Je crois que tous que je publies est corrigible. Pas seulement les textes Françaises, dont je pratiques la langue, mais la totalité de mes publications. Il y aucun instance de ma vie, de moi même, qui est parfait.

Je ne suis pas perfectionniste parce que j’ai accepté la réalité de la condition humaine: notre corrigibilité. Mes efforts produisent des résultats que je les considères «assez bon». Ça veut dire qu’ils sont quatre vingts (les Wallons disent «ûtante») pour cent de le standard. Le standard est ça qui est le meilleure, mais même ça n’est pas parfait.

Malgré mes limitations, j’ai l’attitude positif: de travailler en continu, de compéter sincèrement, et d’accepter la réalité suivi.

Ça qui est corrigible est la matériel de le personne créative; le personne qui renouvelle lui chaque jour par faire plus en plus des fautes qui doivent être améliorer aux matériels suivant. Et la vie continue.

En ce sujet là, j’ai commencé à lire et à écrire en Français. Le grand plan est de pratiquer la langue jusqu’au point de compétence.

J’ai appris Français à l’école et j’ai l’utilisais par mon travail avec les touristes et après au Parlement Européenne. Grèce et Chypre, ou j’habitais maintenant à ma maison dans les montagnes, sons destinations touristiques.

Je suis un homme qui ne parler pas beaucoup. Ou, si tu préfères, qui ne parles pas sans raison. Quand je dis quelque chose, je veux m’exprimer correctement et précisément.

L’Anglais ça devenu ma langue maternelle adopté, peut-être en mémé qualité que ma Grecque. Si je pratiquer les Français j’ai l’espoir que depuis quelques ans je deviendrai effective à m’exprimer parfaitement.

Celles sont les premières journées. Les mots ces reviennent. J’ai le patience et la détermination de continuer. Chaque contribution a plein des erreurs: ses sont la vrai réflection de ma qualité en présent.

Tous que je veux ultimement est la vérité. Très bien!

Comme je veux devenir plus capable à m’exprimer en Français, je ne vais pas chercher pour les réponses en ligne. Pour moi, c’est préférable d’avoir des erreurs. Rétrospectivement, je pourrai comparer mes textes pour voir ma progrès.

Ma méthode de créativité s’appelle “alla prima”. J’ai pris la terme par l’histoire de peinture. L’objectif es de finaliser un oeuvre en premier effort et d’accepter le résultat. Mémé ci est une méthode nominalement artistique, je crois que son application est plus générale. Quand j’ai joue en bout (foot? football?), par exemple, je n’avais pas l’option de théoriser: chaque action demandais l’esprit décisive et le caractère qui est content avec les imperfections. La performance dépend en tous les préparations pour le match.

Je suis un artiste, un athlète, un philosophe, et plus, si tu veux. C’est facile de trouver les thèmes qui ont commun.

J’habitai en montagne de Chypre. Il n’y a pas des gens ici qui parlent Français. Si je trouverai quelqu’un ça va être à l’Internet. Peut être, c’est comme ça pour tous mes intérêts. “Pas de problème; pas de souci!” Cela est mon attitude en face des phénomènes quotidiennes. Et concernant les erreurs en cet article là? Tu connais ma réponse: pas de problème; pas de souci!

Both sides can claim victory. Though it is only a Pyrrhic one: another such moment of glory and they will be destroyed. Iran’s military and civilian infrastructure has been degraded, while its economy is reeling. They can keep on fighting, if necessary, at the expense of their longer-term wellness. Similarly, the Americans do not have the capacity to persist on a war of attrition, given their exposure to many other fronts around the globe.

Israel, one of the belligerents, is noticeably absent from the talks. This may be presented as a diplomatic debacle, though I think it is a win. The Israelis retain maximum flexibility to consolidate what they have gained over the past months. They see their wars as integral to their survival, while the Americans are merely fighting for extra profits. Whether with Benjamin Netanyahu in charge or another government, there is no way for Israel to give up on its campaign in Lebanon and its ongoing operations on Palestinian lands.

For their part, the Iranians have hitherto maintained an expansionist agenda. They have instrumentalised Shia populations and other groups in the wider region in order to extend control beyond their borders. The series of events since October 7 leading up to the present have made Iran’s foreign policy posture untenable. There is no land corridor anymore between the Iranian heartland and the Eastern Mediterranean. Whatever support the regime expresses towards Hezbollah cannot be sustained and shall become increasingly tokenistic.

Israel understands this dynamic and is thus galvanised to inflict maximum damage in Southern Lebanon at a relatively low cost. Israel does not have enthusiastic friends in the international community while support for it even among American voters is decreasing. Still, the logic of geopolitics demands that it pursues its ends with determination. Electorates have short memories. Whatever is lost now on the popularity front can be regained. What matters is the situation on the ground, where Israel remains dominant. The ongoing negotiations in Switzerland cannot undo this reality: only more war can, for which there is little appetite.

The Arab nations in the Gulf stand at a crossroads. The presence of American armed forces in the region did not prove beneficial to them. Their economies suffered greatly from the conflict. They still have options though: to continue as part of the Western security-financial architecture or to diversify their foreign policy with a pivot towards the Chinese and South-East Asian countries (where there are large Muslim populations, no less). The latter may be the only viable option given that (i) America has no pressing need for Middle Eastern oil while the Asians depend on it, and (ii) Iran is capable enough to pummel US bases around its borders. The Arabs do not gain from being Western protectorates the way Israel does.

Of great significance is the outcome of the negotiations with regard to the Strait of Hormuz: will free passage be the norm or are we moving towards a new arrangement where transit fees are imposed. To return to the status quo ex ante, the Americans will have to remain in the region or some equivalent power structure will need to be established. However that is done, it does not resolve the tensions that produced this war. Iran wants a permanent cessation of hostilities and the best guarantee to that end is the withdrawal of enemy forces from its neighbourhood. Consequently, we will likely have a new normal in Hormuz where Iran and regional partners are imposing tolls or other restrictions.

The Hormuz precedent is bound to change the face of maritime trade over the medium-to-long-term. Every country that has access to a chokepoint will have a strong incentive to assert its sovereignty in pursuit of immediate gains. And while free trade can be construed as a vestige of Western colonialism, which can then be criticised as such, the turn to sovereignism will necessarily engender the conditions for the resurgence of wanton piracy at the high seas. The reason for that is that major trading partners will have to find ways to keep trade routes profitable at the expense of the various sovereignists holding on to the chokepoints. Ergo commercial ships accompanied by military vessels and equipped with the appropriate hardware and ergo the need for safe havens, aka colonies, along the shipping lanes.

Put differently, these are not the machinations of some shadowy imperialism. It is how things work. International trade, colonialism, and piracy are facets of the same phenomenon, namely, access to and distribution of resources across countries. Which facet is more relevant depends on the prevailing norms.

The international order lacks a sovereign. Its laws are implemented on the basis of convenience. With the Americans no longer having the capacity to police the globe, the notion of a rules-based society of nations is becoming increasingly unrealistic. The United Nations do not have the means to enforce their collective will. The cracks are obvious in Palestine, for example. All the UN officials can do is make strongly worded pronouncements, which can be safely ignored.

The multipolar world order is inexorably on the rise. It will not necessarily be a prettier place. Yes, it signals the end of Americanism and Western supremacy more broadly, though it also is the death knell of the UN, at least in terms of substance. International law will give way in earnest to localised arrangements of power which shall be codified in inter-state covenants without reference to an overarching framework of legality. Thus an ever-more divided world is upon us.

Away from the fray of the Middle East, yet directly linked to the transition towards multipolarity, is the situation in Ukraine. The Russians are making slow yet steady advances in the Donbas region, where even the BBC is now reporting that the Ukrainian position is dire. This despite the positive press that drone strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure have in the West. European leaders know this is a shadow play. They want to keep Zelenskyy afloat to service their own interests. Though it is becoming apparent that Russia is winning on the ground and will only settle for peace on its own terms. Again, a multipolar world is not necessarily going to be pretty.

What unfolds in Iran reverberates in Eastern Europe and the Levant. Donald Trump is a master of distraction who effectively hides the decline of the USA behind personal theatrics. He understands that he speaks to a low attention span audience and has optimised his policy orientations accordingly. What matters is the impression, the brand of a deal-maker and decisive leader who makes his supporters feel good about themselves. People forget how things were very quickly. Illusionist gimmicks have yielded domestic success though geopolitics is not done with smoke and mirrors. President Trump does not wield the power he would like to have. International affairs continue to evolve as more spheres of influence are taking form.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): modus-themes (also built into Emacs 28+)
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes-changelog
• Colour palette: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes-colors
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes-pictures
• Git repositories:
  • GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes
  • GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/modus-themes
• Backronym: My Old Display Unexpectedly Sharpened … themes.

5.3.0 on 2026-06-21

The Modus themes are in a stable state. To my mind, they provide the best “default theme” experience across the 40+ original themes I have carefully designed.

Modus is also a platform for making themes for Emacs. There are plenty of derivatives already. I am linking to them through the project’s README.md and am always happy to mention more packages—just let me know.

This version does not include many user-facing changes. Most of my work focused on making internal refinements.

Load the themes through the early-init.el

The Modus themes can now be loaded through the early-init.el file. The idea is to avoid the flash of light that occurs under certain conditions during startup.

This feature is the result of several changes to helper functions, especially those contributing to the modus-themes-generate-palette function that Modus derivatives may be relying on.

Thanks to Steven Allen for an intermediate refinement in pull request 194 and to Mike Olson for another relevant tweak in pull request 199:

• https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/194
• https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/199

Steven’s contribution no longer exists in the code base due to other changes I made, but was still useful at the time.

Both changes are small, meaning that their authors do not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

Also thanks to Jacod “Jake” Gordon for reminding me to apply one of the new functions to the org-habit faces. This was done in issue 197: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/issues/197.

The underline for widget fields has the correct colour

Relevant faces use the palette entry for border (invoke the command modus-themes-preview-colors or modus-themes-preview-colors-current to view the entries in a theme’s palette).

A popular package that makes use of widget.el widgets is notmuch.

Thanks to ukiran03 for the contribution, which was done in pull request 193: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/193. The change is small, meaning that ukiran03 does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

A palette can now have a bg-popup entry

This gives users and derivative themes the option to pick a suitable value for popup interfaces, such as those of the company and corfu packages.

Thanks to aikrahguzar for making this suggestion in issue 70 of my ef-themes repository (the ef-themes are built on top of the modus-themes since Modus version 5.0.0, Ef version 2.0.0): https://github.com/protesilaos/ef-themes/issues/70.

Support for faces or packages

• lin by Protesilaos.
• pulsar by Protesilaos.
• institution-calendar by Protesilaos.
• markdown-ts-mode by Rahul Martim Juliato and Stéphane Marks.
• trust-manager by Eshel Yaron.
• typst-ts-mode by Ziqi Yang. Thanks to Pranshu Sharma for suggesting its inclusion in issue 208: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/issues/208.
• new elfeed faces since the maintenance of the project was assumed by Daniel Mendler, Karthik Chikmagalur, and Ihor Radchenko. To this end, thanks to Steven Allen for pull request 217 that added the elfeed-show-* faces: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/217

Internal refinements to the modus-themes-with-colors macro

It now correctly handles the order of default palette colours and user-defined palette overrides. Thanks to JD Smith for the contribution in pull request 191: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/191.

The change is small, meaning that JD does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

The multiple-cursors are fine even when a bar is used

When the cursor-type is configured to be a bar, the fake cursors produced by the multiple-cursors package will still look right. Thanks to Elias Gabriel Perez for the change to the mc/cursor-bar-face in pull request 213: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/213.

The blink-matching-paren-offscreen is the same as show-paren-match

This is for thematic consistency. Thanks to Troy Brown for suggesting this change in issue 209: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/issues/209.

Get vc-annotate look right

The built-in vc-annotate command relies on a user option to read color values. We cannot handle this nicely at the theme level. Users need to write their own configuration like this:

(defun my-modus-vc-annotate (&rest _)
  (modus-themes-with-colors
    (setq vc-annotate-background-mode nil)
    (setq vc-annotate-very-old-color fg-dim)
    (setq vc-annotate-color-map
          `(( 20. . ,red)
            ( 40. . ,red-cooler)
            ( 60. . ,red-warmer)
            ( 80. . ,yellow-warmer)
            (100. . ,yellow)
            (120. . ,yellow-cooler)
            (140. . ,green-warmer)
            (160. . ,green)
            (180. . ,green-cooler)
            (200. . ,cyan-cooler)
            (220. . ,cyan-warmer)
            (240. . ,cyan)
            (260. . ,blue-warmer)
            (280. . ,blue)
            (300. . ,blue-cooler)
            (320. . ,blue-intense)
            (340. . ,magenta-cooler)
            (360. . ,fg-dim)))))

(with-eval-after-load 'vc-annotate
  (my-modus-vc-annotate)
  (add-hook 'enable-theme-functions #'my-modus-vc-annotate))

[ The above code is relevant as of this writing. Though remember that I do not keep older publications up-to-date. The only source of truth is the manual of the Modus themes. ]

Two old user options are no longer needed

The user options modus-themes-completions and modus-themes-prompts are obsolete. They used to be relevant before the introduction of palette overrides.

Rewrote large parts of the manual

I did it for clarity, but also to remove notes that were specific to older versions of Emacs.

Many new ERT tests for the project

I have written many tests. They do not cover every single function, though the plan is to do that eventually. These tests are important to ensure that Modus is a solid platform for making derivative themes.

Much of this was done live: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2026-04-10-emacs-spontaneous-live-modus-themes/.

Thanks to Benjamin Kästner for a couple of tweaks to a relevant macro in the tests’ file. This was done in pull request 212, with further changes by me: https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes/pull/212.

Links to projects related to Modus

In the README.md I now mention projects that are related to the Modus themes, such as derivative Emacs themes, but also ports for other editors.

There is also a link to my modus-themes-exporter package, which I developed during a live stream:

• https://github.com/protesilaos/modus-themes-exporter
• https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2026-04-13-emacs-live-develop-modus-themes-exporter-package/

Git commits

git shortlog 5.2.0..5.3.0 --summary --numbered
    123	Protesilaos
     2	Benjamin Kästner
     2	Steven Allen
     1	Elias Gabriel Perez
     1	JD Smith
     1	Mike Olson
     1	ukiran03

• Package name (GNU ELPA): ef-themes
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes-changelog
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes-pictures
• Git repositories:
  • GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/ef-themes
  • GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/ef-themes
• Backronym: Eclectic Fashion in Themes Hides Exaggerated Markings, Embellishments, and Sparkles.

Below are the release notes.

Version 2.2.0 on 2026-06-21

This version contains two new themes and several stylistic refinements to existing items in the collection.

Enjoy ef-arcadia and ef-atlantis themes

ef-arcadia is a light theme with a green, humid feel. ef-atlantis is a dark theme with aquatic colours.

Improved style for company and corfu popups

I have revised the colour that each theme applies to the popup background. It should now be more consistent with all other elements on display.

Thanks to aikrahguzar for suggesting a review in issue 70: https://github.com/protesilaos/ef-themes/issues/70.

The current line highlight for completions is easier to spot

This is the background of the selected candidate in the minibuffer while using the vertico package (among other similar interfaces). The colours I am now using are more consistent with their context and also work better as part of a popup completion interface, as noted above.

Palette refinements for several themes

I have made subtle changes to a few colour values. These are fine details. The overarching goal is to be consistent throughout.

I was wondering how do you have the courage to become who you are today, you know, making speech and talk to different people. I have to do a presentation next week, and I find that even the most trivial presentation would stress me out and ruin my whole week. Is there any tip?

Change takes time. Big transformations are the result of many small tweaks whose cumulative effect eventually becomes noticeable as the new normal. There is this expression in English that “practice makes perfect”, which basically means that you become competent at something the more you do it. Though you also have to be mindful of what exactly you are doing. The technique or the method matters, otherwise you are embedding initial errors as second nature, which then makes them harder to correct.

Specifically on the topic of making a presentation, there are two core skills involved. One is the ability to express an idea clearly. The other is to connect with people at the interpersonal level through language.

You can think of “clear expression” as a direct path to somewhere. There are no obstacles, no branching sideways, no surprises and distractions: it just goes from A to B. You improve this skill by writing—and you have to write consistently. What you write about does not matter. The point is to pick a topic that you care about and formulate at least one relevant thought that makes sense. For example, you can write about the job you do, the place you live, a book you read…

Write as if you are addressing a stranger. So you cannot say “I like this book because it is good”, as that contains a lot of unknown information which may be clear in your head but does not appear in context. Instead, you have to note how, e.g. “I like this book because it taught me about X”. Then describe X to someone who is unfamiliar with the given domain of knowledge.

You do not need to publish your writings or show them to anyone. But it is essential for you to imagine that they are open to the public. This helps you have the correct frame of mind to make the thought understandable.

I described clarity as going from point A to point B without any impediments. A common mistake is to overexplain things. Perhaps you do it to prove that you really know what you are talking about. Or you underestimate the skills of the other person. The reason is not relevant though. When you overexplain, you effectively introduce distractions by making the instructions too verbose and thus too difficult to process. The essence may still be “from A you reach B”, but this “essence” cannot be buried under piles of unimportant details.

At this early stage you will not be competent at focusing on the essentials. Just know that there will be lots of “useless additives” in the beginning. As you write, those will gradually disappear. An example is what you have just read. You will notice that up until this point I have been thorough, but not frivolous with my words: I have not mentioned anything unrelated to the point I am elaborating on, nor have I explained every single concept I introduced.

The interpersonal skill is what separates interesting presentations from boring ones. Lots of scientists, for example, are excellent at getting all the details right but terrible at producing an interesting presentation. This is because they do not consider a basic fact about people: we remember big ideas and tend to forget tiny details. I can tell you about a story I heard when I was a kid, but I already forgot the quarterly report I got from the ministry of financial affairs.

Consider that our tendency to grasp the big ideas and forget the details is also a function of time. We might have the capacity to remember some details if they are given to us over, say, 30 seconds, but we will not be able to keep every detail in our head over the course of a 20-minute technical presentation. That is overwhelming.

Understand, then, that you are talking to people and are making a somewhat general point. This is true even in a technical setting. For example, a scientist should communicate their main findings and let their paper go over the technicalities of the data. You want to give them the big picture. It is sufficiently informative, but not too detailed.

People effectively need “breathing space”. You cannot bombard them with words non-stop. Pace yourself to be slow. Introduce brief pauses in between periods of higher intensity. If something is monotonous, then it is harder for people to discern patterns: they feel they are entering a closed space, with nothing to see, which makes them lose interest. So read/talk with the intent of varying the tones. Then you get them to listen to you because you keep their brain active.

Control your breath so that you can speak properly and think clearly. You do this if you are not rushing to finish your points. Have short sentences. Use commas for emphasis. Again, take it slow. Read this last sentence with a break where the comma is, like “again STOP take it slow”. Now read it again without that stop to check how awkward it is.

The ability to pause communicates confidence because you truly are in control of the situation: you are not panicking, you are not showing that you would rather be somewhere else, you are not trying to run away, you are not afraid of the clock.

You get better at this skill by practising speech. Consider recording yourself. Write your presentation in a way that is slow, has pauses, and lets you vary the tones. Then read it out loud and check the recording. Focus on the clarity of the words. If your breathing is correct, then you have air to speak loudly.

With enough practice you will learn to communicate effectively even on topics you are not prepared for, though that is the longer-term result. Similarly, once you get better at pacing yourself, you will be able to work on non-verbal communication: to look around the room, to establish eye contact, to have an aura of perfect balance. Though these come later. Right now your goal is to learn the contents of your presentation: they are not too detailed and they are not monotonous. Then read it properly, as I have outlined here.

Finally, remember that what you are feeling is normal. Everybody is like this because public speaking—and public speaking that is coherent and laser-focused—is not something we get by default. We become better at it through continuous practice. Try things to the best of your ability. You may not be good right now, but you will improve over time. Even if you are not good at all at doing presentations, you can still write a script for next week that contains elements of what I have covered, such as clear points and viable pacing.

In Greek we say “there is no ‘I cannot’ but only ‘I do not want to’”. Our emphasis is on the honesty of the effort: try it sincerely and only then decide if you can or cannot do it. But do not quit early, as that is your fear or complacency speaking. Of course, there are things we cannot change through practice (e.g. I cannot train to become 3 metres tall), but most things are malleable. Have this attitude and take it one step at a time. The rest will follow naturally.

Below are the lyrics, my translation of them, and further comments.

Το πέλαγο είναι βαθύ

Ερμηνεία:  Νάνα Μούσχουρη
Στίχοι:    Μάνος Χατζιδάκις
Μουσική:   Μάνος Χατζιδάκις


Το πέλαγο είναι βαθύ
κι η αγάπη είναι μεγάλη

Έχω έναν πόνο στην ψυχή
και ποιος θα μου τον βγάλει

Το πέλαγο είναι πικρό
χάδι μαζί και δάκρυ

Και με κυλάει αφρίζοντας
στου ορίζοντα την άκρη

Το πέλαγο είναι παιδί
τρέχει και δεν το φτάνω

Παιδί και στην αγάπη του
που σαν παιδί το χάνω

The sea is deep

Singer:  Nana Mouskouri
Lyrics:  Manos Chatzidakis
Music:   Manos Chatzidakis


The sea is deep
and love is big

I have a pain in the soul
and who will remove it

The sea is bitter
caress together and teardrop

And it rolls me foaming
to the horizon's edge

The sea is a child
it runs and I cannot reach it

Child also in its love
that as a child I lose it

The theme of The sea is deep is discerned through millennia of Greek culture: it is about the world as admixture. The sea is the poetic representation of the world at-large, here approximated through the human experience. Life contains all the parts germane to the human condition: those we like as well those we dislike.

Our preferences about the world are irrelevant, for we cannot enact them. We may not opt out of the magnitudes we do not enjoy or approve of. There is not stylistic or moral argument to be made that shall bring about permanent changes to the functioning of the world.

All we can do is accept what is, be it sweet or bitter, attractive or repulsive. Then we may work on internalising the observation that each is exposed to vicissitudes beyond their control. Phenomena come and go, much like waves. There is no holding onto them. Whatever we have is not ours to keep forever: it is alienable.

The sea exhibits the quality of the world as admixture quite clearly. It is a source of food, a place for recreational activities and romantic escapades, the space for commerce and for connecting to distant cultures… There are just so many beautiful moments we can think of. Yet the sea is never tamed. It has no friends and plays no favourites. In it lies the imminent threat of death and destruction, the peerless potential to make entire realities and to undo them.

Our powerlessness in the face of the world does not prevent us from working with what is available to us. We carry on living, with the qualities we are endowed with, under the evolving circumstances that govern our day-to-day affairs. The feebleness of ours underpins the sense of wonder we have. It manifests as awe: the feeling that consists of admiration and fear in tandem.

This poetic sea is likened to a child to emphasise its vitality and exuberance. Its energy is always more than our own, such that we cannot keep up with it. It is a child also in the sense that it does not obey our longer-term plans, seeking instead change of some sort.

The sea is deep speaks of love. We connect deeply with people, other animals, places, items, and activities, even though we are well aware that death will undo everything. Death in the literal sense, but also the figurative end of an era. A single kiss, for example, is enjoyable in its own right, not because there is any guarantee that there will even be a tomorrow in which another kiss shall happen.

Love is a part of what we seek even with a dagger firmly planted in our heart with nobody to remove it. In a sense, what we do is futile as the sea will wash it all away. In another sense, it is all important since we understand the grandeur of love through the ups and downs.

To what end? The sea knows, yet has no reason to tell us. We keep going regardless. Uncertainty does not deter us.

Because of this, it is difficult for me to test the relevant values. Each Doric theme defines entries in its palette like fg-red and bg-blue. So I decided to write a small snippet that shows text which uses those colours in context.

The idea is to create faces that get the appropriate :foreground and :background attributes with their proper values. Then write text in a buffer that displays each face.

(defconst test-doric-accents
  '( fg-red fg-green fg-yellow fg-blue fg-magenta fg-cyan
     bg-red bg-green bg-yellow bg-blue bg-magenta bg-cyan))

(dolist (accent test-doric-accents)
  (custom-declare-face
   (intern (format "test-doric-%s" accent))
   nil
   "Test."
   :group 'doric-themes))

(defun test-doric-set-accent-faces ()
  (doric-themes-with-colors
    (let* ((predicate (lambda (symbol) (string-prefix-p "bg" (symbol-name symbol))))
           (foregrounds (seq-remove predicate test-doric-accents))
           (backgrounds (seq-filter predicate test-doric-accents))
           (foreground-faces (mapcar
                              (lambda (accent)
                                `(,(intern (format "test-doric-%s" accent))
                                  ((t :foreground ,(symbol-value accent)))))
                              foregrounds))
           (background-faces (mapcar
                              (lambda (accent)
                                `(,(intern (format "test-doric-%s" accent))
                                  ((t :background ,(symbol-value accent) :foreground ,fg-main))))
                              backgrounds)))
      (apply #'custom-set-faces (append foreground-faces background-faces)))))

(add-hook 'doric-themes-after-load-theme-hook #'test-doric-set-accent-faces)

(defun test-doric-show-accents ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create "*test-doric-themes-accents*")))
    (with-current-buffer buffer
      (erase-buffer)
      (dolist (accent test-doric-accents)
        ;; Pangram from my `show-font' package...
        (let* ((text "Protesilaos may find zesty owls and quiet jays vexing the black cat")
               (styled (propertize text 'face (intern (format "test-doric-%s" accent)))))
          (insert (format "%s\n" styled)))))
    (display-buffer buffer)))

Reload the theme for changes to take effect.

And, yes, I had the motivation to write this because I am developing new themes.

Doric themes sources

• Package name (GNU ELPA): doric-themes
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/doric-themes-pictures
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/doric-themes
• Backronym: Doric Only Really Intensifies Conservatively … themes.

Over the past few weeks Atlas’ cancer has resurfaced. This time I will probably not be able to do anything about it, though I will still check with the medical experts. The cancer has already grown more than what it was a few months ago when the doctor performed an operation on it. I still take care of Atlas and provide all I can. He is happy, though noticeably weaker than what he was even in recent times.

This is the real world. We long for happy endings. Our stories have them, as do our dominant religions. There has to be something more, something in another place that is better than what we have here. Such is our hope and desire. There is no proof of an altogether different world; a world of pure bliss. We want it to exist perhaps to distract ourselves from the actuality of our condition. Here things are neither purely blissful nor completely miserable. There is attraction and repulsion, that which is beautiful and that which is disgusting. One flows into the other. It is and becomes not, depending on the interplay of factors that constitute the given case.

My life with Atlas goes back a decade when I got him as a tiny puppy. On day one, during our first walk, he stood up against a large, poorly socialised Rottweiler. I remained calm and smiled at his audacity. The other man was struggling to contain his dog and was visibly stressed.

Atlas grew up to be a mighty dog, blessed with supreme intelligence, and independent in his behaviour. He never works for me: he only does what he wants, cooperating with me when it makes sense to him. So he learnt all the essentials of living with people and skipped the lessons for all the tangentially useful tricks. I am a little bit like him and he is like me. The closest I have ever experienced to an ideal friendship between human and dog.

Cancer or not, death is part of the incessant process. The story of the universe is one of dust configured into systems of systems, transfiguring into galaxies and particles alike, all exhibiting the constants of patterns, structure, cause and effect else feedback loops else language. Reasonableness woven into fabric. Such is the living universe of which we are a part. A cycle everlasting, experienced as an organism of organisms.

We suffer for as long as we expect the world to deliver us from one of its facets. Mind without body, good without evil, happiness without suffering, sociability without the messiness of human relations, and so on. There is no pure benevolence as the irreducible quality, no father in heaven as the supreme good, for such a being necessarily is in a mode of being, inclined a certain way, which may then be made manifest as its context-dependent irreconcilable other on a spectrum of preference, inclination, way, or mode. An omnipotent god qua omnipotent cannot be constrained and thus cannot be limited to any one quality, goodness included. Whatever ultimately is, simply is. The mode of being is a point on an infinite line: a presence that is transfigurable.

I will continue to live with Atlas and my three other dogs, Raizou, Meelon, and Oreeon, the way I have done hitherto. We are happy here in the mountains. The dogs run around the slopes unleashed. They are close to their wolf nature, owning to the exposure they get to these open vistas. I, too, have long now rewilded myself because I accepted the world as-is and consequently escaped from the grip of fancy, of the want for happy endings. I am undisturbed by indeterminacy and open-endedness. I do not expect anything and fear nothing. This evening, when the sun sets, we will go for our nightly hike with the same vigour and intensity we always do. And when we cannot do that anymore, we shall do whatever our condition renders unavoidable.

A flat Dired listing

For a while now I have been using my own command to create a Dired buffer from the current directory (which can always be updated on demand with M-x cd). It is prot-dired-search-flat-list. Here is the code:

(defvar prot-dired-regexp-history nil
  "Minibuffer history of `prot-dired-regexp-prompt'.")

(defun prot-dired-regexp-prompt ()
  (let ((default (car prot-dired-regexp-history)))
    (read-regexp
     (format-prompt "Files matching REGEXP" default)
     default 'prot-dired-regexp-history)))

(defun prot-dired--get-files (regexp)
  "Return files matching REGEXP, recursively from `default-directory'."
  (directory-files-recursively default-directory regexp nil))

;;;###autoload
(defun prot-dired-search-flat-list (regexp)
  "Return a Dired buffer for files matching REGEXP.
Perform the search recursively from the current directory."
  (interactive (list (prot-dired-regexp-prompt)))
  (if-let* ((files (prot-dired--get-files regexp))
            (relative-paths (mapcar #'file-relative-name files)))
      (dired (cons (format "prot-flat-dired for `%s'" regexp) relative-paths))
    (error "No files matching `%s'" regexp)))

I could modify prot-dired-search-flat-list to also prompt for a directory, though I optimise for the common workflow of operating from where I am (and I generally do not like overloading the C-u with special cases that I will never remember—a new command with a name I can search for is better).

Flat listing limited to last modified since DAYS

Yesterday I had the need to browse a massive directory, but only wanted to get a couple of files out of it. I realised that I had to filter my last modified, so I extended my above use-case with the new command prot-dired-search-flat-list-since-days. Here is what I came up with:

(defvar prot-dired-days-prompt-history nil
  "Minibuffer history for `prot-dired-days-prompt'.")

(defun prot-dired-days-prompt ()
  "Prompt for days and return them as a number."
  (let* ((first (car prot-dired-days-prompt-history))
         (default (when (stringp first)
                    (string-to-number first))))
    (read-number "Number of days: " default 'prot-dired-days-prompt-history)))

(defun prot-dired--get-last-modified (files days)
  "Return list of FILES last modified since DAYS."
  (seq-filter
   (lambda (file)
     (and-let* ((attributes (file-attributes file))
                (last-modified (nth 5 attributes))
                (last-modified-seconds (time-to-seconds last-modified))
                (current-time (current-time))
                (current-time-seconds (time-to-seconds current-time))
                (delta-seconds (* days 24 60 60))
                (oldest-seconds (- current-time-seconds delta-seconds))
                (_ (>= last-modified-seconds oldest-seconds)))))
   files))

;;;###autoload
(defun prot-dired-search-flat-list-since-days (regexp days)
  "Return Dired buffer with files matching REGEXP up to DAYS since last modification.
Perform the search recursively from the current directory."
  (interactive
   (list
    (prot-dired-regexp-prompt)
    (prot-dired-days-prompt)))
  (if-let* ((files (prot-dired--get-files regexp)))
      (if-let* ((files-filtered (prot-dired--get-last-modified files days))
                (relative-paths (mapcar #'file-relative-name files-filtered)))
          (dired (cons (format "prot-flat-dired since %d days for `%s'" days regexp) relative-paths))
        (error "No files last modified within the last %d days" days))
    (error "No files matching `%s'" regexp)))

Note that I always design my minibuffer prompts to have their own history, because then I only get relevant entries when I press M-p (previous-history-element) and M-n (next-history-element) at the prompt (and the built-in savehist-mode takes care to persist those).

Everything is part of my Emacs configuration: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/dotemacs. I will not be updating this article, so make sure to check for any further refinements there.

• Train (2022-06-28)
• New dizziness (2022-08-01)
• Here (2025-02-08)

In the night of the others is an excellent song, both (i) as a fine example of Greek rock and (ii) a poignant reminder to be fair and mindful of our situation.

Below are the original lyrics, my translation of them, and further comments.

Μέσα στη νύχτα των άλλων

Ερμηνεία:  Τρύπες
Στίχοι:    Γιάννη Αγγελάκας (Τρύπες)
Μουσική:   Τρύπες


Δεν ακούει κανείς, δεν ξυπνάει κανείς
μόνο οι καρδιές μας ηχούν και τίποτε άλλο
Ήρθε ο καιρός να μου πεις, είναι καιρός να μου πεις
τι γυρεύουμε εμείς μέσα στη νύχτα των άλλων

Δε μιλάει κανείς, δεν απαντάει κανείς
σκιές βουβές υπνοβατούν πάνω στον πάγο
Ήρθε ο καιρός να μου πεις, είναι καιρός να μου πεις
τι γυρεύουμε εμείς μέσα στη νύχτα των άλλων

In the night of the others

Singer:  Trypes
Lyrics:  Giannis Aggelakas (Trypes)
Music:   Trypes


Nobody listens, nobody awakens
only our hearts echo and nothing else
The time has come to tell me, now is the time to tell me
what are we doing in the night of the others

Nobody speaks, nobody responds
silent shadows sleepwalk on ice
The time has come to tell me, now is the time to tell me
what are we doing in the night of the others

The salient point of this song is to express ourselves in earnest. The titular night describes the state of affairs when we are always behaving in a conformist way for the sake of conformism. If we never show how we truly feel, then we effectively operate in hiding. We pretend that our feelings do not matter, while simultaneously acting like other people’s wellness is of paramount importance. Such is our double-standard and thus the injustice we commit against our own person.

When we do this, we think that we are showing resilience while making pro-social contributions. We assume the role of the reliable friend who happily accommodates the needs of everyone while asking for nothing in return, never to complain nor to ask any questions. And if we are competent in this regard, then we take comfort in consistently suppressing our desires. We even think that we are special in some respect because we apparently do not need any help while others do.

This, however, is not sustainable. By only valuing others, we deny ourselves the important interpersonal skill of pushing back when necessary, of sometimes answering in the negative, of speaking our mind. As such, we only respond affirmatively, which inevitably means that we take on increasingly more emotional burdens as well as concrete people-pleasing responsibilities. We inevitably overwork ourselves. A burnout shall ensue. It may cause irreparable damage or, at least, lead to the kind of injury that is hard to recover from.

The person who wants to help others must learn to include their own self as part of the rest. There should be no double-standard nor any rationalisation along the lines of “I am tougher than them and can handle it”. The goal is to have consistency. Self-love, for example, is not the same as selfishness: it is to care for oneself the way one cares for others. A mother will not be feeding her baby for much longer if she does not eat enough food herself, for example.

The night of the others does not describe some tyranny. It is a condition that comes from within. The reason is that we naturally resist what we perceive of as oppressive. So we would not be searching for something there. Whereas the song asks what are we even trying to find in this figurative place, implying that we have already made a prior judgement of considering it acceptable in some form. Put differently, the problem is of our own making.

The other point of In the night of the others is to have situational awareness: to continuously assess the prevailing conditions in our milieu in order to notice when the night is upon us. This is especially relevant for relationships that start out one way and become something entirely different in the process. If we are not in tune with the circumstances, then we are again forcing ourselves into a situation where our selfhood is suppressed. Here, too, the double-standard is due to us, only this time it comes from complacency rather than a misplaced desire to fit in.

We need exposure and recognition in our life. We have to have moments during which our sincere desires are expressed. Sure, there are times when we will deprioritise our own needs. This is fine. The key is to find a balance, such that there will be daytime after any given night.

The Tales of Berseria has all of those elements. It couches them in terms of a story that is mature and nuanced. Instead of putting you in control of the forces of good in their battle against pure evil, you assume the role of a once kind and loving elder sister who turns into a ruthless monster. Her name is Velvet and she is out for revenge, driven by nothing but hatred. Her mortal enemy is her brother-in-law, Artorius. He seeks to remake the world in his own image of pure reason, strict discipline, and moral excellence so as to free people from their propensity for greed, corruption, and thus demonisation.

Artorius is not your typical bad boss. On the contrary, he is a paragon of virtue who understands that sacrifice is an irreducible component of any ambitious goal that elevates a person above mediocrity. Artotius embodies rationality and what would historically be considered virile values. He is the stiff upper lip kind of man, who shows no emotion, and is ready to do whatever it takes in pursuit of the right thing.

There is something noble in the traits of character inherent to Artorius; something that everyone can learn from. His problem is one of degree: he is too rational, too knightly, and thus fails to pay attention to the other facets of his being. By essentially foregoing his emotional side, by pretending to be pure spirit without a body that knows attachment and pain, he loses that finely calibrated mechanism we have to understand when something has gone too far. He can no longer feel others, as “others” are reduced to numbers, data points that need to be manipulated until the model yields the desired results.

Velvet is his overly emotional counterpart. She exhibits all the wonderful traits of care and loving, such as how she treats her younger brother. Though those too also lend themselves to disaster when they are misapplied. Love erga omnes is the kind of naivety that invites the wolf into the herd, for example. Similarly, emotional intensity has the potential to turn into uncontrollable rage and self-harming hatred when it is not framed by common sense.

Artorius is a monster for being too rational. Velvet is a monster for being too emotional. This fits nicely with the Delphic teachings on moderation and the wider Greek worldview of admixture. The Greeks think that there is no such thing as pure good or pure evil. Whatever we get can be either of those depending on its degree and the prevailing conditions. As such, we have to exercise judgement and have situational awareness. Quick-and-dirty rules do not work, not even for something as common as drinking water: the right amount is healthy, however both too little and too much will kill you.

Where we want to be is between the extremes, at a point of harmony that recognises all facets of our being and takes everything for what it is in its potential to be benign and detrimental to us. There is a side of us that is scholarly, another that is caring, a third that is lustful, a fourth that is combative, a fifth that is inventive, a sixth that is community-building, and so on. We cannot be only one. Similarly, we have a body and a mind. It is pointless to argue how one is godly and the other is not. They simply are. This is what the Greek worldview comes down to: accept the world as-is, not how you fancy it to be, recognise the multifacetedness that is germane to the human condition, and work with what you have.

Artorius wants a world of complete predictability and total uniformity. If we are all the same, then we have nothing to be jealous of, nothing to fight for, and, therefore, nothing to keep us apart. We can think of the famous song of John Lennon, titled Imagine, as a relevant contribution. The singer asks us to imagine how nice it would be if we had no differences among us, no religion, no country, et cetera. Why stop at the level of institutions though? We can extend that principle to physical traits: imagine we are all the same height, with the exact same looks. Think about how much easier it is to produce a size that fits all! Oh and how nobody will be able to out-compete the others on anything!

What Artorius and John Lennon get wrong, even if they have the purest of intentions, is that they have a prescriptive view of the world. They are arguing with the gods like spoilt children. To get what they want, they necessarily have to undo the innate diversity of our kind and of nature at-large. To every expression of individuality they will have to counter with the preponderant force of conformity, so as to maintain their order.

The ancient myth of Procrustes (Προκρούστης) provides a powerful image for this disastrous propensity for homogenisation. Procrustes is a capable man who has a John-Lennon-esque idea to make all people the same. He implements his plan by placing people on his workbench and making them fit its dimensions. He stretches the limbs of those who are shorter and he cuts off the excess parts of those who are taller. In other words, he is torturing them. Procrustes may be well-meaning at heart, yet his plan inevitably leads to cruelty. Artorius, and I would argue everyone like John Lennon, is destined to do the same even if they think they are not.

Coming back to the Tales of Berseria, Velvet grows as a character as the story unfolds. I think her characterisation is well done. Along the way she finds interesting companions who also go through their own transformations. Without going into the details, Rokurou becomes something more than the villain he is, while Magilou reveals a side of her that was not obvious.

Since I mentioned Magilou, she and her sidekick Bienfu have among the funniest supporting roles I have seen. They add much-needed levity to an otherwise grim world. It is the other lesson to be drawn from this game: to see the comedy alongside tragedy, the absurdity of drama, how it they all ancient theatre, and to recognise that we can still laugh even though we know that underneath that thin layer of politeness and civilisation lies savagery.

The video will be recorded for future reference.

One such lament is My expatriated birds (Ξενιτεμένα μου πουλιά). I could not find a high quality video of the old-school style, so I am including these otherwise remarkable covers by Alkyone and Konstantis Pistiolis (Κωνσταντής Πιστιόλης), respectively:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzzue8TT0OQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMsAXJrRGXk

As is common with traditional art, there are slight variations in circulation. I am picking the one sung by Alkyone. Its lyrics are right below, followed by my faithful translation of them, and further comments.

Ξενιτεμένα μου πουλιά

Ερμηνεία:  Alkyone
Στίχοι:    Παραδοσιακό
Μουσική:   Παραδοσιακό


Ξενιτεμένα μου πουλία
και παραπονεμένα
μωρέ ξένε μου
η ξενιτιά σας χαίρεται
τα νιάτα τα γραμμένα

Tι να σου στείλω ξένε μου
ν'αυτού στα ξένα που'σαι
μωρέ ξένε μου

Σου στέλνω μήλο, σέπεται
κυδώνι μαραγκιάζει
σου στέλνω μοσχοστάφυλο
στο δρόμο σταφιδιάζει

Σου στέλνω και το δάκρυ μου
σ'ένα χρυσό μαντήλι
μωρέ ξένε μου
το δάκρυ είναι καυτό
και καίει το μαντήλι
μωρέ ξένε μου

My expatriated birds

Singer:  Alkyone
Lyrics:  Traditional
Music:   Traditional


My expatriated birds
and complaining [birds]
oh my foreigner
the foreign land enjoys you
the fated youth

What shall I send you my foreigner
there abroad where you are
oh my foreigner

I send you an apple, it rots
a quince, it withers
I send you an aromatic grape
it becomes a raisin en route

I also send you my tear
in golden handkerchief
oh my foreigner
the tear is hot
and burns the handkerchief
oh my foreigner

The Greeks are a diaspora nation in large part due to their homeland. Greece is a mountainous, rocky place, surrounded by sea. Salt coming from the vapours renders the coastline unsuitable for cultivation. There are relatively few spots for agriculture in the hinterlands. The effects of geography are more pronounced in the many islands.

The presence of mountains makes transportation difficult, maritime travel is especially dangerous during the winter, while the absence of abundant minerals prevents the establishment of local heavy industry. Many Greek communities were thus insular, forming a loosely connected ethnic whole. Only nation-state building (e.g. public education, conscription) and modern technology (telecommunications, transportation, …) have changed the dynamics towards an ever-closer sense of belonging.

In recent decades, Greece has relied on tourism to boost its exports. The sector as a whole is booming, though this is not the blessing one would imagine. Business has its own logic, which typically is rapacious. It turns housing into yet another commodity that is instrumentalised in the service of the given product. Locals are priced out of their houses and forced away from their lands. Those are taken over by commercial interests of dubious origin and turned into what I have described before as a “theme park”, i.e. something that has the trappings of tradition but is devoid of authenticity: https://protesilaos.com/politics/2025-09-02-when-your-country-is-a-theme-park/. Put differently, the age-old history of hardship persists in this land, adapted to present-day circumstances.

Against this backdrop, the lament for the grief of expatriation is as pertinent as ever. The song alludes to destiny (τα νιάτα τα γραμμένα) in recognition of the contributing factors to the phenomenon; factors which have been germane to the Greek experience from antiquity, and which may thus be talked about as if they are connatural of Greekness, hard-coded in our genetic makeup as it were. “This is our land, these are its prevailing conditions, such are the options we have” is the thinking.

Relatives and friends of mine are scattered around the planet. I also emigrated, originally in pursuit of city lights, but eventually relocated to a mountainous region where I built my modest house. The most daring, the most desperate, the most capable, migrate in hope of a better fortune. As a result, the local communities experience a drain of talent. It is, in fact, a loss of vitality as immigrants are typically young. Younger people with big ideas and a zest for life are nowhere to be seen. The villagers are withering away and with them a culture becomes extinct.

Those who stay in the rural areas or those who arrive out of a conviction to fight against the trends can only subsist without making structural changes to their milieu; changes of the sort that would reverse the historical trajectory. This is because the vibrancy of a community is a game of numbers: the fewer and the older people are, the less dynamic their society will be. Even if some individuals are more active than others, they cannot compensate for the lack of numbers. They may not, for example, start a small business or play a team sport.

It is virtually impossible to entice those expatriated folk to return to their ancestral lands. As the song points out, they are in a distant place, symbolised by the decaying fruit and tears of sorrow that never reach them in their spontaneous, unfiltered form. This distance may be physical, though that is relatively easy to manage nowadays with work-from-home, renewable energy, mobile Internet, and superior road networks. The greater challenge is how to bridge the mental gap, which pertains to an individual’s increasingly vain wants and expectations. This is a problem of attitude.

Heperus, here a proxy for every land where the slow-paced life is the norm, cannot offer modern attractions or distractions. Doing so would be inwardly contradictory: a drift towards its theme-park-isation. Heperus has no bling and no space for miracle workers. All it offers are open vistas and a feeling of direct connection to the Earth Mother. It cannot entertain the illusion—for it is only an illusion—of plentiful options that the megalopolis engenders, nor can it feed the hopes of the arrivistes for ever-higher social standing.

The lived experience that is conditioned by material constraints, not the inevitability of death and certainly not our shared human nature in abstract, is the greatest equaliser. When people believe they can earn more, their greed takes hold of their ego and makes them compete with each other over glory and recognition. They develop a ruthless individualistic outlook, facilitated by the anonymity of large crowds, rationalised as pop culture social Darwinism, and talked about in terms of the homo economicus.

When the American oligarchs incorporated the motto “In God We Trust” on their dollars and other symbols of statehood, they did not merely perform an act of tokenistic theism. No! They formalised the culmination of a certain ethos of insatiable desire and maximum competitiveness towards all. This is now the dominant lifestyle in many parts of the world. It is all about more, and more, and more. The faster the pace of life, the closer people are to the all-devouring money-god.

The song reminds us that we are all birds; birds who still have differences between them, though who shall all live the same kind of life. Material constraints make this point evident. Under such conditions, those who try to fashion themselves as special look ridiculous, for the means at their disposal are largely the same as every other person’s in their midst.

In the Greek conception of fate, there is inevitability though there is also space for luck (unpredictability or the open-ended interplay of factors more broadly) as well as choice. It has indeed been the case that most birds left their lands. Though the world can go in circles and the agrarian society may become the norm once more.

Not all hope is lost. We will recognise our likeness, we will stop competing to the point of collective annihilation, only when, through physical proximity and shared woes, we rediscover the need for community qua extended family.

After

It is not clear where you are and what exactly is happening to the world around you. You wake up in the middle of some indeterminate place and must walk to another location. Even completing the game does not tell you much of what is going on. The ending leaves everything open to interpretation. There is no dialogue or any hint you can read on. Just unending darkness.

Limbo is all about the gameplay and its attendant vibes. The actions you may perform are basic directional motions and a single jump. There are no power-ups or tools you may acquire. Beside your innate motions, you can interact with some objects in the environment to solve puzzles, such as to push a crate around or pull a lever.

Each section represents a single puzzle. Solving it allows you to progress to the next section. The problems you are confronted with require both situational awareness and well-timed execution of actions. In other words, you will die a lot until you figure out what to do.

The Limbo gameplay revolves around the idea of trial and error. A small miscalculation and your life is forfeit. You respawn at the point where the puzzle starts, which typically means that you are only a few steps behind where you stopped. Dying is the means through which you learn about the requirements of each puzzle.

This loop of death and rebirth as a vehicle for learning is a fecund metaphor for how we recalibrate our corpus of knowledge. As we are exposed to new information, the now incompatible part of us must be left behind: it cannot form part of the new world. To err in honesty, and to become aware of our mistakes, is to liberate ourselves from the grip of the given falsehood. Those who are afraid to make mistakes, those who do not admit to any wrong, those who choose to only show a boutique view of their self, are not going to progress to the next “puzzle” because they refuse to go through the cleansing baptism of fire that is trial and error.

Limbo executes its ideas well. The atmosphere is consistently eerie, the environment remains unwelcoming throughout, the mechanics are precise, and the puzzles are smart. It is a nice experience all around.

A friend of mine had the game installed on his computer—a fact his mother loathed. “What are you boys going to do with your life!?”, I still hear old Jenny freaking out over our complete lack of interest in education. My friend was terrible at the game, by the way, so I understand his mother’s frustration: at least he could have gone into e-sports had he applied himself more meticulously, you know.

The few times when I would not play football due to adverse weather conditions, I would stay at his place for a couple hours to watch him build up his mighty dukedom at snail’s pace. He would assign a single villager to build all the fortifications, one lass to do all the fishing, and a truly manly man to mine the gold under the beating sun. Then we would just sit there like complete idiots to marvel at the peerless work rate of medieval people.

This is not how you sell a franchise, I know… The game is actually great. I consider it one of the best ever. It still receives patches and new downloadable content because it gets the core gameplay right and has a tonne of things to explore. Casual gamers can enjoy a nice blend of city-building and historical trivia, while seasoned players will find a deep real-time strategy game that shall test their ability to manage resources through space and time as they overcome their foes.

The campaigns are based on historical events, so history nerds will be especially pleased to explore the many cultures they can play as from virtually all corners of the planet. Furthermore, they will be inspired to find answers to the hardest problem of modern science, which is how did those skirmishers carry infinite javelins.

Beside the campaigns, there are exhibition matches with all sorts of rules that are about the intricacies of winning a war through superior control of civilian and military units. Indeed, what we learn from the game once we try to play it at a competitive level is that there is no such thing as an objectively superior army.

Each civilisation has its own strengths and weaknesses, which are expressed through power peaks and valleys as they advance their economies. There is a gameplay logic to this, so that it is fun to play and experiment with all the options. Though even real-world war exhibits the same patterns of force through temporal and spatial magnitudes. For example, the combined armies of USA and Israel may, on paper, be stronger than Iran’s but they have clearly lost the asymmetric war as of this writing.

Concretely, it is a mistake to pick a culture in-game on the basis of whose technology tree yields the strongest units towards the later parts of a match: you may never live that long. At the competitive level, early advantages tend to have a snowball effect. It is thus essential to maintain the pressure high and control the geography of the conflict. Continuous small wins contribute to success much more reliably than a long-planned single killer blow.

What is a bit silly with the latest expansions to the Age of Empires II platform is that the historical window continues to widen. It used to be focused on the European Middle Ages, roughly after the fall of Rome to the widespread adoption of gunpowder. Whereas now you can play as the ancient Spartan infantry as they stand their ground against their primordial enemies of, checks notes, the Jaguar Warriors of emperor Montezuma…

Humans are notoriously bad at drawing clear delineations. If you do not believe me, just ask the neocons at Washington DC to produce a map of the Middle East.

Seriously though, it is cool to get such fan service which doubles as genuinely interesting content. There are probably a few hundred hours that you can put into this game just to get through all the campaigns. Though in practice there is infinite replay value to be had. It is just a matter of how determined you are to distance yourself from society.

What I do consider a negative about the latest additions to the platform are the increasingly gimmicky mechanics that some special forces have. There now are units that project an aura, others that have a charge attack, and others still that can switch forms. While those ideas are cool in their own right, they make for a highly complex interplay of factors: it detracts from the simplicity of just spamming Huskarls at your enemies until they ragequit.

An honourable intention [to have a multicultural cast]. But for us Greeks, it makes our absence even more glaring – especially in the year’s blockbuster event. If your film sets out to represent the world, wouldn’t it be obvious to fill one space at this large, wonderfully multicultural table with the people who are most authentically connected to the source?

Sure, it would be nice. Though I personally do not see any problem in the absence of Greeks. This is a story. We are meant to take it lightly: it is make-belief. We are not supposed to treat it as a living continuation of antiquity, nor as an accurate depiction of Greekness (assuming we can even define and capture “Greekness”). If we do watch the movie, then we set our expectations accordingly. Or we simply ignore it and move on with our lives.

The Greeks who care about expressing themselves—and their cultural depth by extension—are doing their part on a daily basis. We would not put our faith in the moneymen who run Hollywood to do the work in our stead. Their values are not our values.

That Helen of Troy is a black woman (Lupita Nyong’o), for example, is testament to the power of art to make us think of what is being represented through an idol, rather than emphasise the idol itself. Besides, Helen was famed for her beauty: Lupita passes that test with flying colours.

Human expression relies on simplification, symbolism, and metaphor to communicate profound teachings in a manner than has mnemonic value. This we know for millennia from the Greek religion in how we anthropomorphise the divine for our needs as people. God is perfect: it does not need us to believe in anything or help it in some way. We are the ones in need of faith. Gods do not have the frailties of the human character. But we have to imagine them as remarkable yet fallible people who are still somewhat close to us. We do so in order to have role models that we can aspire towards. The average person seeks a hero to mimic. God cannot just be the sort of abstraction that only few wise people throughout history may grasp.

Athena, for example, is a proxy for wisdom. Our artistic genius imagined the goddess in a certain way, but we would never think of wisdom as a quality that is fully expressed through any given artefact. God cannot be limited to the deeds of a human, nor to a textual or pictorial representation of any kind. Only idolaters believe as much.

Part of what acculturation is about is to make people understand that whatever idol is a mental shortcut for something else; something that can never be exhausted. As such, the idol is a useful tool at best though must never be the focus of our attention and worship.

Those who only recognise the idol, which in this case are the actors qua non-Greek actors, tell us that they have more growing to do. They still operate at a level of conscience that misunderstands symbolism: they do not appreciate what is being represented through the artistic medium. Such people will miss the point even if the most stereotypically Greek-looking artists take on the various roles.

My suggestion if you really care about the Odyssey is to read the ancient epic and think for yourself. Greek culture is ecumenical. Your looks and your ancestry are irrelevant in this regard. Do not watch the movie either. Hollywood is the cultural equivalent of junk food: it will eventually harm you.

And to my fellow Greeks: if you are proud of your heritage, then do your part in contributing to the commons without fanfare and without a misplaced sense of exceptionalism. Nobody respects those who complain and play the victim the whole time, nor those who think they are special. Our culture has always been one of continuous struggle and excellence, not feeblemindedness (i.e. malakia (μαλακία)), anyway, starting with our holy festival of the Olympic Games—again, a proxy for the attitude of a champion one must have in the face of life’s challenges.

I was curious, what is your general approach to learning something new? For example, say you become interested in lockpicking (locksport). What would your approach be to learn this?

In general my approach goes something so likes so:

1. See if there is a subreddit dedicated to the topic, “r/locksport/” in this case.
2. See there “Wiki” section (r/locksport/wiki/index) and read through any type of “Beginner” resources.
3. If there is a recommended book, I will begin with that, then move on towards interactive courses, or lastly, YouTube videos.

If there is no subreddit, than I will likely search online for “Locksport book” or perhaps “Locksport filetype:pdf” and go from there. You’re a very knowledgeable person so I would love to see how you approach learning.

Before even learning something new, I question whether I even need that skill or piece of knowledge. This is because I do not have enough time to commit to everything I would otherwise be keen on exploring.

For me, it is essential to be mindful of one’s tendency to go down rabbit holes. If you do not control your propensity to indulge your curiosity then you run the risk of not focusing on your duties and thus never experiencing fulfilment. I basically have infinite curiosity as well as the basic skills to become competent at virtually anything, but my resources are finite, so I have to optimise accordingly.

I think it is rewarding to hold yourself back from that which is impressed in your mind as new and shiny. Yes, it is attractive though it comes with considerable hidden costs. Commit to what you have. Only expand your activities when there is a deep-seated reason for it, at which point you are prepared to incur whatever costs in pursuit of the expected benefits.

In other words, know your limits and live within your means.

To your point, I think your approach is good. Though I am cautious of Reddit as the advice you get there will not necessarily be reliable. This is not because others are trying to deceive you, but simply a consequence of the mismatch of available information, wants, and priorities.

I will use Emacs as an example. If you go to the subreddit for it to ask any question you will likely get answers that you cannot seamlessly integrate in your current knowledge. The respondents do not know exactly what your current level is, are not aware of your usage patterns, cannot anticipate your immediate needs, and probably do not think the way you do.

Depending on your question, you will get diametrically opposed views. Each contributor may be right within the context of their respective workflow, but this does not mean that the feedback you will receive is actionable for you and of high value.

My approach is to read the official resources or study the primary material, wherever relevant. Anything derived therefrom (e.g. a community Wiki) will come later after I have a sense of what I am looking for. I approach the topic with an eye towards simplicity: the elaborate methods are likely surplus to my requirements.

Also, I recognise that there are marginal returns to any given endeavour. I do not need to become the best engineer in the world in order to build a house. I just need to be “good enough” and—voilà—I do what I set my mind to. Again, I resist going further deep if I do not have an excellent reason to do so.

I put ideas into action. I want to experience the consequences of my deeds: I proceed through trial and error, which is why I am slow and methodical by default. I get bored by endless chatter and its attendant indecision, which is also why I do not think highly of those who do thought experiments but have never practised anything of what they entertain. As such, those who make claims of any sort about their acumen I judge on the basis of their behaviour, not their stated beliefs.

I live by that standard. This is why I refrain from saying much and from making promises. If I state something, it is because I do it. I speak from a position of embededness: the knowledge I have is reflected in my life.

This brings me back to being careful about what I commit to learning. You mention locksport, for example. This is the first time I encounter the term. It may be something that I will like if I try in earnest. But right now I cannot think of a scenario that is relevant to my day-to-day affairs. So I am not going to search online what exactly you are describing, even though I am curious to learn more. I will not even try, not because I have anything against you or somehow pass negative judgement to this activity, but only due to the understanding that I have a zillion other things I could also be checking out, while I know that I have projects I am committed to which demand my continuous attention. My projects will thus take priority.

To be a skilful learner, then, I master the basic power of restraint.

You progress through a sprawling world of forests, mountains, lakes, sand dunes, and underground laboratories, fighting increasingly challenging enemies.

The story is never explicitly given to you. There is no dialogue, no exposition, no lore you may read on. Much like the life we are endowed with, at some point you become conscious in a world that predates you, have all sorts of questions for which there are no definitive answers, and must carry on doing what your condition renders unavoidable. To what end? People come up with clever theories but none is necessarily correct.

The character you control appears to be suffering from some severe illness. At several points during the adventure they cough out blood and look considerably weakened. The protagonist is haunted by visions of inimical figures that pursue, attack, and mortally wound our hero while plunging the world into darkness. Who may those shadowy forces be and what are their plans? There is no obvious answer.

As you move around the map, you collect tokens that may be exchanged for permanent upgrades to your gear. For example, you can buy an extended magazine for your gun and augment your sword to also deflect any projectiles fired your way. This is how you become more potent, though you never reach a point where the game feels easy. Even with all the upgrades you still need to pay attention to your movement, avoid attacks, and strike when the time is right.

The audio design is essential to the atmosphere of the game. Each area has its own theme. The overall mood of solitude in a dangerous place is reinforced through sound. Though it can feel repetitive if you backtrack a lot—which you will do if you are curious enough to check every edge of the screen for hidden passages.

What I like the most about Hyper Light Drifter is the story it communicates through its subtle style. It leaves threads open-ended for the player to interpret according to their own sensitivities.

To me, what we are presented with is an allegory for fear; the fear of losing that which we hold dear. Our hero is confronted with the monsters that spring from within and must overcome them in order to move on. Where to is unknown. To reign supreme over those horrors requires that we embed in feeling the recognition that we do not actually own anything: not the tangible goods, such as the sword we wield, nor the intangible qualities we colloquially refer to as “ours”.

First round

When I see your content about living in the mountains of Cyprus, building your own house, working on your garden, taking pictures of yourself, building your life in seclusion, etc., one question that ALWAYS pops up in my mind is, “how’s he gonna do `marriage’?”, or “how a man living outside the city, in the mountains, by himself, ever does or ever going to satisfy one human need a man feels almost every day in the most intense way possible, which is sexual intimacy?”

[…]

You are living in the mountains, which sounds nice. But in return, from my point of view, you get none of these:

• woman
• money
• status

[…]

I guess my question is along the lines of, what’s your prospect of marriage, you think? Do you consider that never happening for you? Did you let go of this? If so, don’t you think you are letting go of a very intense part of “a man’s lived experience”, that is, sexuality, out of your life? Doesn’t this impoverish your life?

You are right. Living in a remote area means that I do not have access to women, money, and status.

• I have no interest in status. More importantly, I do not pay attention to what others think in general or think of me in particular. I act out of my own initiative.

• Money is relevant only to the extent that I cover my basic needs. Since I do not value status, this practically means that I do not have lots of material wants, such as fancy furniture, expensive cars, vacations in luxury resorts, et cetera. To be clear, I do not think those are inherently wrong: I simply am not drawn to them.

• For the purposes of our exchange here, a woman is interesting to me only if she wants to have children. She does not need to be beautiful, or smart, or an intellectual, or whatnot. Just have the disposition for children.

Based on those three you can already tell that me living in the mountains is not the main constraint.

I am poor and thus not attractive to any woman who cares about status and comfort more broadly. I will not put my heart into a career and so I diminish my chances of ever being financially secure. Adding to this, anybody who has checked my publications knows that I am not the kind of person who will be easy for an employer to control, which makes me practically unemployable (this is no mere theory of mine, as I have had prospective employers point out my strong independentist quality as a major downside for them).

I lived in much more densely populated areas and I even worked in highly social jobs with plenty of women. For me, it is easy to talk to people. Still, I never met a woman that I would start a family with. Of course, it could simply mean that I am not physically attractive (and I am definitely not attractive as a means for upward social mobility). But, again, the point is that the mountains are not the primary issue here.

Living in the mountains introduces a pre-filter. All women who seek money and status will not be living in this place or will be eager to leave. The only question mark is whether I can meet a woman who already lives here out of her own volition or who would actually want to relocate to this place. This has not happened and may never happen.

To your questions about marriage, I think that I will not get married. I will be 38 soon and was never close to getting married. There is no indication that a change will happen. It is something I came to terms with a long time ago and accepted it as part of my reality. This is why I even moved to the mountains to begin with. I am not disturbed by it and have no regrets. The mountains are beautiful, my wellness is optimal, and I feel as strong and capable as ever.

My attitude is to work with what I have and be grateful for it. I keep tending to my tasks without distractions and am happy. Wanting companionship for the sake of companionship is what makes one miserable: they place their worth as a person on another person’s favourable opinion—and opinions are fickle. Plus, having companionship for its own sake means that you are suppressing important aspects of your selfhood, which will inevitably break you in other ways.

Second round

PROT: You are right. Living in a remote area means that I do not have access to women, money, and status.

• I have no interest in status. More importantly, I do not pay attention to what others think in general or think of me in particular. I act out of my own initiative.

I find this interesting and borderline unbelievable. In my personal experience and observations about other people around me, also considering the basic psychology of mankind that I’ve read from evolutionary psychology books, the “status seeking” is a fundamental activity the man as a social animal conducts. So, I am inclined to say, surely you must also be seeking status albeit in a more veiled or not immediately apparent sense. For example, every hobby group, from Magic the Gathering trading card game players, to open source/free software development communities have unspoken of but observed “status” markers, holders, and plays. I think, in your case, you hold high status among the “emacs content creators”-sphere online. However, I don’t want to immediately imply that you’ve sought to get high status in emacs community when you put out your useful content that you’ve put so much time and effort in.

I expect all thought to be nuanced, otherwise it will be discerning the categories it already considers constant while reaching questionable conclusions in the process.

Everything can be construed as attention-seeking, including the act of avoiding attention, such that all actions are reducible to a want for status. If you apply this consistently, you quickly eliminate all nuance and your analytical capacity is limited accordingly.

In turn, this leads to the tendency of explaining everything along the lines of coping and projecting—“twin sophistries”, as I have called them before. If I say “I do not like X” it must be that I cannot have X as my own and thus I hide behind a negative opinion of X, without even realising it. Similarly, if I say “Y is what people do”, it is because Y really is a frailty of mine that I wish to find in other people so that I feel better about myself.

Couched in those terms, everything is an elaborate trick that is ultimately reducible to a matter for your genitals. So the answer to every “why” can be “sex” which in turn implies “survival”.

I think there is value in that line of reasoning but we have to be careful with it. It is not a magic trick to explain all that is pertinent to the human condition.

PROT: My attitude is to work with what I have and be grateful for it.

This. This is the part I am having a hard time with. Because when I read your blog, when I see your pictures, your videos, etc., I involuntarily find myself putting myself in your shoes, and finding myself gauging my emotional state if I was in your shoes. I find that I would be mostly furious with ambition, repeating the lines:

Do not go gentle into that good night. RAGE. RAGE, AGAINST THE DYING TO THE LIGHT.

…to myself, until I finally get my comeuppance against the world that has pushed me into poverty, loneliness. Finally take my vengeance and “get mine” in this world by getting a career (possibly in tech industry) that allows me to bring upon it disruption (as in “disruptive innovation” of business cycles) so that I can carve out a piece from the world in my shape (that is, “get mine”, in women, money and status).

I see. I do not feel anything about the world: it simply is. I am calm and do not blame anyone. If I was disturbed by my living conditions then I would have gone mad by now. Whereas I am indifferent towards specific outcomes and live as easygoing of a life as possible.

I make a distinction between “commitment to initiatives” and “commitment to results”. I am fully committed to my projects but I will not feel disturbed if things do not work the way I had imagined.

I understand, in the deepest sense of feeling and embodying it, that the world does not revolve around me and that I am not entitled to anything. The world does not exist for me and I do not expect it to conspire in my favour.

The question I have for you is one related to behaviour. I have been informally studying, and trying to practically apply, philosophy for about three years now. While I can say with confidence that I have learned a little about it, I am hesitant in claiming I have learned how to live it. I have had months in which I feel in control of my actions and in touch with the world, but they are dispersed by periods where my impulses have the reigns. The recurring pitfall I find myself in, is simplified as follows:

• Through reflection I have realised that XYZ is bad for me.
• Likewise I realised that ABC is good for me or necessary.
• When the time arises for ABC, I do XYZ.

In general XYZ is easily accessible and gives instant gratification, while ABC requires effort and the fruits are not borne until later. An example of XYZ is wasting time away e.g. on YouTube, whereas ABC is writing my thesis.

It feels very silly when written out like this, and the answer would be to just do ABC. I believe that in moments where I am at a crossroads between the good and bad actions, I push my reason aside and simply indulge in the instant gratification given by XYZ.

I was wondering if you have had experience with or any thoughts on this. I want to be able to rely on myself, but it feels as if deep inside I do not truly want to give up my bad habits. Perhaps I am scared of the notion of a life where I am missing out on many conveniences. How do you keep yourself in check once you decide not to do XYZ, especially in moments where it feels as if your body yearns for it?

I think this is a case of conditioning. It is not about how well you understand what you want to do or how bad the consequences are of the behaviour you are trying to avoid. It is not even a matter of how strongly you believe in your values.

Conditioning is about the automaticity that we naturally build for everything. One way to understand this is with the muscle memory that helps you type on the keyboard. Your fingers know where to be and your hands move accordingly without you having to think about each tiny motion again and again. Even if you are not a proper touch typist you still have embedded in your body a certain memory of how things are done.

The body does this to economise on the consumption of energy. It is equivalent to the cache on the computer. The upside is that we do not have to relearn everything on a continuous basis, which is energy-intensive. Think how much time/effort it would take to relearn how to type each day or even multiple times per day—and then extend that to everything you have learnt. Same if the computer needs to re-run all the computations from zero to get the values it needs each time: it becomes increasingly burdensome to do anything. The downside of this conservation of energy is that we embed potentially harmful patterns that are then hard to undo, just how it is difficult to retrain our muscle memory.

In the scenario you describe, conditioning involves situational memory. It is about the association of a certain place with a given activity and its attendant stimuli. To change the activity, then, you need to break that association. One approach is to have the iron will to “just do it”, but I personally have little faith in that being successful, as it requires discipline that can only be developed over time (and if you had that then we would not be having this exchange). The other approach, which I prefer, is to physically remove yourself from that place and to do something else instead.

For example, sitting at your computer in the afternoon triggers you to perform some mentally harmful activity. You then need to catch yourself early in the action. Once you are done with the task you actually wish to accomplish switch off the computer and leave the room. Go outside for a walk, play some sport, do gardening, make your own bread and cook a nice meal, or stick to literally anything that requires some attention while keeping you physically away from the computer. You want to keep a distance from the situation that enables the pernicious activity for as long as possible. This distance is physical at first and becomes mental over time, at which point you are in control of your behaviour rather than the behaviour being in control of you.

Creating such a separation will allow you to gradually weaken and eventually dismantle the connections you once had, while creating new and benign ones in their stead.

You mention yearning, so let me offer a concrete example from 20 years ago when I quit junk food (and related). On my way back home from university there was a fast food restaurant. I would think of its servings even when it was closed, which is how I noticed the aforementioned situational memory. So I decided to circumvent it. Instead of taking the short and direct way that connected my apartment to the campus, I would go on a big detour. This was beneficial for me, anyway, as I walked more and got to explore the area, but it also helped me uproot the yearning. I was then free from the desire and could pass in front of the restaurant without feeling the pull it once had on me.

There is some level of required discipline to do this on your own. The more disciplined you are, the easier it is to commit to a course of action and sustain it long-term. Otherwise, you have to create arrangements that reinforce your new direction. For example, if it is a social activity then you have other people keeping you engaged (and thus away from what you do not want to do). If it is food you are making, then make sure it is the kind of meal that demands your attention, as opposed to baking something for 2 hours. I will not belabour the point with examples. I do not know the exact situation you are describing in abstract terms, though I am confident you can figure out the details once you notice the dynamics.

Finally, about the study of philosophy. I am, of course, fine with that. Though I consider it a trap to commit to the self-invigorating cycle of reading and thinking. The reason is that it represents a turn inward from which it is difficult to escape and which will eventually inhibit your decision-making. In sustained inwardness you will only find mental illness. Learn, instead, to maintain a balance between intellectual matters and physical activity. Do not live in your head. To live in your head sometimes is enriching. To live in your head the whole time is a death sentence.

I am a fan of the gameplay. Shooting is precise and the feedback direct. Enemies are generally easy to discern as they stand out from their environment. Their motions are basic so you will quickly figure out how to exploit their weaknesses. In this sense, the game is easy. I personally like it that way as it contributes to the absurdity and lightheartedness of its lifeworld. It would make no sense for those hordes of cultist psychos to be at once delirious in fanaticism and assiduous in their every decision.

My favourite part of the violence is those critical hits that you can score with a precision gun. Once I got my hands on a sniper rifle I was going around “bang! bang! bang!” with the headshots. By contrast, the assault rifles and submachine guns felt underwhelming. It is preposterous to have those unarmoured maniacs take thirty bullets to the stomach without flinching. Though I make an exception for some “epic” weapons that would just annihilate everything. I had one such shotgun which turned an otherwise challenging boss fight into a 4-second press of the trigger.

Borderlands is proudly silly and self-deprecating. It has a certain humour that you may love or hate. I find it appealing. The characters you meet are flat and uninspiring, which I think is a perfect fit. Why would we even make pretences to intellectuality when we are here to pop off some heads? I would find it unsettling if, say, Vaughn was contemplating the implications of his existential angst, even though he looks a little bit like a certain philosopher I know! To me he is not a believable character. He is a talking head that gives you orders and provides colour commentary for a little while until some other equally uninteresting figure takes over.

What the cast of characters does well is express unhinged opinions while behaving casually. As outsiders, we may think this is over-the-top, though we can also take the view of the anthropologist in describing without judging how other people behave. In this regard, the delivery is super effective in highlighting the underlying values of such a futuristic wild west. The only law in this land of danger and opportunity is that of the gun. Individualism and cut-throat competition are the governing principles as each person is set on a path towards personal enrichment and glory.

There is no such thing as legitimacy in this world. Courts of law, correctness of conduct, and tolerance of diverse opinions are the kind of conventions that have no place in the hypercapitalist normality of the Borderlands. The supreme powers that mobilise resources are private corporations which engage in business deals using either financial or martial means. Kind of how Western Europeans conducted trade in East Asia during the Colonial Age, as both businesspeople and pirates.

In this regard, Borderlands provides commentary on some of the excesses germane to our world. History is, in large part, a record of humanity’s inexhaustible capacity for cruelty. Many insatiable butchers of men are remembered with the epithet “the Great” or variants thereof. The most greedy CEOs are revered as prophets of the one true money-god for their remarkable consistency in sacrificing everything to the altars of profit. The villains in Borderlands are social media personalities with a massive cult following who end up being as shallow as our world’s celebrities.

If anything, the fantasy horrors of the game pale in comparison to the brutality that we can now bear witness to in 4K definition. And that we do with indifference, using it as yet more fodder for our doomscrolling mindlessness. Our politics and social norms are increasingly influenced by pernicious memes. We are made to follow greater-than-life characters qua caricatures who speak nonsense and are dead serious in the same sentence.

It is all jokes and gimmicks until you are sent to the front lines to die for the interests of some lobbyist nerds. They are cowards. They will never lead by example. Instead, they will make you, the desperate yet capable fellow, give up your life for their unholy cause. And in times of peace they will ruthlessly harvest your organs for their evil rituals. At least in the Borderlands you have the option to digistruct yourself for another round. Whereas here you get the middle finger and are even happy to have received some attention.

I got Florence (spoilers below) because it was peddled as a puzzle game. Given my positive experience with Gorogoa, I thought to myself “my body is ready!” and looked no further: https://protesilaos.com/games/2026-05-26-gorogoa/.

Alas, Florence is barely a game. The player’s agency is reduced to super simple interactions for 30 minutes. If I am to judge Florence as a game, then I am not giving it a passing grade.

Still, Florence has the redeeming quality of being an interesting interactive novel. The elements of interactivity make for an effective story-telling medium. Depending on the audience, this is more reliable than presenting people with a wall of text that they will get bored of within 3 seconds.

The story is about a girl named “Florence”. She leads the generic modern city life. Her world extends from her home to the office, while her social affairs are largely confined to a binary choice of “repost” or “love” buttons on a social media app.

Like her fellow city dwellers, she commutes while being absorbed in her own world, enabled by digital media. Instead of paying attention to her surroundings, she blasts music in her ears and stares at her screen all the time.

In other words, Florence embodies and symbolises the robotisation of the human being. This is the person that had anticipated and embraced its own obsolescence by machines long before the advent of AI. The introduction of artificial intelligence has, in this regard, been a formality, the culmination of a process that stretches back several decades.

AI can be a celebrity and influencer because those people are reducing themselves to caricatures: fake looks, fake clips, fake personalities. AI can be an office clerk as those are tasked with a robotised job anyway. AI is your new emotional support and romantic other because the solitude of digital life at-large took intimacy away from you, while porn and its Hollywood counterparts gave it the fatal hit. And so on.

There is a life outside that world; a life of slow pace, of simplicity, of austerity, and appreciation of the little things. Talk to a modern girl like Florence, for example, and she will tell you about her notion of freedom, which revolves around the pursuit of a career. Social standing is the token that matters. If this girl has more of an intellectual side, she will expound on the evils of traditional societies, and will go to great lengths to explain how terrible it is for women to be seen as “baby machines”. Instead, she will continue, freedom is realised through business opportunity, not understanding that she is daydreaming of becoming a “paper machine” that the corporate higher ups will blithely replace with an actual bot.

As the story progresses, Florence has the good fortune of running out of battery on her phone. The digital world that is depriving her of situational awareness no longer has a hold on her psyche. She is finally free to notice finer points in her milieu, even though she is not well developed on that front. She meets a guy named “Krish” that eventually becomes her boyfriend.

Through this love affair, Florence discovers a small part of the human element. She encourages Krish to cultivate his musical talents. In turn, he inspires her to express her own artistic inclinations and connect with what she used to suppress for a lifetime, pressured by her “tiger mom” to focus on the bullshit goal that is academic excellence at all costs.

In this regard, Florence gives us a hint of what it means to not be absorbed in your own world and to not settle for mindless routines. Do what you must to survive, but otherwise resist the degenerative forces of inertia as you become your own person and a champion of fortitude.

Florence and Krish fail to incorporate that lesson in every aspect of their life. They make the common mistake of thinking that their future will be all about sunshine and rainbows by switching to an auto-pilot mode. They thus become complacent and eventually revert to a life of mindlessness, which brings about the demise of their love.

Nature does not tolerate stasis. Organisms that become too comfortable experience decline which brings about their end. They are absorbed by other organisms, becoming an environment to them, subject to their force, or altogether undone. Love is no different. It must be maintained with care, with emphasis on the finer points and everyday stuff, the way one tends to their garden with undivided attention.

Life is a struggle regardless. Yes, it would be nice in some way if we could just sit back and rest. But no matter how intensely we prey to a benevolent god, the forces we are subject to will remind us how things actually work. To this end, I bring to memory a wonderful song by Michelle Gurevich, titled First Six Months of Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGQIO2m3YQ.

Michelle is a cynic at heart. She speaks the truth without euphemisms and the attendant penchant for beautification. Our world thinks of cynicism in a negative way because fundamentally it prefers to delude itself with all sorts of fancies than to deal with the difficulties pertinent to the here-and-now of our condition.

In the song, Michelle states thus:

Before begin the dissections
Before the therapy sessions
We danced the night we met
Now we need dancing lessons

Remember how it all began
We must not let habit set in
Come up the stairs, let's recommence
The first six months over again

Florence and Krish were not aware of this reality or anyhow did not live up to its rigours.

Florence ends with the girl switching away from her office job as she makes a living off of her art. One can only hope that in the process of disentangling herself from the values of the society she once took for granted would give her the impetus to think that there is more to be done beyond her own personhood.

There is nothing inherently wrong with digital media and the tools that technology makes possible, including video games and this very website of mine. The key is to find moderation, which typically means that you spend more time outside your head, literally and figuratively touching grass.

We will talk about the Emacs blog carnival topic for this month, which is “May I recommend”. The video will be recorded for future reference.

I already have some ideas and am looking forward to our chat!

The plot involves a lad who spots an otherworldly creature as it moves through the city. This person is inspired to research the origins of what appears to be a dragon and to understand more about it. Such is an endeavour that turns into a lifelong pursuit, maybe even an obsession.

From the player’s perspective, the story takes shape through continuous exposure to phenomena, in the form of new pieces to the puzzle. We are developing a narrative as we go, interpreting all of the available information with the tools at our disposal.

This, alone, is a metaphor for how our life works and how we derive meaning from whatever is peculiar to our condition. Nobody starts out knowing why they are here and what all this is. There are no clear answers, no manual with precise instructions, and no proof to justify our most deep-seated hopes. We do that which our very being renders inescapable.

The story of Gorogoa unfolds through many levels of depth and different perspectives. You click on some detail in a drawing to discover another drawing unto itself. There are worlds nested within worlds as you move in and out of them. This is an artistic representation of the cosmos, only that is of infinite zoom levels.

Take a dog, for example. To speak of “a dog” is in some way precise and in another completely arbitrary. There is a form that we discern in the cosmic continuum of life as something that is distinct from the totality, which we name “a dog”. Though this is the case with a certain scope of application, analogous to the effective zoom we have in the game. At another level of abstraction there is no dog to be discerned, for all we are dealing with are particles in a field or galaxies as the tiny constituents of a greater organism. At each level there are systems of systems.

Against this backdrop, to think of something as “fundamental” or “more true” is to assume that there can be a given presence without the preconditions for presence. It is, in other words, to fall into a trap of statements, to take names literally, and thus to limit your horizons. Metaphor, analogy, and simplification are all we can ever employ to describe in finite terms that which is inexhaustible.

“That which is inexhaustible” is a figure of speech. It shows how we cannot afford to provide a definition that covers everything, as such a definition would be identical to the cosmos. Even the definition of a dog is simplistic!

This is how many an intellectual suffers from overthinking and the attendant uneasiness: they try to place boundaries on boundlessness. Much like our hero in the story, it will take them a lifetime to realise that however effective their digging is it will never probe deep enough. Whatever they discover will not be the terminus, but another starting point, which itself is arbitrary.

Coming back to the game, I admire the art direction of Gorogoa. Its story-telling is subtle and effective. The gameplay is intuitive and free from distractions. A fine piece all around!

You are in control of the titular Edith, a teenage girl who has inherited her family house. Edith returns home after a period of absence. The place is deserted and she admits to have been afraid of it. Her goal is to uncover the mysteries of the house; mysteries she was made aware of as a child.

The history of the house is that of its people. Every one died under circumstances that suggest the presence of a curse. From the early stages of the game we are led to believe that something supernatural is at play.

Edith maintains a diary, which we are reading from as the game progresses. In its pages are records of the individuals who lived in this house, going all the way back to the progenitors of the Finch family.

The Finches moved from Norway to America in hope of finding a better life. They were ambitious and capable folk. However, the world is neither simple nor accommodative. One does not get to experience comfort without discomfort. In fortune there is latent misfortune, the most gruesome tragedy contains elements that are benign, while even a peaceful presence has the attendant forces of its undoing.

A stream of water carries with it seeds that turn into vegetation along its edges, whose eventual overgrowth has the effect of diverting the stream further away from them, which in turn leads to the undoing of the vegetation, which re-enables waters to flow from its position, and so on. The conditions that give life a certain form necessarily set in motion the makings of the form’s undoing in an incessant process of transfiguration.

Against this backdrop, the story of the Finches is in its most abstract the history of humankind through its struggles. Another is born, another is gone.

In more concrete terms, the Finch family is understood through a series of personal misfortunes and untimely deaths. The forefather of the family dies on the journey to America, forcing the family to build a cemetery before even making their house. Little kids and adults lose their life in strange and horrible ways.

One may discern the common in the multitude of those sad endings as the machinations of some monster. There are good reasons to believe in such a theory. Though I personally adopt a literal view, which nevertheless recognises the potential of self-fulfilling prophecies.

What Remains of Edith Finch is an artful exploration of isolation and mental illness. Starting with the house itself, it is designed in a convoluted way, which mirrors a conscience of the same kind. Greeks have a saying that translates as “house that is not seen by the Sun is seen by the doctor”, which is exactly what we expect to happen to the Finch establishment with all its claustrophobia-inducing spaces (and this is, by the way, why I designed the house I built to optimise for natural exposure to light, with widely open, minimalist interiors).

There are no indelible lines between subjectivity, imagination, and madness. They exist on a continuum of connection to disconnect from the here-and-now of material conditions. Molly dies because in her pre-teen mind inedible items can still sate her hunger, inducing a hallucinatory trip before the eventual death from poisoning. Why would parents even punish a child to not have dinner and why would they, in so doing, engender in it a want to escape from its immediate reality?

Abandonment, neglect, and an overall lack of situational awareness is ultimately what is causing all those deaths. Sam dies because he wants to take a picture while standing at the precipice, thus underestimating the risks involved. Gregory drowns because his reckless mother left him in the bathtub while she was talking on the phone. Lewis meets his end because (i) he is pushed to increasing isolation and must find solace in an inward turn, (ii) succumbs to substance abuse which is the material extension of inner escapism, and (iii) inevitably lives in a world of his own making since his surroundings marginalised him beyond return.

I can apply this pattern to the other stories. Each person is fundamentally left alone, without support, to face a world that is too much for them. Sometimes the game places an emphasis on the emotional manifestation of abandonment. At others it unfolds through a certain situation, where the person is left to cope with an extremely dangerous, and ultimately lethal, phenomenon, such as Gus who is flying his kite amid the storm while others are having a party.

We can think of the family curse not as some monster that is pulling the strings in the background but as the set of natural attributes the Finches are endowed with, plus their cultural norms. It is, in this regard, their fate to experience what transpires in the story exactly because each is allowed to rely on their own devices when those are woefully inadequate for their survival. One may then discern the adverse effects of gritty individualism on those who are not made for it.

Or, to put it differently, this is an appreciation of what happens when freedom of initiative is bestowed upon someone who has yet to develop the requisite accountability structures: they are not prepared to live with the consequences of their actions. For example, you take care of a child because it is not ready to live on its own terms. Even adults may be children in this way, which is why the social milieu, with its robust hierarchies and tutelary figures, is essential, litanies to the contrary notwithstanding.

Yes, there are some folks who are the lone wolf type: capable, ever-alert and dangerous, and content despite their solitude. Yet they are the exceptions to the norm. One cannot become that which their nature does not render possible nor may they escape from what their condition has made unavoidable. Even wolves, apex predators in their own right, need a pack to thrive. They do not get to choose.

This new section contains my thoughts on video games I have played. You can expect more of a philosophical take, as usual, that ultimately is not specific to the game I am commenting on. The first such article is about What Remains of Edith Finch: https://protesilaos.com/games/2026-05-25-what-remains-of-edith-finch/.

Since I am writing here, it is worth making this salient: the point of each publication of mine is to elaborate on a given topic, while the metapoint of all my publications is to chronicle my development as a person.

Going off of my recollection of the talk, we covered at length the broad theme of rhythm using everyday examples. There are ups and downs to what we do, moments of intensity and of rest. We must be aware of them so that we do not try to push ourselves to unsustainable extremes. We do this, for example, when we do not check our feelings from time to time and instead keep overworking ourselves.

It is important at all times to be mindful of the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive statements. It is easy to fall in the trap of feeling guilty for our state of affairs, even when that is not clearly justified. For example, “I procrastinate” usually comes with a tscit judgement call along the lines of “and this is bad”. The prescription, then, is “do not procrastinate”. Whereas I point out that it helps to be descriptive and to suspend prior judgement. Using procrastination as an example, we may be doing it as an effective way to cope with an otherwise difficult situation.

Another topic was about loss or death in the literal as well as the figurative sense. We discussed the relevant topics in light of how things flow and how something changes into something else. In the case of physical loss, such as a loved one that is no longer with us, there is a sense in which they stay around as a guiding star or guardian angel. This happens because we remember their deeds and underlying values, the philosophy embedded in their actions, which we try to replicate. There is another aspect to loss and death which is about how we change as we go and how we adapt as we go.

Part of what I do is serious at some level. Though I comment on how I approach it with a sense of lightheartedness and humour. I am easygoing. My style at all times is to do something, not to merely talk about it, so I exhibit as much through timely jokes and moments of laughter. Understanding that each person is not one-sided is essential. I can be profound, but I have the deep-seated confidence in my abilities to also joke around because I know that my remarks will not lose their value in the process.

In our social affairs we have to conform with the expectations of other people. It is thus critical to do what we must in order to survive. Though we have to remember that this is a role-playing game, so that we do not overdo it. Setting boundaries is key in this regard. I suggest that we treat certain things as sacrosanct, so that we give them the value they require. Doing so allows us to maintain a sustainable rhythm.

Towards the end of the video, Amin asks me about my approach to philosophy, which is about doing instead of merely reading or thinking. I describe it as “situational awareness”. The world is consistent, so if we have a deep understanding of a part of it, we can apply those findings to other areas. This is something I do throughout our talk by drawing connections between the various topics.

Thanks to Amin for this discussion! I had a good time.

• ef-arcadia is a light theme with a verdant, humid aesthetic.
• ef-atlantis is a dark theme with an aquatic feel.

Both deliver the familiar colourfulness and good legibility of the ef-themes.

Always click to enlarge the image for best results.

ef-arcadia

ef-atlantis

Coming in version 2.2.0 (next stable release)

The character of each theme is well defined. I may still make some refinements.

Remember that since version 2.0.0, the ef-themes are built on top of my modus-themes. This means that they are highly customisable, support a wide range of packages and face groups, and are extensively tested down to the finest details.

Enjoy!

The ef-themes are a collection of light and dark themes for GNU Emacs that provide colourful (“pretty”) yet legible options for users who want something with a bit more flair than the modus-themes (also designed by me).

• Package name (GNU ELPA): ef-themes
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes-changelog
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/ef-themes-pictures
• Git repositories:
  • GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/ef-themes
  • GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/ef-themes
• Backronym: Eclectic Fashion in Themes Hides Exaggerated Markings, Embellishments, and Sparkles.

Denote is based on the idea that files should follow a predictable and descriptive file-naming scheme. The file name must offer a clear indication of what the contents are about, without reference to any other metadata. Denote basically streamlines the creation of such files or file names while providing facilities to link between them (where those files are editable).

Denote’s file-naming scheme is not limited to “notes”. It can be used for all types of file, including those that are not editable in Emacs, such as videos. Naming files in a constistent way makes their filtering and retrieval considerably easier. Denote provides relevant facilities to rename files, regardless of file type.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-changelog
• Git repositories:
  • GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote
  • GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/denote
• Video demo: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2022-06-18-denote-demo/
• Backronyms: Denote Everything Neatly; Omit The Excesses. Don’t Ever Note Only The Epiphenomenal.

Below are the release notes.

Version 4.2.0 on 2026-05-20

This version brings several improvements to the core denote package as well as all the Denote extensions I maintain. The core package is stable, its feature set is rich, and the wider ecosystem of extensions is growing.

Most of the changes documented herein are of interest to experienced users who may be looking for ways to refine their workflow. I recommend that new users start with the basics, as I explained them in the original video demonstration of Denote or as they are documented in the manual’s section for newcomers:

• Webpage: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote#h:c54bedb4-5377-4dbd-853c-5870ace6eb33.
• Info manual: With the latest denote package installed, evaluate (info "(denote) Getting started with Denote").

Remember that the release notes are true only at the time of publication. The single source of truth is the official manual.

Core Denote

Overview of the new features

• The command denote-dired-focus will filter the results of an existing denote-dired buffer. Use this to narrow down the results.

• In Org files, the denote: link type can now be previewed using the built-in org-link-preview command, starting with Org version 9.8.0.

• The command denote-link-or-create-with-command extends the existing convenience functions of the “do or create note” kind.

• The denote-file-prompt uses completion metadata to sort by most recently accessed, group by directory or file extension, and cover packages that display cosmetic icons alongside completion candidates.

• Denote now enforces a controlled vocabulary for keywords when denote-infer-keywords is set to nil, such that only the denote-known-keywords are provided as an option at the relevant prompts.

• The mechanism for integrating Denote with org-capture now supports prompting for an signature via denote-org-capture-with-prompts (the signature is an optional, free-form component of the Denote file-naming scheme).

• Several packages that extend Denote are documented in the manual. If you have a package for Denote, let me know and I will write a section about it.

Focus a denote-dired buffer with denote-dired-focus

The command denote-dired produces a Dired listing of file names that match the given regular expressions. Users can benefit from the Denote file-naming scheme to, for example, include all files that have the keyword _emacs. In the resulting Dired buffer, the new command denote-dired-focus can then be invoked to further narrow down the results, such as to only show files that have 2026 in their file (with default settings, the date is part of the Denote identifier).

I implemented this feature in response to issue 693 by 82Kang: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/issues/693.

Improvements to the file prompt

Various Denote commands prompt for a file name: for instance, denote-link asks which file to link to. This file prompt is now augmented with completion metadata that transform how files look and how the information is organised.

Before, the prompt presented full file names like:

20220610T043241--initial-thoughts-on-the-zettelkasten-method__notetaking.org
20220610T062201--define-custom-org-hyperlink-type__denote_emacs_package.md
20220610T162327--on-hierarchy-and-taxis__notetaking_philosophy.txt

Those same file names are now transformed to look like this:

2022-06-10  initial-thoughts-on-the-zettelkasten-method  notetaking
2022-06-10  define-custom-org-hyperlink-type  denote_emacs_package
2022-06-10  on-hierarchy-and-taxis  notetaking_philosophy

The files will be grouped by file extension or directory (if they are in a subdirectory of the denote-directory). Furthermore, they will be sorted by most recently accessed.

The underlying file names are still available except that their presentation is modified. This means that input at the minibuffer prompt will still match everything they contain.

This completion metadata extends to the packages all-the-icons and nerd-icons, which are now instructed to add the correct file icons to the completion candidates: an Org file will have the unicorn icon beside it, for example.

Users who do not like the new style can revert to the plain presentation by setting denote-file-prompt-extra-metadata to nil.

Advanced users who wish to set up the completion-category-overrides may target the denote-file completion category or, anyhow, modify the denote-file-prompt-extra-metadata.

Link to a file or create a new note using a specific command

Denote provides many “convenience wrapper” commands that do something quickly which can also be achieved with minimal configuration. For example, the denote command may be modified to also prompt for a file type and so the denote-type command is like denote with the addition of the file type prompt. Users can look at the source code of denote-type to write their own small variations (the manual provides several examples as well).

The denote-open-or-create-with-command may then use those to implement its specified behaviour of “open an existing file or create it using a convenience wrapper command”.

Same principle for the new denote-link-or-create-with-command: it makes possible the workflow of “link to an existing file or create a new note with the given command”.

Convenience wrappers are listed in the value of the user option denote-commands-for-new-notes.

Thanks to Matthew Batson for building on top of existing functionality to contribute denote-link-or-create-with-command in pull request 674: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/674. Matthew has assigned copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

Preview denote: links in Org files

Starting with Org version 9.8.0 custom link types such as denote: can implement their own preview mechanism. In practice, this means that denote: links pointing to image files will now work as expected with org-link-preview (remember that the Denote file-naming scheme can be applied to any file and is in no way specific to note-taking—I use it for documents and videos, for example).

Thanks to Samuel W. Flint for the original contribution in pull request 683: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/683, with further changes by me. The original contribution is small, meaning that Samuel does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

Signature support in Org capture

The denote-org-capture-with-prompts function now supports the signature file name component as an additional parameter. This function is meant to be used in tandem with the org-capture mechanism, as shown in the manual.

Thanks to Tobias Lidman-Strauss for the contribution in merge request 2 on the GitLab mirror: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/denote/-/merge_requests/2. The change is small, meaning that Tobias does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

The denote-fontify-links-mode is only relevant for .txt files

The denote: links are automatically highlighted as links in Org and Markdown bufers. Users who prefer to write notes in plain .txt files must enable the denote-fontify-links-mode to get the same effect.

I have revised denote-fontify-links-mode to only work with .txt as its other users were not necessary. In the process, I have deprecated the denote-fontify-links-mode-maybe function: just use the denote-fonftify-links-mode.

The keys RET and C-c C-o open the link (same keys used by Org and Markdown modes).

Growing ecosystem of Denote packages

In the Denote manual I mention packages that build on top of Denote. There is one section for each package. The manual now includes the following:

• denote-agenda (by Samuel W. Flint): Use Denote notes as Org agenda files.
• denote-journal-capture (by Samuel W. Flint): Enhanced journaling workflows.
• denote-lint (Peter Smith): Checks for inconsistencies in Denote file names and front matter.
• denote-project-notes (by Samuel W. Flint): Integrate Denote with Emacs’ built-in project support.
• denote-regexp (by Samuel W. Flint): Search and link notes using regular expressions.
• denote-review (by Matto Fransen): A package for reviewing notes over time.
• denote-sections (by Samuel W. Flint): Manage sections within Denote notes.
• denote-wordcloud (by Alexander Kuzmin): Generate word clouds from Denote notes.

Miscellaneous

• The command denote-dired (alias denote-sort-dired) is refactored to work as intended in all cases. Thanks to kilesduli for the contribution in pull request 666: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/666. Further changes by me, including the option to maintain many separate denote-dired buffers, which I did in response to issue 693 by 82Kang: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/issues/693.

• I have revised the denote-grep mechanism and all of its ancillary functions and variables are revised in the interest of consistency and maintainability. Thanks to gnuhack for contributing a macro that was meant to streamline some commands. This was done in pull request 697: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/697. I eventually changed lots of things so that the macro was not relevant anymore, though mine was a change with a wider scope.

• The Org link storage mechanism (denote-link-ol-store) now works correctly within org-capture buffers, allowing for more flexible linking workflows.

• Following non-Denote Markdown links no longer result in an error under certain circumstances. Thanks to bplubell for the contribution in pull request 685: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/685. The change is small, meaning that its author does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

• Retrieving front matter is now more reliable, even when the buffer is unsaved. Thanks to kilesduli for the contribution in pull request 672: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/672. Also thanks to Jean-Philippe Gagné Guay for reviewing the change and for reporting a problem with an earlier version of the code in issue 670: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/issues/670. Further changes by me.

• The various Denote rename commands that affect the front matter in files no longer change existing spacing. I did this to address the comment posted by Morten Kjeldgaard in issue 703: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/issues/703.

• Updated the documentation to explain how to automatically encrypt new notes when using a custom file type.

• Refined the internal helper functions for directory management and identifier validation.

• Thanks to nescias for fixing three typos in the manual. This was sent to me as a patch, which I installed as commit c772378.

Changes to the extensions of Denote I maintain

This is about packages I maintain. Some of them were originally part of the denote.git repository, but I moved them out into their own packages to make everything easier to reason about.

consult-denote version 0.5.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): consult-denote
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/consult-denote
• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/consult-denote-changelog
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/consult-denote

• Backronym: Consult-Orchestrated Navigation and Selection of Unambiguous Targets…denote.

• References to the long-obsolete “denote-silo-extras-” prefix are replaced by “denote-silo-”. Thanks to IT Ascalium for the contribution in pull request 20: https://github.com/protesilaos/consult-denote/pull/20. The change is small, so its author does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

• The consult-denote-file-prompt correctly handles relative file paths when denote-directory is set to a list of directories. This is what the underlying denote-file-prompt does (which I mentioned above about its metadata). Thanks to Kai von Fintel for the contribution in pull request 24: https://github.com/protesilaos/consult-denote/pull/24. The change does not require copyright assignment.

denote-merge version 0.1.0

• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-merge
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-merge
• Backronym: Denote… Merging Eventually Reformats the Given Entries.

This is an optional extension to the denote package. It provides commands and relevant user options to streamline the work of merging contents from one Denote file to another. This is for users who periodically review their notes to add, remove, or otherwise consolidate their accumulated knowledge.

denote-journal version 0.3.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-journal
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-journal
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-journal

• Backronym: Denote… Journaling Obviously Utilises Reasonableness Notwithstanding Affectionate Longing.

• The user option denote-journal-keyword now supports a nil value, allowing users to create journal entries without a specific keyword. Thanks to nescias for sending me the patch via email, which I installed as commit d4cc501 in denote-journal.git. The change does not require copyright assignment.

• Fixed an issue about how the function denote-directory-files was used. Thanks to Donald Brady for reporting the bug in issue 656 on the main Denote repository and to kamchy for confirming the problem: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/issues/656. The approach was utlimately revised in denote.git courtesy of a change by Jean-Philippe Gagné Guay in pull request 661: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote/pull/661.

denote-markdown version 0.3.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-markdown
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-markdown
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-markdown

• Backronyms: Denote… Markdown’s Ambitious Reimplimentations Knowingly Dilute Obvious Widespread Norms; Denote… Markup Agnosticism Requires Knowhow to Do Only What’s Necessary.

• The package defines a markdown-obsidian file type which can be used by relevant note-creating commands, such as denote or the convenience wrapper denote-type. This file type is updated to be more robust, in accordance with some changes in core Denote (I am not even documenting those, as they are not intended for users).

denote-org version 0.3.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-org
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-org
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-org

• Backronym: Denote… Ordinarily Restricts Gyrations.

• The command denote-org-link-to-heading now supports linking to the current file when called with a prefix argument. This way, a file can have links between its headings. Thanks to Tonus for pointing out that it was impossible to create a link inside the current file. This was done in issue 17: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-org/issues/17.

• A helper function for retrieving the backlinks of a heading is updated to return full file paths. Thanks to Vedang Manerikar for the contribution in pull request 20: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-org/pull/20. Vedang has assigned copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

• Another helper function is updated to conform with changes to core Denote with regard to how the denote-link-description-format is handled. Thanks to Jung Han for reporting the bug in issue 21: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-org/issues/21.

denote-silo version 0.3.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-silo
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-silo
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-silo
• Backronym: Denote… Silos Insulate Localised Objects.

The minibuffer prompt for silo directories uses the corrent completion category (consistent with what I mentioned above about completion metadata). Thanks to Wilf-bog for reporting an error with the completion prompt in issue 1: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-silo/issues/1.

denote-sequence version 0.3.0

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-sequence
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-sequence
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence
• Backronym: Denote… Sequences Efficiently Queue Unsorted Entries Notwithstanding Curation Efforts.

This package deserved its own release notes, as I did a lot of work on it. But as this file is already long, I will focus on the essentials:

• The denote-sequence-scheme used to support a numeric and alphanumeric option. There now is a third one called alphanumeric-delimited. It combines features from the other two and may be better suited for especially long/intricate sequences.

• The denote-sequence-reparent command now works recursively to produce the desired consequences to all descendants of a given sequence note. Thanks to Peter Prevos for the contribution in pull request 13, which further changes by me: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence/pull/13.

• The command denote-sequence-view-hierarchy produces a bespoke buffer with all the sequence notes that form a hierarchy. The buffer displays file titles, the concomitant sequence, and file keywords. Each level of depth is expressed by a number of spaces, controlled by the user option denote-sequence-hierarchy-indentation. In the hierarchy buffer, there are commands that move to the next/previous item, or forward/backward at the same level of depth. RET opens the file at point, TAB folds/unfolds the tree. The user option denote-sequence-hierarchy-move-and-open controls whether motion commands should automatically open the file, which by default happens in the other window (users who modify the variable denote-open-link-function will get the specified behaviour in this context as well). The denote-sequence-view-hierarchy can be called with one or two prefix arguments to limit to a given sequence prefix and/or level of depth (something that denote-sequence-dired also supports). In short, this is a way to visualise your sequence notes in a buffer that has a different presentation than Dired.

• Thanks to alan-w-255 for renaming and refining a prompt that is also used in the hierarchy feature. This was done in pull request 15: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence/pull/15. The change is small, meaning that its author does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation. Further refinements by me.

• Thanks to Nicolas Semrau for binding q to quit-window in the denote-sequence-hierarchy-mode-map. This was done in pull request 20: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence/pull/20. The change is small, meaning that Nicolas does not need to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.

• The denote-sequence-file-prompt-extra-metadata is the functional equivalent of the aforementioned denote-file-prompt-extra-metadata.

• Thanks to liyingzhi for pointing out an inaccurate comment in the docstring of denote-sequence-scheme. This was done in issue 18: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence/issues/18.

• The denote-sequence-dired is updated to align with the modalities of denote-dired, as noted above. Thanks to juh for reminding me about the need for changes in issue 14: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence/issues/14.

• Thanks to Stefan Monnier for pointing out a stylistic mistake in an older version of denote-sequence-dired. This was done on the emacs-devel mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2025-11/msg01119.html. Also thanks to Stefan for telling me about some other compiler warnings: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2025-11/msg01119.html.

Git commits

~/Git/Projects/denote $ git shortlog 4.1.0..4.2.0 --summary --numbered
   184	Protesilaos
     4	duli
     3	Jean-Philippe Gagné Guay
     3	Matthew Batson
     2	alvmts
     2	gnuhack
     1	Alvin Hsu
     1	Matto Fransen
     1	Samuel W. Flint
     1	Tobias Lidman-Strauss
     1	bplubell
     1	gvalson
     1	nescias

The thrust of the critique is that (i) free software ideology is rooted in anarchism which itself is beholden to capitalist categories and (ii) free software is not fighting commodification of software in an effective way because it is ideologically incapable of opposing commodification as such.

In the ~15.000-word essay, the author makes references to colonialism, Australian Aboriginals, Tsarist Russia, Proudhon’s and Marx’s comments on property, the bourgeoisie, and many other familiar talking points that will amuse the Marxist faithful. What the author fails to do is give us a concrete idea of what their alternative is. By that, I do not mean that we should convert to Marxism. Rather, to give us a proof of what they have right now and a step-by-step proposal on how to proceed. To put it in software development terms, share the code and send us the patch.

But there is no such thing. The catch-22 with Marxism is that the world it promises does not truly exist unless everything is Marxist. So we have to contend with lengthy and dense diatribes instead. To this end, the article concludes with the following pompous yet ultimately uninspiring remarks:

For the FSM [Free Software Movement] to grow its strength and existence, it is imperative to reinvigorate its fight against the OSM [Open Source Movement], and the spirit to defeat monopolistic corporate control of software; the resistance to commercialization of software needs to be pursued politically more explicitly and not implicitly in an ‘economist’ fashion by focussing on the production and distribution process. Moreover, without a general opposition to the capitalist system and capitalist mode of production, and with mere opposition to the symptoms of monopoly capitalism and big capital in general, the movement is bound to be circumscribed by the basic logic of capitalism, as we have already seen. It must depart from the incorrect political and philosophical positions that it has assumed, in order to be able to develop a really revolutionary and subversive character.

After this ebb, the true fillip to the FSM is possible now only with the rise of the larger working-class movement, that aims to destroy private property not only in software (impossible anyway!), but in general.

What exactly should we be doing to carve this “revolutionary and subversive character” out of what we have? Nothing! These are just words.

What I make of the article is that the author has either not done anything practical in their life or has yet to develop such a habit. I find it ironic that countless hours are spent on criticising the bourgeoisie as if those critics lead some pagan-style life in the countryside where they toil all day under the beating sun with nothing but a pickax.

In my experience, the average Marxist intellectual is not agrarian (starting with Marx and Engels, of course), lives in a city, typically has an office job like in the academia, yet will pontificate about the frailties of the bourgeois world and the virtues of working peoples.

Everyone can share their opinion on what Richard Stallman and friends got right or wrong. What matters is that Richard et al. actually did—and still do—something that had/has material implications for lots of people over the course of decades.

The best kind of criticism is an alternative implementation and/or a lifestyle that embodies the virtues one purports to uphold. To put it in software terms once again, fork it and share your findings. Abhijit A.M. has not demonstrated anything of the sort.

The free software movement does not fall into the aforementioned catch-22 trap because it understands that one cannot change everything in order to change something. Richard Stallman is a person who knows how to turn an idea into an application. This is a quality that contributors to free software have and are thus empowered to make changes to their individual and collective experience.

If I need to abolish capitalism to write an extension for GNU Emacs (of which I have tens), then I am simply not writing an extension for Emacs. If that same constraint applies, then Emacs does not exist to begin with. But because Richard and friends share their work in the form of code and documentation, anyone can in principle learn and then give something back as well.

I got into free software without any technical background and put in the effort to learn. Me and everyone involved are sharing knowledge and programs, which improve parts of our life.

Yes, this is freedom in principle because it assumes that someone has access to the computer, the Internet, et cetera. Can the world be a better place? Sure, though we have to start somewhere. Something is better than nothing—and we get “something” by acting accordingly, often at the individual level.

If I have to put my faith in some wider working-class movement to make things happen, I am effectively hoping that actually heterogeneous and heteroclite people, most of whom have no relevant technical acumen and insights into the particularities of my computing needs will somehow contribute to what I need. Do we have any results of this kind that would give us hope? Has the wider working class as such done something that we can point to in order to switch away from free software? I think not. So what I do instead is proceed by initiative and benefit from the initiatives of others like me (in the free software community and more broadly).

The working class is a useful descriptor for some shared qualities. Though it is necessarily a simplistic construct. It does not account for the peculiarities of locality and culture nor is it sensitive to the relevance of its constituent individuals to any given area of interest or field of endeavour.

If I want to discuss poetry, for example, I can only do so in the presence of artists or artistically inclined folk. Those without such disposition will not be keen interlocutors or, worse, will have some bigoted comment to make about men who enjoy poetry (on several occasions I have been told by such working class people how classical music, painting, and poetry, among others, are “gay”—so fragile is their vaunted alpha masculinity that it cannot tolerate a violin).

My suggestion to Abhijit A.M. and anyone who has ideas about the world is to show us results instead of merely telling us what is wrong with the status quo. If you are not showing, but are merely telling, then you are doing it wrong.

We started with a review of the latest changes to the ffs package that Amin has been developing. We had looked into it before and wanted to check on its current state.

Amin then asked me about the display-buffer-alist, which I had mentioned before. To me, this is the single most important variable for making Emacs feel more like your own. The reason is that it allows you to control the placement of buffers to match your expectations. I demonstrated some of the main ideas.

Another nice little feature is the built-in isearch. I explained how it is especially helpful while recording keyboard macros. Though it is nice to use in general. One tweak for it is to display a counter with its matches. Another is to change how it treats spaces, so that it can match any character in-between. This is not as flexible as, say, consult-line (from the consult package) when combined with vertico and orderless. Though it still has its uses.

[ I have lots of little extras for isearch, but those should be good for most users. ]

Amin told me about rediscovering the value of Org in the context of statically generating his website. He showed me the custom Org HTML export backend he has been working on. Org has so many nice features which can be used independent of each other. In this light, we also discussed the diary compared to the Org agenda.

Find all of Amin’s publications on his website: https://kelar.org/~bandali/.

Phantes did not meet this mysterious figure. All the information he has comes from a letter he found once he woke up from his slumber. He keeps the letter in his pocket at all times. He still reads it from time to time, hoping to discover some hidden meaning.

I found you unconscious in the woods and brought you here. You have been sleeping this whole time. Three months have passed already. Somehow you are still breathing.

Where did you come from, lad? I cannot tell.

I named you Phantes: he who reveals. I hope you like it.

I am writing this message because I must serve a higher cause. The hour of my summoning draws near.

My house is yours. The garden outside will supply you with all the vegetables you need. There is more food in the forest. Use my tools to survive. I shall be watching from afar.

Whatever you do, remember that sometimes your only option is to destroy who you are.

Phantes does not remember anything about his past. He has been a gardener since his awakening. Every day he follows the same routine: tend to the plants in the morning, walk around the woods in the afternoon, and sleep early at night. Phantes has not seen another part of the world. He has not met anybody else either.

Walks are his only form of adventure. In a nearby cave, Phantes discovers intricate drawings of human figures. He compares his looks to them. His self-image comes from the mirror he has back home. The figures are forming a circle around a person whose face emits light. Phantes does not know what it feels like to be with others nor can he comprehend the event on display.

There are many such paintings. Each depicts a social activity of some kind. Among them are a few that trigger in him a sense of dread. Others bring inner peace. “IN MUTUAL RECOGNITION”, reads an inscription, “SHALL YOU SHARE SOMETHING IN EARNEST”. Below those words are six people and four dogs having a meal together. Phantes does not understand the full extent of those words. His has been a solitary existence.

“Where can I find others?” he asks in desperation. The entire forest stops moving all of a sudden. All eyes are set on Phantes. “Why can I not be seen by some other person?” he wonders as he bursts into tears.

The night is upon him. Phantes is still crying. “Please, help me!” he begs on his knees while facing down. A voice from the sky breaks the silence.

Easy now, young one. Everybody wants to be seen. You are no different. Even when others are not around, I am still there for you. I see your every move and feel your every emotion.

Phantes hears speech for the first time. He is confused. No-one is there. “Show yourself!” he demands.

You have no power to issue orders, boy. Now listen carefully to what I will tell you. Appreciate all you have. It is not yours to keep. What you wish for may not be the blessing you imagine. Go now. Get some rest. Continue what you have been doing. Everything is going to be alright.

Phantes is not satisfied. “Wait, I have so many questions!”… The voice is not responding. Phantes is left to his usual solitude. Though something has changed inside of him. He no longer desires to go home and relive the same moments. A newly felt sense of indignation is moving him now.

He remembers an underground passage behind the waterfall. It leads to an ancient tomb. At the entrance are three phrases, engraved in red, forming an arc from left to right. “ALL NOTICE THE MASK”, informs the one, “IT IS WHAT THEY LOVE” states the other, “NONE ESCAPES” writes the third.

Phantes is hopeful that this mask can help him find the others. Whatever ominous warnings must be exaggerations. His thinking is that he can use the mask to lure people into noticing him. Then he can take it off and seek to become friends with them.

As he walks into the tomb, he sees the mask hovering over a skeleton. It glows in a bright green light. Phantes cannot contain his excitement. He cannot get his eyes off the mask. “It is so beautiful!” he exclaims. He knows this is his chance to change his life forever.

The mask laughs for a few seconds. It then starts moving erratically around the room, only to stop in front of his nose. It then quickly attaches to his face. Phantes shouts at the top of his lungs. He experiences an overwhelming force coursing through his body that knocks him off balance. He gets up and ventures back to the surface.

Upon exiting he runs into people for the first time. A jubilant crowd cheers at him from a few steps away. He cannot discern any faces just yet. This is too much for Phantes. Amid the noise he catches phrases of admiration. All are about his radiant beauty.

“I will have so many friends now”, he thinks to himself, “they love me already”. Something is amiss. He notices that no-one is getting close to him. The crowd keeps a safe distance. “Hey, why do you not come here?” he asks as he waves his hands at them. A voice is heard from the back “oh, no, your looks are so captivating that I will lose my control”.

Phantes makes a step in their direction. Panic grips them. They scatter as fast as they can. He does not give chase. They will probably keep fleeing, after all. He wonders whether people are always acting strange like this.

A few minutes later, another large group shows up. They too are elated to encounter Phantes. “What a heavenly face!” says someone as others celebrate what they are witnessing. “Blessed are we, to meet such a beauty!” remarks another person, with others making affirmative sounds. Phantes tries to establish contact with those people. They also run away in fear as soon as he approaches them.

Everywhere he now goes, there are folks waiting for him, eager to comment on his appearance. He finds it strange how he had not met a single person before and suddenly there are hundreds of them at every turn. Phantes is concerned that he is doing something wrong. He does not understand why would such enthusiastic admirers not try to befriend him.

He reaches his house. Another gathering of fans is already there. They have been tearing the building apart. “Hey, what is wrong with you?” he asks in shock. “We want a piece of your belongings, beautiful, to bring us good fortune” says one of the pillagers. Phantes is too late to prevent the damage. The house has been reduced to an outline on the ground. The walls are gone, as is all of the furniture. Each individual took something and fled to safety.

Phantes needs a place to rest, but everywhere he goes there are exuberant people observing his every motion, while constantly making disturbing noises. He tries to remove the mask, in the hope of not attracting any more attention. The mask will not move, however. It is firmly planted on his face. It has a will of its own and he has no power over it. After struggling for a while, he surrenders to his new fate.

“They do not care about me”, he realises, “all they want is to be close to what I project through this mask”. Phantes understands how he is not treated as a person anymore. “I have been reduced to a singular dimension, to looks alone, as if I have no interests or wants, no sensitivities or passions”.

The mask is an ancient artefact. It picks those who desire more attention than necessary. Some of them are innocent and naive. Others have nefarious goals. It does not matter though. Whoever wears the mask becomes the centre of all social activity at the expense of their original individuality.

The mask needs time to take over completely. In the meantime, Phantes can still make decisions. He understands that he got more than what he needed. The burden is too heavy and will only get heavier. He thinks back to all the warnings and peculiar hints he had discerned.

He then remembers the final words of the letter he found when he woke up for the first time in this distant land. There may still be something for him, after all. The curse can be lifted. Such is his renewed faith. It is all he has left. Without fear in his heart, he runs to the closest clearing and jumps off a cliff, never to be seen again.

The crowds disperse. The natural rhythms are restored. Phantes wanted to be seen. What he did not anticipate is that very few souls only ever take their attention off the mask that once captured their imagination.

I helped him learn. For certain topics, there is no other way to teach people. They have to live in the world they wish for. Only then may they realise that they are not in control.

[…] Unlike Russia, Iran is not a nuclear power, and on conventional forces alone the US surely has the military capability to theoretically defeat the regime. Whatever we might think about what is good or bad, right or wrong, it would therefore make sense for Trump to resume the war, and even to put boots on the ground if that is what’s required. It is what the logic of war dictates.

Wolfgang’s position is coherent yet lacks lateral thinking of the sort necessary in matters of strategy. In absolute terms the USA has more resources than Iran and will thus prevail in an all-out war. Though this is a simplistic representation of the case. What is pertinent is the spacetime of war, the trade-offs inherent to each decision, and the status quo ex post for the winning side.

Even a superpower has to think in terms of the economy of choices within fixed time frames and even a superpower can be a loser long-term after winning a war in the short run. Every war is costly in tangible and intangible ways. It is not enough to calculate how one can win on a single front. They must rather consider whether they can retain their position in international affairs altogether. 20th century history is enough to teach us that mighty empires, like the British and the French, can still be swept into the dustbin of history shortly after prevailing in a major war.

For America to muster the forces necessary for a ground invasion in Iran, it not only needs months of preparation, but also to shift its attention away from other parts of the planet. For example, military assets in East Asia will have to be moved to the Middle East. A power vacuum is created in the process. Other actors, such as China, may then find an opening to create a fait accompli that strengthens their position thenceforth.

US forces moving away from places like South Korea then raises questions about the credibility of American security guarantees as well as the political commitment behind them. Given the isolationist mood in the States and the fact that President Trump was elected on an unequivocal anti-war platform (well, at least rhetorically), affected countries will conclude that Americans are jaded and unwilling to fight on all fronts.

It does not stop there. A full-scale war in Iran creates new realities on the demand for military hardware. The war effort will absorb as much as necessary, while there will still be a need to maintain inventories at satisfactory levels for the ongoing promotion of American/Western interests. One immediate knock-on effect is that it will no longer be viable to send arms to Ukraine, Israel, or elsewhere, with whatever implications that has for those countries.

Governments that are supportive of Iran will be prudent to maximise the costs for the Americans. Russia and China can provide arms and intelligence, much in the same way that the entirety of NATO is involved in the Ukraine war.

The Europeans lack the capacity to bolster arms production over the short-term. Plus, they are focused on their proxy war with Russia. Public opinion in Europe would not support sending troops to the Middle East and would likely not even have the appetite to continue the war effort vis-à-vis the Russians in the face of mounting economic pressures.

As the debacle of the UK’s Labour party in the recent local elections has demonstrated, Western governing parties can quickly lose their grip on power if they do not perform well on domestic affairs. Political elites think they can play chess on the world stage, when in reality they have to pay attention to what is happening at home.

Economic hardship has been the reality for a long time and will only worsen over the medium-term. There is little chance that people will support open-ended military campaigns under the vague promise of better things to come in some indeterminate future. That can, in principle, lead to radical changes domestically (e.g. a far-right president in France) which would be the death knell of the liberal world order.

And I have not even considered the practicalities of a ground war in Iran. What kind of forces does that unleash? The Iranians will be fighting for the honour of their homeland, while the invaders will be operating under the eternal shame of imperialistic arrogance. With Iran cornered, who is to say that they will not retaliate by destroying desalination plants in their neighbouring countries? An ill-considered war will then quickly turn into a humanitarian catastrophe for the wider region.

Are Europeans prepared to deal with the indubitably massive refugee crisis that will be hitting them? If the waves of refugees from Syria provided the impetus for the recrudescence of the far-right across the continent, I prefer not to think what an even bigger influx of refugees would bring about. It will not be pretty. Rising xenophobia, which would be indistinguishable from Islamophobia, could then trigger fanaticism on the side of radical Islamist groups across Europe. An all-out war in Iran then entails the non-trivial risk of asymmetric threats throughout the Western world.

In short, it is easy to argue which contestant wins in a hypothetical cage fight. However, politics are not reducible to a melee encounter. The world is a complex place. It is incredibly hard to be a responsible statesman. President Trump continues with his questionable antics on social media, though one can only hope that he understands the disastrous consequences of recklessness.

The multipolar international order is the new normal. What remains to be determined is whether the Westerners have gotten the memo or continue to throw good money after bad.

Amin asked me to record the meeting and then publish it, which I happily agreed to. You can watch it on Amin’s website: https://kelar.org/~bandali/gnu/emacs/ffs-code-review-prot.html.

[ NOTE: I normally do not share anything about my meetings with people. Not who they are nor what we talk about. ]

Thanks to Amin for making this happen! I am looking forward to new developments.

By the way, I learnt about the function x-export-frames from a mention in Amin’s ffs package, which led me to write buffer-to-pdf: https://github.com/protesilaos/buffer-to-pdf.

Yanis was at the heart of Europe’s post-2008 financial and sovereign debt crisis, first as a commentator from the sidelines of the academia and then as the Greek finance minister. Throughout the show Yanis comments on past events. I am not interested in relitigating those controversies but in drawing lessons for the present.

Yanis is a freethinker extraordinaire. This necessarily makes him a misfit in the world of politics. To me, this is honourable. Where I think Yanis failed as a policy-maker is in his ambiguity on the notorious theme of “Grexit” (the exit of Greece from the Euro Area). Back when Yanis was the Greek finance minister there was a decent chance that Greece would discontinue using the euro. He never told us what he wanted from the negotiations he was engaging in at the time: to keep the euro, to switch back to the drachma, to have some kind of dual currency arrangement, or something else entirely.

In the podcast he employs the analogy of not taking on a credit card to pay off a debt while you are bankrupt. It is common sense. Then what is the policy proposal or at least the big picture view? I never heard it.

The exact answer does not matter. What is of interest is the absence of clarity, for it is indicative of the wider political left’s problem with European Union affairs altogether: there is no clear vision, no compelling story. Yanis is intellectually honest, mind you, yet he too is beholden rhetorically to a movement that considers certain opinions unacceptable.

Leftists at-large have no persuasive plan for the European Union. Not for “Europe” in some abstract sense, as that can easily be construed along the lines of international peace. I am specifically focused on the existing legal-institutional architecture which enshrines in treaties what effectively is anathema to progressives. Austerity is not the ephemeral policy of some elected government, such that it can be discontinued at the next election. No! It is the very essence of the primary law that underpins Europe’s economic governance.

The left cannot make bold pronouncements on the EU as such. If it accepts the status quo, then it necessarily agrees to live under a system that practically no democratic process can reform. Yanis learnt this firsthand: he had to resign from his post as finance minister because a resounding “no” at the referendum meant nothing whatsoever in substantive terms.

As things have stood since the early 1990s with the Treaty of Maastricht, the EU is caught in a situation where it has no natural unit of democracy. This used to be the nation-state back when there was a direct link between the legitimation of decision-makers and their attendant accountability. Decisions were adopted domestically and were, in principle, scrutinised there. The European Economic Community of the pre-Maastricht era was a free trade area with limited authority over national affairs.

The crowning achievement of the Treaty of Maastricht is the euro. Monetary policy has since been transferred to the European Central Bank. Fiscal policy is similarly conferred to the supranational level in a process that largely unfolded at the height of the 2008+ economic crisis. Without financial autonomy, the remaining areas of policy are severally constrained in advance, notwithstanding other European regulations. Recent developments in the proxy war with Russia are showing that the EU is eager to concentrate ever more power on matters of foreign policy and defence, and even meddle in the outcome of national elections under the pretext of combating “disinformation” campaigns carried out by the usual villains.

Meanwhile, the EU as a whole is not a democracy. The Commission is a bureaucratic apparatus. The European Council is a collection of governments, each of which has partialised sovereignty, elected on a national platform to pursue national interests yet supposed to make decisions in the name of Europeanness. In other words, we experience a mismatch of sovereignty: rules for the system as a whole without the commensurate cycle of legitimation and accountability.

Against this backdrop, Europe faces the same predicament it did in the 2010s. Namely, it operates in a grey area that is neither national nor supranational democracy. One path forward is that of federalism which sees the EU turn into a fully fledged federal republic. The other is a reconstitution of national sovereignty, which effectively means the disintegration of the Union as we know it.

For leftists this is an awkward historical turn:

• To side with the federalists is to accept that for the indeterminate future they will say nothing about the hardcoded neoliberal character of the EU’s economics. Or, worse, they will join the pro-EU camp anyway while rhetorically disagreeing with the most inflexible policies of the block.

• Dismissing the EU has far-reaching implications which lead to the formation of a programme that is nationalistic at heart: exit the euro, leave the Union, restore national sovereignty, pursue good relations with countries beyond Europe, et cetera. Regaining sovereignty will also affect immigration policy, not least in order to impose capital controls during the potentially long period of transition back to a national currency.

Yanis has had no answer to this conundrum. My view is that one has to decide what their priorities are and proceed accordingly. I have in the past leaned on the federalist side and still think it is worth the trouble if—and only if—it establishes a republic. Though I have long lost faith in the capacity of the EU to be refashioned into something other than the bureaucratic confederation it is.

Each system comes with its own potential owning to the relative power of its constituent factors and the particularities of their interplay. How can we get a European treasury, for instance, when the moment we try to pool national debts we encounter the toxic issue of the Dutch assuming part of the national debt of the Italians, the Germans doing the same with the French, and so on.

The nations still exist as do their cultures and historical biases. This is the fact of the matter. Federalism is an intellectual project that sounds nice in theory while it downplays or completely ignores the inescapable conflicts of interest among the member states of the Union. Considered holistically, to change the EU requires concerted action of the sort that is akin to planetary alignment.

Perhaps, then, intellectual honesty leads us to a nationalist turn; nationalist in the sense of restoring sovereignty at home and then working towards its democratisation; nationalist in order to develop the capacities for an internationalist outlook. This too is difficult, for sure, though each country can do it without depending on all the rest to reach consensus in practically every area of policy.

Even if the planet is awash with natural resources that can, in principle, render Middle Eastern oil surplus to requirements, the damage has already happened (and continues to worsen). It takes time to reorganise supply chains to whatever new normal. The transition cannot be pain-free.

President Trump keeps boasting about America’s prowess on the battlefield in what starts to look like theatrics for saving face rather than responsible statesmanship. America has not only failed in toppling the Iranian regime and in acquiring the enriched uranium, it has also managed to create an intractable situation with the closing of the Strait of Hormuz—a vital artery of the global energy markets which was, by the by, open prior to this unnecessary war. In the process, Trump appears beholden to his paymaster lobbyists and thus cannot be trusted to pursue policies that are in the well-meaning interest of his own people, let alone the international community.

In my part of the world, the European Union, political elites are behaving in the same way as their predecessors circa 2010. Then too, as today, woefully unprepared policy-makers were too slow to respond to rapidly evolving phenomena. Their complacency, continuous delays, indecision, and overall lack of ambition, deepened and lengthened the economic downturn. They effectively had no better solution than to condemn the continent to an economic outlook of permanent austerity on the fiscal front combined with hyperinflationary monetary policy.

The devastating outcome of their decision-making remains with us to this day. The money printing bonanza evolved into the ever egregious concentration of property in the upper parts of the income distribution. Same principle for the bailouts that favoured big business over everybody else.

EU apparatchiks are focused on their endless proxy war with Russia, which is a boon for the military-industrial-financial complex on every side of the conflict, but of negative value to affected countries at-large. Effective leadership in such circumstances would be concerned with creating the conditions for the economic resilience of Europe through what used to work well, namely, sincere trade. Diverse alliances and strong commercial ties with the rest of the world, couched in terms of mutual respect, are essential. Once greed becomes doctrine and guile turns into policy, war is inevitable.

Part of such a realignment involves closer ties with China, a recognition that the Middle East belongs to all of its peoples and that cooperation with them is the sole path to sustainability, a rapprochement with the Russians, pressure on the Ukrainian government to finally accept a peace deal, and gradual reduction in the currently strong dependency on American energy imports.

What we get instead is further dependence over the short-to-medium term on the increasingly unreliable Americans, mindless Sinophobia and Russophobia, jingoism in Eastern Europe, and neocolonial smugness towards the predominantly Islamic Western Asian countries.

Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence could, in theory, mitigate the chilling effects of the looming recession and even reverse the trend altogether. Though one need only consider the ownership model of the relevant industries to understand that whatever gains will not be widely shared. Those who brought us to this situation will be laughing all the way to the bank, while we will be counting pennies to buy a loaf of bread or, worse, paying with our blood in some war we never believed in.

There is still some time to arrest the downfall and pivot away from the path to collective folly. Though it requires a sense of urgency. I am afraid that at least in the Europe Union apparatus there is no such quality of character to be found. Not in Berlin, not in Paris, and certainly not in Brussels.

I am looking forward to it!

As I understand, you’re using the regular keybindings in emacs. I’m trying to transition away from the vim way of editing text and was wondering if you’re using a more ergonomic approach for your text editing needs. I remember you were using some ergo split keyboards for that?

Indeed, I have a split mechanical keyboard (a gift from a person who identifies as “Andreas”). It is the Iris revision 8 by Keebio. I also have a regular full-sized keyboard (a gift from Arialdo Martini), which is the Keychron K5.

[ Keyboard-related articles of mine: https://protesilaos.com/keeb/. ]

The split keyboard is nice, though it is not a magical solution. Even with a regular form factor keyboard, I can work with the standard Emacs keys without any problem. What helps me the most is to configure one-shot modifiers. This means that I can tap (press once, then release) a modifier key, then tap a regular key to register it as a modifier+key event. For example, C-x is this: tap Ctrl, then tap x. Shift tapping is especially nice for prose, by the way, and eases the pressure on the otherwise weak pinky. The time window for registering a one-shot modifier is configurable.

The other useful tweak for a regular keyboard is to rearrange the layout of the modifiers. I prefer this order:

Super Alt Ctrl Space Ctrl Alt Super

[ If there is a Menu key, move it to the right corner and consider assigning it to the Compose key if you are on Linux. ]

Now Ctrl is under the thumb, which is especially nice for Emacs. Alt and Super can be swapped, if you use Super more heavily (e.g. with a tiling window manager). But the important part is to keep Ctrl close to the Space key.

Whatever you do though, remember to use both sets of modifiers. For example, C-x involves the right hand for Ctrl and the left hand for x. C-p needs the left hand for Ctrl and the right hand for p. This way you distribute the burden so no one side is overworked (and, of course, you take regular breaks from typing altogether).

Lots of Emacs users will rebind Caps Lock to Ctrl. While this is fine in its own right, it tends to embed bad habits, such as with using only the left hand to register the very common C-a, C-e, C-d, C-f, C-s, C-r, C-w, C-g, C-z, C-x, C-c, C-v. Exclusive left-handed use involves awkward twisting of the muscles which will probably hurt you over time. Plus, the left pinky is forced to press and hold a key while being stretched—looks bad. Again, distribute the load.

The final part that makes everything easier is to configure a “layer” key. When you press and hold this key, other keys register a different input than normal. For example, Caps Lock can be the layer key, which then makes h, j, k, l act as arrow keys. Same idea for mapping Home, PgDn, PgUp, End someplace that makes sense (mine are on y, u, i, o). I prefer to have Space as that layer key: it only is a layer when I press and hold it, otherwise it performs the ordinary function of the Space key.

It is okay to press and hold Space because you do it with your relatively strong thumbs. Better have it this way than pressing and holding with the pinkies.

All this can be achieved with software such as kanata. A custom keyboard with QMK firmware can get the same configuration embedded directly in the keyboard (so it works without any special program running on the computer). Kanata will be the cheaper solution and is probably better overall if you consider that it can apply to a laptop’s keyboard.

A mistake in all this is to think that an expensive keyboard is inherently more ergonomic. If you keep curling, overextending, or anyhow stressing your muscles the injuries will occur regardless. A new keyboard can help if you use it as an opportunity to retrain your muscle memory.

Custom keyboards have potential advantages in terms of comfort because you can change the switches and keycaps that they use. For example, you can pick a lighter or heavier switch to match your typing technique. Then you can combine it with a shallower or steeper keycap profile to get the most out of that setup. There is no right or wrong here. It is a matter of optimising on top of the strong fundamentals that I outlined above.

As for evil-mode in Emacs, I think it is a good solution overall. You do, however, need to install the evil-collection package and probably also configure lots of other key bindings to get exactly what you want. There are other packages that give you modal editing, though I have only ever used evil-mode in earnest: it is fine.

That granted, I find that I do not like modal editing in general. It is especially inconvenient for me when I write at length (which I do a lot) because I tend to produce a wall of text in one go. Having a modal interface gives me no advantage in this common scenario. I also doubt it ever gave me the edge while programming. The bottleneck is how quickly and clearly I can think, not how fast I can edit lines of text (though, yes, Vim’s paradigm is powerful).

Consider then the overall comfort of your setup. Both in terms of the ergonomics of hardware but also how much effort it takes to maintain your Emacs configuration. The standard approach to key bindings gives you something that “just works” with practically every package you install. It may feel awkward in the beginning if you are coming from the Vim keys, but will be the most robust solution long-term from the perspective of maintainability.

UPDATE 2026-05-01 08:24 +0300: Added a missing :config to the bookmark block.

UPDATE 2026-05-02 22:33 +0300: Replaced duplicate variable-pitch with the intended fixed-pitch.

;;; Sensible defaults that are not too intrusive and focus on common use-cases.  By Protesilaos on 2026-04-30.

;; These are not all of my favourite options.  I am not even including
;; any of my packages.  They are just some basics that I consider
;; useful, given what I have learnt from my exchange with other people
;; of all skill levels.


;; Persist all customisations in a separate file called "custom.el".
;; It is in the same directory as the "init.el".
;;
;; Without the `custom-file', Emacs writes directly to the "init.el",
;; which can be confusing.
(setq custom-file (locate-user-emacs-file "custom.el"))
(load custom-file :no-error-if-file-is-missing)

(use-package package
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; I am not using `add-to-list' here because the default "gnu" is
  ;; confusing to people, given that "elpa" is the better known name
  ;; for it.
  (setq package-archives
        '(("gnu-elpa" . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")
          ("nongnu" . "https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/")
          ("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")))
  ;; Prefer GNU ELPA but accept the reality of MELPA's utility to the
  ;; wider community.
  (setq package-archive-priorities
        '(("gnu-elpa" . 3)
          ("nongnu" . 2)
          ("melpa" . 1))))

;;;; General options
(use-package emacs
  :ensure nil
  :demand t
  :init
  (defun prot/keyboard-quit-dwim ()
    "Do-What-I-Mean behaviour for a general `keyboard-quit'.

The generic `keyboard-quit' does not do the expected thing when
the minibuffer is open.  Whereas we want it to close the
minibuffer, even without explicitly focusing it.

The DWIM behaviour of this command is as follows:

- When the region is active, disable it.
- When a minibuffer is open, but not focused, close the minibuffer.
- When the Completions buffer is selected, close it.
- In every other case use the regular `keyboard-quit'."
    (interactive)
    (cond
     ((region-active-p)
      (keyboard-quit))
     ((derived-mode-p 'completion-list-mode)
      (delete-completion-window))
     ((> (minibuffer-depth) 0)
      (abort-recursive-edit))
     (t
      (keyboard-quit))))
  :bind
  ("C-g" . prot/keyboard-quit-dwim)
  :config
  ;; Set your favourite font family and height here.  The :height is
  ;; 10x the point size you most commonly find on other applications.
  (set-face-attribute 'default nil :family "Aporetic Sans Mono" :height 160)
  ;; Set your favourite font for elements that are designed to always
  ;; be monospaced.  The height SHOULD BE a floating point, which is
  ;; interpreted as relative to the `default'.
  (set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :family "Aporetic Serif Mono" :height 1.0)
  ;; Same as above for proportionately spaced elements.  Make any
  ;; buffer proportionately spaced by enabling the `variable-pitch-mode'.
  ;;
  ;; [ NOTE: If you use the Modus themes or derivatives, set
  ;;   `modus-themes-mixed-fonts', load the theme for the option to
  ;;   take effect, and then enable `variable-pitch-mode':
  ;;   spacing-sensitive elements like Org tables and code blocks will
  ;;   remain monospaced. ]
  (set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :family "Aporetic Sans" :height 1.0)

  ;; I have never seen a user say "no" to loading a theme they have
  ;; downloaded.  Technically, any Elisp file can run arbitrary code,
  ;; so this is not doing much on the security front.
  (setq custom-safe-themes t)
  (setq use-short-answers t)
  (setq read-answer-short t)
  (setq help-window-select t) ; also check `display-buffer-alist' below
  (setq help-window-keep-selected t) ; Emacs 29
  (setq find-library-include-other-files nil) ; Emacs 29
  (setq window-combination-resize t)
  (setq save-interprogram-paste-before-kill t)
  ;; Do not jump to the current line in `*occur*' buffers.  The reason
  ;; is that you are already on that line: you want to do `occur' to
  ;; get more than that (and, presumably, to do something with the
  ;; results such as to edit them with `occur-edit-mode').
  (setq list-matching-lines-jump-to-current-line nil)
  (setq completion-category-defaults nil))

;;;; Save minibuffer histories
(use-package savehist
  :ensure nil
  :config
  (savehist-mode 1))

;;;; Delete the selected text when inserting new text
(use-package delsel
  :ensure nil
  :config
  (delete-selection-mode 1))

;;;; Bookmarks
(use-package bookmark
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; Emacs 29 displays a bookmark icon on the fringe.  Many people
  ;; have asked me what that thing is.  I also think it is confusing.
  (setq bookmark-fringe-mark nil)
  ;; Write changes to the bookmark file as soon as 1 modification is
  ;; made (addition or deletion).  Otherwise Emacs will only save the
  ;; bookmarks when it closes, which may never happen properly
  ;; (e.g. power failure).
  (setq bookmark-save-flag 1))

;;;; Dired
(use-package dired
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; Most people I have talked to prefer a single Dired buffer.
  ;; Personally I like the many Dired buffers, but I understand why
  ;; this feels overwhelming.
  (setq dired-kill-when-opening-new-dired-buffer t)
  (setq dired-auto-revert-buffer #'dired-directory-changed-p) ; also see `dired-do-revert-buffer'
  (setq dired-clean-up-buffers-too t)
  (setq dired-clean-confirm-killing-deleted-buffers t)
  (setq dired-recursive-copies 'always)
  (setq dired-recursive-deletes 'always)
  (setq delete-by-moving-to-trash t)
  (setq dired-create-destination-dirs 'ask)
  (setq dired-create-destination-dirs-on-trailing-dirsep t) ; Emacs 29
  (setq wdired-create-parent-directories t))

;;;; Isearch
(use-package isearch
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; ;; Enable those to make "package install" match those words with
  ;; ;; anything in between.  I think this is the single best tweak I
  ;; ;; ever made.
  ;;
  ;; (setq search-whitespace-regexp ".*?")
  ;; (setq isearch-lax-whitespace t)
  ;; (setq isearch-regexp-lax-whitespace nil)
  (setq isearch-lazy-count t)
  (setq lazy-count-prefix-format "(%s/%s) ")
  (setq lazy-count-suffix-format nil))

;;;; Diff
(use-package diff
  :ensure
  :config
  ;; You cannot expect the syntax highlighting of themes to look
  ;; equally readabable against what typically are red and green
  ;; backgrounds.  This should be opt-in by default, not opt-out.
  (setq diff-font-lock-syntax nil))

;;;; Ediff
(use-package ediff
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; Ediff is virtually unusable without those.  Especially on tiling
  ;; window managers.  But even on a regular desktop environment it is
  ;; confusing and cumbersome to have the control panel in another
  ;; frame.
  (setq ediff-split-window-function 'split-window-horizontally)
  (setq ediff-window-setup-function 'ediff-setup-windows-plain))

;;;; SHR
(use-package shr
  :ensure nil
  :config
  ;; t is bad for accessibility and generally awkward for HTML email
  ;; (especially with dark themes).
  (setq shr-use-colors nil)
  ;; This option should not exist, given `variable-pitch-mode'.
  ;; Furthermore, its default value runs counter to almost everything
  ;; else in Emacs which just uses the `default' face.
  (setq shr-use-fonts nil))

;;;; Control the display of common ancillary windows

;; Always focus common ancillary windows.  Place them in a window
;; already occupied by their respective major mode or below the
;; current window.
(add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
             '((or . ((derived-mode . occur-mode)
                      (derived-mode . grep-mode)
                      (derived-mode . Buffer-menu-mode)
                      (derived-mode . log-view-mode)
                      (derived-mode . help-mode)))
               (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window display-buffer-below-selected)
               (body-function . select-window)))

(add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
             '("\\`\\*\\(Org \\(Select\\|Note\\)\\|Agenda Commands\\)\\*\\'" ; the `org-capture' key selection, `org-add-log-note', and agenda dispatcher
               (display-buffer-in-side-window)
               (dedicated . t)
               (side . bottom)
               (slot . 0)
               (window-parameters . ((mode-line-format . none)))))

(add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
             '((derived-mode . calendar-mode)
               (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window display-buffer-below-selected)
               (mode . (calendar-mode bookmark-edit-annotation-mode ert-results-mode))
               (inhibit-switch-frame . t)
               (dedicated . t)
               (window-height . fit-window-to-buffer)))

(add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
             '((derived-mode . reb-mode) ; M-x re-builder
               (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window display-buffer-below-selected)
               (inhibit-switch-frame . t)
               (window-height . 4) ; note this is literal lines, not relative
               (dedicated . t)
               (preserve-size . (t . t))))

;;;; ESSENTIAL packages to install

(use-package vertico
  :ensure t
  :config
  (vertico-mode 1))

(use-package marginalia
  :ensure t
  :config
  (marginalia-mode 1))

;;;; VERY USEFUL but not essential packages
(use-package orderless
  :ensure t
  :config
  (setq completion-styles '(orderless basic)))

(use-package consult
  :ensure t
  ;; All commands have their utility, but those are commonly needed.
  :commands (consult-buffer consult-line consult-outline consult-find consult-grep))

(use-package embark
  :ensure t
  :bind
  ;; Embark is helpful in every context, though there are other ways
  ;; to do what it does.  Where it stands out is in its ability to
  ;; deal with all the minibuffer results.  The equivalent of those
  ;; two commands should be a core Emacs functionality.
  ( :map minibuffer-local-map
    ("C-c C-c" . embark-collect)
    ("C-c C-e" . embark-export))
  :config
  ;; Needed for correct exporting while using Embark with Consult commands.
  (use-package embark-consult
    :ensure t
    :after consult))

;; Useful when combined with `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
(use-package trashed
  :ensure t)

Where aromatic rose
and blackthorn shrub
spring from shared soil
you find what you seek
once you realise
that the mountain-god
heeds my prayer
as the echo
of my steel

I wrote the poem in the context of this journal entry: Doing what I must.

The hours are shorter when you have no idle moments. I have not had the chance to write much because I am preoccupied with time-sensitive tasks around my land on top of everything I do on the computer. I was scheduled to have a video call in ~30 minutes but it got rescheduled, so I am finding the opportunity to write this note.

Spring is the time of the year to plant vegetables and prepare everything for the coming summer. Irrigation must be reliable and the land should be clear of anything that cannot be controlled. Tall grass represents a threat in two ways: (i) potentially venomous snakes may take cover in it and (ii) once it gets dry it is a fire hazard.

A design choice for my land is to not pave anything that is not essential. There is the foundation of my house, made out of concrete, a one metre buffer around my house consisting of the extension of that same concrete, and everything else is just soil with vegetation. The cost for this arrangement is maintenance work to keep the wilderness in check.

Controlling the grass is a time-consuming endeavour because it is a manual process. I choose not to uproot it and am against the use of chemicals for such a task. I carefully remove only what represents some kind of danger to my continued presence here. The rest I control and take care of.

Doing it carefully is important to spot new plants that take form. This morning I discovered several more blackthorn offshots while I was in the process of transplanting a few aromatic roses. They are less than ten centimetres tall right now, though they will quickly gain height. I will not be surprised if they even start bearing fruit in the summer of 2027.

Many of my roses will blossom soon. They look beautiful while their aroma makes me feel comfortable. I transplant them at the edges of my land to form a perimeter. I enjoy the aesthetics while I also do it for practical reasons. Plants keep the soil together.

Having the roots in the ground is among the best forms of insurance one can get against soil erosion. This is true for the most hunble blade of grade to the most imposing oak tree. Without plants, the soil is dispersed easily.

Many farmers here will blithely cut down or poison everything, only to say “god help us” when they get a heavily rainy season, such as the past winter, which washes away parts of their land. I do not share their outlook and feel nothing for their plight.

The mountain has its own logic. It answers no prayers. You cannot do whatever you desire. It is better to think of it as an organism in its own right, even though this may sound like mumbo jumbo to you. The shape of the land itself creates certain conditions you must be aware of, such as for the flow of rainwater and the direction of the strongest winds. Where plants grow and what sort of conditions does their growth create to the soil, to the presence of insects and birds. These are all factors that are there. They form the situation you must be aware of. You may choose to ignore them, but that does not make them irrelevant.

Thus while god may one day answer your calls, continue doing what you must, deliberately and decisively. Have forethought, understand the mechanics of the system you are a part of, and conduct yourself in a manner that respects, but does not fear, the greater magnitudes of this world.

A trap many philosophers fall into is that of seeking the abstract among the abstractions, while losing sight of the here-and-now of their quotidian experience. The human condition is such where our body imposes certain inescapable patterns of behaviour, while our mind retains the capacity to fathom that which is transcendent. The key is to find a balance, else we suffer.

I find that the notion of an abstract god is ultimately unhelpful as such. Not because the idea is not worthwhile, but merely owning to the fact that abstractions are necessarily not concrete. There must be narratives that have immediate utility in what we do everyday. It helps little, if at all, to pray to some deity in the heavens while you do not recognise anything greater than you in your immediate surroundings. The absence of an intermediate life form between humanity and divinity easily devolves into a rudderless mode of living. Even when that is couched in terms of ceremonial theism, of talking to your priest and attending the liturgy, it remains inherently atheistic in its day-by-day expression.

To picture the mountain, the sea, the forest, the earth at-large as intermediate mountain-god, sea-god, forest-god, earth-god is not to deny the possibility of that which is absolute, for there is a common in the multitude of all that is—the mind inevitably discerns those patterns in the cosmos. Think of what envelops, nourishes, and outlives you as greater than you. It is a recognition of how things are in our world, but also a means of keeping yourself in check, specifically by not mistaking your ego as the master of this world and the centre around which everything revolves.

I am here, not in the heavens. My condition demands that I have situational awareness in order to thrive. When I admit that I am not the most superior life form on this planet, for example, I account for what my environment renders viable. I “respect” the rain-god, for instance, by taking care of my land so that it is resilient and robust to the forces of erosion. When I cut down the tall grass, I “worship” the fire-god by acknowledging how easy it is to suffer irreparable damage from wildfires. And so on.

I refer to them as “gods” in an artistic way. This is a metaphor,a figment of the imagination, which helps me describe in a few words a complex system whose workings can both benefit and harm me. It is my responsibility to find what is benign by remaining alert, asking questions, and seeking knowledge.

This “respect” or “worship” is not symbolic. It is neither expressed through nor exhausted in rituals. There are no special garments I must wear or certain words I have to chant. There are no intermediaries of any sort; no hierophants who reveal mysteries to the initiates. It is all about a life of readiness, a life of determination, a life of unflinching resolve to do what is necessary. There is an immediate feedback loop between my deeds and their consequences, which I find invigorating. The outcomes keep me honest to my word, while they serve as a reminder of the limits as well as the potential my power has.

Against this backdrop, I continue labouring with the same enthusiasm I had in the beginning. Which now inspires me to write this poem:

The echo of my steel

Where aromatic rose
and blackthorn shrub
spring from shared soil
you find what you seek
once you realise
that the mountain-god
heeds my prayer
as the echo
of my steel

This is a spontaneous live stream. The stream starts in ~20 minutes. I will continue maintaining my packages. My plan is to start with Denote and then move to TMR. Depending on how I do, I will check some of my other packages as well.

Note that the event will be recorded.

Below are the lyrics, my translation of them, and further comments.

Μη με ρωτάς

Ερμηνεία:  Μάνος Λοΐζος
Στίχοι:    Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος
Μουσική:   Μάνος Λοΐζος


Τα πολυβόλα σωπάσαν
Οι πόλεις αδειάσαν και κλείσαν
Ένας βοριάς παγωμένος
σαρώνει την έρημη γη

Στρατιώτες έρχονται-πάνε
ρωτάνε γιατί πολεμήσαν
κι εσύ ησυχάζεις
το δάχτυλο βάζεις
να βρεις την πληγή

Μη με ρωτάς, δε θυμάμαι
Μη με ρωτάς, μη με ρωτάς, μη με ρωτάς
Μη με κοιτάς, σε φοβάμαι
μη με κοιτάς, μη με ρωτάς, μη με ρωτάς

Στην πολιτεία βραδιάζει
το χιόνι τις στέγες σκεπάζει
Ένα καμιόνι φορτώνει
και κόβει στα δυο τη σιγή

Περιπολία στους δρόμους
και κάποια φωνή που διατάζει
κι εσύ ησυχάζεις
το δάχτυλο βάζεις
να βρεις την πληγή

Do not ask me

Singer:  Manos Loizos
Lyrics:  Lefteris Papadopoulos
Music:   Manos Loisos


The machine guns have quietened
The towns have been evacuated and closed down
A frozen north wind
sweeps the desolate land

Soldiers come-go
Asking why they fought
and you turn silent
you place the finger
to find the wound

Do not ask me, I do not remember
Do not ask me, do not ask me, do not ask me
Do not look at me, I am afraid of you
Do not look at me, do not ask me, do not look at me

Night comes to the polity
The snow covers the rooftops
A truck loads up
and cuts the silence in two

Patrol on the streets
and a voice that issues orders
and you turn silent
you place the finger
to find the wound

Do not ask me describes some of the horrors of war. Deserted lands and broken people abound. The average soldier was recruited under the pretence of moral superiority, of fighting for some noble cause, only to question everything after the fact; after they have been treated as expendable.

The war apparatus relies on impressionable folk who have yet to form a coherent and questioning view of the world. By the time they figure out how things work, they have already been given as fodder to the cannons or their vitality has been snuffed out. Whatever shell of a person remains subsists in desperation, while decision-makers and their corporate cronies are enjoying their newfound wealth.

War is devastating at such a mind-boggling scale in part because those who decide in its favour are not directly involved in the fighting. It would have been different if the president was leading the charge in his threat to erase an entire civilisation. Would genocide be happening if the prime minister was on the front lines? Would forever wars be a thing if all decision-makers were to form the vanguard as a matter of principle? I doubt it.

As with private matters, corruption occurs when actions are decoupled from their consequences or, at least, when there is a good chance that the decoupling will occur. Once combined with the power to determine the fate of nations, such corruption becomes an inexhaustible capacity for inhumanity.

Plans are drawn by policy wonks behind closed doors. The same core message is disseminated on repeat under the guise of impartial journalism through a network of channels that are owned by the oligarchs (i.e. the beneficiaries of the regime; a regime which claims the moral high ground). The moneymen who pull the strings connive on how to maximise their gains while socialising the costs.

Against this backdrop, the titular plea to suspend all questions is the veteran’s coping mechanism in the face of torment as well as the realisation of deep-seated misanthropy among the elites. Some veterans know they were offered as blood sacrifice to the altars of greed, yet cannot muster the strength to argue anymore. Such is their broken heart that they even fear the poetic “you”, which is presented as a benevolent caregiver figure.

This second person shows compassion. They are not there to make probing questions. Their role is to provide much-needed relief from what has transpired. As such, they focus on treating the wounds. We find here the interpersonal spark that gives people hope, including those who are dead inside.

It is the genuine caring for another in times of strife and uncertainty: the solidarity that ordinary people show when placed under collective duress. It does not conform with the profiteer’s calculus. It comes without strings attached. There is no fine print and hidden fees. It manifests as a gentle touch; a reminder that there is beauty to be found in the little things even when all seems lost.

My surname is “Stavrou” (Stávrou, Σταύρου). It is the genitive case of the given name “Stavros” (Stávros, Σταύρος), which is related to the Greek word for “cross” (σταυρός). As is the norm among Greeks, this is the family name on my father’s side.

Stavros (or variants) is a common name mostly among males but also for females (Stavri, Stavriani, Stavroula). By contrast, Protesilaos is an extremely rare name of ancient origin. I do not know anyone who has it.

Because of the rarity or maybe uniqueness of my name, I never needed any qualifiers to specify who I am. People call me “Protesilaos” or one of its shortened variants (Protos, Proto, Prote, Prot). This also happens in places where others would normally be addressed by their surname. For example, public servants or bank clerks will spontaneously default to “Mr. Protesilaos” (κύριε Πρωτεσίλαε).

“Protos” means “first” while “laos” or “las” means “the people”. Several Greek names have laos/las as a constituent: Agisilaos, Charilaos, Menelaos, Nikolaos. “Protesilaos” is a posthumous title bestowed upon the legendary hero of the Trojan War Iolaos (again, “laos”), perhaps (i) to immortalise his initiative as the first among his people to proceed through self-sacrifice and also (ii) to exalt the belief in the primacy of the common good over personal gain.

I am no hero of legend. Mine is but an uneventful mountain life. I do nonetheless have a strong sense of contributing to the commons however I can. Everything I have published, for instance, is available for free and in freedom. These are my deeds, not my claims.

I am on good terms with everyone in my family. Though I do not feel any sense of belonging to them. We talk from time to time, have fun, and that is all. I otherwise know very little about their everyday affairs. Their actions do not define me.

I have been away from my homeland for two decades and do not show any particular interest in my Greek nationality. Even my accent in English does not sound like that of the average person from Greece. In Cyprus, where I have been living for many years already, I am not truly a local but not a real foreigner either. I have friendly relationships with everyone around me though, again, I am not connected to them in any special way.

I am not religious, meaning that I do not partake in the single most important expression of religiosity: communal events. This will not change, as I feel no attraction to religion. Not even towards the ethnic Greek religion which I like aesthetically and which I recognise as the closest to my way of living.

I do not participate in the commons in some other capacity, such as through politics. I am an outsider and do not have the enthusiasm to get involved. Sport would have been the exception, as I remain at the peak of my fitness, but there are no sporting events in my region: it is a sparsely populated area.

Omitting the surname is a recognition of my lived experience. There is no “my people” and no legacy to pass on. I just mind my business in this patch of earth. The rarity of my name turns out to be the rarity of my person or, perhaps, the rarity of my situation.

Below are the original lyrics, my faithful translation of them, and further comments on what all this is about.

Other entries I have written related to Alkinoos Ioannidis:

• Mirror (2022-06-28)
• Out of space and time (2022-09-03)

Ο κόσμος που αλλάζει

Ερμηνεία:  Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης
Στίχοι:    Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης
Μουσική:   Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης


Μεγάλο δέντρο ο στεναγμός
μεγάλη κι η σκιά του
απλώνει ρίζες στην ψυχή
στο σώμα τα κλαδιά του
Μα όπως ανοίγει ένα πουλί
φτερούγα στον αέρα
το δέντρο γίνεται γιορτή
και φτερουγίζει η μέρα

Πόσες φορές να σου το πω
πόσες να στο μηνύσω;
Να σου το πω ψιθυριστά
ή να στο τραγουδήσω;
Θα σου το πω ψιθυριστά
όπως μιλάει το βλέμμα
που κρύβει μες τη σιγαλιά
του κόσμου όλο το αίμα

Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
πως σου μοιάζει, πως σου μοιάζει
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
με τρομάζει, με τρομάζει

Χαμένοι μοιάζουμε, λοιπόν
στο γύρο του θανάτου
στην παγωνιά του οριστικού
στον τρόμο του αοράτου
Μα οριστικά θα'χεις χαθεί
μονάχα αν το διαλέξεις
όπως διαλέγει η μουσική
τα λόγια και τις λέξεις

Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
πως σου μοιάζει, πως σου μοιάζει
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
με τρομάζει, με τρομάζει

The world that changes

Singer:  Alkinoos Ioannidis
Lyrics:  Alkinoos Ioannidis
Music:   Alkinoos Ioannidis


Large tree is the sigh
also large is its shadow
spreads its roots to the soul
to the body [it spreads] its branches
Just as a bird spreads
its wings against the air
the tree becomes a feast
and the day flaps

How many times should I tell you
how many to convey it to you?
Shall I tell you in whispers
or shall I sing it to you?
I will tell you in whispers
the way the glance speaks
which hides in the silence
all of the world's blood

This world that changes
how it resembles you, how it resembles you
This world that changes
it scares me, it scares me

Losers we seem to be, then
at the tour of death
in the frost of the definitive
at the fear of the invisible
But you will forever be lost
only if you so choose
like how the music chooses
the expressions and the words

This world that changes
how it resembles you, how it resembles you
This world that changes
it scares me, it scares me

This is a song about a person who experiences stagnation and is now confronted with the prospect of change. Humans are animals of habit. We get accustomed even to situations that are not benign to us. This is how we end up with the concept of “the devil you know”. The prevailing conditions will bedevil us, yet we remain reluctant to introduce thoroughgoing changes out of fear that we might end up with something worse.

Stagnation, of the sort here considered, breeds pessimism. Every reform is treated as the harbinger of a greater evil. It is thus to be avoided at all costs. The person remains stuck. Grief takes hold. Its roots grow deep and get entangled everywhere. This situation normalises itself through the force of habit. Only then may the tree of disappointment be perceived as a feast. It becomes a celebration of itself, which is a metaphor for how a person will cling on to the devil they know, as if they were having fun the whole time.

Now why would the artist describe stagnation in terms of something as beautiful and peaceful as a tree and a bird? It is to emphasise how the logic of “the devil you know” works: it impresses in us the feeling that whatever prevailing conditions are not too bad after all—they may even be wonderful in some twisted way! This is the part where we find excuses to not make any changes and, thus, to conceal the attendant fear.

The poetic first person eventually musters the courage to speak about their dread. They decide to do so as discreetly as possible by whispering. Here the artist communicates a sense of emotional intensity: the whisper is likened to the silent yet decisively passionate glance. We know that stare, that moment when everything is said without words, when something pierces us and time stops for a little while. The blood in the second verse is a reference to passion. It is how we get all excited in those moments; a telltale sign of an emotionally charged experience.

Not all is lost though. Losers are those who declare themselves thus, who choose to quit without trying in earnest. They are the people who make the mistake of befriending their fears and making best buddies with their own inhibitions. When we choose to be losers, we condition our life accordingly. This is exactly how a given rhythm only enables certain lyrics, while precluding all others.

All consequential decisions delineate the horizon of possible subsequent actions. This is because we live with their consequences and, thus, operate within the confines of the state of affairs they engender. Choosing to fight is difficult for this exact reason: it needs longer-term commitment.

Whether one is a fighter or a loser is a matter of outlook. That can change. It is embedded as lifestyle through everyday affairs. To put the desk in order, for example, is a task that requires some relatively minor effort against inertia. Achieving that engenders the feeling that the immediate surroundings are controllable or, in other words, that our actions can indeed change our world one tiny bit at a time. By gradually increasing the intensity while widening the scope of our initiative, we can change our ways.

Fear, then, need not be interpreted as an evil. It simply is a mechanism which brings some reality to the foreground of our conscience. What matters is how we respond to it. This is about our attitude and the kind of resolve we show. To recognise one’s fear, and perhaps to share it with another, as does the poetic first person in this song, is the precondition for overcoming said fear.

Twenty minutes to midnight. I am back from the nightly hike. As always, I have my four dogs for company. Hoot… Hoot… Hoot… The owl is nearby. It is here to hunt and kill for its survival. There is no point in arguing whether this is right or wrong. Those are narrow categories that apply to a subset of human affairs. The owl simply acts. Even though there is some variability to its behaviour, it is framed by an overarching constraint that it cannot modify. To be a bird of prey is the predicament its nature makes unavoidable.

The same is true for human volition. Whatever manoeuvring space is available is ultimately delineated by a prior condition that the individual cannot escape from. Like the birds of prey, human has to kill in order to live; kill at all times. Whether this is meat or vegetables is secondary to the fact that some form of life has to be consumed.

For the cosmos as a whole, there is no loss. These are the workings of transfiguration. The same star dust continues to shape-shift, sometimes as a galaxy, at others as a puppy. What comes goes, only to come again. A circular motion that does not repeat itself in exact copies. An everlasting helix.

A dog with sufficient size, strength, and drive, such as any of my dogs, will attack and eliminate cats. Not out of hunger, but to preemptively reduce the number of competitors. It does not matter that I am the guarantor of food. They are still hardwired to treat “others” with extreme prejudice.

Plants are no different. It is only after I clearer the bramble from most of my land, and kept the space open, that almond trees and blackthorns, among others, started to grow. Some forms of vegetable life cooperate with each other, while others compete for land, water, air, and sunshine.

Everywhere I look, I find tension and release, attraction and repulsion, friendship and enmity, leadership and subservience. All nested towards infinity. None of this is specific to human beings. Yet many think they are above the rest. They fancy themselves are purely spiritual beings who occupy some higher moral ground when, in reality, we are all governed by the same forces that non even the sun can defy.

Our world, the small milieu of human affairs, is heading full speed towards a planet-wide conflagration. The Europeans are shifting to a militarised economy as they remain committed to their forever war against Russia. The Japanese are casting aside whatever nominal pacifism they were once committed to in their renewed ambition to control larger parts of east Asia while providing an antipode to the Chinese. China will eventually transmogrify into what Westerners think it already is. And so on.

It is understandable why we want to find someone to blame for all this. A person or group has to be responsible and there must be some grand plan behind it all. We cannot accept that we have no control over the framework we operate in. Even in our darkest hours, we search for a good story with unlikely heroes and shady characters. Whether it is the imperialists, the globalists, the nationalists, the militarists, the fundamentalists, the Zionists, the Jihadis, and more, each adds a layer of explanatory narrative on top of processes that are decisively beyond their reach.

Humans are compelled into action by powerful drives they cannot opt out of. To survive, which entails cooperation and competition. Instrumental are the forces that lead humans to pursue conquest, glory, and domination. Even the otherwise innocuous outlook of the explorer, be it in physical or mental space, bestows some kind of advantage vis-à-vis one’s competition; an advantage that can be exploited when necessary. Necessity guides us.

Even when there is no warfare, society at-large experiences the incessant transfiguration that creates some and annihilates others. From employment to unemployment, success to failure, enrichment to impoverishment. It flows, it comes, it goes. A macro view of history exposes the same patterns, of shifting political geographies, of alliances that evolve, of enemies that become friends before squabbling again, of intellectuals who believe they learn from the past as they boldly move ever closer to some supposed enlightenment only to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

There is no rest. No form of life stays in place. An individual person, which in actuality is a system of systems, also changes continuously: eating, moving, sleeping, ageing… The entropy of our entire reality is the precondition for its configuration anew. It does not come from nothing and will not go towards nothing. It simply is.

Yet I cannot help but recognise my emotions. I feel disappointed that we cannot rely on our common sense to manage our affairs. It is not “common”, alas! The distribution of character traits and talents is such. Some have a more pronounced rational side. Others are led by emotion. There is no right or wrong, no better or worse. This may even be the optimal arrangement if we think of it in terms of economising resources at scale: have few that are inventors and pioneers, and let the many be capable of replicating the results. An expensive computation, which amounts to some discovery, need only be performed once before it is reproduced much more cheaply through imitation.

I learnt how to program, for example. I merely follow in the footsteps of others who had to do all the hard work of inventing the relevant paradigms and clearing the path as it were. If so, I cannot bemoan the distribution of skills among our kind. It ultimately is what defines life as we experience it, both for the parts we cherish and those we loath.

Some will try to remake people in a certain image, such as through indoctrination, religious absolutism, or even eugenics and designer babies. This is the exploratory part, underpinned by the want for safety. The uniform or the homogeneous is that which can be predicted and, thus, that which can be measured and guarded against. Yet the explorer is at odds with the underlying motivation to find a totalising integrating force. They need sufficient openendedness to make excursions that others have not even fathomed.

Perhaps we can have different types of people with a distribution unlike what we are used to. It might even be viable. Though it may also reveal to those daring souls that they did not know what they were wishing for.

Who is to blame? Nobody. Every form of life does that which its condition renderes inescapable.

[ The stream will be recorded. You can watch it later. ]

Today, the 13th of April 2026, at 15:00 Europe/Athens I will do a live stream in which I will develop the new modus-themes-exporter package for Emacs.

The idea for this package is based on an old experiment of mine: to get the palette of a Modus theme and “export” it to another file format for use in supported terminal emulators or, potentially, other applications.

My focus today will be on writing the core functionality and testing it with at least one target application.

Prior work of mine from my pre-Emacs days is the tempus-themes-generator, which was written in Bash: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/tempus-themes-generator.

Another productive Monday comes to an end. The days are getting warmer. Nights continue to be cold though. I spent most of the morning hours doing manual labour on my land. I prepared some raised garden beds and planted tomatoes. In the coming days I will do the same for zucchinis, onions, garlic, peppers, and lettuce. Having my own vegetables saves me some of the cost for groceries. The other day a kilo of tomatoes sold for ~6 EUR. These are extortionate prices—and the most chilling effects of the financial crunch have not even hit us yet!

In the 2010s I was working and studying. This in itself is an experience that many in the West cannot relate to: they fancy the student life as a time of prolonged parties. Mine was limited to work, home, and school. Those days the economy was mired in recession. There was uncertainty about the very foundations of the euro area. The powers that be were implementing policies that redistributed wealth upward. Those were presented with euphemisms, moralistic palaver, and obscurantist jargon such as “austerity”, “haircut”, “outright monetary transactions”, “longer-term refinancing operations”, “quantitative easing”… Apparatchiks are experts at spinning a monumental cash grab as heavenly grace.

I had to count cents to the euro to buy a loaf of bread. It was not fun. I managed though. Perhaps I was lucky enough to grow up without access to a cornucopia of comforts. Me and people in my community were raised in a world of few opportunities. Oftentimes we did not have a football to play with. Our games would involve some plastic bottle that we would fill up with stones and kick around until exhaustion.

Many of the kids I knew and was friends with found smoking at around age ten, then discovered weed, and eventually the harder substances. They ended up becoming drug addicts in their teenage years. Perhaps the grinding austerity was too much for them. Or they thought there was an easier path forward. They were seeking a way out. I cannot blame them. Some of them died. Others turned mad. This effectively is the road of no return in a country that is woefully underfunded, understaffed, and underequipped in this and many other areas.

I have not done enough soul-searching on this front. Maybe one of the reasons I have not revisited my homeland in twenty years is because I do not want to get a status update. It was not pretty then when there was no financial downturn being reported in the news. I shudder to think how bad the reality on the ground would be in the Greek milieu post 2008. Economic data may show growth, though this is driven by the sellout of the country’s resources to foreigners. The average person there is on an inexorable path to serfdom and immiseration.

What I have learnt in the process is to have dignity and self-respect. I set the highest standard for myself and make no discounts or exceptions to it. Part of that is a defence mechanism, to prevent others from finding reasons to put the blame on me. If, for example, I was lazy people would quickly attribute my financial woes on my laziness. At least now they have to think twice when they notice the sheer amount of work I do.

The first lecture I got as an adult on the topic of discipline and “real men” was when I remarked how it is not right that we are living in such a lopsided political order. The other guy who got all the riches from daddy went on a monologue about how real men do not complain like pussies and how they are gritty. He did not know anything about me. He was just in the business of virtue signalling. This is the precinct of the smartass who talks big without backing it up with deeds. They will judge you even though they know nothing about your life. And when you challenge them, they will take the easy way out by claiming that “these are the standards, but I am working on it”. Sure!

The smartass exists in every field of endeavour and represents every school of thought. On the topic of “real men” and their putative innate virtues, some of the most disciplined people I have ever met are women. You do not need a penis to be self-motivated and keep things in order. It is common for guys who are not insecure about their manhood to admit that their girlfriend/wife helped them become a better person in some ways.

Where the smartass is found in high numbers is in domains that have a strong moral component. Religion is one of them, as are political ideologies. They find the central elements of the creed and then go around telling everyone how they should live. Consider, for example, the activism in favour of Palestine. It is easy to tweet “Free Palestine 🇵🇸” and carry on with your life. Then you may get emboldened to go on the offensive and tell someone like me, who has not been vociferous about the topic, how I need to be mobilised and such. To which I ask: if you are so passionate about your cause, what are you sacrificing for it? Will you go fight on the front lines? Will you join the red cross/crescent? Will you give up your vacation and other perks of your lifestyle to send aid to the refugees? Tweeting and being obnoxious about it is trivial. The part where you live up to your own standard is when things get real.

To be clear: I do not mind if someone is posting something online. I do not check their thoughts and am not interested in their conduct. But if they are posting it and are trying to push me around because of it, then I will push back.

I got plenty of comments for the entries I published recently that cover Easter, among others:

• There goes another Easter (2026-04-11)
• Lunch without alcohol (2026-04-12)

My commentary is not about the substance of religion. I have nothing against it. If someone felt offended, that was not my intention. I never argue from a position of “my faith is more real than yours”. I do not appeal to any authority. And, above all, I do not claim to be a moral person. If I happen to be doing the right thing, that will be the product of my actions, not my words.

All I do, when others try to incorporate me in their programme, is apply the standard that they profess to live by on to their own deeds. In effect, I present them with a mirror. If you tell me how we ought to be doing this and that, while demanding that I conform to your exhortations, then I expect you to be leading by example.

I do not consume porngraphy, for instance. Its widespread usage is a common secret. I do not walk around telling everyone how they should live their life and what to do on their computing device. I have a strict diet and, again, I do not pressure others to eat this or that. I do not gamble, yet said nothing to those who organised gambling sessions in the square overlooking their church. There is no need to belabour this point: I leave others alone and demand the same treatment.

Every person is on their own path. If they ever need help, I am happy to support them if I can. What I will not do, however, is punch down and kiss up in pursuit of social points and to boost my ego.

The treatment I receive is not the same though, so I will not pretend to not notice. Easter is the period of peak virtue signalling among believers. I am merely describing what I am exposed to, not the articles of faith as such.

The other day I was walking back home, moving in a direction away from the nearest church close to the hour of the liturgy. A fellow in a luxury car who was driving towards the church stopped and asked in shock: “are you not attending the liturgy!?”. I did not even know who this person was. I replied negatively, adding that I had essential work to do. Without even considering the “why” I work every day without ever going on a vacation, this person went on to explain how important those pious days are, why we should praise the Lord, how I can be a better person myself, blah, blah, blah. As if I grew up on Mars and know nothing about what people believe in.

If God is all-knowing, then He knows my predicament. And if He is omnipotent, He does not need this zealot to force me into conformity. I remain calm. Such a character does not represent any cause. Theirs is an inconsiderate exposition that is meant to make them look good relative to another person. I do not compete with anyone and do not care what they do with their life. I said “okay, bye”. The problem, however, is that this is not an isolated event. The pressure is to be “good” on the outside for a few days and then you can go on and secretly indulge in everything you consider inappropriate. Why? Focus on yourself, embed in your everyday conduct what you believe is divine, and leave me alone.

To me, religion is not limited to a corpus of propositions. That is a reductive exercise that takes away from the interpersonal dynamics at play. Religion is a web of lived social experiences. I do not see the point of the argument that such and such historical source contradicts what people are actually doing. I care about the effective religiosity, not the one in the books. The prescribed one is not pertinent to what I am observing. I am commenting on phenomena as they unfold, not on some ideal world or, indeed, the substantive points of the precepts.

From time to time I get prompts about studying this or that material. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, but also secular thinkers. I am curious to learn more. Though buying books is a luxury in itself while I have more pressing issues to deal with, but that is beside the point. The gist is that I am not the target audience at this point in my life. I never asked for salvation. I did not express existential angst that needs to be addressed. I do not claim to be religious or particularly spiritual: I do not pray, I do not do yoga, I do not practice mindfulness meditation… I have not even said that I am a good person. I probably am not good in sense you imagine because I have many times before broken a bully and will do it again if I must.

As I write these final words, I hear the owl nearby. It makes that familiar vocalisation. This is the large variety. It is a bit smaller than the eagle: a mighty bird of prey in its own right. I find it nice to pay attention to my immediate environment. Earlier I spotted another almond tree offshoot as well as the first signs of what appears to be jasmine. Life forms all around me are in continuous motion. Tomorrow I have another day full of activities. I will commit to them to the best of my ability, with no tricks and no gimmicks.

On Sundays it is common for people here to prepare souvla (barbecued meat on a long skewer), if the weather is good enough. Other dishes are also available, so there is something for everyone. Though meat is the main serving. Winter in the mountains is usually too cold or rainy for souvla. But the other months provide ample opportunities.

Today was one such day. I was invited to attend a lunch not too far from my house. Nominally, it was about celebrating Easter. Though in practice we were all there for the food and the companionship. Few ever bring up religious topics on such occasions.

There were lots of people present, all of which I have met before in other gatherings. Last time I was there all the people around me consumed vast quantities of alcohol. Beer, wine, zivania, and whiskey. I abstain from alcohol, though I never tell anyone in person why. When somebody asks if I want some, I simply respond with something like “no, I quit long ago—thank you!”.

What helps my case is that the tone of my voice and body language communicate an unequivocal view. This is basically the opposite of how a shy person responds, where they say one thing while they invite others to tease out something else.

People are respectful when you draw clear boundaries. Those who are not qualify as bullies, which you can then deal with more forcefully. That I do with alacrity. But in the vast majority of cases everybody means well.

When someone appears pushy yet has no obvious bad intention, it is because they get mixed signals from you. They will nudge you to answer affirmatively, perhaps by appealing to your sense of camaraderie: “here, have a shot in the name of our newfound friendship”. And if you do not know how to respond firmly, you will eventually yield, thus positively reinforcing the original push.

I do not talk about my life choices. I am not interested in converting anyone to my views and the manner of my living. Why I abstain from alcohol is my own business: in short, I prioritise longer-term health over scoring meaningless points at the lunch table. Plus, I am perfectly sociable without pampers. If others choose to consume it, I respect their choices. I was a bartender for many years, after all.

The table today had all the usual offerings of alcoholic beverage. There were bottles of wine, cans of beer, a freezer packed with zivania, and plenty of ice cubes for those who wanted to blend whiskey with cola. Some folks who were sitting further away from me were drinking as usual. Though those around me chose to abstain for once. Someone remarked that “we are already having a good time, we do not need the drinks”. I nodded without saying a word.

My lifestyle can be summed up as “do, not tell” or, better, “master it first, teach it afterwards”.. If I believe in something, I embed it in my activities. And if it is benign, then I am the embodiment of its efficacy. I do not need to preach what is obvious. Others will notice the effects and try the same. And if they do not discern the pattern, then they are not ready for it, anyway. I find talk that is devoid of action to be disempowering. It inevitably devolves into a vicious cycle of overthinking and attendant restlessness.

There are no deep conversations at such gatherings. Topics range from political commentary, to one’s adventures at the hunt, to matters of farming, to some construction work that is being planned. Whatever lacunae are filled in by blanket generalisations. You learn to not take anything seriously. It is innocuous chit-chat. Its function is to strengthen the sense of trust among those present. Anyone who has a strong urge to be pedantic will suffer at such an event.

Even though I am on good terms with everyone here, I do not have any friends. Nobody knows exactly what my interests are and how much in-depth I am willing to go in any given exchange. They have a vague sense of what I do, but are otherwise not curious to learn more. I have long accepted that my interests lead me down the path of loneliness. It is virtually impossible to meet like-minded people in a sparsely populated region. This is partly why I spend more time hiking than mingling with the locals.

I am also dismayed to observe, time and again, that the local communities are dying of old age. There are no young people here and no prospect of there being any in the foreseeable future. The women I met an aeon ago gave me lectures about baby machines and the familiar talking points. To think of the greatest power of all, to birth a new form of life, in such demeaning terms… I remained silent and left.

Millenials in my part of the world grew up with the promise of the comfortable life, having been fed the tale of inexorably expanding economic prosperity. Well, except those of us who were already poor—we were earmarked for the meat-grinder. When the 2008+ financial crisis hit them, they joined the various Occupy/Indignados movements to announce to the world how angry they were for not getting what they thought was their birthright.

We are still reeling from that crisis. It was, at its core, a dismantling of the underlying value system and the expectations that went along with it. Many of those people never moved on. They were broken and defeated; a “lost generation” as the media was correctly portraying it.

I am a man of action. With severely limited means, yes, but with the attitude to fight until the bitter end. I like to make things happen and get bored when thinking leads to nowhere. In this case, however, I have no solution. Maybe I have not been daring or creative enough in my approach, in which case I shall change my ways and try anew.

The church bells were ringing in the distance. The first explosions echo in the valley. It is almost Easter in this part of the world. In about ten minutes there will be fireworks. I finished a long day’s work and then went for the nightly hike with my dogs. Walking with my canine friends is among my favourite activities.

The season is pleasant in secular terms. We are at the tail end of winter in the mountains. It is still cold during daytime, though it starts to get sunnier. The last heavy rainfall was on Thursday. Another is expected next week, as days become more dry. Flowers are popping up everywhere, while the grass reaches its maximum height at about half a metre tall. Most trees need a few more weeks to blossom. The oak trees take their turn fairly late at around May.

In religious terms, however, we are asked to go through induced grief. All around us there is life yet our mental state revolves around death. The week of Easter is about pretending to suffer along with Jesus. “Pretending” is the operative term. If you are actually suffering, you do not have to wait for this time of the year to go through the torment. And, conversely, if you are not suffering, then you likely have the luxury to put on a show.

Unlike Christmas, Easter has always had a more religious undertone in my experience. Christmas is practically not a religious period. There is the myth of the flying grandpa who brings gifts galore, trolls that seek to cut down the tree of life only to be lured away from their mischief by treats, and children going around the neighbourhood singing songs in exchange for pocket money. In short, it is whimsical and fun. I love it!

As for the religious story, it essentially is about a child being born. Every stable family considers that a gift from the heavens. Theodoros and all such variations (Diodoros, Diogenis, Herodotos, Apollodoros, etc.) are ancient names, after all, describing the newborn as a gift from a certain deity or the divine at-large. This goes back millennia. We do not need to search much further than the gratitude of the parents to appreciate the symbolism of baby Jesus.

By comparison, Easter is the reign of darkness. The social pressure to behave in certain ways is much more pronounced. It starts fourty days in advance and culminates on this day. There is increased church-going or, at least, exhortations to that effect, and the emphasis is on doctrine. There exists the Easter bunny and such lighthearted elements but their role is marginal. The focus is on propriety and the correctness of the creed.

It must be nice to be part of a group. To not push back and simply go with the rest. You always have friends and attend all the parties. I cannot be that person. I tried it once and it almost broke me. Part of my personality is to not give in to social pressure. If I do not feel a certain way, and if the matter affects me personally, I will not do it solely to please others.

Fundamentally, nobody has control over me. This goes back to when I was a child, though a more poignant example comes from my teenage years. All my friends and virtually every boy my age was a smoker. I did not try it once. Not even out of curiosity. My mates never attempted to pressure me into smoking because they knew it was a lost cause.

I am the same with the performative aspects of religiosity. I will not pretend to feel pain when I am not. I cannot act like I am suffering when I am feeling as energetic as ever. And, more importantly, I do not check the calendar to decide when to do what I consider right: I just do it without exceptions.

I am, nevertheless, considerate enough to not argue for the sake of arguing. Intellectual matters require a level of commitment to the topic that the vast majority of people do not have. For those cases, I remain silent, wish everybody all the best, and mind my business.

My attention is on the here-and-now. The temperatures will rise next week before dropping back to normal for the foreseeable future. I have lots of plans for my land and am confident that my hard work will be fruitful. The only pain I feel is the one I bring unto myself by committing many hours of my day to manual labour. I find it empowering to witness the compounding effects of my industry; to know that I can rely on the infrastructure I have set up and to continuously build on top of what I already did.

I have done so much already and am eager to continue with the same intensity. However, the rapidly deteriorating economic situation has hindered my house-related initiatives. I will not do anything here at least for another year or two. It is a pity, though I must wait for the next opportunity. Such is life. We deal with the circumstances as they evolve. Our duty, in the meantime, is to retain our vitality and be poised to act.

As for Easter, everybody will revert to business as usual within a few hours. We all know it is a shadow play of spirituality, yet find it expedient to act as if something grand is happening.

At 14:00 Europe/Athens I will hold a live stream about Emacs. Specifically, I will work on my modus-themes package.

The idea is to write more tests and refine the relevant functions along the way.

I am announcing this -45 minutes before I go live. I will keep the chat open in case there are any questions.

Below are the original lyrics, my faithful translation of them, and further commentary on my part.

Τα Ξωτικά

Ερμηνεία:  Σωκράτης Μάλαμας & Ιουλία Καραπατάκη
Στίχοι:    Σωκράτης Μάλαμας
Μουσική:   Σωκράτης Μάλαμας


Σε ποια σκιά τα μάτια σου θολώνουν
Μικρό πουλί σ'αγάπησα πολύ
Τα βήματα στα κύματα βουλιάζουν
Να'σουν εδώ να σε βρει η ανατολή

Μέσα στα ρούχα μου σε κρύβω σαν φωτιά
Να'χουν να λεν πως δε σε γνώρισα ποτέ
Όνειρο είναι η ιστορία μας καρδιά μου
Τα ξωτικά γυρνούν τις νύχτες συντροφιά μου

Δωσ'μου το φως κι ας κάνω πως δεν είδα
Δώσ'μου νερό να σβήσω τα βαριά
Ό,τι έχει μείνει μέχρι εδώ απ'το κερί μου
είναι τα μάτια σου που καίνε σαν φωτιά

Μέσα στα ρούχα μου σε κρύβω σαν φωτιά
Να'χουν να λεν πως δε σε γνώρισα ποτέ
Όνειρο είναι η ιστορία μας καρδιά μου
Τα ξωτικά γυρνούν τις νύχτες συντροφιά μου

The Elves

Singer:  Socratis Malamas & Ioulia Karapataki
Lyrics:  Socratis Malamas
Music:   Socratis Malamas


Under which shade do your eyes blur
Little bird I loved you so much
The steps sink in the waves
I wish you were here to be found by dawn

In my clothes I keep you like fire
So that they may say that I never met you
Our story is a dream my heart
The elves roam around with me at night

Give me the light although I pretend not to see
Give me water to erase the heavy parts
Whatever remains here of my candle
are your eyes that burn like fire

In my clothes I keep you like fire
So that they may say that I never met you
Our story is a dream my heart
The elves roam around with me at night

At the surface level, this sounds like yet another love song. It is how I used to think of The Elves for the longest time. Though now I am of the view that there is an alternative explanation, the hint for which we already get from the title.

Elves are a figment of humanity’s artistic genius. As with all myths, they are a metaphor for phenomena we bear witness to. This one, in particular, pertains to experiences that are at once relatable yet decisively alien. We can recognise in them patterns that the human psyche resonates with while realising that they cannot fit into the narrow confines of our quotidian affairs.

One does not encounter the elves at their 9-5 job. No. What we do for a living is typically a matter of need. It has a logic of its own as we have to suppress at least some of our individuality or altogether sacrifice a part of who we are to the altars of expedience and necessity.

The elves are exotic creatures. They are found well beyond the milieux most of us operate in and seldom escape from. They inhabit ancient forests and pristine lands. These we describe as “nature”. Nature is always close to where we live. A short trip is enough to take us to the nearest grove, mountain, or water element, for example. Proximity, however, does not necessarily imply a connection of any meaningful depth.

People can be physically close to “nature” yet clearly beyond reach of it. This happens because we need time to get accustomed to the new realities. Humans are products of their environment. They cannot just switch contexts without requiring a period of adjustment. Life outside the bustling human world unfolds at a slower pace than what we are conditioned to accept as the baseline of interpersonal relations. The stimuli we get in the great outdoors are much more subtle. There are sounds and musicality all around, though they are subdued enough for us to get the initial impression that the place is eerily quiet.

Furthermore, we fail to have situational awareness whenever we turn inward and forget to come back out. This is our default modus operandi. It reduces us to androids; cogs in a society-wide machine. Much of what we do is to just get by. It happens mindlessly as we sink into routines and thinking patterns that we eventually take for granted.

The elf as an artistic device, then, reminds us that the magic all around us is accessible to all of us provided we change our ways. It does not matter that something is close. What is of import is to develop the capacity to appreciate it. This requires that we free up resources from cognitively burdensome but ultimately needless preoccupations.

With those granted, we can understand the lyrics of The Elves as an appreciation of nuance: to discern that which hides in the open. This is not a typical love song because there is no lover involved. In the first verse, the poetic “I” figure wishes that some abstract “you” were present, while walking alone along the beach (where waves would wash away all the footprints on the sand).

In the refrain we learn how knowledge of this seemingly dreamy otherworldliness is kept within. It is not materialised as a person, as the partner to love, but as the impersonal fire that fuels one’s actions. Others will never notice because they did not get out of their own inward-looking routines. Had they done so, they would have encountered the elves themselves.

Tonight I will work on my denote package. There is a feature branch I implemented this morning and am now ready to continue refining the code. The immediate goals:

• Update unit tests that are still calling deprecated functions.
• Write new tests, starting with the denote-dired command and all its ancillary functions.
• Review all the commands that filter the query buffers (which are produced by commands such as denote-grep, denote-backlinks, denote-query-contents-link).
• Edit the manual accordingly.

I expect the stream to go on for 2-3 hours, but we will see.

I will keep the chat open in case there are any comments. I am happy to respond to them.

Our next meeting will be done live on the 16th of April 2026 at 10:30 America/Toronto, 17:30 Europe/Athens time: https://youtube.com/live/djE_pVlgDHg.

I will check with Sacha how she imagines doing this. Though I am the laissez faire type, so will adapt as we go.

[ Note that all my coaching sessions are private: I never share details of my meetings. This is an exception because Sacha asked me about it. ]

Sequence notes are created in relation to other notes, as parent, child, or sibling. denote-sequence communicates such relationships by writing a “sequence” to the file name, in accordance with the Denote file-naming scheme (technically, it uses the optional SIGNATURE component of the file name, which is defined as a free-form field for users to use as they see fit—so this is just one application of it).

The package supported two schemes before

The exact presentation of such sequences is subject to the user option denote-sequence-scheme. The package has hitherto supported two schemes, the numeric and alphanumeric.

In the numeric scheme, each level of depth is delimited by the equals sign. The sequence 1=2=3 thus has three levels of depth. It means “the third child of the second child of the first parent”.

By contrast, the alphanumeric scheme relies on the alternation between numbers and letters to communicate levels of depth. The above example is thus expressed as 1b3.

The new alphanumeric-delimited scheme

Many users have told me that the alphanumeric scheme looks cleaner. Though I think it is hard to read when sequences get really long, like 2a13c6d2a. To this end, the new sequence scheme augments the alphanumeric style with delimiters that are placed after the first level of depth and every third level of depth thereafter. Thus: 2=a13=c6d=2a.

Users may find this easier to work with.

Remember the denote-sequence-convert command

This command has been part of the package since its inception. It can convert from one sequence scheme to the others.

denote-sequence-convert has a “do what I mean behaviour” with regard to which file or files it should operate on:

• When called from inside a file with a Denote sequence, it operates on the current file.

• When called from a Dired buffer, it operates on all the marked files.

• When there are no marked files in the Dired buffer, it operates on the file at point.

The target sequence scheme for the conversion is whatever is assigned to the user option denote-sequence-scheme. If, however, denote-sequence-convert is called with a prefix argument (C-u by default), then it will prompt for the target sequence scheme.

Coming in version 0.3.0

I just merged the code into trunk. Users who are building the package from source can try the new feature right away. Otherwise, it will be available in the next stable version of the package. I hope to have that ready some time in mid-April.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): denote-sequence
• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote-sequence
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/denote-sequence
• Backronym: Denote… Sequences Efficiently Queue Unsorted Entries Notwithstanding Curation Efforts.

Hjalmar is a viola player and composer who currently studies composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. We start our discussion with me asking how it is to study music. I learn about Hjalmar’s experiences in that regard.

Hjalmar writes music in Emacs using a setup that involves Org, the Org Babel system, and the LilyPond music notation. Hjalmar describes in further detail how this process works.

I was curious how Hjalmar discovered Emacs to learn that it was a hobby that developed during the Covid pandemic. We discuss how even though Emacs is known as a programmer’s tool, it is equally capable for people who do not write code, such as musicians, academics, and journalists. A large part of that is Org and its wider ecosystem of extended functionality.

I ask about Hjalmar’s creative process. It is an iterative process of accumulating lots of pieces and then jumbling them to produce a result. Hjalmar will typically settle for the second version, given that it is an attempt to address all the mistakes of the first draft.

A large part of our exchange is about the process of artistic expression. Hjalmar is interested in creating playful interactions with the audience, to blur the lines between what is and what is not music, and to make everyone present a participant. I learn more about how this works and the relevant ideas that inform the approach.

The other big theme of our talk is the human experience in the context of digital technology and the Internet. This is about artistic stimuli as well as interpersonal affairs. We discuss the community aspect of art and how that relates to the feelings of connection and creativity. The gist is how we benefit from face-to-face interactions in ways that our technology cannot replicate.

Links from Hjalmar

• Personal website: https://hjalmarbjerner.com/
• YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@hjallis22

About “Prot Asks”

In this video series, I talk to anybody who is interested to have a video call with me (so do contact me if you want!). The topics cover anything related to Emacs, technology, and life in general. More here: https://protesilaos.com/prot-asks.

Another rainy day goes by. This is the first wet winter at the hut. The previous two were quite dry, foreshadowing the droughts that followed for the rest of the year. Last winter was especially harsh in this regard. It led to an extra dry spring and summer, which culminated in the devastating wildfires that affected a large part of the island.

Living here has made me more aware of my surroundings. This is because I tend to my land. Each day I walk around, to casually enjoy the little things but also to update my mental model of what is in my midst. I take note of changes to the environment. A new offshoot appears, grass grows more dense in an area that was once barren, or there are signs of water accumulating at some spot. This is the raw data that allows me to anticipate change and plan accordingly.

For example, soon after I got here I realised that the back side of my land was prone to flooding. The adjacent stream brings an unstoppable torrent of water after each heavy rainfall. I could tell that the risk of me getting hit was remote, but was eager to work towards mitigating the threat. Cutting the long story short, I laboured to redirect the flow of water, such that it does not touch my land at a steep angle. Flooding is practically impossible now.

I recognise that to be here I have to show respect to the forces around me. They have their own mechanisms, which I must discern and align my presence with. When you take matters into your own hands, it is dangerous to be frivolous and absent-minded. Or, to put it differently, you cannot afford to be such unless you are being taken care of.

The world is alive. It is not a mere backdrop to the show I am featuring in. Concepts such as “the environment” are mental shortcuts. If we want to be more accurate, we have to talk about systems of systems within which different forms of life are made manifest. To be aware of my surroundings, then, is another way of describing my continuous study of immanent life.

The more I observe, the better I understand that the cosmos is consistent. I can discern patterns in how the landscape develops over time which ultimately find application to human affairs. The flowing waters, for instance, have made poignant the notion that mountains are being flattened over time. The human lifespan is too short to measure up to such a process, though even within a few years we can appreciate how a tiny bit of mountain is moved by the weather.

I built some stairs out of soil by carving them on the side of the mountain. Within less than three years, they have been smoothed by the succession of sunshine and rainfall. A stepped configuration has turned into a near slide. It shows how continuous exposure can create smoothness, given a certain unit of time. This is not a descriptor that is limited to the soil though. It works equally well for our own experiences.

In everything we do, we are subject to this mechanism. It is neither good nor bad, or it is both good and bad, depending on the specifics of the case. Sometimes, the smoothing out is what makes us more effective at our role. We reduce the friction by removing the sharp edges. At other times, being more smooth means that we have declined: those edges are what gave us our comparative advantage.

It helps to be mindful of this phenomenon. It couches our outlook in terms of dynamism. Instead of treating any given state of affairs as static, we appreciate its potential for change; change that may be gradual yet inexorable insofar as creating conditions that undo the case we started out with. We often refrain from trying something in earnest because we overestimate the staying power of the initial friction. At the other end, we cling on to an arrangement of relationships and routines without realising that our role and its impact have been eroded.

I learn from the land by giving it my undivided attention. It ultimately is how I have developed most of my thoughts about life: be mindful and think things through. People will often ask “which books have you read”. The truth is that I have not read much. From now on I will start responding with “the real issue is how attentively you are observing, how carefully you are listening, and how deeply you are thinking”. Not to imply that books are useless, but that the book count or, indeed, the entries in one’s private library, are not a reliable predictor.

The consistency of the world means that we do not need to explore every corner of it to develop profound insights. A small portion will suffice. I have not seen all of the flowers, for instance. The ones that do grow in my vicinity are beautiful. Appreciating their beauty does not require knowledge of the totality of flowers. I do not have to fathom every possible flower. What I get is enough and I am thankful for it.

Minutes to eleven. Another rainy day comes to a close. I just came back from my nightly hike with the dogs. We walk around the mountains for several hours per day. This is basically paradise for dogs. It is equally benign for me as well. I remain as fit as ever. I always have energy to do what I like. My mental state is stable, my thoughts are clear, my presence focused. The mountains empower me. I forgot how it is to live with perennial stress. Everything is easier when you have a good connection with your environment and your inner world.

There is nothing grand happening. This note describes the present moment, though it also applies to what I was feeling yesterday, and the year before, and, probably what I will experience in the future. Stability sounds boring to someone who is used to trying new things all the time. Though it actually is not. Once you get used to this reality, you develop a finer appreciation of the phenomena. It is a little bit like conditioning yourself to eat unsalted salads: at first it is bland until it eventually becomes a combination of natural flavours that were once obscured by the salt.

I keep treading the same paths. Though I always notice something different. The environment is alive. Every form of life in it is in motion. It is working towards some end. The grass tries to be taller and wider, in order to maximise its exposure to the sun and access to soil plus water. The acorn proceeds towards becoming an oak tree over the course of centuries. Even the land itself is transforming. Every single rainfall takes some hard matter from the higher parts and moves it downstream. Where there was once solid ground one now finds signs of flowing water. In the geological time frame, the earth itself becomes something other than what it was.

I lack the depth of conscience to communicate with the earth the way I do with my dogs or other people. Though I can already sense that it is an organism. I discern the manifestations of life all around me. And I am aware that there are strata of emergence to each phenomenon. What I understand as myself, a unit of human, Protesilaos the one and only, is a system of systems. To describe even a single part of my body, I would need to spend a lifetime studying all the technicalities. I am ignorant about the full extent of knowledge that is embedded in the making of the eye, for example, or the interplay between the brain and the gut. Yet there is a sense in which I know myself. I operate at a certain stratum of emergence. What happens at the strata below or above is not at the centre of my conscious world, although it is a precondition for it.

The reason I am content with the little things is because I have understood that they are actually not insignificant. They are subtle, yes. It is as if they are hiding in plain sight, testing our capacity for mindfulness. Many of the world’s religions promise an escape from this world. I do not resonate with their teachings. I was listening to some monk the other day talk about how suffering is innate to the present experience and how we must not feel moved by what is around us. How so? I feel calm. To be moved is to be, for all presences are in motion. I keep finding reasons to smile: they are all around me.

What I did wish to escape from was the expectation of knowing it all. The idea that there has to be a beginning, middle, and end to this story, and that I should be aware of it. I do not feel entitled to know everything. I do not prey for the universe to conspire in my favour. I do not ask for an opt out clause, some derogation from the rules that govern the mechanics of the system of systems. I love what is and am thankful for what I have for as long as it is beside me on my path.

The gods offer hints but no explanations. We can only work with what we have. Even if they did tell us explicitly, we lack the means to definitively know: are they being truthful or trying to test us? If, for example, Jesus performed all those miracles and got resurrected, those all prove that he did perform these very miracles and did get resurrected. There is nothing in those events, in isolation or in combination, that necessarily proves everything else that Christians claim to know about God: agentic, triadic, benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent, ubiquitous. The leap of faith is unavoidable.

We deal with what is germane to the human condition, recognising that it is an amalgamation of joy and sorrow, of enthusiasm and disappointment, of tension and release. We suffer when we are unable to connect with that which is immanent; that which is so close to us at all times; that which we underestimate, take for granted, or altogether ignore. Giving it a name, telling a story about it, is useful insofar as we do not forget that this is an artistic device. We do it for the fun of it, to have something to talk about with other people, and to contribute to the workings of our social reproduction.

God dies in the naming of god, in the framing of it as only one instead of the multitude and the monad, in the stories we take too seriously as we turn them into inflexible doctrines. God is lost once the dogma we impose on our psyche forbids us from reaching out to the source, to the singing spring whose waters always flow.

When I sense the cold rain on my face, as I close my eyes and turn skyward, I find peace in the knowledge that I am not special in my need for water and air. Just as I require them, so do the plants and other animals all around me. This is not merely about surviving, but feeling the connection with that which envelops and underpins me. From my constitutive subsystems to the supersystems I partake in, there is life ever-lasting, ever-transfiguring.

The rainy days will continue until the first third of April. I do not have someone to tell this to, so I am putting it in the present bottle and tossing it to the sea. Not having all the answers does not bother me. I am like that bottled note, moving wherever the current takes me. That there even is an ocean is astonishing. I cannot fathom the full extent of the factors whose interplay contributes to there being an ocean. Can we even draw clear delineations in the cosmic continuum? Is there an in vitro expression of anything to be studied in isolation from totality?

I will go to bed now. Tomorrow morning I will get the chance to continue with my projects around my house. Well, unless there is heavy rainfall. Every yard here contains hours of my labour. Though no matter how much sweat I spill, I can never make the land an extension of myself. It belongs to me just as it belongs to the grass and the insects below of it. We are all together. Admitting as much keeps things in perspective and makes everything simpler.

I maintain a strict privacy policy with everyone I meet. Specifically, I do not say anything about our meeting. But since Sacha has already published this information, I am happy to do this in the open.

What follows are some comments on her post.

Testing interactive functions

writing tests, especially for things that are more interactive

What helps here is to think of the interactive part as the way to get the arguments. If the interactivity is more involved, then you want to think how it can be broken down into smaller routines. Each routine should eventually be reduced to a function that can be called non-interactively with a certain argument. This way, your tests are easier to reason about.

Consider this example:

(defun my-greet-person (name)
  "Return Hello string to person with NAME."
  (format "Hello %s" name))

The substantive part of the test would be something like this:

(let ((name "Sacha"))
  (string= (my-greet-person name) "Hello Sacha"))

Now add interactivity to the function:

(defun my-greet-person (name)
  "Return Hello string to person with NAME.
When called interactively, prompt for NAME.  Else NAME is a string."
  (interactive (list (read-string "Whom to greet: ")))
  (format "Hello %s" name))

Even though this function can be called interactively, the test is the same because the interactive simply sets the value of name.

There will, of course, be more complex scenaria. We can think how best to approach them. Though this is the general idea.

Navigating Lisp code across many files

navigating code that might be scattered in literate config files or in Emacs Lisp files

What I find helpful:

• Use the Emacs bookmarking system. I add a bookmark for anything I visit frequently. Then I can find what I need with bookmark-jump or consult-buffer (from Daniel Mendler’s consult package).
• Have a single root for all your programming projects. In my case this is ~/Git/.
• In that directory, create subdirectories with areas of interest. One of them should be specific to the projects you maintain. For example, I have ~/Git/emacs-community/ and ~/Git/Projects/. The latter consists of everything I develop/maintain.
• With these directories in place, you can always rely on a recursive Grep to find what you need.
• Otherwise, we have xref-find-definitions as well as all the help functions like describe-function which normally link to the file where the definition is.

Sharing with others

If I get better at sharing what I’m working on, I might be able to connect with more people and bounce ideas around.

Getting better is nice. I think here the goal is to structure what you are sharing in a certain way. Then people can use it more easily. Once that happens, you will receive more feedback.

Also, accountability might help me nudge this over the threshold.

This is key. When we make a promise in earnest, we are motivated to deliver on it. The fact that you have published this adds to the effectiveness of it.

I’m curious about other people’s workflows for sharing. I like joining meetups, but I tend to share stuff only if no one else has anything planned, because I have my blog and my YouTube channel in case I want to share anything with a wider group of people. I just have to actually post things.

Each person is different and there is no one answer to rule them all. What I do, as someone who publishes on a number of topics, is to reach a point that is an honest representation of my current level. This point is not approaching perfection, as that is a trap. If it were about perfection, I would never publish anything!

Once I do what is within my current level, I am casual about it. In other words, I do not need to prove that I am worthy of it—I am already there and this is my current normal state. This makes the process of writing less emotionally challenging (well, not challenging at all). It also opens me to learn more. I am not defensive or argumentative because, fundamentally, I feel secure with what I have: I am not hiding something and do not worry about what others may think.

About your case, I get the impression that you are already improving your content. It starts by recognising that there is improvement to be had. Then, you write blog posts such as the one I am now commenting on, which show that you have put thought into your processes. In other words, you are mindful of your current state. Whatever I may point out during our meeting will thus be easier for you to incorporate in your thinking. Why? Because you already know the space, as it were, and so you will have a good intuition of where to put the new thing.

Getting used to streaming

Streaming: Still need to get the hang of talking to myself or having half-conversations with chat: can be worked around by scheduling a session with Prot and opening it to the public

I am happy to do this in public. Either as a coaching session or some collaborative live stream. We can discuss the details.

At any rate, “practice makes perfect”. The only way to get used to talking to the camera is to do it enough times. I can talk at length, though I still find it hard to laugh when I am by myself, so I look dead serious in all of my monologues. Whereas, say, in the “Prot Asks” series I often laugh. This is because I have a natural response towards someone. Talking to the selfie camera does not create in me the same friendly emotions.

Sharing code

renaming things when I want to move them to a library

Before finding a name, you need to have a clear vision for the package: what is it meant to do. Then try to think about words that describe either the goal or the workflow. Use phrases, like what you have with “speech input”. Those work fine.

Come up with placeholder names if you are not sure. Then, once you are ready to share the package, do a final round of thinking to check if you can think of a more suitable name. Otherwise just use some descriptive phrase.

This concerns the prefix for the entire package. Though your code may still consist of different areas of focus. For example, in my denote package there is a subset of functionality related to “rename” operations. All of those share a compound prefix of the name of the package plus the name of the area they are specialising in like this helper function: denote-rename-buffer--format. By the name alone, I can tell that it relates to the “rename” operation and, specifically, is ancillary to denote-rename-buffer.

I can provide concrete suggestions for your code.

duplicating small functions (ex: simplify string)

You may choose to put those in their own package. Though I personally do not mind a little bit of duplication/repetition when that is easier to maintain. The principle of not repeating yourself is good in general, though there are cases where trying to avoid it is not worth the effort.

figuring out how to make it possible for someone else to start using my stuff

For any non-trivial code you write, you want to treat it like its own “package”. In other words, it exists in a file of its own, it has all the require calls for its dependencies, defines defcustom variables if it must, uses autoload where relevant, and has a provide call at the end. Even if you never move it out of your configuration, you have already done the work of clearing up your thoughts/code. Others will already benefit from that, as they can now copy the file with greater confidence in its utility.

Questions for Prot

Meta: what are people finding useful for coaching and behaviour change, like learning new keyboard shortcuts or workflows?

Each person has their own goals. Some enjoy a pair programming session. Others like me to check on their progress and to provide feedback. Plus, there is more than the purely Emacs component: I make comments about matters of perspective, whether it is about some piece of code or life in general.

Those granted, I do not collect any data about the people I meet. I do not ask them for testimonials or feedback. I prefer not to do that because I do not wish to ever have to handle private information. I like my meetings to be nice and simple. Plus, I do not want to manipulate or influence the behaviour of people.

Your literate config exports to individual .el files. I could probably do something similar to separate my functions from my personal config in order to make it easier for people to reuse parts of my config. Is it worth doing so? Do people tell you that they use those private Emacs Lisp files by loading them, or do they mostly rely on your published packages?

Most rely on my packages. I design those to be as flexible as possible and maintain them accordingly.

The individual .el files of my configuration are helpful to me. I stay in the flow of designing my code in a package-ready way. If anybody needs to use it, then they already have something that is close to an actual package.

Do you have some tweaks to make it easier to jump to function definitions considering a literate configuration?

No, I have not had a need for this. When I choose to work on some part of my configuration, I navigate to the relevant heading (with something like consult-outline) and then use org-edit-special to edit the source block.

You will show me what you have been doing, which may give me some ideas.

What’s your general process for migrating things from your config to a repository or package?

It all starts with splitting the code into many .el files. Make sure one file is not entangled with other files. Or, at least, put in the effort to list every other file as a dependency and write the necessary require for it.

Have one such file for each area of focus. This way you can reason about what you have and what may be missing. A clear initial idea will determine the direction of the package long-term. The reason is that it establishes boundaries: what to do and what not to do.

From there, you can decide if some file is of value to other users. If you think it is, then start implementing defcustom variables for it, define the commands that users would want, and have autoload directives for them if they are meant as points of entry.

Strong cold winds this evening. Apparent temperatures are hovering slightly above zero degrees Celsius. The days remain cloudy. We have gotten plenty of rainfall, with much more to come. It has been an exceptionally dark five months since early November. Once October is over, the days get noticeably shorter until the winter solstice. After that we gain roughly a minute of sunlight each day. Though it does not feel that way until around the spring equinox because winter coincides with the rainy season.

Dark days and brights days are practically the same here. It is not like those busy places where people congregate some square to enjoy the sunshine. I live outside any built-up area. Though, generally, there are few residents in the Cypriot hinterlands. Three of them died recently of old age. Many more will follow soon. Nobody is taking their stead. The local communities are vanishing. I cannot remember the last time I met a local who is younger than me.

I am part of the problem. I do not have a family. Never got the chance. Nor do most of my relatives. Not even any of my friends back in Greece. Were it just me, I would blithely admit to my shortcomings. I do not have a fragile ego, anyway, and have no problem acknowledging that I am a loser. Such is the world. Not all can be winners. I am sure I could be doing things differently and trying to be an even better version of myself. Though I refuse to accept that everyone I know well is just defective. There are systemic issues at play.

The economic situation is the obvious explanation, though I find it wanting. The generations of my grandparents and their grandparents had 5+ children each. They were dirt pour, dealt with wars at home, while they had to work long hours for every sort of activity we now take for granted. Try to wash the clothes by hand, for example. Make your own bread for the family. Prepare sausages, cheese, pickles, jams, et cetera to understand how it is to not throw anything away. Carry the harvest with the donkeys under the beating sun. Work the fields with limited equipment while it is raining. Mend your shoes and patch your own clothes, as you will not get new ones. And so on. Every task was labour intensive and punishing. Their diet was strictly seasonal. They would eat whatever was available at the given time of the year. They could not afford to be picky: a life of austerity beats any capricious wants out of you.

Their communities were thriving though. There was vitality all around. The village closest to my house used to have a few thousand residents only a few decades ago. Most of them were young. Today there are only tens of them registered with the local authorities and none of them is brimming with zest. Nobody is curious to learn something new or try new experiences. Although they are still around, they have effectively checked out, waiting for their inevitable demise.

There is a trend among men to blame women for this state of affairs. I do not share that worldview, even though I acknowledge the excesses of toxic expressions of feminism. To me, what we are experiencing is a crisis of values; a crisis of perspective. We have forgotten how to make sacrifices. We have been conditioned by a brief period of relative affluence and its attendant technological arrangements to operate like children, as we demand immediate gratification in increasingly more areas of life. This is the era of the person who ages without growing mentally: the manchild or womanchild, else the adultchild.

Fundamentally, our culture has lost respect, indeed awareness, for magnitudes beyond one’s ego. The individual’s outlook is self-centred and self-aggrandising: to get what one desires instantly and in quantities that cannot possibly be exhausted, to prioritise one’s wants above everything else, and to treat personal feelings as the ironclad truth that the world must not assail.

From art to food, everything we experience as a stimulus is optimised to keep us hooked. There is no more watching a movie: you binge watch an entire series. You do not read the news, you doomscroll in search for the next ragebait or lewd material. What we eat is turbocharged in being salty, creamy, greasy, sugary, spicy, often most of those at once. Fine art is abandoning its finesse and subtlety in pursuit of intense colours and sharp sounds. Perhaps the want for gore is a matter of necessity to catch the attention of those whose baseline of stimulation is intensity as such.

This is a crisis of character. It cannot be addressed with a mere edict from the government. People need to change their ways to rediscover what always worked reasonably well. At the heart of such a pivot to sustainability is sacrifice. To give up something you want dearly. Sacrifice need not be bloody or, indeed, all that costly. It can consist of virtually inconsequential rituals and practices that introduce delayed gratification in everyday life. The goal is to depose the child within from the throne it should never be occupying. In other words, to train oneself to seek ever fewer of those easy-to-get-easy-to-lose rushes of excitement.

Thinking back to my grandparents, they knew how to incorporate sacrifice in their quotidian affairs. It empowered them to be patient throughout and to gracefully adapt to all the hardships. One ritual my grandmother, the matriarch of the family, would observe involved the slicing of the New Year’s cake. While everyone, including little boy me, was sitting at the table without making any noise, she would slowly create pieces out of the delicacy. Child me wanted the first piece and was being impatient. Grandma told me to remain silent and show respect. “The first piece belongs to God”, she said. “The second piece is for Jesus and the third for the Holy Spirit”. Then came all the relatives who were not with us and only then would we be assigned to a small piece of the cake.

Those two minutes of waiting were enough to teach me a valuable lesson for life. I could overcome my immediate urge to devour the dish. I had control over my self. I would do it for the common good. To recognise that there are others at the table who are also waiting patiently to be served. To further realise that I must extend my respect to potential participants, the relatives who were not present, and then the divine at-large. This was not a religious ceremony. My grandparents were secular people who held an amalgamation of beliefs drawing from the Greek religion, from Christianity, astrology, and all sorts of magic. Yet their routines were underpinned by wisdom, the kind of spirituality that one develops by dealing with the world, not by trying to escape from it.

Same principle for when I would ask my grandfather for a new toy. We would walk past a store and something flashy would capture my childish attention. Grandpa would calmly respond “sure, my child, I will buy it for you”, then he would pause for a second, “I will buy it on your birthday”. I knew that my birthday was months away and would protest. He taught me to wait and to measure my options. “A promise is a promise”, he pointed out. Ultimately, I learnt to know what I want, instead of falling for tricks and gimmicks. And I also developed the same attitude of treating my word as sacrosanct, which is why I do not talk big. When I state something, it is because I do it.

Those sacrifices were always small in scale. They did not constitute any kind of devastating loss. That cake was all ours in the end. We just had to go through that initial ritual. I now am at a point where I appreciate that dedicating the first pieces to the gods is of paramount importance. Not because the divine needs anything from us. No. Not even because I necessarily believe in it the way major religions preach. Again, no. God exists only when we act as if God exists. This is because the divine inspires us to pursue our highest as we think of the bigger picture. As such, our deeds will be of a better sort, to the extent possible. And, conversely, God does not exist when we behave as if God does not exist. For it is then that our affairs are defined by that which is most pernicious.

This is not a matter of religiosity. There are plenty of believers I have met who operate without respect for others or, indeed, themselves. Theirs is a godless modus operandi, in the aforementioned sense. It is religion in its tokenistic manifestation. Nothing but a series of rites without substance; idolatry in essence. Respect is towards all. It is inward and outward. And there are no exceptions to it: it happens at home, in the workplace, the temple, and the great outdoors. In short, it consists in recognising that there is a whole world out there that does not revolved around one’s volition.

Perhaps the most pernicious, albeit well-meaning, claim in the mainstream is how “God loves you the way you are”. While there is a kernel of hope there, it teaches us to be complacent, to indulge in our voracious wants, and then to maintain a transactional relationship with the cosmos. All because of how special and entitled we think we are.

In my world, the gods love nobody because they tend to the wellness of all. Theirs is a cosmic reach. There can be no exception therein, no special treatments, no shortcuts for the royalty, the parvenu middle class, and the modest workers. All are exposed to the vicissitudes that bring joy and grief. And all have to deal with the consequences of actions, whether it is their own or those of people in their milieu. There is no escape from the consequences, no matter how valuable you think you are, sweetheart.

As such, we have to persevere through the troubles and take what comes our way with grace. Only when we rediscover the spirit of sacrifice and its concomitant grit, will we start seeing vibrant communities again. Else we are moving towards our collective death. This is how nature gets rid of unsustainable arrangements, after all.

In the era of the adultchild, I am reminded of the Greek concept of «φυγοπονία» (feegoponia or feegopony), which literally means “flight from pain/hardship”. Feegopony is the defining quality of the adultchild and the midpoint of the modern society. It is up to each of us to put forward the best version of ourselves, to pursue excellence, and to do it with integrity. Maybe then we will remember how to appreciate the little things.

But I have no hope of this happening anytime soon. The mountains are being deserted because the adultchildren cannot tolerate the living conditions here. They have it all, yet complain about how much they are suffering. This is too cold, that is too dark, the other is too difficult, and so on. We get what we deserve. It saddens me to know that such an avoidable calamity seems inevitable.

I explain how we can appreciate the nuances by incorporating in our thinking the notion that there is no pure instantiation of good or evil. All that we are dealing with is in a state of admixture. What makes something “good” or “bad” is a matter of degree, relative to an inertial frame of reference.

Couched in those terms, I discuss the mechanics of conflict: it breaks a given status quo. As such, it has in it the potential to undo a given state of affairs which, in turn, may give way to something new.

By interpreting the world through its nuances, we move from the mode of judging to the mode of describing and of adapting accordingly. There is no opt-out from the things we do not like in this world.

As part of the presentation, I elaborate on why the Greeks think that the concept of “god of war” is appropriately descriptive. Though I also note that this is not a religious matter, but a view to how we make sense of phenomena.

Local time is 23:00. I spent a combined total of five hours today doing manual labour by the stream. Half of that was in the morning and the remainder early in the afternoon, with a meal and then some computer work in between and afterwards.

What I am doing outdoors these days is reinforcing my already robust flood-control infrastructure. This has been an especially rainy winter, coming off the back of two years of drought. As expected, soil erosion occurs everywhere. I see it in the flowing waters downstream at the base of the valley where I live: the waters are muddy and carry with them gravel.

I collect all the coarse earth I can find. From gravel to small stones and even large rocks that I can barely lift off the ground. Everything is useful to me. Wherever there is a slippery spot in my land, I apply gravel on top to improve traction. Depending on the specifics, I will even make small holes to place stones in and then add soil on top. In effect, I am making parts of the surface harder. Rocks are useful to stairs and to reinforce all the edge from where water could flow.

The idea is to have soft terrain everywhere that I plant vegetables and solid ground on all the pathways as well as the perimeter. Part of this is my commitment to not fill the place up with concrete or make it look like the walled garden of some mansion. I want it to remain natural, even though it clearly is a largely controlled environment.

There is no pressing reason to do all of this project now. I could wait for the rainy days to pass and commit to it during the summer. Though this is not how I operate. My principle is to not postpone things. If I can do something, I do it. When I say something, it is the law. There are no excuses. In the summer there will be something else to do or, maybe, I will just want to sunbathe and enjoy my day.

Maintaining projects long-term requires a certain level of enthusiasm. You have to enjoy what you are doing. I wake up every morning with the same zeal to carry out what I have committed to. I like that I have an impact on my immediate environment and that I experience the feedback loop between my actions and their consequences.

By discerning the results of my deeds, I have a better appreciation of my power as well as its limitations. I am powerful, in the sense of having the means to make certain things happen. Though I understand I am not omnipotent. Everything requires a considerable amount of physically taxing work. Those five hours today are barely noticeable in terms of changes to the surroundings. There is a little bit here and a little bit there. Nothing fancy.

Because I have been doing such work for long enough, I can estimate how many workhours some initiative will take. I do not feel the pressure to quit abruptly, as I never get frustrated with my progress. I also do not set lofty targets: whatever I commit to will be done when it is ready. The process is organic. If I need to stop, I do it without feeling guilty about it. Though, generally, I work for long hours. The point is that I do not turn myself into a servant of my own standards. I remain in control, since I interpret my rules mindfully. If the circumstances demand that I suspend their application, I do it without hesitation. Otherwise, I would be reckless.

The immediate feedback loop of what I do informs my situational awareness. I know what kind of initiative is viable and what is impractical. I have an intuitive understanding of the economics of my time. I will intentionally settle for a makeshift solution, if it buys me enough time to collect money in pursuit of an improved arrangement. Or, simply, if it allows me to prioritise another task in the meantime. I do not expect perfection, because I am aware of my limited resources. I love the little things, the nuances, those details that are otherwise easy to miss. I do not need much to feel happy.

People sometimes tell me something along the lines of “I like your life there and wish I could do the same”. It is one of those cases where the adage “be careful what you wish for” applies fully. What most fellas usually mean is that they would like to retain the life they have and combine it with the serenity of a rural setting. This is not how it is in my world though.

My life is one of austerity. Only a small part of that is my choice. There are inherent constraints to a life in a sparsely populated region that I cannot overcome. For example, I do not have any friends here. I know most of the locals, but we merely are on good terms. I do not have a deep connection with anybody. Nobody knows what I did today, whether I created something or not, if I have any intellectual pursuits… If I were to disappear tomorrow, nobody would lose anything. I am an individual in what effectively is an alien world.

When there are few people around, people who are considerably older than you, you do not get to choose who you spend your time with. Either you pick the one option for socialisation or you just spend your days alone. I do the latter. The good thing is that I can either work on my projects without interruptions or go for hikes with my dogs. So I am always doing something I enjoy. Though the point is that I can tolerate this state of affairs because I do not ask for much. Another person, especially someone who thinks that my life is cool but has never lived this way before, will probably not have the same tolerance for uneventfulness.

Against this backdrop, maintaining projects for years is a reliable way to remain focused and to not be disheartened. I tend to the work that requires my input. Its results benefit my life in a tangible way. I remain at the peak of my powers, as sharp and active as ever, largely because what I do does not take a toll on my state of mind. I will continue to quietly do my thing in this little corner. Nobody will notice, though I always take stock of the progress, which is all that matters.

It is time to go to bed now. The dogs have been sleeping for a couple of hours already. We will all be up at sunrise, ready to start our morning with the same decisiveness that defined this day.

Emacs has a package called emacspeak, which provides an audio interface to the computer. Arkadiusz explains how this is a powerful piece of technology because it benefits greatly from the introspectability and extensibility of Emacs. I get an idea of how emacspeak works and how it can augment the experience by giving feedback about the given context.

Another Emacs package that has context-aware functionality is hyperbole. Arkadiusz considers it an excellent addition to his workflow. With hyperbole Arkadiusz has developed the intuition to quickly act on so-called “implicit buttons”, which are portions of text that hyperbole can do something useful on. There also are “explicit buttons”, which Arkadiusz has designed himself to perform actions that streamline his workflow.

As we gradually move away from discussing Emacs, I ask Arkadiusz about his study of Chinese. He tells me the experience he had back in Poland, his native country, and how he was able to continue his studies in Italy. Part of this discussion covers Arkadiusz’s blindness and describes how he showed strength of character to not let a setback derail his life.

I then want to learn more about the connection between Chinese and Slavic cultures. Arkadiusz suggests that there are some shared values between the two cultures, even though politics may sometimes get in the way. I learn how people value virtues such as hard work and honesty. To this end, I comment that the ethos is essentially about not settling for mediocrity when you can have excellence.

Our discussion continues into accessibility beyond the computer. Arkadiusz tells me how it is to live as a blind person and how one depends on the infrastructure being accessible. To illustrate the point, Arkadiusz tells me that he could never live like me alone in the mountains, even if he likes to, because some of the essentials for him would not be available. Along those lines, Arkadiusz shares his thoughts about not overly protecting people, such as in the case of special schools, as that tends to have adverse long-term effects: people have to be exposed to society at-large and thus need to be able to cope with it.

As we continue talking, we eventually get to the point of Artificial Intelligence, which Arkadiusz correctly distinguishes from machine learning. I want to learn what Arkadiusz thinks about the present state of affairs. Arkadiusz explains his moral reservations about AI and how, fundamentally, it being controlled by a handful of corporations is harmful. We discuss several related issues along those lines, including matters of personal creativity.

Links from Arkadiusz

These pertain to a talk Arkadiusz gave at the Pragma 2025 conference about using the computer as a blind person.

1. Pragma video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry77etLCAfg.
2. Presentation repository: https://github.com/Nuno69/Pragma2025.

About “Prot Asks”

In this video series, I talk to anybody who is interested to have a video call with me (so do contact me if you want!). The topics cover anything related to Emacs, technology, and life in general. More here: https://protesilaos.com/prot-asks.

At 21:30 Europe/Athens time I will do a live stream (~30 minutes from this writing). The plan is to continue some of the work I am doing on my denote-sequence package for Emacs.

I do not have any work this evening, so I will do a live stream. My plan is to do some programming. I have a new idea for the denote-sequence package that I will try to implement.

If there are any questions from the chat, I will answer them. They can be about what I will be working on or any other topic.

Talk to you soon!

If you want maximalist themes in terms of colour, check my ef-themes package. For something in-between, which I would consider the best “default theme” for a text editor, opt for my modus-themes.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): doric-themes
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/doric-themes-pictures
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/doric-themes
• Backronym: Doric Only Really Intensifies Conservatively … themes.

Below are the release notes.

Version 1.1.0 on 2026-03-23

This version introduces minor refinements to the underlying code as well as four new themes.

The new themes are as follows:

• doric-almond: A light theme that combines green and magenta colours. It evokes a feeling of early springtime, as the almond tree is among the first to bloom.

• doric-coral: A light theme with a warmer feel that combines red, orange, and cyan colours against a sandy backdrop.

• doric-magma: A dark theme with a dominant red and orange style. The combination of those intense hues with lighter greys creates the necessary balance.

• doric-walnut: A dark theme with an overall green style, drawing inspiration from the broad leaves of the walnut tree. The green colours are combined with shades of brown and grey to make for a pleasant presentation.

Enjoy!

The rainy days continue. Twice I went with the dogs for a walk while it was pouring, only to encounter heavy rainfall along the way. We could not afford to stay indoors any longer. The dogs need it and I enjoy my hikes as well. I have ran out of dry shoes to wear, though this is not a major problem: I can always walk barefoot, which I have done plenty of times. Granted, that is not my preferred mode of traversing the mountains, as it increases the risk of injury. Though I can tolerate it—and I am extra cautious.

This morning I discovered that the side of the slope opposite my land collapsed under the pressure. The stream below it is very strong right now, as are the showers coming from above. My side remains intact because of the flood-control projects I have been doing. I rely on natural means, such as grass/herbs/bushes for holding together the surface level and roots of trees to keep the underground in place. Though I have also added rocks and whatever odds and ends I could gather to function as barriers that shield the land from the running waters.

There are landslides in many parts around my area. Large boulders have rolled downhill. I expect more of the same for the next ~10 days. It is what happens after two years of drought. Though the human element cannot be underestimated.

Most farmers have this misbegotten notion that everything in and around their land should stay “clean”. They thus cut down everything, poison it, and burn it, leaving a near-naked landscape in their wake: neat and tidy, for sure. Then, when this kind of weather finally arrives, they can only marvel at what I may poetically describe as “the wrath of the gods”.

The gods are not interested in avenging anybody or in helping us fight for some cause. That sort of narrative gives us too much credit. What is happening here is a matter for people to use their common sense, take responsibility for their deeds, and stop blaming their lack of foresight on the putative whims of the divine.

Everything matters in the system. There is nothing that you can eliminate without incurring a cost. Everything you do has far-reaching implications, whose effects condition the subsequent workings of the system. You remove a so-called “useless” tree from the edges of your land, thus creating a vacuum. In its stead shall arise a new order, whose particularities you have not foreseen and no longer control for. It starts with a small slide until it turns into a deep fissure.

What happens in our natural milieu also applies to human affairs, even though we mistakenly fancy ourselves as occupying a special place in the natural order. For example, international relations exhibit the same pattern of a power vacuum being filled in by newer forces. There is no such thing as idleness or rest. The cultures which think they have done their part and can now “just chill” are those which will go extinct. But I digress.

The point is that it is irresponsible to be complacent about any given status quo. Perform rigorous inspections. Question how things are. If something stands the test of time, try to understand it instead of dismissing it as old and parochial: it probably encodes millennia of wisdom, whose finer points elude you. In other words, do not be smug and do not take what you have for granted. This can be about the land you are homesteading or the polity you are a member of. Everything can degenerate quickly if left unchecked.

Complacency is, at its core, a turn inward. It happens when the person or group no longer has situational awareness. They do not pay attention to their environment. Indeed, they think of their surroundings as inert “environment”, as that which merely envelops their subject, instead of a living organism with its own patterns of behaviour: a system of systems all the way up and down. To turn inward is to think of oneself as special, at least in the belief that one is immune to damage or decline.

Complacency is typically made manifest in views that tout humankind as exceptional in this world. “God loves you”, is an oft spoken claim. “You” in particular? How cute! Will the application of the rules be suspended just because of “you”, darling? Of course not. I think it is more appropriate, for the sake of artistic expression, to say that the gods do not tend to our wellness in particular, either individually or collectively, but to the cosmic balance at-large. The rest is your problem. If, for example, you do not account for the mechanics of the living universe that you are a part of, and if you thus proceed to destroy the elements of it whose functioning you do not understand, then no god will come to your rescue once calamity inevitably strikes.

When farmers here opt for the easy solution of spraying poison all over the place and setting the rest on fire, they think they have discovered some miraculous “science” that lets them get the job done in a few minutes instead of labouring at the farm all day. In other words, they fancy themselves as smart. What they do not consider are the externalities. There is a cost to keeping the place “clean”, only it is beyond the horizon of their short-term thinking.

All of this is an exercise in prescience and decisiveness; an exercise in assuming responsibility and taking the initiative. I knew that there would come a day where the severe droughts would be followed by intense precipitation. For several months since the early days I got here I laboured to secure my position. And I remain vigilant in case of an emergency.

Everything continues to flow. To live in this world, one has to be adaptable, poised to act when the situation demands it, while also ready to change their ways if the results are not as expected. Above all, though, one must show respect and self-awareness in recognising their limits. We all learn from mistakes. The key is to embed all teachings into our lifestyle, without thinking too highly of what we do.

I can hear the running waters from my room. I enjoy listening to them all day. This is a beautiful state of affairs. Whether it is so despite or because of its latent danger, I cannot tell. Perhaps both. Awe is, after all, the combination of admiration and fear. What I do get as part of the input is also a stark reminder that this world is not (i) revolving around me and (ii) conspiring in my favour. Underestimate the phenomena or overestimate your abilities and your life shall be forfeit.

22:45 local time. Heavy rainfall, strong winds, and low temperature. This is how the whole day unfolded. The forecast is for more rain until the end of the month, albeit at a lesser intensity.

The flood-control and anti-erosion projects I have been working on have held well. Today was the most demanding stress test. I started thinking of how to control floods at a time when there were barely any rainy days. I knew that I needed to be ready for that eventuality. But I do not rest on my laurels. My approach has been a success thus far, though the execution of it can always be improved.

This morning I inspected the parts bordering the nearby stream. They could benefit from some further reinforcements, namely, an extra layer of stone and gravel. I had already collected a large pile of gravel from the stream before it got flooded. It probably fills up three handcarts. I then walked by the nearby river to collect large rocks. Some of them I could barely lift off the ground. Little by little, I placed them in the handcart and placed them where they needed to be.

In the coming days, I will collect more stones. I need them to reinforce the stairs on the side of the hillock where the solar panels are. When I first did those, I merely carved them into the mountain. They are just soil. Continuous exposure to rainfall will turn any stepped surface into a slide. This is because of how the water accumulates until it eventually flows down, thus movign the soil with it and creating the slope. Adding stones on the top and the base of each stair ensures that rainwater cannot have this effect. I have successfully done this already in some other parts. Time to update the oldest staircase I built here almost three years ago.

Doing anything in the rain is not comfortable. At least not when you need to muster the willpower to start working. Past experience helps though, as you know that the initial discomfort quickly fades. The difficulty, then, consists in not losing your resolve within those first few seconds. Having a good reason to act is also helpful, if not essential: it compels you to move outside of your comfort zone and it makes you more invested in a positive outcome. If you do not believe in the cause, you will struggle to cope with the challenge. Belief is what grants a person the power to fight against all the odds.

What underpins my efforts is the longer-term understanding of my situation. I do not feel entitled to wellness. It was never easy out there, except when I was a baby being taken care of by my parents. I accept all the intermediate problems as part of the larger process that is my life. I have my land and am improving it as I go. It will eventually be a decent and safe place. This is how an acorn develops into a vulnerable sprout, then a flimsy little tree, until it eventually becomes a majestic oak tree.

I understand that I cannot rush things into existence. They can only happen organically, as the cumulative effect of deeds that occur at a smaller scale. Everything takes time. To move a few large rocks here I need a couple of hours. To then do something useful with them is another labour-intensive endeavour that will typically take up an entire morning.

When you are in the mode of doing, patience comes naturally. It would make no sense to become whinny, for example, about the fact that my original staircase is not perfect. I understood the trade-offs back then when I needed to have access to the hillock in order to install the solar panels and move on to the rest of the house. And I remain aware of the costs and benefits at each stage.

Conversely, when you operate exclusively at the level of aspirations and wishful thinking, you have no frame of reference, no sense of the economics of your limited resources, and thus no room for patience. Same principle for disconcerted, ill-thought initiatives: you have to know what you want and what your priorities are. Having electricity and a roof over my head was more important at that time than making sure the staircase would not be prone to erosion after a few years of continuous exposure to the elements.

It is fine to be demanding and to seek perfection. I want to be the best version of myself and continuously try to push the boundaries. Though perfectionism can easily lead to inaction when it develops into an intolerance towards intermediate—occasionally makeshift and outright unappealing—arrangements.

I know not to worry about marginal gains when I have bigger issues to focus on. The “good enough” or the “workable” is all I need at this point. The strategy is one of preserving my vitality, the core of my presence here, and then gradually expanding its reach. There are so many interesting things I can do in my land. It would be cool, for instance, to have a traditional oven somewhere outside. But this is an item for the wishlist. It cannot be done now or in the foreseeable future.

I am aware of my past and of how I ended up in this predicament. I understand the “why” I am putting myself through the rigours. And I have knowledge of the “what” I am working towards. The mind is clear. There are no distractions, no unattainable and ultimately wasteful wants. My thoughts will simply not set me up for failure. The body is thus empowered to be tenacious and relentless.

These days I am making raised garden beds for the coming spring. In them I will plant tomatoes, zucchinis, and onions. It is still too early to start with the vegetables, but I want the land to be ready as soon as the temperatures get a bit warmer.

I also continuously inspect every spot in my land to have an idea of how it is developing. This is a living system. It does not remain static. At one spot, I identified eleven new blackthorns. They are less than thirty centimetres in height, yet are growing fast. I had cleared the land there last year, which created a vacuum that those shrubs will soon fill in. At another location there are three new almond tree offshoots that have just popped out of the ground. Within six months they will be over a metre tall.

Whenever I clear some land, I do it with the intent of giving this living system that I participate in a certain direction. I do not destroy it, even when I cut something down or create a new opening. Many people will bring their notions for the living room to the outdoors. They want the fields to look “clean”, which is far more invasive of a project than whatever one does to their living room.

Sometimes I get questions from labourers heading to the mountains: “why did you leave the grass here?”, to which I respond “because it does no harm”. They are used to spraying chemicals everywhere. I walk past vineyards only to witness the grass in a yellow-red colour, a sign that it is rapidly decaying from poisoning. There is nothing there to hold the soil together. Once the land is dry and prone to erosion, those same people bring in diggers and tractors to fix the mess they created. But they never pause to consider that they could cooperate with the land instead of being in direct conflict with it.

To me, my presence here is not a zero-sum game. I am not dominating my area. I am shaping it, while giving other organisms the room to thrive. They benefit from my initiatives, while I enjoy the benign effect their life has on my stay here. I consider myself responsible for their wellness. Even though I plan to live in this place for the rest of my days, I see myself as a guest. I want to respect what I have found and leave it in a good condition for those who will come after I am gone.

Because of the severe droughts these past two years, I did not have success in my farming endeavours. None of the vegetables made it. While many of the trees I planted got burnt. Still, the side effects of my careful labour are tremendously positive. There are so many new trees and shrubs that are growing. Same for grapevines and aromatic rose bushes. I have lots of them now.

All the transplants I have done these past few months have been successful. I mostly focused on moving aromatic roses at the perimeter of my land. They look beautiful, which is always a plus. But they also perform the vital function of keeping the topmost layer of soil intact. In other words, they prevent soil erosion coming from direct rainfall. I combine those with rocks, to make the edges extra resilient, given how grass and stone quickly form virtually unbreakable bonds.

This winter has been especially rainy and there is forecast for yet more heavy rainfall in the days to come. I am glad that all my work is showing signs of progress, despite the setbacks with the droughts. I know that I am moving towards the right direction. I have a clear vision for my land and recognise that every form of life here has a role to play.

In about a month from now the oak trees will start blossoming. At the early stage they must be releasing some kind of sweet substance that the honeybees adore. Whenever I walk outside during those days I hear a constant buzz from what probably is millions of honeybees at work. It does not disturb me. I stand there in admiration. I find it remarkable how there is immanent reason throughout. One single insect embodies know-how whose full extent eludes us.

I have observed time and again how this living system adapts to my actions, in the same way I respond to the conditions it creates. I clear some spot of land only to find that new vegetation grows there. I plant some canes and then encounter doves take shelter among them. I refrain from pruning dead branches off of some of the older almond trees and each day am greeted to a crow or magpie sitting there. Birds pick those branches because they provide a clear vantage point.

When a crow or magpie sees me, it does its familiar noises while looking at me. I am confident that they know me. They must be recognising the patterns in my motions. All animals do so: it is a prerequisite for their survival to have situational awareness.

Plants are the same. They know, for example, that the spot is clear for them to make their move. They understand how there is better exposure to sunlight as well as improved access to air and, thus, rainwater and humidity. Similarly, a root that gets exposed to the air knows that it has to turn itself into an offshoot. It too is mindful.

I do not mean to suggest that other forms of life are human-like in their qualities, but that what we think of as peculiar to humanity is actually widespread.

Springtime is fast approaching. The more I understand my immediate surroundings, the less important I feel I am. It is wonderful to be aware of what is happening and to know that the world will carry on without me.

“What do you do in your life?” One is inclined to write about their career in the most favourable terms possible. I am content with “I create clearings”.

Table of Contents

1. This is a holistic introduction to Emacs
2. Emacs as a capable text editor
3. Support for Unicode
4. Include several fonts on the same page
5. Emacs can display graphics alongside text
6. Emacs is an extensible text editor
7. Extending Emacs creates a community
8. The extensibility of Emacs happens live
9. My view without the “presentation mode”
10. Emacs puts you in control of your computing
11. Your control extends to all workflows
12. For an integrated computing environment
13. Many apps do not combine nicely
14. Emacs makes your workflow consistent
15. Integrated computing in practice
16. Emacs makes integration easier
17. Integration gives you emergent properties
18. This is plain text that works like a slideshow
19. Consistency facilitates productivity
20. Consistency remove the cognitive burden
21. The consistency of Emacs in action
22. Use Emacs Lisp to configure everything
23. Learning Emacs Lisp improves the experience
24. Emacs embodies software freedom
25. The freedom of Emacs helps with learning
26. Emacs is not only for programmers
27. You benefit from all the Emacs extensions
28. Some powerful extensions are built-in
29. The documentation culture of Emacs
30. Most packages have high quality manuals
31. Emacs has a steep learning curve
32. Do not skip the manuals
33. Adjust your expectations
34. Why it is worth learning how to use Emacs
35. The initial effort pays off long-term
36. Good luck and have fun!

Hello everyone! My name is Protesilaos, also known as “Prot”.

This presentation is a modified version of the talk I gave last night at the FLOSS @ Oxford event: https://ox.ogeer.org/event/computing-in-freedom-with-gnu-emacs-protesilaos-stavrou.

It was an event organised by people from the University of Oxford. I thank them for giving me the opportunity to participate in their programme.

I want to have this modified version here for people who do not read my website. They may not be aware that I talked at this Oxford event.

Having the video on this platform means that everyone can benefit from it.

1 This is a holistic introduction to Emacs

In this presentation I will talk to you about GNU Emacs, or simply, “Emacs”. Emacs is a program you run on your computer. I am using it right now for this presentation.

Emacs is free or libre software. It allows you to read all of its source code, to modify it, and to share it with your customisations. Thus you contribute to—and benefit from—a community of welcoming Emacs users.

I will tell you what all this means in practice and how you can improve your computing experience by switching to Emacs.

2 Emacs as a capable text editor

When you first start using Emacs, it feels like a regular text editor program.

You move the cursor around and edit text. Nothing obviously impressive out-of-the-box.

As a text editor, Emacs is highly capable. It has all sorts of keyboard shortcuts that let you efficiently operate on text.

You can control Emacs without relying on the mouse, if you want.

3 Support for Unicode

Emacs supports the Unicode standard, which is essential for inclusivity of peoples.

The world’s scripts can be expressed in Emacs. I am a native Greek speaker.

I can use functionality that is built into Emacs to switch to the Greek alphabet in order to write something, such as to say «καλησπέρα», which means “good evening”.

I can even spell out “Dao De Jing” (道德经), which is the title of a book from ancient China.

Plus emoji: 🦚🦬🐉.

4 Include several fonts on the same page

The multitude of scripts can be present in the same document.

This is an advantage for multilingual people like myself or those who do research that involves many natural languages.

Emacs can combine several fonts in the same page as well as different colours.

Each fonts can have its own attributes, such as for its relative size and typographic intensity.

Same idea for colours.

On my screen right now, I am already combining two different font styles: that of the heading and the body of the text.

5 Emacs can display graphics alongside text

Emacs does not limit you to a text-only interface. It can also display images and PDF documents. Below I have a link to an image file. I will now type a keyboard shortcut to reveal this image. And I will do it again to hide it.

This, by the way, is a spot somewhere in my mountains.

6 Emacs is an extensible text editor

Although you can benefit from using Emacs as a generic text editor, what really appeals to people like me is the option to extend Emacs.

“Extend” here means to introduce new functionality; functionality that is not available in the default program you install on your computer.

These extensions are written in the same programming language as most of Emacs. It is a programming language called “Emacs Lisp” or “Elisp”.

You can extend Emacs on your own, by writing some program in Elisp, or you can download an existing extension that the community has made available.

7 Extending Emacs creates a community

For example, when I create a new extension for Emacs, I publish it under the terms of a free software license—the same terms that Emacs uses.

Others can then download my extension and use it as they prefer. If they want, they can make their own modifications on top, which may introduce other extensions that I had not thought of in my original implementation.

And if those users follow my example, then I can also benefit from their additions once they publish them.

As such, there exists a community of enthusiastic users of Emacs who care about sharing their works with the rest of the world.

8 The extensibility of Emacs happens live

Users can extend Emacs by running some Emacs Lisp program. Such a program can be as short as a single line. Or it can be as long as it needs to be. It does not matter.

Users run the program and Emacs immediately does what the program renders possible.

For example, I am doing this presentation inside of Emacs. But Emacs does not have a “presentation mode” built into it. I thus developed my own extension which empowers me to do what I am doing right now.

Let me toggle off my presentation mode to show you what I mean.

9 My view without the “presentation mode”

Notice that the display has changed.My main font is monospaced now.

The headings are smaller than they were before: they are the same size as the rest of the text. There is no number next to the heading anymore.

Then, there is a bar at the bottom of my screen, with information about what I am working on. On the side, there are line numbers, indicating where my cursor is in this file. Plus, my current line is highlighted with a distinct background colour. Let me shift it up and down to illustrate this point.

All those elements are useful while I am programming. But they look distracting when I wish to focus on some portion of text. So, I just type the keyboard shortcut I have and—voilà!—I get the style I prefer.

10 Emacs puts you in control of your computing

You may wonder: why do I even need a customisable text editor?

The answer is about control. You are in charge of what you use and how you use it. You can piece together a workflow that works the way you prefer.

This presentation mode I toggled on and off earlier behaves exactly how I want. I decided which set of interface tweaks to apply. Another user may have a different preference in this regard.

For instance, they may like having line numbers on the side of the screen. There is no right or wrong answer. What matters is that Emacs gives us the means to do what makes sense to us.

11 Your control extends to all workflows

Now apply this principle to everything you can use Emacs for: this will generally be a text-centric project.

I run my agenda exclusively through Emacs.

I handle all my email correspondence with Emacs.

I do programming and I write prose, such as blog posts for my website and books or technical manuals.

For each of these, I know that Emacs will empower me to perform my tasks without arbitrary restrictions.

Emacs lets me use Elisp to modify how I do my emails, for instance, and how I present tasks in my custom agenda view.

12 For an integrated computing environment

Without Emacs, I would not be in a position to control my computing experience to the extent I do.

The reason is that I would be relying on many different applications. Each application has its own interface and design paradigms.

Each application is configured, if at all, in a way that is specific to it. Customisations in one application do not carry over to other applications.

And, if we consider the important implementation details, each application may configurable in its own programming language.

In other words, that is not an integrated computing experience.

13 Many apps do not combine nicely

To have the same degree of control that Emacs makes possible, I would have to hope that somehow all those disparate applications would conspire in my favour.

That is wishful thinking.

The reality is that piecing together many different applications is an exercise in frustration and the path to a life of ever-distracting context switching.

14 Emacs makes your workflow consistent

Having everything I need inside of Emacs ensures that things happen in a manner that is consistent.

All customisations are written in the same programming language, namely, Emacs Lisp.

What I define for one context, such as this “presentation mode”, can be used in another context.

For example, I can have this presentation style enabled when I read emails. Why?

Because it can make it more comfortable for me at a certain hour. And I can even automate this with conditional logic, so it happens on its own when I open a new email under certain circumstances.

15 Integrated computing in practice

When you work with many applications that do not play nicely together, you cannot do something that the developers have not envisaged.

For example, your email client likely does not have access to a “presentation mode”. Same for your other applications.

Similarly, your many applications will not necessarily know how to read and interpret the configurations you have in one application.

Suppose you define your favourite colour scheme for your email client. You take the time to consider the harmonies and use precise typography to your liking.

Now, you switch to your calendar application and none of that work carries over: you have to do it again, assuming it is even possible.

16 Emacs makes integration easier

Colours and styles may seem like relatively small issues. But they are indicative of something greater: disparate applications do not work together seamlessly.

Emacs does not have this problem. You define something for one context you have in mind and, eventually, it can be used in another context that initially you had not even thought of.

For example, in my Emacs I wrote a small function to quickly copy the “thing” at where the cursor is. This is useful when I do programming, as the “thing” can be an entire expression, like the definition of a function. But the “thing” may also be a link that I got in my email.

I had not thought of that use-case in advance. Yet it was trivial to have my function do what I need in this once unforeseen situation.

17 Integration gives you emergent properties

The integrated computing environment of Emacs is more than the sum of its parts.

This is because you can combine different pieces of functionality in ways that the original developer had not foresaw.

You do not simply have your writing, your email, your agenda, et cetera, in Emacs.

You have the functionality of one in tandem with the functionality of another. And you draw linkages between them as you see fit.

Consider once again this presentation I am now doing. What I have in front of me is the transcript of my talk. This is a plain text document, which I can edit live. Let me CAPITALISE THIS to illustrate the point.

18 This is plain text that works like a slideshow

I have made this file look a little bit like a series of slides.

Notice that if I scroll up and down, which I will do shortly, you only get the current section I am reading from: you do not have access to the rest of the document. I will scroll up and down now.

This is a feature known as “narrowing”. Let me “widen” the view and then try to scroll again. You will now be exposed to the rest of the text.

The original developer of this “narrowing” facility did not know how someone like me would make use of it.

I have it here for my presentation. Each heading becomes its own pseudo-slide. I have narrowing for my emails, when I want to read a portion of the text in a more focused way. It is all about how I choose to do my computing.

19 Consistency facilitates productivity

For many years before switching to Emacs, I did not enjoy using the computer.

I needed too much time to accomplish every single task.

I could never find any of my files in a timely fashion because there was no program that would enforce on my behalf a predictable file-naming scheme.

All my notes were eventually not retrievable. This made them useless. Data you save is only good if you can find what you are searching for.

My music collection was inconsistent because I needed special software to write the metadata… In short, I was not as productive as I would like to be.

And, above all, it was not fun.

20 Consistency remove the cognitive burden

Most of my work at the time was centred around the email client and a word processor.

The email client had its own subsystem for handling reminders for tasks. The format of those tasks was not interoperable with other programs.

I could not access the tasks with my favourite text editor. I thus had to use the clunky interface of the email client, which was never designed for task management—and was not configurable.

And then I had all the cognitively burdensome annoyances of my two applications looking quite different from each other.

My emails did not behave like my documents, which made it harder for me to flip between the two and continue writing. I would roll my eyes each time.

21 The consistency of Emacs in action

Emacs has elevated my computing experience.

I have been much more productive ever since I switched to it. Allow me to demonstrate a tiny bit of what I do each day.

I will temporarily exit the presentation mode in this window.

Then, in the bottom half of my screen, I will open my email client to read a message I got.

Once you follow my switch to the email client, I will hide the window that shows this presentation.

After that I will switch to my agenda to record a task and review what I have to do.

All this is done inside of Emacs. Time for action!

22 Use Emacs Lisp to configure everything

What I just demonstrated is a very small part of what I do every single day.

There is much more, though I cannot cover it all in this presentation.

The point, however, is the consistency of the experience; consistency throughout.

I have customised my email client by writing some Emacs Lisp code for it. I have done the same for the custom agenda I have. And much more.

Every time I work with Emacs Lisp, I acquire skills that are applicable outside the confines of the problem I am solving.

For example, by configuring email the way I want, I pick up programming skills that I can then apply to the design of my custom agenda.

23 Learning Emacs Lisp improves the experience

This is an investment that pays off more and more.

Emacs will adapt to match my evolving needs. Each new workflow I incorporate in my Emacs setup will thus benefit from all the knowledge and features I have accumulated.

I do not have to relearn everything because I am not switching to another application.

I do not have to throw away all the work I did all those years. It is here to stay.

I do not feel the pressure to try the new shiny app of the day. I did that many times and always regretted it. I lost my data and time in the process.

Because I am rooted in this stability of Emacs, I remain productive and efficient.

24 Emacs embodies software freedom

I mentioned earlier that Emacs is free or libre software. This means that you can read its source code, modify it, and share your changes with others.

Emacs has a license that gives users power. There is no corporation that can take Emacs away from us. It belongs to the community and we all tend to its wellness.

In the case of Emacs, software freedom is not just about the license. It informs how you use the program. Emacs makes such freedom an irriducible part of its functionality.

You can, at any moment, ask Emacs what does a keyboard shortcut actually do. What is the definition of a function. What is the value of a variable. And you may even access the source code to check for yourself.

I will demonstrate this right now.

25 The freedom of Emacs helps with learning

I actually learnt to program in Emacs Lisp by exercising this freedom.

I would tinker with Emacs and continuously check on its state. What does this do? Which function is called by that keyboard shortcut? How is a program able to determine if the file is not saved?

I wanted to learn how, for example, we move down a line. From there, I learnt that we can move down many lines at once.

I then figured that we can move down the lines and then also do something else, such as place the cursor at the end of the line and create a pulse effect to bring attention to it.

Not only did I learn how to configure Emacs, I even wrote tens of extensions for it. I have also authored a libre book titled “Emacs Lisp Elements”. This freedom is not theoretical. I did not have a background in programming, yet was empowered to act and to grow as a person.

26 Emacs is not only for programmers

Emacs is extended with Emacs Lisp. If you know how to program in that language, you can be extra opinionated and particular about the way Emacs facilitates your work.

But even without any expertise of this sort, you can still do much of what you like. Remember that I started using Emacs without a background in programming.

Emacs blurs the distinction between user and developer. Many of the developers actually start out as users like myself. They learn along the way and, eventually, they contribute to the development of Emacs.

I even have written code that is in core Emacs: my modus-themes as well as several other smaller patches.

27 You benefit from all the Emacs extensions

The Emacs community has developed a rich corpus of extensions. You do not need to invent anything right away in order to be productive.

We call these extensions “packages”, as they are distributed in a way that makes them easy to install and then use directly.

The Emacs program you will download on your computer ships with plenty of packages built-in.

Depending on your needs, you may not even have to install anything from what the community has to offer.

Though if you want a package, it is fairly easy to get it and run it on your system.

Emacs is not picky about how you should use it. You are empowered to be opinionated.

28 Some powerful extensions are built-in

For example, Emacs ships with a package called org or “Org mode”. At its core, this is a markup language. I am using it right now in this document.

Notice how lines that start with an asterisk function as headings. This is what the markup does.

Org lets you write documents, including books, handle your tasks, organise your agenda, and much more. It is a powerhouse.

There are so many things to discover in Emacs as well as the broader package ecosystem.

Emacs as a whole provides high quality documentation that explains everything.

29 The documentation culture of Emacs

When you install Emacs, you get with it plenty of technical manuals. There is also an interactive tutorial to help you make sense of the basics.

Furthermore, when you ask Emacs for help about the definition of a function or the value of a variable, you receive the documentation for the thing you are looking for.

The expectation for all contributions to the official Emacs program is that the code is well-documented and the manual is updated accordingly.

30 Most packages have high quality manuals

Core Emacs sets the standard of what good documentation looks like. Package developers follow this practice.

For example, my denote package has a manual that is over 7500 lines long. It exceeds 52000 words. In it users find detailed instructions as well as code snippets that they can copy and use outright. And this is not the exception. All my packages are like that, to the extent necessary. Most other developers do the same.

As a community, we have access to so much knowledge for free and in freedom. If we are committed enough, we can learn from others and thus become better ourselves. We do so in a spirit of sharing and caring. For me, specifically, all this was of great help. I am self-taught because I received all those great resources from the community. I consider it my duty to give back in kind.

31 Emacs has a steep learning curve

Because Emacs is extensible, there is practically no limit to what you can do with it. At least this is the case for all tasks that are text-heavy.

Emacs will just gracefully evolve to match your requirements, provided you can extend it on your own or with a relevant package.

The downside, however, is that it is not easy to become proficient in it. If you are committed, you can learn the basics within the first few days.

Though you will need to invest a few weeks or months to become skillful. It depends on how much effort you put into it, what sort of work you are doing, and what your background is.

I learnt the basics within a few days. I started writing my own Emacs Lisp within weeks. And within a year I had my modus-themes moved into core Emacs.

32 Do not skip the manuals

Several “starter kits” are available to help you get started. They set things up so that you do not need to discover everything at the outset.

The new version of Emacs (Emacs 31) will even come with a “newcomers theme”, which configures several settings in advance.

These can make the learning curve a bit smoother. For me, anything that improves the onboarding experiences is a plus.

Though I do not think that Emacs will ever become “plug and play”. This is due to its sheer depth and extensibility. It does so much that you still need to invest the time and effort into learning it.

However you start, the most reliable study involves the manuals. Those are written for the benefit of the user. Read them carefully.

33 Adjust your expectations

What I can say with confidence is that Emacs is not for tourists. You cannot switch to it with the expectation that you will have a good time right away.

No. That will not work. There simply is no shortcut to excellence.

I encourage you to take it one step at a time. Emacs will make you more productive, provided you are patient enough to unlock its virtually boundless potential.

Take it slow and be methodical. Rely on the official manual no matter your starting point. Read from it and gradually incorporate its insights into your workflow.

The community—myself included—has plenty of resources to complement that study. Blog posts, video tutorials, books… But do not skip the official manual. Learning it slowly means that you will become proficient faster than you otherwise would.

34 Why it is worth learning how to use Emacs

I already talked about the technical side of things with regard to the integrated computing environment. Now combine that with two facts:

1. Emacs is free software. This means that we as a community are its custodians.
2. GNU Emacs has been around since the 1980s. It will stay relevant for decades to come.

Emacs is not old, it is timeless. This is because it can be extended in a spirit of freedom.

Whatever new technology or idea we have as a collective, we can eventually bring it into Emacs.

This way, our integrated computing environment adapts with the times.

Thus Emacs remains ever-relevant.

35 The initial effort pays off long-term

Couched in those terms, the initial effort you will put into learning Emacs is actually not that much.

You have to maintain a longer-term view of this project.

If you are patient, Emacs will be one of the most reliable tools you will ever use throughout your life. And I say this as a handy man myself, someone who uses many tools for manual labour, having built the house I am in, among others.

I switched to Emacs in the summer of 2019. It is almost 7 years already. I see no reason not to use it for the next 7 years, if I can.

I will still want to write articles, do programming, maintain my agenda, and probably make presentations like this one.

36 Good luck and have fun!

Remember that you will not learn Emacs over the weekend. You are in it for the long-term. Take it slow and you will enjoy the experience.

This is all I have for you today folks. Thank you very much for your attention!

You can find this and everything else I publish on my website: https://protesilaos.com.

I had written the transcript ahead of time to make my presentation more accessible. The event was held live as a Jitsi call. There were questions from participants, which I answered. A recording of the event will be available before the end of this week. I will update this article to include a link to the video.

UPDATE 2026-03-16 07:49 +0200: The video is here: https://ogeer.org/ox/rec/emacs/.

Below is the text of my talk. It is titled “Computing in freedom with GNU Emacs”. Note that some parts of my presentation only make sense in the video format, though I tried to describe in the transcript what I was demonstrating.

Table of Contents

1. Emacs as a capable text editor
2. Emacs can display graphics alongside text
3. Emacs is an extensible text editor
4. The extensibility of Emacs happens live
5. Emacs puts you in control of your computing
6. The promise of an integrated computing environment
7. The integrated computing environment in practice
8. Integration gives you emergent properties
9. Consistency facilitates productivity
10. The consistency of Emacs in action
11. Use Emacs Lisp to configure everything
12. Emacs is the embodiment of software freedom
13. You do not need to be a programmer to use Emacs
14. The documentation culture of Emacs
15. Emacs has a steep learning curve
16. Why it is worth learning how to use Emacs
17. Good luck and have fun!

Hello everyone! My name is Protesilaos, also known as “Prot”. I am joining you from the mountains of Cyprus. Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

In this presentation I will talk to you about GNU Emacs, or simply, “Emacs”. Emacs is a program you run on your computer. I am using it right now for this presentation.

Emacs is free or libre software. It allows you to read all of its source code, to modify it, and to share it with your customisations. Thus you contribute to—and benefit from—a community of welcoming Emacs users.

I will tell you what all this means in practice and how you can improve your computing experience by switching to Emacs.

Emacs as a capable text editor

When you first start using Emacs, it feels like a regular text editor program. You move the cursor around and edit text. Nothing obviously impressive out-of-the-box. As a text editor, Emacs is highly capable. It has all sorts of keyboard shortcuts that let you efficiently operate on text. You can control Emacs without relying on the mouse, if you want.

Emacs supports the Unicode standard, which is essential for inclusivity of peoples. The world’s scripts can be expressed in Emacs. I am a native Greek speaker. I can use functionality that is built into Emacs to switch to the Greek alphabet in order to write something, such as to say «καλησπέρα», which means “good evening”. I can even spell out “Dao De Jing” (道德经), which is the title of a book from ancient China. Plus emoji: 🙃.

The multitude of scripts can be present in the same document. This is an advantage for multilingual people or those who do research that involves many natural languages.

Emacs can combine several fonts in the same page as well as different colours. Each fonts can have its own attributes, such as for its relative size and typographic intensity. Same idea for colours. On my screen right now, I am already combining two different font styles: that of the heading and the body of the text.

Emacs can display graphics alongside text

Emacs does not limit you to a text-only interface. It can also display images and PDF documents. Below I have a link to an image file. I will now type a keyboard shortcut to reveal this image. And I will do it again to hide it.

[Here is an image that I do not need to reproduce on my website: the specific image does not matter]

This, by the way, is a spot somewhere in my mountains.

Emacs is an extensible text editor

Although you can benefit from using Emacs as a generic text editor, what really appeals to people like me is the option to extend Emacs. “Extend” here means to introduce new functionality; functionality that is not available in the default program you install on your computer.

These extensions are written in the same programming language as most of Emacs. It is a programming language called “Emacs Lisp” or “Elisp”. You can extend Emacs on your own, by writing some program in Elisp, or you can download an existing extension that the community has made available.

For example, when I create a new extension for Emacs, I publish it under the terms of a free software license—the same terms that Emacs uses. Others can then download my extension and use it as they prefer. If they want, they can make their own modifications on top, which may introduce other extensions that I had not thought of in my original implementation. And if those users follow my example, then I can also benefit from their additions once they publish them.

As such, there exists a community of enthusiastic users of Emacs who care about sharing their works with the rest of the world.

The extensibility of Emacs happens live

Users can extend Emacs by running some Emacs Lisp program. Such a program can be as small as a single line. Or it can be as long as it needs to be. It does not matter. Users run the program and Emacs immediately does what the program renders possible.

For example, I am doing this presentation inside of Emacs. But Emacs does not have a “presentation mode” built into it. I thus developed my own extension which empowers me to do what I am doing right now. Let me toggle off my presentation mode to show you what I mean.

Notice that the display has changed. My main font is monospaced now. The headings are smaller than they were before: they are the same size as the rest of the text. There is no number next to the heading anymore. Then, there is a bar at the bottom of my screen, with information about what I am working on. On the side, there are line numbers, indicating where my cursor is in this file. Plus, my current line is highlighted with a distinct background colour. Let me shift it up and down to illustrate this point.

All those elements are useful while I am programming. But they look distracting when I wish to focus on some portion of text. So, I just type the keyboard shortcut I have and—voilà!—I get the style I prefer.

Emacs puts you in control of your computing

You may wonder: why do I even need a customisable text editor? The answer is about control. You are in charge of what you use and how you use it. You can piece together a workflow that works the way you prefer.

This presentation mode I toggled on and off earlier behaves exactly how I want. I decided which set of interface tweaks to apply. Another user may have a different preference in this regard. For instance, they may like having line numbers on the side of the screen. There is no right or wrong answer. What matters is that Emacs gives us the means to do what makes sense to us.

Now apply this principle to everything you can use Emacs for: this will generally be a text-centric project. I run my agenda exclusively through Emacs. I handle all my email correspondence with Emacs. I do programming and I write prose, such as blog posts for my website and books or technical manuals.

For each of these, I know that Emacs will empower me to perform my tasks without arbitrary restrictions. Emacs lets me use Elisp to modify how I do my emails, for instance, and how I present tasks in my custom agenda view.

The promise of an integrated computing environment

Without Emacs, I would not be in a position to control my computing experience to the extent I do. The reason is that I would be relying on many different applications. Each application has its own interface and design paradigms. Each application is configured, if at all, in a way that is specific to it. Customisations in one application do not carry over to other applications. And, if we consider the important implementation details, each application may configurable in its own programming language.

In other words, that is not an integrated computing experience. To have the same degree of control that Emacs makes possible, I would have to hope that somehow all those disparate applications would conspire in my favour. That is wishful thinking. The reality is that piecing together many different applications is an exercise in frustration and the path to a life of ever-distracting context switching.

Having everything I need inside of Emacs ensures that things happen in a manner that is consistent. All customisations are written in the same programming language, namely, Emacs Lisp. What I define for one context, such as this “presentation mode”, can be used in another context. For example, I can have this presentation style enabled when I read emails. Why? Because it can make it more comfortable for me at a certain hour. And I can even automate this, so it happens on its own when I open a new email.

The integrated computing environment in practice

When you work with many applications that do not play nicely together, you cannot do something that the developers have not envisaged. For example, your email client likely does not have access to a “presentation mode”. Same for your other applications.

Similarly, your many applications will not necessarily know how to read and interpret the configurations you have in one application. Suppose you define your favourite colour scheme for your email client. You take the time to consider the harmonies and use precise typography to your liking. Now, you switch to your calendar application and none of that work carries over: you have to do it again, assuming it is even possible.

Colours and styles may seem like relatively small issues. But they are indicative of something greater: disparate applications do not work together seamlessly.

Emacs does not have this problem. You define something for one context you have in mind and, eventually, it can be used in another context that initially you had not even thought of. For example, in my Emacs I wrote a small function to quickly copy the “thing” at where the cursor is. This is useful when I do programming, as the “thing” can be an entire expression, like the definition of a function. But the “thing” may also be a link that I got in my email. I had not thought of that use-case in advance.

Integration gives you emergent properties

The integrated computing environment of Emacs is more than the sum of its parts. This is because you can combine different pieces of functionality in ways that the original developer had not foresaw. You do not simply have your writing, your email, your agenda, et cetera, in Emacs. You have the functionality of one in tandem with the functionality of another. And you draw linkages between them as you see fit.

Consider once again this presentation I am now doing. What I have in front of me is the transcript of my talk. This is a plain text document, which I can edit live. Let me CAPITALISE THIS to illustrate the point. But I have made this file look a little bit like a series of slides. Notice that if I scroll up and down, which I will do now, you only get the current section I am reading from: you do not have access to the rest of the document. This is a feature known as “narrowing”. Let me “widen” the view and then try to scroll again. You will now be exposed to the rest of the text.

The original developer of this “narrowing” facility did not know how someone like me would make use of it. I have it here for my presentation. Each heading becomes its own pseudo-slide. I have narrowing for my emails, when I want to read a portion of the text in a more focused way. It is all about how I choose to do my computing.

Consistency facilitates productivity

For many years before switching to Emacs, I did not enjoy using the computer. I needed too much time to accomplish every single task. I could never find any of my files in a timely fashion because there was no program that would enforce on my behalf a predictable file-naming scheme.

All my notes were eventually not retrievable. My music collection was inconsistent because I needed special software to write the metadata… In short, I was not as productive as I would like to be. And, above all, it was not fun.

Most of my work at the time was centred around the email client and a word processor. The email client had its own subsystem for handling reminders for tasks. The format of those tasks was not interoperable with other programs. I could not access it with my favourite text editor. I thus had to use the clunky interface of the email client, which was never designed for task management—and was not configurable.

And then I had all the cognitively burdensome annoyances of my two applications looking quite different from each other. My emails did not behave like my documents, which made it harder for me to flip between the two and continue writing.

The consistency of Emacs in action

Emacs has elevated my computing experience. I have been much more productive ever since I switched to it. Allow me to demonstrate a tiny bit of what I do each day. I will temporarily exit the presentation mode in this window. Then, in the bottom half of my screen, I will open my email client to read a message I got. After that I will switch to my agenda to record a task and review what I have to do. All this is done inside of Emacs. Time for action!

Use Emacs Lisp to configure everything

What I just demonstrated is a very small part of what I do every single day. There is much more, though I cannot cover it all in this presentation. The point, however, is the consistency of the experience; consistency throughout.

I have customised my email client by writing some Emacs Lisp code for it. I have done the same for the custom agenda I have. And much more.

Every time I work with Emacs Lisp, I acquire skills that are applicable outside the confines of the problem I am solving. For example, by configuring email the way I want, I pick up programming skills that I can then apply to the design of my custom agenda.

This is an investment that pays off more and more. Emacs will grow or shrink to match my evolving needs. Each new workflow I incorporate in my Emacs setup will thus benefit from all the knowledge and features I have accumulated.

I do not have to relearn everything. I do not have to throw away all the work I did. It is here to stay. I do not feel the pressure to try the new shiny app of the day. And, because I am rooted in this stability, I remain productive and efficient.

Emacs is the embodiment of software freedom

I mentioned earlier that Emacs is free or libre software. This means that you can read its source code, modify it, and share your changes with others. Emacs has a license that gives users power. There is no corporation that can take Emacs away from us. It belongs to the community and we all tend to its wellness.

Software freedom is not just about the license. Emacs makes such freedom an irriducible part of its functionality. You can, at any moment, ask Emacs what does a keyboard shortcut actually do. What is the definition of a function. What is the value of a variable. And you may even access the source code to check for yourself.

I actually learnt to program in Emacs Lisp by exercising this freedom. I would tinker with Emacs and continuously check on its state. I wanted to learn how, for example, we move down a line. From there, I learnt that we can move down many lines at once. I then figured that we can move down the lines and then also do something else, such as place the cursor at the end of the line and create a pulse effect to bring attention to it.

Not only did I learn how to configure Emacs, I even wrote tens of extensions for it. I have also authored a libre book titled “Emacs Lisp Elements”. This freedom is not theoretical. I did not have a background in programming, yet was empowered to act.

You do not need to be a programmer to use Emacs

Emacs is extended with Emacs Lisp. If you know how to program in that language, you can be extra opinionated and particular about the way Emacs facilitates your work.

But even without any expertise of this sort, you can still do much of what you like. This is because the Emacs community has developed a rich corpus of extensions. We call these extensions “packages”, as they are distributed in a way that makes them easy to install and then use directly.

The Emacs program you will download on your computer ships with plenty of packages built-in. Depending on your needs, you may not even have to install anything from what the community has to offer.

For example, Emacs ships with a package called org or “Org mode”. At its core, this is a markup language. I am using it right now in this document. Notice how lines that start with an asterisk function as headings. This is what the markup does. Org lets you write documents, including books, handle your tasks, organise your agenda, and much more. It is a powerhouse. There are so many things to discover. Emacs provides high quality documentation that explains everything.

The documentation culture of Emacs

When you install Emacs, you get with it plenty of technical manuals. There is also an interactive tutorial to help you make sense of the basics. Furthermore, when you ask Emacs for help about the definition of a function or the value of a variable, you receive the documentation for the thing you are looking for.

The expectation for all contributions to the official Emacs program is that the code is well-documented and the manual is updated accordingly.

This is true also for packages that the community develops. For example, my denote package has a manual that is over 7500 lines long. It exceeds 52000 words. In it users find detailed instructions as well as code snippets that they can copy and use outright. And this is not the exception. All my packages are like that, to the extent necessary. Most other developers do the same.

As a community, we have access to so much knowledge for free and in freedom. If we are committed enough, we can learn from others and thus become better ourselves. We do so in a spirit of sharing and caring. For me, specifically, all this was of great help. I am self-taught because I received all those great resources from the community. I consider it my duty to give back in kind.

Emacs has a steep learning curve

Because Emacs is extensible, there is practically no limit to what you can do with it. At least this is the case for all tasks that are text-heavy. Emacs will just gracefully evolve to match your requirements, provided you know how to extend it.

The downside, however, is that it is not easy to become proficient in it. If you are committed, you can learn the basics within the first few days. Though you will need to invest a few weeks or months to become skillful. It depends on how much effort you put into it.

What I can say with confidence is that Emacs is not for tourists. You cannot switch to it with the expectation that you will have a good time right away. No. That will not work. There simply is no shortcut to excellence.

I thus encourage you to adjust your expectations. Emacs will make you more productive, provided you are patient enough to unlock its virtually boundless potential. Take it slow and be methodical. Rely on the official manual. Read from it and gradually incorporate its insights into your workflow. The community has plenty of resources to complement that study. But do not skip the official manual. Learning it slowly means that you will become proficient faster than you otherwise would.

Why it is worth learning how to use Emacs

I already talked about the technical side of things with regard to the integrated computing environment. Now combine that with two facts:

1. Emacs is free software. This means that we as a community are its custodians.
2. GNU Emacs has been around since the 1980s. It will stay relevant for decades to come.

Emacs is not old, it is timeless. This is because it can be extended in a spirit of freedom. Whatever new technology or idea we have as a collective, we can eventually bring it into Emacs. This way, our integrated computing environment adapts with the times.

Couched in those terms, the initial effort you will put into learning Emacs is actually not that much. You have to maintain a longer-term view of this project. If are patient, Emacs will be one of the most reliable tools you will ever use throughout your life. And I say this as a handy man myself, having built the house I am in, among others.

I switched to Emacs in the summer of 2019. It is almost 7 years already. I see no reason not to use it for the next 7 years, if I can. I will still want to write articles, do programming, maintain my agenda, and probably make presentations like this one.

Good luck and have fun!

Remember that you will not learn Emacs over the weekend. You are in it for the long-term. Take it slow and you will enjoy the experience.

This is all I have for you today folks. Thank you very much for your attention!

The presentation will be about 40 minutes long. I will then answer any questions from the audience. Anyone can participate: no registration is required. The event will be recorded for future reference. The link for the video call and further details are available here: https://ox.ogeer.org/event/computing-in-freedom-with-gnu-emacs-protesilaos-stavrou.

I will prepare a transcript for my talk. This way people can learn about my presentation without having to access the video file.

Looking forward to it!

This is because of the prevailing economic conditions, which I suspect make it harder for prospective students to justify the old rate of 20 EUR per hour (was 15 EUR for college students).

I will inform current students who may not read this about the lowered price point.

I thank all those who have taken up my coaching offer. Take care!

• doric-almond (light)
• doric-coral (light)
• doric-magma (dark)
• doric-walnut (dark)

Each of them has its own character, while they all retain the minimalist Doric style. Below are some screenshots. Remember that these themes use few colours, relying on typography to establish a visual rhythm.

doric-almond

doric-coral

doric-magma

doric-walnut

Coming in version 1.1.0

All four themes are in development. I may still make some minor refinements to them, though I have already defined their overall appearance. If you like the minimalism of the doric-themes, I think you will appreciate these new additions.

Sources

The Doric themes use few colours and will appear monochromatic in many contexts. They are my most minimalist themes. Styles involve the careful use of typographic features and subtleties in colour gradients to establish a consistent rhythm.

If you want maximalist themes in terms of colour, check my ef-themes package. For something in-between, which I would consider the best “default theme” for a text editor, opt for my modus-themes.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): doric-themes
• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/doric-themes-pictures
• Git repository: https://github.com/protesilaos/doric-themes
• Backronym: Doric Only Really Intensifies Conservatively … themes.

A few people have sent me a message asking how I am doing given the crisis in the Middle East. Cyprus is providing strategic depth to the Western forces. The military bases of the United Kingdom in Cyprus are assets of the war effort and, thus, prime targets for an attack. The rest of the island is not directly involved in the conflict, though it could be caught in the crossfires. The future is uncertain and we hope for the best.

I keep living my life as usual. When I have work on the computer, I am online. Otherwise, I am outdoors doing manual labour or hiking with my dogs. The place is quiet here and nothing happens beside what I just described. If I was not reading the news, I would not even know what is happening in the wider region.

Knowledge of the war does not change my outlook though. I stick to my routines because (i) I am content with them and (ii) I have no viable alternative. Worrying about all the possible vectors of attack does not change my material conditions. I have no means to enact reforms. My power to even change the opinion of one person is limited, let alone any attempt at stopping the military juggernauts of Iran, Israel, USA, and friends.

I am a peasant. Having access to the Internet does not change this fact. I mind my business in my small plot of land. My ambition only goes as far as growing vegetables for this season, while taking care of all the trees I have planted until they are strong enough to not rely on my care. In my little world, there is no calculus over how to control anybody else.

What I do here is inconsequential. If I were to stop doing it, nobody would even notice. The world will carry on. I like this state of affairs. I do not feel any pressure to live up to a certain standard nor to care about people whose lives I do not have under my aegis. The stakes are low, which makes me feel relaxed.

I do not think I am special or particularly good at anything. Anything I do, someone does it better. Everything I have ever achieved, someone has reached a greater height. All I have to show for is honest effort. It is cute, but nothing extraordinary.

I do not assign disproportionate value to myself of the sort “what will happen to others if I am gone?”. Others have to manage, anyway, so they will keep doing what they do. My dogs are the ones who would struggle, though I can only hope that their calm demeanour and the good manners I have taught them will allow them to find food in some built-up area. Beside that, I see no problem or, anyhow, nothing to worry about.

This morning I spent three hours working the land. Every part here embeds my efforts. I like that my sweat drops on the ground. It makes it feel real. I know that even though I am but a visitor in this world, I have for once made a connection with a place.

I never felt attached to a country or a community. Yes, I have had many friends and was always treated with kindness, but I could not ever claim to feel a part of something greater than me. My land gives me a different feeling. It is as if I am growing roots here. Like the oak trees, I affect my immediate environment, though not to dominate but to direct it with respect as well as with determination.

Nominally, I am Greek, Cypriot, European. What do those even mean? I have not been to Greece in two decades. I have spent more time abroad than in my birthplace. Whatever I take from the Greek tradition is available to anyone and not exclusive to individuals of a certain bloodline. Being European is a figment of law and then the imagination. I do not treat people of Europe any different than those of other continents. If someone wants to talk with me, I am happy to talk with them. Where they are from is irrelevant. As for the Cypriot part, it is mostly a description of the fact that I am collocated with a certain group of people. They are nice to me and I treat them with respect, though I still do not see any deep bond there.

I know that my mode of living is uncommon even though it used to be the norm for millennia. That is fine. Each person does what their condition renders unavoidable. My land and these mountains bring me peace. Every morning I am ready to start the day with enthusiasm. I am in a good mood at all times, ready to make jokes where appropriate and get some hard work done. Nothing disappoints me because I am not committed to specific outcomes. I take what comes my way and work with it. What I am committed to are my projects, which I pursue for as long as I can or until they are done.

There is a future in which me and my land are no longer together. It is all part of the process. How proximate or remote that eventuality is does not matter. I remain in the here-and-now. This article shows my ongoing ability to maintain focus, to continue with what I am working on, and to proceed one step at a time. I know that this ability, no matter how much I refine it, is not permanent. My volition will never have the power to withdraw it from the world of impermanence, to render it immune to the workings of the cosmos, and to forever make it a part of a transcendent me.

Wars will keep happening. Not because humans in particular have frailties of character. No. That gives us too much value. Nature all around us exhibits the capacity for conflict among forms of live. What we do is an expression of what is immanent, from bacteria competing with each other, to plants fighting for a place in the sun, to predators that kill their competitors. Same principle for solidarity. We can cooperate, like other forms of life do. An equilibrium is always established. I do not worry.

The first topic we cover is how to place constraints on yourself in order to avoid backsliding into bad habits. This ties in to the themes of discipline and productivity that we discuss in some further length.

Joshua asks me how I got into Emacs and how I started writing/maintaining packages for it. We talk about how Emacs provides for an integrated computing experience. Learning Emacs Lisp allows you to have better control of Emacs.

In this light we comment on Guix and how it is also configurable in a dialect of Lisp. Joshua is using Nix and I learn more about that experience.

Coming back to Emacs, we comment on its relationship to the Unix philosophy. I think Emacs is compatible with Unix. Though my main point is how Emacs empowers us to use the computer in a productive way. It augments the experience.

Simple living and financial independence is another topic we cover. Joshua wants to know how I approach this issue. I explain how it is a matter of controlling your wants. Figure out what the parts of your lifestyle that you would not sacrifice. Then you know how much money you need for that lifestyle.

Joshua makes a connection of the simple life to Emacs and Unix tools. I comment on that as well. Once you start using Emacs and friends, you learn to appreciate the essentials. This you can then apply to other parts of your life.

We move to note-taking, where I comment about Denote. I explain how it is a file-naming scheme, which can also be used to write notes. What matters is how well we can retrieve information. Joshua explains how pen and paper helps him express his thoughts.

Learning on your own is our next point. Being an autodidact myself, I comment how it empowers you. You are able to have initiative and be more independent.

We then explore how things have infinite depth. This is how everything in the world is connected. This also relates to the point about the simple living, since you can have relatively few things that you keep understanding in depth.

Joshua asks me about discipline. This is a capacity we can build up. I give some examples.

Next on our list are mechanical keyboards. Joshua and I are using a split keyboard.

Then we explore the theme of using tools the right way. One example is the Internet as a whole. Another is with LLMs. It helps to know “why am I doing this”, as then you can understand when you are meeting your goals and when you are moving away from them. We explore this in further depth.

I comment on a common mistake we make where we think that the complex must be sophisticated and profound. Whereas there is profundity in simplicity.

We connect the dots through all these as we wrap things up.

Thanks to Joshua Blais for this chat. I had a good time and wish him all the best!

My dogs understand all the verbal and non-verbal cues that signify “I am done with the computer for now”. I had a meeting until 21:00 this night. As soon as I said “goodbye”, the dogs raised their head and started stretching. They know that once I am done, I will spend time with them. Specifically, we will go out for a walk. The only exception is during midday, when it is relatively warm (or extra hot during the summer). The dogs will still want to be outdoors, but only to sunbathe for a few minutes before eventually moving to the shade. We did go for an hour-long walk and now I am back to write this entry before going to bed.

One quality I like in dogs is how consistently eager they are. If it is their time for a walk, they will want to go and they will be excited about it. With people it is more complex, as we sometimes do not feel like doing something even when the prevailing conditions are favourable. We may simply be bored.

Boredom and the mental fogginess it creates influences how we feel about our duties. Sometimes, boredom is a coping mechanism to make us suspend some intense work schedule we are committed to. This is benign and desirable, because we often lack the foresight to stop before overworking ourselves. Though boredom can also be detrimental to us. It is so when it keeps us inert in a situation that we would rather not be in for too long.

I think of boredom as a mechanism of short-term preservation. What it lacks is a view of the long-term, which we can only get through reason. When boredom qua preservation helps us safeguard our vitality from the potential harm of burnout, then it is good for us long-term. Let this be the “preservation of essence”, which inhibits what we would normally do. Though there is also the “preservation of momentum”, else the kind of boredom that makes us stay in the state we are in and inhibits actions that would undo it. This can be problematic for us long-term, such as when we get used to bad habits.

Boredom, then, is neither good nor bad, or it is both good and bad. We have to consider the specifics in light of our life’s trajectory. Only then can be tell if preserving what we have is going to contribute to our wellness. The longer-term view also means that we operate with sustainability in mind. It is not enough for something to be pleasant right now: it must also not be undermining our abilities for the moments after.

This is where my competitiveness comes into play. When it comes to my own decisions, I am a stern and demanding judge. If I think about the situation of me being asked by my dogs to join them on a long walk at night, I can come with a perfectly valid reason to declare how bored I am. It would be the same as admitting to fatigue, which is okay and I would indeed try to keep it short in such a case. Though I did not feel tired and thus would not allow myself the easy way out. Not only did I go for a walk, but it was also an intense one.

My competitiveness is not erga omnes. It is only directed towards me. This is because I only know how I feel and thus sense that a certain course of action is appropriate. The propriety of it does not exist in a vacuum though. It can only be right if the particularities make it possible. As such, I do not make prescriptions for others: they can do as they feel. So it makes no sense to issue a pronouncement along the lines of “go for a walk at night, no matter what”. That would be uninformed and presumptuous.

I keep describing those as “walks”, but they are hikes. We move up the valley. The slope is steep. This is not like going to the park. It requires more effort. The dogs love it, as do I. For them, it is an outlet for their energy and predatory instincts. Once they get back home, they are peaceful. I think the same is true for humans, though we are more complex in our behaviour and our wants.

Humans can express their desire for openness in physical as well as cognitive ways. For example, the hunter and the philosopher make manifest two modes of this same propensity. The hunter will be out there, determined to track the game or wait at the right spot. They will be excited when they find that which they are seeking. The philosopher is on a more abstract quest, albeit one that exhibits the same patterns. They search for the “open space”, which is to say that they cannot just take a claim as a given: they need to examine it, else to look around for what else is out there. And the philosopher will similarly be working towards something that can be acquired.

Openness, then, is not a descriptor for how contemplative one is. It marks a propensity that can be expressed through deeds and/or thoughts. This understanding helps me see the connections and be inspired by phenomena that are at once different than my immediate experience yet unmistakably familiar.

There is something in us which triggers a sense of excitement. Knowing what that is helps us muster the enthusiasm to push against the natural tendency for boredom as preservation of momentum. We need to do as much when we understand that the state-to-be-preserved is not benign for us long-term.

I do this consistently with my walks, but also by controlling my work time. I save myself from burnout by being honest with how I feel about things. Honesty, here, is how I maintain situational awareness with regard to my own condition. I do not mindlessly do something because I am supposed to. I check if it still makes sense in light of the circumstances. If, for example, I am not inspired to look into my Emacs packages for a day or two, then I do not pressure myself thus. I do something else instead, so I preserve my essence.

To know ourselves better helps us do small things each day that have a positive cumulative effect on our longevity. I am inspired by dogs and am also dog-like in this regard. Our walk tonight in the mountains under the moonlight was beautiful. I will welcome the coming day with the same zest and will continue to finds ways to stay as sharp as ever.