As I dive deeper into using Nix for my own software as opposed to "just" using NixOS to configure my systems, I recently found myself wanting to package a Clojure application with Nix for the first time. And since I'm one of the people who don't really see the benefit in leaving behind a working, easy-to-use tool like Leiningen for the archaic "write your own build scripts"-style of the official Clojure tooling, I needed to find a way to nixify Clojure applications that works for Leiningen-based projects.

I had like 3 blog posts lined up for last month but got stuck on two of them and didn't feel motivated enough to write the third one (yet). That means I've broken my streak of posting every month, but that's fine – it'll all come later eventually. Instead, I found out about the latest WeblogPoMo challenge via Robb and felt compelled to participate. Essentially, it's an AMA where you answer questions that other people have answered before and/or you add new ones to the pile!

When Heart of Clojure was announced earlier this year, I hesitated. I had heard the name before, and I had heard praise of the last instalment 5 years ago. One of the reasons I wasn't sure whether I should go was certainly cost, but that wasn't the main one. The main reason was anxiety. A fear of being an outsider to a group of people who already knew each other and being left to myself as a result. This wasn't particularly rational of me. Throughout the last 2 years, my introvert brain created those same "oh I don't think you'll have a good time there"-doubts for all of the decisions that led to some of the best and most memorable experiences of my life.

Another year, another Interrail tour. It's not a tradition yet, but it's my third use of this European rail program. The first time was last year, when me and a few other people I'd met in Paris went on a journey through a bunch of European cities in just a few days. This year, my brother and I went on a week-long vacation on a pretty similar route.

There's a common misconception about studying computer science at university: that it's supposed to make you a (good) programmer. A sarcastic remark that uni is useless usually comes with it. After all, how much of what you learn will be useful for the software developer job you're most likely going to do later on? Clearly, uni wastes time on things that don't matter to most people, so computer science degrees are essentially a failure.