For a long time, the Archives page of my blog has been pretty bland. A clickable array of each year and month that I’ve posted to this site. I’ve given it some spit and polish and now it offers a little more interactivity, a few more ways to unveil the legacy posts (for whatever they […]

Unlike with last month’s Saoirse Ronan Appreciation Week, this weekend’s Pedro Pascal as a father figure marathon was wholly accidental. I ended up watching the newest Fantastic Four movie, The Last of Us’s first season and The Mandalorian and Groku. Only when I was watching him as Mandalorian, I realised the common thread with all of these is him being a father figure: to his son Franklin, to his daughter Sarah, to Ellie and to his protégé Groku. Here’s my spoiler free mini reviews for all…

With the rise of version control systems (VCS) like Github, Pull Requests, often called PRs for short, have become very popular with programmers. They are basically a place to gather together all the bits and pieces for a particular thing you are working on before you merge in the new changes from your feature branch into the main branch of your repo. It's useful as a way to mentally separate out changes, and gives you a high level view of what been going on in the project historically without…

I’ll add an image of the finished product when I actually make it again. The title’s just a reminder to me. Recipe below. My classic birthday cake choice is strawberry, but I’d like to not actively kill myself with a decadent option. This one has the flavor, a mousse-cake-ish texture, and is definitely moist. I […]

I had forgotten that Reading the Meow 2026 was coming up until I started seeing blog posts appearing, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to fit anything in. I also couldn’t think what to read, since I had gathered up all the obvious candidates on previous iterations of Mallika’s event. And then – Blood on the Cat by Nancy Rutledge came through the door! It was published in 1945 and is now being reissued as part of Penguin’s American Mystery Classics series. I’ve had a few of these sent, but this…

Happy summer solstice. ☀️ Two days in the office, then three days off to burn some leftover holiday before it expired. I was exhausted so I spent the time catching up on chores & admin and otherwise silently recharging. It was mostly too hot to do anything. I did make it out on my bike to Mr Bingo’s shop on Friday morning to buy a self-affirming print, and to Black Cat Café for lunch on Thursday & Saturday. I also rode to the big Sainsbury’s in Whitechapel to stock up on “extra fiery” ginger…

I’ll add an image of the finished product when I actually make it again. The title’s just a reminder to me. Recipe below. These were an attempt to make sugar cookies that don’t get loaded with, you know…sugar, or a heaping of fat. They taste like a baked confection, but they’re more akin to maple […]

In four recent posts, I explained how President Trump is seizing large parts of the Power of the Purse from Congress and how this has led to restructuring within Congress, the Executive Branch, and the courts. In general, those in each branch adept at bipartisan problem-solving have been sidelined in favor of those that are either hyperpartisan themselves or at least unwilling to moderate the President’s hyperpartisanship. In this final post in this series, I examine how the new, presidentially…

I picked up an OnionBrand A5 in Polished Saddle for my planner. Piper Trading Company Ink Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). A first look at some of the Piper Trading Company inks, from the same folks who brought you Franklin-Christoph!They Made It Smooth, But Is It Good? BIC 4-Color Ballpoint (via Inkdependence). It doesn’t need to be good to still be a classic. :) Meet Your Maker: James White, Bonecrusher 7 Studios (via Pen Addict - Caroline). I had the pleasure of meeting James and buying a…

In the introduction of Alan M. Davis’ 201 Principles of Software Development, the author wrote: If we were to examine the set of software engineering principles from 1964 they would look downright silly today (for example, always use short variable names, or do whatever it takes to make your program smaller). Today’s principles will look equally silly in thirty years. Alan M. Davis, 201 Principles of Software Development, page 5. That book was published in 1995, so it now has been thirty years.…

Greetings and salutations, readers. It's been a few weeks since I shared one of these, mostly due to the job search being somewhat exhausting, but I've got a backup of links so it's time to get back in the habit. And of course, it's Father's Day and I want to wish all the dads out there (myself included) a very happy father's day. This weekend I got to officiate my first wedding (for my brother-in-law and his fiance) so my plan today is to do... nothing. Enjoy your links! Mastodon and…

Just a title.Currently Listening: Rostam “Different Light”Reply via email

I’m blogging this case only because it’s one of those “what are we even doing here?” lawsuits. Cases like this belong in the CCB or, better yet, should not be brought at all! * * * The case involves a photo called the “Parker Train Photo.” It was taken in 1962, but it was first published in a book in 2000. The plaintiff claims it licenses the photo for fine art reproductions for up to $5k each. Messiah ran a blog initially entitled “Ask Fashion Kitty.” In 2009, she wrote a post entitled “Style…

I want to wish a happy Father's Day to all the dads and father figures out there! I love my boys, Clarkson and Gibson, so much and am excited to have another holiday to celebrate with them. Being a father is among the things I enjoy the most in life, and having kids was (for me) one of the best life choices ever. Having biological or adopted children isn't for everyone due to various circumstances they may face or their own personal choices, but if you've ever served in a role that is…

We have a heat wave here – like it’s going to hit 60 degrees in mid January heatwave – which says one thing to me: get ready for the opposite. Seems like that happens often. But today it’s a review – and then a mukbang. My ten year old son Miles has all of a sudden decided he wants to try Buldak. So, I’ll do the review today and then on the weekend we’ll do the mukbang. It should be noted that the sprinkles that are candy and star shaped make me immediately think of Samyang Popeye snack which…

Did we all know about this?“A Legacy Contact is someone you’ve chosen to have access to certain data in your Apple Account after your death.”Android have the same thing, but I’m tired and can’t find it. This chap explains it on LinkedIn.

rain … I. Am. So. Tired. Of. It. Raining. That’s it. That’s my post. Move along and find something else to do, go on, shoo … What? Oh, okay, the week hasn’t been a total washout. We have had the occasional morning or afternoon where the sun has put in an appearance, and it’s stayed dry for more than an hour. Like today, where we woke up to glorious blue skies and brilliant sunshine. That is, till 5 minutes ago. Then, a huge thunderhead rolled in, and it’s once again, raining! No. Not just…

It's handy when your riding buddy is a photographer. You end up with some nice photos. Thanks for reading this post via RSS. RSS is ace, and so are you. ❤️ You can reply to this post by email, or leave a comment.

The first grass cut of the year. Overdue by a couple of weeks but the weather didn’t play ball. Other excitement, I’m building an actual app (following on from today’s Musing).

Solo Levelingby ChugongGenres: Fantasy, Light Novels Pages: 272 Series: Solo Leveling (light novel) #8 The eighth and final volume of Chugong’s Solo Leveling is a bit of a mix. It contains the last few chapters of the main story, then a bunch of more or less inconsequential side stories (with just a few that seem really important, and some that are just comic, or filling in some gaps), then finally an epilogue that does feel significant. It leads to the volume feeling very piecemeal and…

New emerging technologies can save you time and make you more productive. They never come with any sort of guarantee of working fewer hours. Personally, I like to work, and I like having more productive days. I also value freedom, flexibility, and autonomy. Being more productive doesn't negate my freedom. Having flexibility doesn't directly impact productivity. I'm unsure why the advent of AI has led to so many people publicly demanding more time off because of the productivity gains. I love…

The last week was a bit chaotic. Our dog Triss had TPLO surgery, so my days mostly consisted of holding her paw in the morning, working while Jean holds her paw, and then going to sleep. But I could sneak some fun project time in and started implementing autocomplete in my shell. Which is not even remotely complete, but it works for paths, which is something. Initially I was a bit too clever trying to cache a lot of the information, but I opted to simply redo all the work, like reading a…

I haven’t had a beer in quite a while. Flying Dog’s Double Dog really hits the spot. Big flavor. Cheers! 🍻

I took this week off from work and I had wanted to spend the time being wildly productive, but of course reality happened and it was [fart noises] pretty chill instead. I made zero progress on any side projects, but I did clean my apartment, touch grass, hang out, read books, play Destiny, and get cooked by the sun. I did a riso workshop at Fluoro which was very cool! I’ve wanted to take one for a long time so I’m glad I finally took the opportunity. she's a mermaid The layers! I should have…

8am Saturday morning and North London still having breakfast. Neatly terraced houses, quiet parks, a handful of runners, some dog walkers. White vans and red buses. Vicky Park and the Olympic Park, stadiums and modern office blocks. Exiting the city over canals and forgotten rivers, entering the scruffy bits in the margins of the A-to-Z. The inbetween places, not quite anywhere, neither here nor there. Railway arches and lock-ups. A cycle lane next to six lanes of stinking traffic for longer…

Woke up to a dead car battery. Made a guide to jump it.Currently Listening: Bruton and De Wolfe “Sounds Of The Department Store 1979”Reply via email

The Summer Solstice is the Sun’s big annual entrance.The light stretches itself to the edge of the day. The evening lingers. The garden is a riot of colour and texture. The flowers are fragrant. The fireflies zip through the long twilight. Everything feels a little more golden than usual, as though the world has decided to lean fully into its own radiance.Come, hang out, subscribe! This publication wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for folks like yourself who are interested in reading articles and…

Looking to replace my aging/noisy AMD Zen1+ desktop with a mini PC, Intel 11th gen or newer.

I’m getting to the age where peers have accomplished a lot. I’m not talking about people who were exceptional out of the gate and did great things in their 20s and 30s. I’m talking about people that felt like genuine peers, but now have done things like: made a boatload of money built a business such that they have all kinds of freedom are well known in their fields These folks have things that I want. And I feel like I’m just as talented. I could be where they are and have what they have. In…