Peeking at Pika

The more things change, what was that about staying the same?

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If you’re reading this on the web, you might’ve noticed things look different around here. The place is admittedly barren and unfurnished, walls only have a coat of primer, and you might be catching a whiff of that “new hosting smell” (sorry not that one, I had horseradish at lunch). It’s like new car smell but more…coppery maybe—help me out here, what does the internet smell like? The old adage says home is where you hang your hat, so here’s my fedora on Pika’s hook.

Astute followers may recall my previous waffling careful debate on switching to a new blogging platform, and that I had “decided” on Kirby. Those who know my sometimes caffeine-inspired geekery by now will understand why I use that term loosely. The fine print explicitly states I reserve the full right to change my mind, repeatedly, and at a moment’s notice. When it comes to this matter I’ve done so more times than an anxious flea. Yeah I don’t know what it means either. No doubt you have questions like, “How do you get your head so shiny?” or “Have you always been this fucking weird?” The answers are, respectively, a quick buff using the tear droplets of my enemies; not always—I’ve had to work at it. Perhaps the more pertinent question is, why Pika?

Why not?

Post over, nothing more to read here.

No I’m not going to leave you hanging like that. I’m weird, not a sociopath. I could rhyme off any number of reasons, from the great team at Good Enough—whom I’ve pestered numerous times with questions, suggestions, and bug reports—that are behind this platform, to being the new shiny, to the really nice editor that Pika offers. Any and all of these have merit, but the most important reason is that I truly miss writing. Words feed my inspiration; my happiness. Reading them from others is all fine and good, but without sharing them myself I feel a disconnect.

Life has had no shortage of recent stress and struggles, but I’ve let those serve to distract me for too long. These are perhaps the times when I need to keep pushing through the most with creative endeavours, instead of waiting for what feels like the opportune moment for inspiration, and motivation, to strike again—they never do. So why not try a platform that makes those valuable words I long to share, a priority?

My ongoing debate was always between a tool that allows me full control, versus one that just gets out of my way (assuming I can let go of said need to control). Tinkering with tools doesn’t put proverbial prose on paper, only writing does. In fairness, Pika is not without any customization options, and I’ll most definitely be putting its custom CSS through the paces (that fresh coat of paint is still missing, remember). I may just find it’s a happy enough medium between control and less friction. Content has always been king; it will always be. Inherently, I know this. So I’m going to try listening to myself—ignoring the weirdness of course—and see how this goes.

I invite you to come along for the ride.