Welcome to Jon's Journal. This is my personal website where I post my random thoughts, pictures, projects, and anything else I feel like writing about.
Sometimes we take on personal pet projects that we have expectations for, but then get side-tracked with other more-pressing matters.
This blog has been no different. I wanted to get a quick start to it so I set it up in a managed hosting environment. That’s fine to get something going quick, but then you realize you lose a lot of granular control in a shared hosting environment.
Unfortunately, due to being busy at work, getting my daughter ready for college, adopting another dog, and dealing with some health issues, my blog took the backseat.
Fortunately I am finally able to reclaim some time and work on it once again.
First step which I completed last night was spinning up a new droplet on DigitalOcean and setting up my stack. Got everything configured and moved my files over.
Next step which I’ve been debating is if I should restore all my old blog posts from like 15 years ago or not. I finally found all the backups and while 90% of that content is no longer relevant I kind of feel it belongs here.
Hopefully now that I am finally able to work on this site again I can get back to writing some original content.
Cheers,
–Jon
When I decided to start blogging again for the first time in many years I decided to use this as an opportunity to level up my skills with Tailwind and accessibility, etc.
I think I had two iterations of this template that I built in Tailwind, but could not get them to look how I wanted. Just little tweaks here and there that were not as easy to iron out as I had hoped. When choosing to use a UI framework you sometimes obscure the complexity of things.
So back to the basics. This actually turned out to be a good time to refresh my CSS skills and learn some of the newer stuff added to CSS over the last ten years such as the light-dark( ) function for defining different color schemes for light or dark mode browsing.
Digging into the colors, I managed to hit WCAG 2.2 AAA for color contrast for all my text elements in both light and dark mode.
Next step is cleaning up some more of the ARIA markup to make the site work better for those using assistive devices.
Once I am done with the various housekeeping tasks I can get back to actually writing.
Cheers,
–Jon
I have spent some evenings and weekends lately building a new template for this blog. As a new project, I can’t just do a new project for the sake of doing it. There has to be some end result that I gain from. In this case, I am using this as an opportunity to work more with Tailwind to build out the user interface. I’ve been using Bootstrap for like 12 years now and decided to try something different.
Another goal with building out the new UI with Tailwind is I am going to try and focus on building it from the ground up with accessibility in mind. So to that end, I am hoping to refine my skills further.
Unfortunately I cannot really get into the groove with writing more consistently until I get this site looking just how I want it. I am too stubborn haha.
Cheers,
–Jon
I used to be diligent with my blogging back in the aughts, and would post at least two or three times a month. It was mostly an expressive exercise to keep my mind sharp.
But as with many things that interest us in life, sometimes other things end up eating into our available time, we lose focus or interests wanes.
Here we are in 2025, and I feel I need to start writing again. The last time I actively maintained my old blog I was in my 30s. Now I am in my 50s and feel the need to write more than ever.
So consider this the point of origin of Jon’s Journal 2.0 where I will be sharing my thoughts about life, politics, programming, hockey, hiking or whatever else interests me on any given day.
Cheers,
–Jon
I bought my first SLR, the Nikon D80, in 2007 not long after my daughter Amanda was born.
Like any new parent, I was eager to get the best possible photos of my child and I always liked photography but never actually spent money to get a good camera. I had always used point and shoot cameras and never understood or cared to learn about the underlying principles of photography.
With the D80 and armed with knowledge from reading Bryan Peterson’s fantastic book, Understanding Exposure, I set out to see the world through the lens of my camera.
It had become quite a fun hobby – a creative outlet that I was lacking and needed.
Flash forward a few years and I was hardly shooting. It was getting harder to find time to go out and shoot. I was preoccupied with other stuff in life. Worst of all I was lacking inspiration.
This year, I have made the time to get behind the camera and enjoy it once again. I re-read Understanding Exposure, cleaned up all my glass, and headed outdoors.
I am now pushing my comfort zone more than ever with higher ISO settings, shutter speed priority, etc. Rediscovering the fun in finding that one really good shot that you’d be proud to frame on your wall.
One big change I have made is that instead of just going out with my camera to find things to shoot, now I figure out what I’d like to shoot before I go out. This way I can plan on a time of day, what gear to bring, etc. Planning has made my trips out with the camera much more satisfying, and a much better yield of “keepers” from the day’s shoot.
I have no illusion about being a professional. I know the limits of my skill and I like doing it on my terms and not under pressure for a paid job. But I have taken quite a few shots I am proud of and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
Find that thing you enjoy and get back at it!
Cheers,
–Jon