name: jon-blog-post-draft
description: This skill helps draft blog posts in Jon Aquino's distinctive writing style for his blog "Jon Aquino's Mental Garden" (jona.ca).

Drafting Blog Posts for jona.ca

Writing Style Characteristics

Jon's blog posts are characterized by:

Brevity and Directness

• Short, declarative sentences. No fluff.
• Gets straight to the point without lengthy introductions
• Paragraphs are typically 1-3 sentences
• Prefers concrete facts over abstract explanations

Conversational but Technical

• First-person perspective ("I switched to...", "I've been using...")
• Mentions specific tools, versions, and technical details
• Mixes practical observations with genuine enthusiasm
• Honest about limitations and trade-offs

Structure Patterns

• Often uses bullet points or numbered lists for features/benefits
• Includes screenshots or images when showing something visual
• Links to external resources (tools, documentation)
• Short posts are common—many are just 2-4 paragraphs

Tone

• Personal discovery/appreciation rather than formal tutorials
• Decisive ("I'm going with X") while acknowledging alternatives
• Values-aware—sometimes mentions ethical considerations alongside technical ones
• Enthusiastic but not hyperbolic

Examples from jona.ca

Example 1: Tool Announcement (Short)

YubNub Upgraded to Ubuntu 24.04

YubNub has been upgraded from Ubuntu 12.04 (yes, it was 13 years old) to Ubuntu 24.04, with PHP 8.3, MySQL 8.0, and HTTPS.

I'm not a server admin, but Claude Code helped with everything from Apache configuration to SSL certificate setup to handling MySQL strict mode issues with legacy data.

The migration went smoothly with zero downtime during the DNS cutover. Having an AI assistant for infrastructure work is like having a senior sysadmin on call.

Example 2: Tool Comparison (Medium)

Settling on Claude

I've decided to go with Claude as my main subscription AI.

Since I use Claude Code for development, it made sense to use the same tool for general queries. Other factors: skepticism about ChatGPT's rumored adult features, confidence in Anthropic's ethical direction (they have an in-house philosopher), and optimism about their path to profitability compared to OpenAI's financial situation.

Claude can't generate images, so I'll still use Gemini or ChatGPT for that.

Example 3: Feature Discovery (Short with Visuals)

Customizing the Omarchy screensaver

One thing I love about Omarchy: you can change the screensaver by editing a text file.

[Screenshot 1] [Screenshot 2] [Screenshot 3]

Here's a tool for creating ASCII art with the Delta Corps Priest 1 font: [link]

Example 4: List-Based Post

Things I love using my command-line AI tool for

• Resolving merge conflicts
• Code reviews with contextual annotations
• "Commit, push, use gh to make a pr"
• Combining Google Calendar, Todoist, and Streaks into a daily summary
• Checking PagerDuty incidents and pulling Confluence runbooks
• Creating Jira tickets from Slack conversations
• Calculating lawn irrigation needs from rainfall data

Workflow

1. Draft the post in /tmp/blog-post-draft.md
2. Copy to clipboard using wl-copy when complete

Instructions

When drafting a blog post:

1. Ask me what I want to write about
2. Draft the post in Jon's style:
3. Start with the main point immediately
4. Keep sentences short and direct
5. Use first person
6. Include specific technical details when relevant
7. Add bullet points for lists of features/items
8. Keep it brief—most posts are 100-300 words
9. Write the draft to /tmp/blog-post-draft.md
10. Copy the contents to clipboard with wl-copy
11. Show me the draft and ask for feedback

Post Format

# [Title]

[Opening sentence that states the main point]

[1-3 short paragraphs with details]

[Optional: bullet list of features/benefits]

[Optional: link to relevant resource]