="https://nownownow.com/about">Now Page</a>.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="https://alexhsu.com/en/first-post">Alex Hsu’s introduction</a> for bringing this to my attention.</p>
</blockquote>
