Who are you, and what do you do?
I'm an artist, programmer, and crafter. I make projects exploring language and poetry through code and websites. I'm originally from Hong Kong and currently live in Boston. You can find me on my website over at kayserifserif.place.
What hardware do you use?
A MacBook, connected to an external monitor and, sometimes but not always, a keyboard and mouse. The mouse is a generic wireless one that I bought at Target once and that still, you know, works.
The keyboard holds much more sentimental value. I fell in love with Mintlodica some time ago, and, after much dithering, finally bit the bullet and bought a set of Dark Magic Girl keycaps. Artists like Mintlodica and Amy Wibowo (@sailorhg) are a huge inspiration to me for showing that there is a place, and a breath of relief, for femininity and softness and wild-running imagination in these technical spaces. The keycaps were a joy to assemble. I loved deciding which magic symbols on alternate keys would best correspond to the function of the key. They were put together with silent switches and they sit atop a matching lavender Bakaneko 65 keyboard that my partner gifted me.
Beneath the keyboard and mouse is a play mat masquerading as a desk mat. It's a beautiful pastoral fantasy landscape produced by Many Worlds Tavern, and it makes me so happy to look at this little green guy relaxing on a rock next to some sheep every day.
I listen to music through Shokz OpenFit over-ear ear buds. They're barely in my ear at all, partly by design and partly because I'm sure I'm not really wearing them correctly. But the result is that I can hear my surroundings while playing music or listening to a video, which is definitely my preference.
My nice wood IKEA desk has two little drawers in it. The top one holds cables and useful things for devices. The bottom holds my current notebook (from Middle Dune) and immediate supplies for a couple of small craft projects. I'm currently working on a knitted sweater and a cross-stitch inspired by Palestinian tatreez.
Knitting has been my big adoration over the past year. My mother gifted me with a set of interchangeable wooden needles (thank you thank you), which means that I can knit any project with any yarn and not have to worry about going out to buy another size or length of needles. The rest of my knitting kit currently consists of a crochet hook (for rescuing dropped stitches), a cable needle, stitch holders, stitch markers, a measuring tape, and a thread cutter that I picked up at an introductory sashiko event in college.
And what software?
I'd like you to know that this question is what made me finally switch from VSCode over to VSCodium, the open source version of the Microsoft app, so that I could say that I do in fact use it, and am not lamenting uselessly that I wish I were using it but haven't made the very easy switch over for some reason. (So, I use VSCodium.)
My theme has been Moegi Dawn and the slightly fancier Rosé Pine Dawn when I feel like it, or Rosé Pine Moon on the rare night. My editor typeface has been Cascadia Code.
To pair with my editor, I use the default Terminal app, spruced up with the Belafonte Day color scheme and the robbyrussell oh-my-zsh theme.
My browser of choice is Firefox. Within Firefox, I use VoiceOver for accessibility testing, which I've learnt on my own a little but would love to be more proficient in.
I use Dictionary and Digital Color Meter, so frequently. The built-in dictionary on the iPhone might be the thing I've missed most since switching to Android.
I use BitWarden for password management, Alfred for opening apps and files, Rectangle for moving windows around a bit, Calibre for occasionally managing e-books. I have been using NetNewsWire for RSS, but am still exploring options for syncing feeds.
Zotero is an app I don't use much now, but have loved and now miss from academic days.
On my phone, I use PocketCasts for podcasts. Transit, for transit. Signal for messaging, when I can; otherwise, a mess of SMS, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and WeChat.
Merlin Bird ID and Seek by iNaturalist have been two great joys of my urban outdoor life. (I'm trying to pay a lot more attention to birds and trees.)
What would be your dream setup?
I'm working on the look and feel of my room and my home, which is what I think of when I read this question. It gets better and warmer with every passing month of little tweaks here and there.
I have my bookshelf, which always feels like it's running out of space.
I also have a newly organised craft shelf. It holds textiles and paper on one shelf, painting and drawing supplies on another, and fiber arts on the last.
I'd like to make more room for art in this space, and to be more intentional and caring for it. I currently have my zines and little artist's books, which I've accumulated from art book fairs and gifts and swaps, shelved alongside massive tomes. I want to make dedicated space for those delicate and delightful objects. I also have these gorgeous posters and prints and fabrics taped, fairly dorm-room-style, to the walls, and some of them are horribly bruised in the corners from the consequences of badly adhered tape or putty. Like my iframe gallery of my friends' websites on my website, I want to have more prominent physical reminders of my friends, loved ones, and communities in my space.
A more nebulous dream is to have more physical manifestations of my digital work and interests, too. This space is close to feeling like my version of an artist's room, but doesn't quite yet feel like my personal brand of curious, romantic, intricate, and poetically-bent programmer. Moveable poetry, or magnet poetry, or letterpress code, maybe, an e-ink screen or two? I think these experiments should have a kind of life outside my monitor, too.
My dream setup is a working and resting place that is beautiful and comfortable and makes me want to dive in. I'm getting there, I hope.