In July last year, I decided to try to do a “365 project”, i.e., take one photo every day and publish it. I’ve tried this before, but I’ve never succeeded in getting more than 150 days or so before quitting. I think the main reason was that I took it too seriously and tried too hard to make a “good” photos. This was stressful and caused me to quit the whole thing. This time I decided that it was enough to have a photo … no matter how bad it was.

I set a goal of 200 photos, i.e., a personal high score. Well, yesterday I managed to publish my 365th photo and thus completing my 365 project. Yay !!!! You can find them here (as a blog) or here (as a photo album) if you want to see them.

So, what was my experience of this project? I think it was rather fun, there were of course days when I really didn’t feel like taking a photo and a few days when I almost missed it. But I think it was a good experience, and I learned a few things that I haven’t thought about too much before, my favorite is that small details + the environment can make a photo more interesting. And that it’s always possible finding something to photograph.

Will I continue? Hmmm, I don’t think I’ll continue with one photo per day. I would like the posts to be a bit more freeform, i.e., allowing more than one photo and also more text. I really like the combination of photos and text, think small stories. I’ll see what I end up doing … if I continue.

Ojojoj, hur ska detta gå

MBPC day 4: Thorny. Spring is so ugly

Daily life viewed from above

MBPC day 3: Experimental. Being uninspired I decided to try a longtime exposure. Result: a huge “meh”

MBPC day 2: Photo. I should print more

MBPC day 1: Switch. Trying out an ereader to see if I should switch

Hmmm, I downloaded the mastodon iOS app and I think it’s slightly confused. Three languages in one dialog … two isn’t uncommon but three isn’t something I see every day

It’s important to enjoy whatever snow that is left (he loves snow).

Så sant

Just so I remember this in case I ever need it again

# This script assumes it's launched from inside the micro.blog export folder

import frontmatter
import os
import re
import shutil
from dateutil import parser

basedir = '/Users/jem/Desktop/TestOutput'
imgpat = re.compile('')
domainpat = re.compile('https:.*/uploads/')
blothead = 'title: {}\ndate: {}\n\n'

# I really dislike doing this but ...
imgdata = {'destdir':'',}

def copyimage(src,dest):
    shutil.copy(os.path.join('uploads',src), os.path.join(imgdata['destdir'],dest))
    
def imgproc(m):
    orgpath = m.group(1)
    
    # Remove domain info
    p = domainpat.sub('',orgpath)
    n = '_'+os.path.basename(p)
    copyimage(p,n)
    return '![]('+n+')'

def formatblotpost(post):
    # Update content and copy image files
    modifiedcontent = imgpat.sub(imgproc,post.content)
    if post.metadata['title'] == '':
        post.metadata['title'] = post.metadata['datetitle']
    return blothead.format(post.metadata['title'],post.metadata['date']) + modifiedcontent
        
def create_destdir(newbase,curfilepath,poststamp):
    (odir,oname) = os.path.split(curfilepath)
    newdir = os.path.join(newbase,odir)
    # Check if the dest dir exists, this should be the year & month folder
    if not os.path.isdir(newdir):
        os.makedirs(newdir)
    postdir = os.path.join(newdir,poststamp)
    # This should not be possible but ...
    if os.path.isdir(postdir):
        raise Exception('Post dir already exists')
    else:
        os.mkdir(postdir)
    return postdir

def handlepost( destdir, source ):
    print(source)
    
    try:
        postcontent = frontmatter.load(source)
        meta = postcontent.metadata
        pdate = parser.parse(meta['date'])
        pdir = create_destdir(destdir,source,pdate.strftime('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S'))
        postcontent['datetitle']= pdate.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
        # Deep sigh
        imgdata['destdir'] = pdir

        # Create actual post
        of = open(os.path.join(pdir,'index.md'),'w')
        of.write(formatblotpost(postcontent))
        of.close()
    except FileNotFoundError as arg:
        print(arg)

for root, dirs, files in os.walk('.'):
    if not 'uploads' in root:
        for f in files:
            if not '.DS_Store' in f:
                handlepost(basedir,os.path.join(root,f))

I needed a walk today so I persuaded a friend to come along (the persuasion consisted of holding up the collar 😋)