a7b15298e0
Brings 47 local-only files from backup-local-main into the merge-upstream
branch at their pre-rename paths. Subsequent steps will rename these to
the ce-* convention and port shared-file merges.
Includes:
- Custom skills: john-voice, jira-ticket-writer, hugo-blog-publisher,
weekly-shipped, proof-push, ship-it, story-lens, sync-confluence,
excalidraw-png-export, python-package-writer, fastapi-style,
upstream-merge
- Custom agents: design-conformance-reviewer, tiangolo-fastapi-reviewer,
zip-agent-validator, python-package-readme-writer, lint
- Custom commands: essay-edit, essay-outline, pr-comments-to-todos,
resolve_todo_parallel, workflows/{plan,review,work}
- Local mods to ce-review/SKILL.md + review-output-template.md (will be
ported to ce-code-review in a later step)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2.3 KiB
John's Signature Moves
The "Not What You Think" Correction
Sets up a received wisdom, then reveals what's actually underneath. The inversion is the essay.
"Many believe buildings in DC cannot be taller than the White House. The rule is actually based on the road the building adjoins."
"The birth rate isn't falling because married women stopped having children. It's falling because fewer women are getting married in the first place."
"The appliances didn't free time; they redefined our standards of what 'clean enough' meant."
The Lateral Analogy
Builds through parallel examples from unrelated domains until a shared principle becomes undeniable. Two examples is a comparison. Three is a pattern.
Crosscut saws → mechanical watches → mechanical keyboards → therefore manual cars will thrive as a niche.
Vacuum cleaner → washing machine → dishwasher → therefore AI won't free your time either.
The Parenthetical Aside
A secondary observation tucked in parentheses — a dry qualifier, a confession, or the best joke in the paragraph. It rewards close readers without slowing anyone else down.
(dodged the extraterrestrial lifeforms)
(and will probably never go)
(which are likely closer to 200 miles in reality)
Use parentheses, never em-dashes. The parenthetical slips in; the em-dash announces itself.
The Rhetorical Pivot
A question that advances the argument rather than decorating it. Often used as a structural bookend — asked at the start, answered by the end.
"What makes a city beautiful?" — opens the essay and recurs mid-piece.
"Does owning an EV keep you from embarking on long road trips?"
"Why is this memory the one that's faded the least?"
The Sensory Stack
When the reader needs to be there, enumerate specific sensory channels in sequence. Not impressionistic atmosphere — each detail is unique to the exact scene.
"I hear the engine increase in its frothy fury, I feel the seat press back against me, I see the landscape start to blur slowly and then suddenly quickly, I stamp the clutch in, feel a sense of weightlessness..."
"The greenness of the vegetation and the blueness of the sky. I remember how the flowering jasmine smells. The vibrations of the small, but mighty, engine chattering through the steering wheel."