this is naftali's quiet corner.
The technical side of me lives at 3hz.dev. This is where everything else goes: stuff I've written, what I'm reading and watching, and whatever I can't stop thinking about.
I think too much and I don't really mind it.
writing
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The Hastur Protocol
The opening of the story I'm still writing. A reverse engineer, a binary nobody should have sent, and a streetlight with no pattern.
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The USB Port Was the Problem
A Bazzite live USB that wouldn't boot. I blamed the stick, the GPU and Secure Boot. It was the port the whole time.
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Beating The Game
A short story about nihilism, grief, and whether the game was ever worth playing. It started as a thought I couldn't shake and I had to finish it.
reading and watching
reading
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Meditations Marcus Aurelius ★★★★★
I've read it more than once and it hits different every time. The stoic idea of not catastrophizing is something I actually try to practice.
on permanent rotation
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Tao Te Ching Laozi ★★★★★
81 short chapters and I still haven't run out of things to get from it. Wu wei, effortless action, keeps showing up in how I want to live.
on permanent rotation
watching
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Vinland Saga ★★★★★
It actually earns its philosophy. Thorfinn's arc is the most honest look at violence and peace I've seen in anime.
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Steins;Gate ★★★★★
The slow burn pays off like almost nothing else does. I think about the convergence stuff more than I should.
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Frieren: Beyond Journey's End ★★★★★
It's such a quiet show and it still wrecked me. It's about grieving slowly, and loving people whose lives go by a lot faster than yours.
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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ★★★★☆
My wind-down show. Lighter than what I usually watch, but really fun. Rimuru is a great main character.
still watching
hobbies
meditation
Sitting with whatever's there without jumping in to fix it. I don't really try to empty my head. I just watch it, kind of like watching weather go by. Some days that's hard. Most days it's worth it.
birdwatching
Standing still and paying attention to small things resets me in a way nothing else does. I keep a life list. Not to compete with anybody, just as proof I was actually there.
- american kestrel
- red-tailed hawk
- great blue heron
- cedar waxwing
- baltimore oriole
- + more
piano
Still learning. Probably always will be. I like that it tells you right away when you're wrong.
about this place
who is naftali?
Naftali is my Hebrew name, the one people who actually know me use. Online I'm kestrel or 3hz. This site sits somewhere between public and private. The professional version of me is at mitchellberg.org.
why a separate site from 3hz.dev?
3hz.dev is the alias: security, linux, the technical stuff. This one is for everything that doesn't fit there, like writing and what I'm reading and thinking about. It's softer and less organized, and that's on purpose.
what does "naftaliro" mean?
Naftali is a Hebrew name that means "my struggle" or "one who wrestles." The "ro" is just what I added to get a handle nobody had taken yet. I like that the name is about effort. The wrestling is the point.