3/100

A quick read about an admirable and intriguing person who had a very large influence on culture.

2/100 A short story/novella, a delight nonetheless.

The last few calm days before we go back to the craziness of regular routine.

All the Pocket Notebooks I used in 2025.

1/100 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Borrowed through Libby. Quite enjoyable.

Current status

Out: Field Notes x Wilco Nels Cline & Lawrence Azerrad

In: DDC-054 M x L x B x D Edition (October 2017) (October 2017)

Out: Starbucks Reserve Coffee Origins Latin America

In: Field Notes x Wilco Nels Cline & Lawrence Azerrad

Out: Dialog Notebook #1 👍

In: Starbucks Reserve Coffee Origins Latin America

Get Grandma Pork.

Early morning beach.

Off for the Day does not mean a day off, sadly.

Huntington Beach, California

Spotify:

Apple Music:

US Open of Surfing: Day One

Postcards for my boys. Always.

There are very few things in the computer world that would immediately get me to sit down at my computer, log into my CMS, and post something to this blog. One of these things, however, is a post about the “a” glyph in Apple Notes.

Let me just start by saying that Apple Notes is overall just an amazing tool for a free included app. It works great, it syncs well, and I use it like a virtual filing cabinet. If it’s not in Noteplan, it’s probably in Notes.

Having said that, both the Daring Fireball post on this, and the Engadget post it refers back to, are spot on. It’s an odd decision that Apple seems strangely committed to.

An understatement to say that a lot has happened since my last post. Be kind to yourself and others.

I just returned home from Hawaii, my second work trip of the year already, and I leave on another one on Monday. I don’t seem to managing the jet lag well this time. I was in Hawaii for a whole week, and still haven’t recovered from the red eye I flew home.

A couple of things I have been enjoying.

Last year, I purchased a Canon Ivy 2 printer. It’s a small printer that connects to your phone, and prints on sticker paper. I have been adding a picture to a Hobobichi Hon every day this year so far, and have really been enjoying the process, as well as the results. The prints are a little dark, the quality isn’t perfect, but it’s fun to pick an image every day. Honestly, perfect for travel, but the proprietary paper isn’t cheap.

I thought I had previously read Red Rising but it turns out I hadn’t, and I completely loved this book, the universe building, and the characters. Highly recommend if you are into Science Fiction and/or Roman influenced culture. I’m reading the second book now, and will probably just power through the whole set while I travel. Side note that I love my Kindle Colorsoft.

No excuses, I’ve been pretty bad at updating over the last few months. Here’s an Autumn Edition of the Weekly Bump, and maybe it should be call Seasonal Bump but I’m stubborn.

I continue to mend from the spinal surgery I had in May. I’ve now been cleared to do whatever I want, but some days, it still hurts. I’m slowly adding things like rowing and pushups to my routine.

I voted Monday. Please vote. 🇺🇸

Some things I’ve been enjoying.

Loving my new iPhone 16 Pro. I went down a size from the Max to the regular sized pro phone this year, and so far I like it. I was using the Apple Silicon case but now have settled on this Native Union case. This case has a nice tactile feel, and the angle of the cutouts for the Camera Control is pleasing and very usable.

This autumnal candle is both inexpensive and enjoyable. I have burned it so much that it’s almost gone.

This Lake Como video is a place of peace playing over my desk here in Decatur. I do mute the music, sometimes.

We attended Landlocked this weekend, I think our third year in a row. Tickets sold out in less than an hour. Oysters were eaten, a spicy tostada from Gene’s was spicy, and many boat drinks and beers were enjoyed. Great to be able to support Oyster South while having so much fun.

Like so many others, I have been using (and paid for) Croissant. It allows me to post to all three of the post-Twitter platforms I have been using. Very easy to setup, use, and well designed. I do hope for, and request, iPad support.

I am still doing some work to QA some of the older posts, and this template will be changing, but I am fully migrated over to micro.blog and off WPEngine.

It was all pretty easy, I did get some help from Manton from Micro.blog with my import. (Thanks Manton!)

Week 30 felt like it went by way too fast. My kids' last week of Summer, as they go back to school tomorrow. All four of us went to the Atlanta United Leagues' Cup game Friday night, which they lost on Penalty Kicks. While it was a good time because all four of us were there, it's been a rough season to be an Atlanta United fan. After seven years, since their first season, of having season tickets, I think I might be canceling for next season, because they raised the price again. We haven't been having as much fun at the games as we used to. I'm still waffling though.

This week's media consumption has been Olympics, Olympics, Olympics. I really enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremony live, and am really glad I have nothing to do with LA 2028 because that thing would be a hard act to follow. There are currently three TV's in our house streaming different sports. I am, of course, watching the surfing from Tahiti, which is once of the coolest venues on our tour. My older son has been fencing for years, and this is one of the very few opportunities to watch that sport at its highest level. The whole family has been watching those events.

Watching the USA basketball teams is, for me, just so much fun. I'm excited for another week of this. The huge smile on Kevin Durant's face during their game against Serbia brought a smile to mine, too.

I really enjoyed this Atlanta Michelin Eats Video from a YouTuber who I wasn't previously familiar with, Mike Chen. A few of my favorite spots were featured in this video, like Fred's Meat & Bread, Arepa Mia and Food Terminal. It still had some that I haven't tried, and those have been added to me to do list. There's something fun about watching travel and food videos about the town you live in.

I finished four books this week.

After really enjoying my read of Moonbound last week, I managed to find Sourdough by Robin Sloan on Libby and it was available! This one was a quick read, delightful as well, and I will read his other book as soon as the queue comes up. This book made me want colder weather so I could enjoy a nice bowl of soup and a piece of sourdough.

I continue to plow through all of Erik Larson's books, this week it was The Demon of Unrest. This one is mostly about the start of the Civil War and Fort Sumnter. It provides a real lot of details about the transition from the Buchanan administration to the Lincoln administration and the origins of secession. It's not one I would recommend unless you are really interested in that amount of information on that topic, but I really got a lot out of it.

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang had been on my Libby queue for a really long time, I think since last Summer. This book about a chef working for a billionaire in a timeline where planet's food supply has been disrupted is well crafted and worth your time, especially if you're really into food. It actually paired well in a weird way with Sourdough above, without any intention to pair them on my part.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Niobe Inazō reads like a guide to the chivalric traditions of Japan. I mainly read this looking for parallels to Stoic thought, and they were there. It is a very old book, and felt old.

I've been meaning for a few weeks to find one of these entries to talk about the pair of Ray-Ban | Meta Glasses that I bought and have been using. First, I don't particularly trust Facebook/Meta, and I have turned off anything even remotely creepy with these. No location services especially. I mainly use them when I go for walks, which have been much more frequent since my surgery in May. For this purpose, these things are an amazing combination of sunglasses/headphones/camera. The pictures they take are actually pretty good, the headphones are serviceable. I'm getting a fair amount of use from them. Again, not wearing these anywhere where taking pictures would be creepy.

This post spans two weeks, partly because one of those weeks was a very busy work trip, and the second of those weeks was a vacation. Here we are in the 30th week of the year, wow.

I had the fun, and stress, of taking my first work trip, to Los Angeles, since my spinal surgery in May.  One day in our new office in El Segundo, and two days in Santa Monica. Some pretty intensive meetings, and lots of interesting conversation. Overall, it went well, but I learned that I do have some physical limitations, and sitting in a hard chair for 6-8 hours a day in a meeting ended up causing some soreness. The flights, at least, went by without any issues.

I landed back in Atlanta, via a red-eye, to drive with my family from Atlanta to a beach house we rented for the week down in 30A in Florida.  I then had a week that was mostly off, going to the beach with my family each day. Reading on the beach while listening to music is one of my happiest places.  The beaches down there are some of the nicest in the US. We also always make time to head to Seaside for a day of walking around in the shops, and browsing the stacks at Sun Dog one of my absolute favorite book stores. We also send some postcards from the cute post office there.

I finished Moonbound by Robin Sloan. I’ve always been a sucker for Aurthurian fiction and this inventive and interesting science fiction take on that classic tale was no exception. I hadn't previously read anything by Robin Sloan. I am going to read his other two books, I added them to my Libby queue as soon as I finished this one.  Recommended.

I also finished Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami, who is one of my favorite authors. This one reads like a career autobiography, with many interesting notes on his perception of his progression as an author. I found a lot to be inspired by while reading this one on the beach and away from work.

I also finished The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. This "Lady Astronaut" novel is an alternate history of the US where a major disaster has altered the course of history and space exploration. Lots of social commentary, as the book happens in the 50's and 60's, and I really enjoyed it.

I read using my Boox Palma the entire week I was on the road for work and at the beach. It's a great device for both travel and at the beach. My daily carry beach bag for the Palma, my iPhone 15 Pro Max, wallet etc. is the Channel Sacoche in Black from Makr. It is the perfect size for everything without being too big. They don't have any made right now, but said they would be making more soon. They aren't cheap, but are really high quality.

One very recommended gadget that we use at the beach is our Ultimate Ears - WONDERBOOM 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (I'm linking to the 4 because they don't have a page on their site with the 2 any longer.) I bought this speaker on clearance from Best Buy in 2020, and we use it all the time, it has held up really well and sounds great. I have it attached to a HeroClip to make it easy to hang from the umbrella or chairs.

With the holiday, and how overwhelmed I have been returning to work during our busiest season, I decided to combine two weeks of updates into a single post. For those in the States, hope you have a great 4th of July weekend.

I've had a pretty great, but stressful, couple of weeks. I continue to be able to do more and more post-surgery, and went to the gym a couple of times this week. I'm mostly still just walking, but am starting to work on my mobility and doing some band and body weight strength stuff. Some really sore days.

Last Saturday, we went to an Atlanta United game (We have season tickets.) for the first time since before my spinal surgery. Unlike pre-surgery, I was able to stand for the whole game. The game ended in a pretty amazing play that's worth watching if you haven't seen it. I've never seen anything like it.

I finished "There Is No Antimemetics Division" by qntm. I found this science fiction book to be quite a mind expander, very inventive, has a certain modern-Lovecraft vibe to it too. Highly recommend. You can find more information on qntm's site. I'm going to be reading everything else by him.

I also finished "Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania" by Erik Larsen, the second book of his I've read in a few weeks. This one was great, a lot about the time period, German U-boats, the beginning of WWI and the US's entrance into the conflict. I really didn't know much about the Lusitania going in, so I soaked up a lot of new information. This won't be the last Erik Larsen book I will be reading this year.

I watched this Salt Hank video about making Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich, which led me to make this sandwich, and now it's one of my favorites, too. I've made it a couple of times, and I have to say that it will be a permanent part of my lunch rotation moving forward. I wish I had known to go and try it where he discovered it in São Paulo. I was there two years ago.

We finished watching The Bear: Season Three. I wish there was more that I hadn't watched yet, but that's all there is for now. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about this show. The music selection and how the music is folded into the episodes is just so good. Here's an unofficial Spotify Playlist. Finally, watching episode six, the "Napkins" episode, I was struck by how it is, in part, an homage to Groundhog Day, one of my all time favorite movies. (If you're familiar with Groundhog Day, and you watch this episode, you'll get it.)

Having this device has made me realize how frustrated I am with the lack of any kind of innovation with the Kindles in recent years. I do love my Paperwhite, but there's so much more that Amazon could be doing. More competition in this market is great, and I hope the press that the Palma is getting turns into more readers.