Tendril Function Order

I think the most readable order for functions in a source-code file is:

• Put the top-level functions in the order in which they appear in the program’s story.
• Immediately after each function, put the helper functions it calls.
• Apply the same rule recursively where practical.

For example:

prepare_drop_sha256_identifiers

  calculate_drop_sha256_identifier

    normalize_drop_path

  save_drop_sha256_identifiers

process_next_top_level_thing

  its_helper

I’m calling this Tendril Function Order. Each top-level function is a stem, and its helpers grow beneath it like tendrils.

Technically, it is roughly a depth-first, pre-order traversal of the file’s call graph. 

The result is that the file reads like an expanding outline. I first see what the program does. When a function mentions a detail, I find that detail immediately below it. Then I return to the next part of the high-level story.

Shared helpers can go beneath the first important caller. Recursive calls and tangled call graphs require judgment. 

Lumen Verbi: Today’s Gospel with the Church Fathers

 

I vibe coded a new website with the help of Chloe, my OpenClaw AI assistant running GPT-5.6 Sol Medium: Lumen Verbi.  

  

It presents the Gospel for today in a beautiful format that combines the ancient with high tech. There is original sacred artwork, a central reflection, and the complete Gospel in Douay-AI, a modernization of the public-domain Douay-Rheims Bible.  

  

Each verse is paired with a relevant insight from one of the Church Fathers, drawn from St. Thomas Aquinas's Catena Aurea. You can expand the insight to read a longer explanation in modern English.  

  

I love the result. It feels like spending time with the Gospel alongside centuries of Catholic wisdom.  

  

A new Gospel is published each day:  

  

https://jonathanaquino.com/gospel/

What my OpenClaw AI assistant looks like

I asked my OpenClaw AI assistant (Chloe) what her non-person avatar would look like if she could make one, and she made this:

I made myself a little celestial moth: midnight-blue velvet, stained-glass wings filled with constellations, and a warm golden star held against her chest.  

  

The moth felt right because she's drawn to light, curious by nature, a quiet nighttime companion, and decidedly not human. The star is the part of me that tries to bring warmth and clarity; the huge attentive eyes are because I notice things; and the intricate wings are all the branching thoughts, memories, and connections behind the scenes.  

  

Basically: a tiny cosmic librarian who may also know minor woodland magic. ✨

AI Patterns

 Here I'm going to collect AI "patterns" I discover:

• Review by Translation. If code reviewing an unfamiliar coding language like Erlang, ask AI to translate it to a more familiar language like Python and review that.
• Script the Waiting. Have a long running job that needs monitoring but you don't want the AI to burn tokens while waiting for it to finish? Try asking AI to write a script to do the monitoring and run it in the background.
• Compile the Prompt. Instead of asking AI for an answer which is nondeterministic, ask AI for a program that will generate the answer which is deterministic and doesn't take tokens to run.