Yesterday was my birthday — and this year, I spent it in Yelapa, Mexico: a beach town so remote you have to catch a water taxi just to find it on a map. No roads. No cars. Just jungle, cobblestone footpaths, and the promise of doing absolutely nothing — perfectly.

To mark the occasion, we set off on what was supposed to be a simple hike to the famous Yelapa waterfall. According to local legend (and several half-confident directions we got from a guy selling tamales), it was just a casual stroll through town and into the hills.

Impressionist-style view from Casa Flourish, Yelapa, Mexico – August 2, 2025

There’s something about waking before the world stirs that feels a little like stealing time. This morning, on the southern curve of Yelapa’s bay, I found myself wrapped in that kind of stillness—the kind you can’t manufacture, only discover.

Casa Flourish sits quietly above the water, nestled into the hillside like it’s been waiting for centuries to host mornings just like this. The sky was still dark when I slipped out of bed, long before anyone else in the house stirred. I made my way to the palapa roof, coffee in hand, and took in the moment. There were no distractions—just the rhythm of the water, the gentle clink of moored fishing boats, and the occasional distant crow of a rooster reminding the jungle it was almost time to wake up.

If you’re thinking about starting a Zettelkasten on paper, the first question that usually comes up is: “What tools do I need?”

Good news: you don’t need much. That’s one of the biggest advantages of the Slipbox Method. It’s low-tech, low-maintenance, and high-impact. You don’t need a Notion dashboard, a $500 scanner, or a second monitor. You just need the right physical tools and a system you trust.

Below, I’ll walk you through exactly what I use to run my analog-first slipbox—and why I chose each tool.

What Is the Slipbox Method?

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by information—books you’ve read, podcasts you’ve listened to, or ideas that hit you while walking the dog—you’re not alone. The issue isn’t that you’re forgetful; it’s that the human brain excels at processing, not storing, information.

Enter the Slipbox Method: a durable, low-tech system for capturing ideas on paper, interlinking them, and letting them mature into publishable insights.

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The Core Idea

Why I Decided to Self-Host

I’ve been working on rockcampbell.com, and decided I wanted full control. That meant running Hugo on my own home server, behind Nginx Proxy Manager, using Docker — and pointing my domain directly to it.

What followed was a surprisingly long series of gotchas…

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Building the Hugo Site

• Used the PaperMod theme
• Installed Hugo Extended manually (because the Arch repo version was too old)
• Created my first post (and later deleted it)

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Docker Setup

• Used nginx:alpine to serve the public folder
• Mounted the public/ folder using Docker Compose
• Exposed it to Nginx Proxy Manager via the shared web network

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Nginx Proxy Manager

• Configured the domain rockcampbell.com
• Issued SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt
• Initial requests worked, but subpages failed over HTTPS

Fix: The issue was a misconfigured baseURL in hugo.toml, and SSL wasn’t working until I reissued the cert.

Someday Today Will Be a Long Time Ago

“We should enjoy today while it’s here…
Because someday today will be a long time ago!”
— Ziggy (Tom Wilson)

The older I get, the truer that line hits.

There’s something disarming about a Ziggy cartoon dropping a bit of timeless wisdom—like your uncle in sweatpants suddenly quoting Marcus Aurelius.

And yet… here we are.
Someday today will be a long time ago.

The Pencil in Space: Why Simplicity Wins in Thinking and Writing

There’s a story that’s been passed around for decades, especially among fans of clever engineering and minimalist wisdom. It goes something like this: When NASA began sending astronauts into space, they quickly encountered a problem—ballpoint pens wouldn’t work in zero gravity. So they spent years and millions of dollars developing a high-tech pen that used compressed nitrogen to push ink onto paper in a weightless environment. Meanwhile, the Russians faced the same problem… and used pencils.

Why “Interneting is Hard” is the Best Free HTML & CSS Tutorial You’ll Find

If you’re just starting your journey into web development, you’ve probably felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of tutorials, courses, and resources available online. After working through several chapters of Interneting is Hard, I can confidently say this is hands-down the best free resource for learning HTML and CSS fundamentals.

What Makes Interneting is Hard Special?

Created by Oliver James, Interneting is Hard isn’t just another tutorial—it’s a comprehensive, beautifully designed course that treats beginners with respect. The tagline “HTML & CSS Is Hard (But it doesn’t have to be)” perfectly captures the philosophy: acknowledging that web development can be challenging while providing the tools to make it approachable.

Getting Started with My Learning Blog

Published on May 25, 2025

Today I decided to start documenting my learning journey. Instead of using a complex static site generator, I’m building my own simple blog with HTML and CSS to really understand how everything works from the ground up.

Why Build My Own?

While tools like Hugo and Jekyll are powerful, I wanted something that would help me learn HTML and CSS more deeply. By building my own simple blog structure, I get to: