Made the feed… thanks to @wordpress.org and @heropress.bsky.social for supporting all of the different pathways to community and professional development.

Walking to the store much easier today (went Sunday while it was still snowing), sidewalks cleared - it looks like 2 feet of snow all around. Jamestown, NY - lots of snow!

Part 2 from my block theme development exercise - migrating an existing website to a new design is always a challenge, but I did learn a few things about how block spacing actually works in #WordPress - alwaysopen.design/block-theme-...

@topher1kenobe.bsky.social kindly invited me to contribute my #WordPress story to HeroPress, a site dedicated to sharing the stories of and connecting people in WordPress. Check it out: heropress.com/essays/how-a...

Today on WFMU: On Observations of Deviance w/David Mittleman (Give the Drummer Radio stream), Öppet Archives: Swedish Free Jazz Round Table. Öppet is a historically important series of albums focused on Swedish creative improvised music of the 1960s and 1970s (7 p.m. ET).

Before the Hays Code slammed the door, Hollywood told bolder stories. Morocco (1930), now in the public domain, preserves a fleeting vision of a Hollywood before the hammer of the censor fell. Learn why pre-Code films still matter ⤵️ blog.archive.org/2026/01/20/i...

Complete! “Forest,” oil/canvas, 36x44” - maybe this title will change - from a scene earlier this Fall that I photographed at the Audubon Community Nature Center. #OilPainting #LandscapePainting #JamestownNY

“Like ‘slop’ text, images & videos, the ability to create small, personal apps and websites with LLMs is fascinating. But I don't believe it's ultimately good for the creators or for the users.” rosswintle.uk/2026/01/trus... I've been writing this all weekend. Longer than I thought it would be.

I’m not supposed to work on the weekends but this isn’t client work so it’s okay (bargaining). Read about how your humanity is required when writing with AI: alwaysopen.design/ai-writing-f...

JUST ADDED: Can't make it to the Internet Archive for our Public Domain Film Remix Contest screening party? Join the LIVESTREAM to watch the winning films and honorable mentions! LIVE from the Internet Archive January 21 @ 7pm PT Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/1980757251...

Started a short series on migrating a real life website with a custom classic #WordPress theme to a block theme, first installment: alwaysopen.design/block-theme-...

Looking for a digital accessibility job? Or looking to hire someone for an accessibility role? A11yjobs is a digital accessibility job board. www.a11yjobs.com

Painting tree limbs like figures. I may need a better ventilation system (it’s cold with the window open) … still in progress. A scene from the Audubon Community Nature Center this past fall. #OilPainting #LandscapePainting #JamestownNY

Shameless self-promotion: I’ve reissued my “Paintings Delilah’s” catalog, collected works from 2004 - 2017. Portraits of night life, clientele, and most importantly the folks behind the bar! #DelilahsChicago #Punks #OilPainting emilyrapport.com/product/pain...

Good read:

A little more progress on this forest scene (oil/canvas, 36x44”) - #wip

If your goal for 2026 is to survive 2026, there's no shame in that. That counts for something.

Remember when I posted that lots of plugins doesn't make #WordPress slow? I've now made a video about it! The answer is the same, it doesn't, so you don't HAVE to go watch the video, but if you could go like and subscribe that would be super awesome. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvB-...

Started an oil painting this week, the first in too long. I am not ready to return to work on Monday and I feel that unpleasant, internal pressure to “get ahead” by working over the next few days. This year must be different else what be the purpose of it all? She said rhetorically.

Back porch, watercolor/yupo, 9x12” - #Watercolor #LandscapePainting #JamestownNY

Finished reading, “I am Not Sidney Poitier,” by Percival Everett - I like the way he writes and the mixture of high art (literature, philosophy) and low (slapstick, puns) and a heap of satirical reflections make for a good read.

Cole Ave, Holidays - watercolor/yupo, 11x14” - #Watercolor #LandscapePainting #JamestownNY

“Winter Afternoon, Prospect,” watercolor/yupo, 9x12” #Watercolor #UrbanLandscapePainting #JamestownNY

Certain kinds of tracks…

Managed to stop working at 1pm today, which I consider a major behavioral shift, walked downtown to the Public Library (best institution ever) and picked up some winter reading, “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles and “Beautiful and the Damned” by F. S. Fitzgerald. Officially off the clock…

Not being at all productive, just reading and watching the snow fall, seems the correct action today.

Trees, watercolor/yupo, 11x14” - maybe a study for a larger oil painting - #JamestownNY #Watercolor #LandscapePainting

Just had a chance to use nested CSS, very exciting… :)

Prospect, watercolor on mineral paper, 12x9” - #JamestownNY #watercolor

Please enjoy this winter wonderland:

Happy mail day! Thanks @monteiro.bsky.social for the bonus bear and fish…

Is your #WordPress site not sending emails like it should? I made a little video both explaining probably why not as well as what to do about it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s1b...

Reading @webcami.bsky.social's Web Designer Habits newsletter is like getting a weekly business coaching/therapy session. I spoke with Cami about her professional journey and her contributions to the web design community. #WordPress thewpminute.com/how-daily-ha...

Should I make Pho … or do some catch-up work… hm…

It is that time of year, so I thought I’d mention that my book YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION is very much a thing you can buy for any tech workers in your life. Or yourself! You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold—or hey, ask your library to grab a copy! ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-de...

The CSS is Awesome Game is coming up on Winging It and our first special guest joining @miriam.codes and me is @chriscoyier.net Join us Thursday, December 18 at 1:00PM ET: www.youtube.com/live/xcEnjGP... We'd love your help by filling out our 5-question CSS survey! tally.so/r/QKoaEY

I was one of several people interviewed about the so-called National Design Studio, and how their design work fails both legal and moral imperatives: www.notus.org/trump-white-... Glad to see this getting more coverage.

I made a video on how to make a Link-In-Bio page using only built-in Gutenberg blocks in #WordPress. It's SUPER easy, I think everyone should have one of these. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJR3...

Pennsylvania friends! Two webinars tomorrow 12/3 on data centers vs communities. The one at noon features Sen. Katie Muth and Rep. Jamie Walsh. (Register: bit.ly/BPBDataCenters) The one at 7 pm focuses what’s going on in communities where data centers are proposed. (Register: bit.ly/BPPDataCenters)

Maybe last painting for a bit - back to work… #SceneInJamestown

Untitled - 9x12” watercolor / Yupo #LandscapePainting #JamestownNY

Cole Ave, Afternoon Sun - watercolor/yupo, 9x12” - #JamestownNY #SceneInJamestown #Watercolor #LandscapePainting

Every year around this time, I ask folks to consider doing something in support of Native people. This year, please join me in supporting the Native Organizers Alliance as they build grassroots power, defend Native voting rights, and equip our people for collective struggle through skill-building.

Finally started (and finished!) a painting - “House in the trees,” 12x9”, watercolor/Yupo - #SceneInJamestownNY

After 7 years of selling courses, I'm finally doing a Black Friday sale. I'd held off for from doing sales in general for all this time, but had some smart people get me on board with it, so I figured if I'm going to do it, I'll go big: 40% off + Flexbox Simplified for free.

Testing digital accessibility isn’t one size fits all. I break down how automation, AI and manual testing each contribute, and why you’ll want all three. Let’s talk about your approach. buff.ly/kB01jJ4 #DigitalAccessibility #DigitalInclusion #TestingStrategy #WCAG

🦊 “Artificial intelligence isn’t going anywhere. It’s the future.” I hear that line a lot. The thing is, futures are tricky. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-li...

WordPress didn’t start in a boardroom. It started with one frustrated blog post that’s still online, and that post kicked off the project that now powers around 43% of the web. I wrote up the full story here: iterativewonders.com/2025/11/21/i...

Humans tend to favor the things we enjoy and that we have learned to be successful at. If blogging feels like “Ugh, I have to write this,” try reframing it: “I want to document what I know so I can stop explaining it repeatedly.” #ContentStrategy #SmallBusinessBlogs alwaysopen.design/small-busine...

I want to uplift again this brilliant piece of writing and thinking by @shannonmattern.bsky.social - placesjournal.org/article/extr... - I think that everyone who is interested in libraries would benefit from reading it.