Evolution one

Since the first edition of Ephemerata, my intention was to share things that give a sense of my world and spur discussion, grouping them in a single digest to avoid overloading people with real-time messages. I still think there's value in sharing them (especially the music I find, as it might be hard for most people to come by)—now and then I get feedback that there's something compelling in there—but there seems to be a clear stronger reaction to my original writing (for example, about community or analytics, where people have gone out of their way on various channels to share their impressions), so I'm going to focus more on that.

I initially thought about writing something original for every edition, which would be motivating for me, but zooming out further I felt something unexpected click. I could atomize these texts so that they live on their own space (sort of like a blog) and publish them any time without being tied to the release schedule of Ephemerata. I can write about my experiences, document what I learn, share my thought process, and expand beyond the conceptual or 'reference' focus of my garden—this text is an example of what I might do. By giving myself permission to explore 'transient' things and write as it happens (perhaps even multiple times between editions), I feel a new outlet of expression opening up, and I'm excited to see what I would put there.

Using the same Ghost installation that now powers the newsletter, I've compiled an archive of texts from the newsletter with other long-form writing; as much as I've avoided the traditional blog organization for most of my life, it still feels like a better interface to explore collections of writing than a 'forum'. I'm still using Discourse for comments on individual texts and for newsletter editions.

Setting up a new Tumblr, I've organized the links I share into a chronological stream. This still forces me to take time (contra the urge to post a link in a box and have an app fetch the context) to reflect on what I want to communicate by sharing and be more deliberate. I suspect also that receiving many links on a weekly basis might be kind of overloading (despite my intentions to the contrary), so now there's more than one way to check it out. This also makes it possible to explore or even subscribe to music, articles, or podcasts via tag.

So in summary: 1) the newsletter is still a weekly package and an important rhythm for continuity; 2) the blog is for anyone who just wants original texts (and maybe via RSS Feed); 3) the Tumblr is for getting the links as I share them and also for things that don't make it into the newsletter. I would also re-state about Ephemerata that you don't have to read any of it—it disappears, and if you miss a week there's nothing to catch up on; just come in when you feel like it and know that it's consistently there and ready for you.