I want to try something new with this blog. Most websites treat reading as consumption: you open a page, read it, and close the tab. But reading often starts a line of thinking that continues long after the page is gone.
What if the page could support that thinking without getting in the way? I’ve added marginalia, a place for your thoughts next to mine.
Stop when something catches your attention
When a sentence makes you pause, select it. An action appears next to the passage so that you can capture what crossed your mind before you continue reading.
You don’t need to switch to another app or collect quotes in a separate document. The note starts where the thought did, attached to the words that prompted it.
Think in the margin
Write as much as you need. A note can capture a quick reaction or a question you want to revisit. It can also help you work out what you actually believe.
These notes are yours. They stay in your browser on your device, next to the essay where you wrote them. Nothing is uploaded or shared, and I can’t see what you write.
Return to your train of thought
When you return to the essay in the same browser, your notes return too. The marked passages reconnect each thought with its original context, so you can pick up where you left off.
The essay now holds what I wrote alongside what the text made you notice and where your thinking took you.
Take your thinking with you
Browser storage is useful until you want to keep a durable copy. Print the essay to PDF and your notes appear alongside the passages they belong to.
The PDF gives you a copy you can archive or read away from the browser. You can also give it to an LLM and continue working through the essay with your own observations already included as context.
Marginalia is an experiment in making this blog support the process that happens around reading. Try it on an essay and follow a thought into the margin. When you’re done, take it with you.