So it's Thursday and I haven't posted to the blog since Sunday, and I don't think I have another post in me. This was my first crack at #Blaugust and, to be honest, I lasted a lot longer than I expected. I can't remember another recent sustained writing spell, and not one that has gone for so long. I did clear out the drafts folder – what's left are some incoherent thoughts that need more than a light massage – and I broke the writing dry spell as well. So it's been a positive experience. Would I do it again? I wouldn't say no, but I wouldn't jump straight back in. I think I'd be more willing to commit to a shorter time period – a week or two – mainly because I just don't have that many words in me. I know some people have a lot to say, but I tend to listen and absorb more than I need to say. Less is sometimes more, but I recognise that being silent for so long is not great either. What this has reminded me is the importance of these words as records. I've got most of my blogging history tied up on an old WordPress site, and I need to move it here. These posts are markers, reference points along a journey – and they are contiguous. It is one life and one journey, and it seems ridiculous to have them scattered across platforms and spaces. Linking to another URL which is also, in essence, me seems odd and at odds with my desire to be sovereign and control my own stuff.So that's probably what comes next. In the meantime — here's a Blaugust summary. 23 posts. Approximately 19,000 words. Around 95 minutes of reading.** (Roughly the length of a short novella, written in a month, while starting a new job! Not a bad effort) Themes Three broad threads ran through the month: Technology and its discontents — Several of posts form a loose argument: that technology has moved from something requiring intent to something demanding attention, and that reclaiming intentionality is both possible and necessary. Work, learning, and how to do things well — Shared solutions on building learning design teams, working in complexity, moving from waterfall to snowball, and the role of retrospectives. The professional toolkit and the question of portable versus non-portable skills. The binaries of education and why context always defeats ideology. Culture, politics, and value — The politics of care. Labor as the new conservatives. Culture as a complex system. The devaluation of creative work and the cyclical nature of value. The pond metaphor for culture. The town square versus the cozy bar. Topics Covered AI and creativity, vibe coding, the LMS, Obsidian, ActivityPub, Cynefin, Bloom's taxonomy, parasocial networks, the fediverse, Blaugust itself, the Mac setup, writing workflow, silhouettes, the Canvas outage, the rot economy, craft beer economics, fast fashion, music streaming, consent-based decision making, agile retrospectives, learning design teams, portable skills, political ideology, care as a political principle, and the answer machine from religion to Google to AI. Aug 23 — AI and Value Aug 22 — New Laptop, New Setup Aug 21 — Obsidian and the Distributed Learning System Aug 20 — Silhouettes Aug 19 — My Writing Workflow Aug 18 — AI as Translator Aug 17 — The Binaries of Education Aug 16 — Innovation without solving problems Aug 15 — Intentional Engagement Aug 14 — Simultaneous Monologues Aug 13 — From Waterfall to Snowball Aug 12 — The Network Should Be Ours Aug 11 — Tooting from the Blog Aug 10 — Blaugust - 10 days in Aug 09 — Some People Say Aug 08 — The Answer Machine Aug 07 — Diversity is a Superpower Aug 06 — The Professional Toolkit Aug 05 — The Politics of Care Aug 04 — Culture is Complex Aug 03 — Labor are the new conservatives Aug 02 — Blaugust Aug 01 — July 2026