Most Recent

Recently, I've gone somewhere, done something, or seen something amazing I've shared in these pages. Here, you'll find my most recent posts, covering a wide range of topics that pique my interest. Whether you're passionate about travel, captivated by photography, enchanted by music, or intrigued by computer programming, there's likely to be something here for everyone!

Dive in and explore the latest insights, stories, and adventures that I have to share. Enjoy your stay!

The Invention of Fonts

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/7/2026		Page Views: 50
A historical exploration of how fonts evolved from handwritten scripts to movable type and modern digital typography, tracing calligraphic origins, East Asian printing innovations, Renaissance italics, and the development of bold and underline as tools of emphasis.
Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s) (1020 words)

Printing began as a craft of translation: printers reproduced the familiar shapes readers already knew from manuscripts, so the first printed books deliberately echoed scribal hands. In Europe this is most visible in the mid‑15th century, where the dense blackletter of early presses was chosen to match the look of medieval bookhands and reassure buyers that printed books were legitimate continuations of manuscript culture. That impulse—to make reproducible pieces that look like handwriting—set the basic relationship between calligraphy and type: letterforms were not invented in a vacuum but were abstracted, regularized, and simplified to survive the mechanical processes of casting, setting, inking, and pressing.

How Fonts Moved From Print To 'Puter

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/7/2026		Page Views: 44
How fonts evolved from physical metal type to digital typography, tracing the shift from hand-set sorts to phototypesetting, PostScript, TrueType, OpenType, and modern variable fonts, including how digital letterforms are rendered, hinted, and rasterized on screens.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (532 words)

The word font originally referred to a concrete inventory: a complete set of sorts for one size and style used by a compositor. That practical, material meaning shaped how printers talked about type for centuries—a font was what you bought, stored, and set into a chase. As printing moved from hand‑set metal to mechanical and phototypesetting, the idea of a font broadened to include families of related cuts and the notion of interchangeable styles. When computers entered the picture, the term migrated again: a font became a digital file or resource that a program could load, select, and render. This semantic drift reflects a deeper technical shift from physical objects to encoded descriptions of shapes and behaviors.

I Really Don't Carrington, Do U?

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/7/2026		Page Views: 25
An in‑depth exploration of the 1859 Carrington Event, the science behind extreme solar storms, and how a modern geomagnetic disaster could impact satellites, power grids, GPS, aviation, and global infrastructure—along with what recovery and preparedness would require.
Estimated reading time: 9 minute(s) (1916 words)

In 1859, the Carrington Event hit a world that ran on muscle, steam, and paper. Today, it would hit a world that runs on electricity, satellites, and microchips. The physics hasn't changed—but our vulnerability has.

A List of Fonts

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/6/2026		Page Views: 54
Hashtags: #vb.net #FontFileInfo #Programming #FontFileList #Fonts #PrivateFontCollection #TrueType #OpenType #OrganicaWeb
A detailed guide to the FontFileInfo and FontFileList classes in VB.NET, showing how to load, inspect, and manage custom and system font files, detect available styles, build display names, and create preview fonts for use in applications like OrganicaWeb.
Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s) (1650 words)

We all love the FileInfo class for all it does for us in terms of managing a physical file. But sometimes, especially for specialty files, we want more. For example, in the case of a font file, we'd like to be able to directly query things like the font family name, or available styles (such as Italic or Bold). So here's my FontFileInfo class, plus a FontFileList collection to put 'em in. And, as a bonus, the collection can load itself!

A Listbox of Fonts

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/6/2026		Page Views: 58
Hashtags: #FontListbox #WinForms #Owner-DrawnListBox #FontPreviewControl #OrganicaLib #CustomUserControl #DragAndDropFonts #FontFileList #FontFileInfo #vb.net
A detailed guide to the FontListbox UserControl in OrganicaLib, explaining its architecture, owner-drawn font previews, drag‑and‑drop support, and best practices for encapsulation and extensibility in WinForms.
Estimated reading time: 9 minute(s) (1943 words)

Once you have a FontFileList loaded with fonts, you need a way to display them to the user. The FontListbox control is a specialized UserControl that presents fonts in a visually rich, owner-drawn ListBox—showing both the font name and a preview of what the font actually looks like. It also supports drag-and-drop, making it easy to integrate into design tools where users might want to drag a font onto a canvas or text element.

All About Fonts

Font support in OrgranicaLib. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

This section introduces the typographic backbone of OrganicaLib—from historical lineage to runtime integration. We begin with a dual-track overview: the evolution of print fonts as expressive design systems, and the rise of computer fonts as scalable, programmable assets. From there, we pivot to implementation: a self-loading font list powered by OrganicaLib, a visual font chooser with live preview and style toggles, a SectionFont panel for assigning families across semantic roles, and a custom FontListbox that renders each font in its own typeface. All components are override-friendly, deterministic, and designed for real-world edge cases—including system-vs-site font resolution, dynamic row height, and sample text rendering.

A Christmas Day Hike

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 12/25/2025		Page Views: 190
Hiking on Christmas with the grandsons.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (390 words)

A tapping on the door separating my apartment from the rest of my daughter's house woke me to let me know Christmas was in progress! So I stumbled into the main room to watch the Littles (Dominic and Gianna) open their presents.

Finley, 2025

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 12/25/2025		Page Views: 156
Hashtags: #Dogs #Finley
My best doggie photos of Finley from 2025.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (180 words)

Finley, our little French Bulldog, is going on 3 years old. No longer quite a puppy, and still not housebroken, he's more alert than ever, constantly on the lookout for dangers to the household, even when they're on TV.

Lilly's 2025

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Posted: 12/24/2025		Page Views: 131
My best doggie photos of Lilly from the year!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (159 words)

2025 has been an interesting year for Lilly. First, in spring she lost her adoptive sister, Ella. Almost immediately afterwards, we moved into a new home in Chandler. But as long as she has her fish, and I am there, she doesn't really care where she lives.

Home Improvements: The Next Generation

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 4/11/2025 Posted: 12/23/2025		Page Views: 66
I may be 74, but I can still assemble furniture!
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (332 words)

My new "generations" apartment is larger than the room I was in, in the last house. That means I can set up an office computer for writing, composing, and more, in a room that I don't sleep in! So I got busy looking for inexpensive furniture at Amazon and ordered a desk, chair, and peripheral table. Then I had to put them all together!

Decorating the Tesla

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 5/4/2025 Posted: 12/23/2025		Page Views: 66
I've had to protect my car from Elon's friends as well as his enemies.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (545 words)

I've had my Tesla for a couple years, now, and I do love the car. I do not like the company, or its owner. But I do love the car. Sadly, since I've gotten it, I've had several occasions where I returned to it after shopping, only to discover it had been deliberately dinged while I was away. Not even the sticker on back declaring the car to be "pre-madness edition" discouraged people from banging it with their carts or fists or whatever.

Finley, 2024

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 12/31/2024 Posted: 12/23/2025		Page Views: 144
My best doggie photos of Finley of 2024.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (60 words)

The thing is, Finley is just so darn cute. Every time I see him curled up dozing in the sun, or watching TV with me, I just can't help taking a photo. And sharing them.

Best of Dogs Playing: 2024

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Occurred: 12/31/2024 Posted: 12/23/2025		Page Views: 117
My best doggie photos from 2024.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (135 words)

I'm a strong believer that no one should own just one dog, unless it's an invalid who never leaves home anyway. Doggies need friends just like humans do, especially if their human has to be away for doctor appointments or even vacations. I'm lucky that the three dogs I had in 2024 were the best of friends. Plenty of play fights, but no actual disagreements. And they're such fun to watch!