I’ve tried a few times to start a blog. I’m lazy and each attempt has had too much friction, either in publishing or composing. This time I’m trying an approach with a bit higher setup cost in exchange for, hopefully, a much lower posting cost over time.

For this approach I’ll be using my default notetaking app, Obsidian to handle composition. I’m already using it on a daily basis to take notes for work and music and I write comfortably and quickly in markdown. In order to publish I’m using the obsidian-enveloppe plugin to enable one-touch git commits/pushes with Obisidan’s command palette. Enveloppe is configured to commit directly to the GitHub repo that deploys this site.

Before finding this configuration I tried:

• manually managing a static site with Jekyll, Hugo, etc.
• publishing markdown to neocities via Git
• probably some other things I’m forgetting

None of these attempts formed a sticking habit, either because:

• publishing was cumbersome
• writing in a web editor is scary+annoying
• I am lazy and forgetful

I also find that my tone becomes overly formal when composing in VSCode or if I start thinking too much about the publishing process (i.e. writing a commit message, considering website navigation etc.). This setup feels about as close to long-form tweeting as I can get, which I’m hoping will elicit a more authentic & casual voice in my writing.

Generally I don’t expect this blog to follow a consistent topic. I have some ideas for posts about music production philosophy and I intend to do some diary-style documentation as I begin my third LP. Beyond that I don’t have a great sense of where this will go, and I’ll either keep up writing with some consistency or I’ll know once and for all that the universe does not intend for me to become a steady blogger.

- jeff vlush lastname