I'm happy to announce that my personal Obsidian theme, Soft Paper, is now available.
Install Soft Paper—with one click!
The short story for this theme is that I wanted a cozy theme that made it feel like fun to type on digital paper. Working in Obsidian skews technical, so to balance that out I wanted something that feels...soft.
For the past two years, I had Soft Paper as a hidden theme within someone else's theme. The problem with using that other theme was that it was loaded with a lot of cool options, but those options—combined with my tweaks—noticeably slowed down the entire experience. That's why I'm beyond thrilled just to have my own clean theme.
It works. It works fast. And it's got a few options I really like.
In Soft Paper, you can condense "wasteful" space in places like bases.
The result is that you can get another 33% of visible notes.
It's got a nice dark mode too. I typically go to dark mode on airplanes so my screen doesn't bother others with its brightness (and so it's harder to read).
Will you try out the Soft Paper theme?
A birthday update & reflection
My birthday happened this week. It was a big one. I was able to celebrate it early in Montana with family and then celebrate the actual day in NYC at a play starring Daniel Radcliffe, whom many of you would know as Harry Potter.
I have a whole new level of appreciation for Mr. Radcliffe, who seemed to expend as much energy before the show, as during it. He was interacting with as many audience members as he could. It turns out this is part of what makes the show work—because the audience plays a part. At one point, we shared deep eye contact from about a foot away as I belted out the line on my card. At another point, in order to impress a different audience member, he ran right over to Cynthia and asked her to fix his hair. Cynthia quickly neatened his sweaty, tousled hair. Memories we definitely won't forget.
As I enter another rotation around the sun, I enter it in good spirits and feel lucky to have lived the life that I have, which feels like multiple lives with all the things I've devoted my full attentions towards. I've noticed my heart opening up more and more in recent years—that my emotions, the good ones, are much more on the surface. I surprised myself, and definitely my mom(!), during a Mother's Day mother-son dinner when I teared up quite a bit upon hearing of the passing of my dad's old friend. But I was also eternally grateful that I called that friend of my dad just over a year ago, for the first time, and heard his one-of-a-kind stories about my dad, about the trouble they got into, and about how much he admired him in true friendship. This summer marks the 20th anniversary of my dad's passing and I miss him terribly. I am envious of my friends who have gotten to spend all of these adult years with their dads, to have 20 more years of memories...to have a parent become a friend. In moments like these, my own memories sustain my heart, like the times where my dad would stop everything and ask, "Do you know how much I love you?" Then he would spread his arms wide as he could and say, "THISSSSSSS Much."
The new Obsidian Community site
The new Obsidian Community site was a huge, multi-month undertaking affecting more than 4,000 plugins representing 120 million total downloads. That doesn't mean it was perfect for everyone involved. I was surprised to learn that all-around great person Zsolt Viczián, whose Excalidraw plugin is a beloved plugin, was rather negatively affected. Here he talks about why:
It's worth noting that Obsidian's CEO, Kepano, replied in the comments. This is an interesting situation in Obsidian's history. If you care about such things, watching Zsolt's video and reading the comments will give you a unique perspective into the Obsidian plugin ecosystem.
Idea Exchange
RIP Google search? Google continues to redesign its search experience from the classic list of links to a more interactive experience, driven by AI. But is that what people really want for internet search? I feel like there's a time and a place for an interactive tool, but there's still very much room for the list of links that I grew up on as well. Fortunately for me, Kagi is filling that internet search void nicely.
How to Not Know. That's the title of a valuable book by Simone Stolzoff. It's about the value of uncertainty in a world that demands answers. A way to frame this for those familiar with the LYT frameworks is the "value of embracing your gardener in a world that demands architects." Check it out.
Studying works! Sports and business journalist Mina Kimes recently won a million dollars for charity in All-Star Celebrity Jeopardy and shared about how she prepared here. She clearly did her homework, and it's now helping a lot of people!
What makes a memorable commencement speech? Eric Schmidt got booed recently during his pro-AI speech. I have to admit I was a lot more fond of his 2009 speech encouraging everyone to turn off their computers and connect with people. The connections in our knowledge are valuable, but the connections to others in our lives are just as important if not more so. Do you have a favorite commencement speech? Let me know what it is and why!
I'm getting back to the book, I'm getting back to the book, I'm getting back to the book...wish me luck!
Stay connected,
Nick
P.S... Have you tried the best theme ever? Have you ever typed on...Soft Paper?
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