Peace with Glass

I’ve struggled with Liquid Glass since its introduction. At first, I embraced it, but clearly it was not designed with Mac in mind, so I used accessibility settings to “turn off” Liquid Glass, but clearly macOS is not designed to thoughtfully remove UX concepts. So, finally, I went back to first principles.


My Mac desktop works best as a calm workbench rather than a dashboard. The left edge holds stable anchors and frequently used tools that rely on spatial memory, while the top-right column is reserved for incoming files so Finder’s natural placement behavior supports file triage. The center remains mostly empty to preserve clarity and allow temporary grouping of work items. Only persistent instruments that genuinely influence behavior are allowed on the surface; unused informational elements are removed. When the desktop fades into the background and simply supports seeing, sorting, and moving files, the design is doing its job.

• Aliases are used on the left as app icons. I am still deciding what apps belong there.

• The Dock is deprecated to app task monitor, hidden at the bottom, it shows only active apps.

• Complimentary to the hidden Dock is the hidden Menu Bar because it looks like ass with glass. I prefer keyboard commands, anyway.

• The widgets on the right probationary. I need a constant reminder of the future, lest I lose myself in the present.

• The clock is iPulse, a system monitor for the Mac that I have been using for literally decades. 
* The “hard drive” is on the bottom right because that is where I got used to it being—not the top right—decades ago.

• The background and Macintosh SSD icon are a result of a conversation with ChatGPT. Not much overlap in the Venn diagram between Bauhaus and Zen. At the end of the discussion, I asked it to create some “Bauhausesque” wallpapers and Mac icons. I chose these.

• Regarding Appearance settings, I set appearance to always Light, Liquid Glass to clear, multicolor theming, clear icon and widget style.
* Regarding Accessibility settings, I set Reduce transparency OFF, Differentiate without color ON, Show window title icons ON, Show toolbar button shapes ON, Menu bar size LARGE

As to why “turning off” Liquid Glass through accessibility settings does not work, it’s part of how the interface communicates depth and separation. Everything is designed with transparency in mind: layout, spacing, colors, shadows, everything, so the system still expects those cues, and without a graceful deprecation mode the UI feels…off.

For me, this is what peace looks like.

I love that it’s 32°F/0°C and we get new flowers daily.

Most days I am like… but some days I am….

Trader Joe’s really brings it for flowers, but my wife takes it next level in arrangement.

Weihnachtstod, “Christmas death,” is traditionally celebrated in Germany on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day by “casting out” the spirit of Christmas anxiety with hot cocoa and inviting calm and order into the home. But since we have a second story deck, I like to go big.

Sublime sweet potato chai at Ashville Chocolate, subtle sweetness, lightly spicy, a treat too good for this world, yet here it is.

Is this a glitch? Is Charlie Brown Thanksgiving the new U2 album? Or is Apple testing content insertion into the watchlist on the Apple TV app? Don’t eff with my queue, Eddy Cue.

#AppleTV

At Dobra Tea in Asheville, green tea for my wife, I partook of Masala spiced(!) chai, cut with milk and dark, dark chocolate sugar. Three cups later my chest is vibrating like a tuning fork–love it!

I’m pretty sure psych grad students are doing A/B experiments between the smell in the orthopedist’s office, which smells like someone set off a lysol bomb, and the lobby of the medical office building blaring 80s pop music through ceiling speakers.

One last fine day. If only human senescence was as beautiful (and quick) as a Japanese maple.

Along the French Broad River in Ashville, a chain leak fence repurposed as community art and therapy. Tie a ribbon and let it go.

Reconstruction of the Black Creek Greenway is leaving it less green, deconstruction of the trees that overhung the trail being well underway. It used to be a shaded valley stroll during summer days, and maybe it be will again in 50 years, glad I got to experience it, sad I will not again.

Fish are nice, but these turtles got a real Gamera vibe at Pine Knoll Shores aquarium.

From the mountains to the sea, the Pine Knoll Shores aquarium covers a lot of exhibit ground in North Carolina, this being a sleepy screech owl all screech out.

Ten seconds of video from the Pine Knoll Shores aquarium because river otters.

#Animals

A Gulf Fritillary doing brunch outside the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium on Emerald Isle, NC.

#Butterfly

Another Sandpiper at Emerald Isle with acquaintance in background–there are no friends among beach feeders.

Getting a close-up with a Sanderling at Emerald Isle takes patience, or its evil twin obession, and some ancient personal tech, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX10 lens camera attached to an iPhone 16e.

Looking a little more weathery early in the morning at Emerald Isle doesn’t close the beach for breakfast.

A surprising number of deer strolling about Emerald Isle. I guess they prefer the off season for beach vacations too.

Emerald Isle, not exactly sunrise, four minutes later, but still.

They blend right in.

Tis the season to enjoy fried dough with sugar, lots of sugar, and pumpkin spice while hiding from my wife.

Looks like it’s Boogen season.

#RickandMorty

A sign of the times at the downtown arts festival.