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/** @jsxImportSource https://esm.sh/preact */
import { sqlite } from "https://esm.town/v/std/sqlite?v=4";
export function getJanuary2024Newsletter() {
const subject = "#1 — January 2024";
const webUrl = "https://petemillspaugh.com/january-2024";
const targetSendDate = "2024-02-01 23:40:00";
const jsx = (
<main>
<h1>{subject}</h1>
<p>Hello!</p>
<p>
This is the first clipping from my digital garden. I’m still thinking through what I want these to be, but my
rough idea is an email newsletter that I send every month or two (ish) with a selection of stuff I’ve written
since the last clipping. I planted a note riffing on{" "}
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/newsletters">what I want clippings to be</a>, and I’m also writing about
{" "}
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/cultivating-emails">
my custom email setup using Val Town
</a>, if you’re curious.
</p>
<p>
There are relatively few of you subscribed, so thanks for being an early reader! Please do{" "}
<a href="mailto:pete@petemillspaugh.com">reply</a> if you feel like it to lmk what you think.
</p>
<h2>Planting my digital garden</h2>
<p>
This clipping will be a bit longer than most because I’m rounding up January 2024 and also looking back on what
I planted in 2023.
</p>
<p>
In the fall I redesigned my personal website as a digital garden. I cover this on my{" "}
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/about">about</a>{" "}
page, so I’ll save words here. To learn about digital gardening <em>generally</em>, you can skip right to{" "}
<a href="https://maggieappleton.com/garden-history">Maggie Appleton’s wonderful essay</a>{" "}
on the ethos and history of digital gardens.
</p>
<p>
I wrote about all sorts of stuff last year. Most of it relates to the Web in some way, but there are some bits
about effective learning and career ambitions mixed in. It’s the first time I’ve consistently written in public,
which feels good. I still write plenty for myself—the ratio of private to public writing I do is probably like 4
to 1. Here are some of my personal favorites from 2023:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/edison-bulb">
<strong>Edison bulb night mode</strong>
</a>. My coworker <a href="https://www.dannyguo.com/">Danny</a> linked this in a{" "}
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38135892">post</a>{" "}
on Hacker News, which generated some helpful feedback and sent me over the Vercel analytics free tier (feeding
my vanity, ofc)
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/silly-tlds">
<strong>Silly TLDs</strong>
</a>. This is a short, fun one. It’s the thing I’ve written that friends outside of tech seem most interested
in / leads to the most fun conversations
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/my-next-next-next-job">
<strong>My next, next, next job</strong>
</a>. I initially wrote this as a private thought exercise then published it after a nudge from some friends
who I’d shared it with
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/weeks-of-your-life">
<strong>Weeks of your life</strong>
</a>. I built{" "}
<a href="https://weeksofyour.life">weeksofyour.life</a>—an interactive visualization of your life in
weeks—during a couple free days over the holidays. I posted it on{" "}
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38753911">Show HN</a>, which spurred some heady philosophical
discussions about the meaning of life and also handy tips around performance (and again—vanity food)
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/map-in-the-woods">
<strong>Downloading a 30MB map in the woods</strong>
</a>. This was my first stab at a format I came up with called "Brainstorms" where I scribble down a thought
stream of questions on a topic I’m curious about (sans Internet), then return later to research
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/nextjs-search-with-pagefind">
<strong>Add search to your Next.js static site with Pagefind</strong>
</a>. This project was type 2 fun, and I’m really glad I stuck with it. The Pagefind creator{" "}
<a href="https://pagefind.app/docs/resources/#using-pagefind-with-a-specific-ssg">added</a>{" "}
my show ’n tell to the Pagefind docs, which felt good
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://petemillspaugh.com/think-small">
<strong>Think small</strong>
</a>. Of all the things I’ve written, this is what pops into my head most day to day, probably because it’s so
widely applicable
👆 This is a val. Vals are TypeScript snippets of code, written in the browser and run on our servers. Create scheduled functions, email yourself, and persist small pieces of data — all from the browser.