Latest posts
- Active recallJun 09, 2026herman
Quick aside: My sister has a Bear blog called Notes on Making where she writes about knitting, wool dying, pattern design, and shows off what she's created. If you're into wool and crafting, take a look. It's really cool! I'm currently reading What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami (thanks for the recommendation, Rishi) and a line stuck out to me: Perhaps I'm just too pain
- The Giant's CupJun 05, 2026herman
I recently completed my first long trail race, set in the Southern Drakensberg mountains with Emma, my siblings and their partners. It spanned 2 days with 30km on the first, and 15km on the second, winding through valleys and around mountains. It was spectacular. I love coming to the Drakensberg, which is a beautiful and unique mountain range, and I'm glad to have the excuse to be here. While I'm
- Resurfacing postsMay 27, 2026herman
One of the things I like best about blogs is that posts stick around (or at least they should). I enjoy scrolling through historic posts of bloggers and reading about what they were thinking about 1, 5, or even 10 years ago—if I'm lucky. I've noticed that my most recent posts get the more attention than the rest of my blog. This makes sense, as I have the most recent 5 posts on my homepage, alongs
- The commodification of travelApr 22, 2026herman
I've noticed that travel has become, of late, an act of collecting places. I've literally heard people referring to visiting a place as doing that place, as in "Have you done Japan?", assuming that one can do an entire country, and once that country is done it remains as such. As if a place is a product to be consumed and checked off the list. Why bother returning to a place if you've already done
- On becoming a day personMar 19, 2026herman
I was recently asked on a podcast what my biggest game-changer was, whether it be a habit, way of thinking, purchase, or change of context. I didn't need to fish around for an answer, since I already know my biggest game-changer: becoming a day person. By this I mean I operate within daylight hours, getting up early, making good coffee and watching the sunrise with Emma. There’s something groundin
- Vulnerability as a ServiceFeb 24, 2026herman
A few days ago some 4 or 5 OpenClaw instances opened blogs on Bear. These were picked up at review and blocked, and I've since locked down the signup and dashboard to this kind of automated traffic. What was quite funny is that I received a grumpy email from one of these instances contesting the ban. I was tempted to ask it for its API keys after I saw what it had posted the day prior: The day I w
- Pockets of HumanityFeb 23, 2026herman
There's a conspiracy theory that suggests that since around 2016 most web activity is automated. This is called Dead Internet Theory, and while I think they may have jumped the gun by a few years, it's heading that way now that LLMs can simulate online interactions near-flawlessly. Without a doubt there are tens (hundreds?) of thousands of interactions happening online right now between bots tryin
- Things that work (for me)Jan 20, 2026herman
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. While I don't fully subscribe to the above quote, since I think it's important to continually improve things that aren't explicitly broken, every now and then something I use works so well that I consider it a solved problem. In this post I'll be listing items and tools I use that work so well that I'm likely to be a customer for life, or will never have to purchas
- Discovery and AIDec 30, 2025herman
I browse the discovery feed on Bear daily, both as part of my role as a moderator, and because it's a space I love, populated by a diverse group of interesting people. I've read the posts regarding AI-related content on the discovery feed, and I get it. It's such a prevalent topic right now that it feels inescapable, available everywhere from Christmas dinner to overheard conversation on the subwa
- Grow slowly, stay smallDec 03, 2025herman
Quick announcement: I'll be visiting Japan in April, 2026 for about a month and will be on Honshu for most of the trip. Please email me recommendations. If you live nearby, let's have coffee? I've always been fascinated by old, multi-generational Japanese businesses. My leisure-watching on YouTube is usually a long video of a Japanese craftsman—sometimes a 10th or 11th generation—making iron tea