November

This one turned out super long. I wanted to edit it to reduce it, then ended up adding way more because I was enjoying myself. Now it's your problem.

...and I thought October felt long. Wow. This month has been brutal, to be honest. I think the days getting shorter has affected me quite significantly. I feel like my mental health is in the toilet right now, and I have absolutely no energy or motivation to fix it. Roll on April, I guess?

Nothing like a light-hearted opener, Jasper. Get it together.

Obviously this month there's more puppy stuff. This guy is huge now. We weighed him yesterday and he's gained 5kg since he came home. He still looks super slim, but he's just got so big. He's a bit of an anxious little guy though. He hates being left on his own, and he hates going in the car. Pick one, dummy. He puked all over the back seat of the car this month, which was quite unpleasant, so I guess he's going to need to get used to being at home. Or riding in someone else's car.

He's nearly 6 months though so we can start taking him for proper walks. Hopefully that'll burn off some of his energy and make him a bit less bored/anxious if we do need to leave him.

I added a feature to my site which shows you what I'm listening to in Plex. Then I realised that Plex already does a lot of what I built around it. I am just now realising that that's the second time I've done that this month.

I played quite a bit of Windblown on Steam Deck. Great game, which I am not very good at.

In lieu of any motivation to do something structured, I dumped a load of recent pictures into a single post, and not for the last time this month.

I wrote about watching more sports, and starting to watch American Football.

And I wrote about ditching a couple of Google products. I'm so tempted to ditch GMail on my tandy.is domain, too, but I think that's going to be a pain. I wonder if Proton has a migration tool.

In all honesty, I'm not too sure why I wrote this strange little post about share tracking in URLs. This could've been done better, and I did consider deleting it, but I don't really do that here.

Actually reading the manual taught me something about a thing that I was already using. How strange. I should do that more often.

I dumped some more photos into a post. Really want to do better at that next month.

Tabitha and I went for a walk by the sea in Shoreham. My overall mood has been dreadful for my parenting recently and I wanted to spend some time with her during the day to remind her that there's still a normal nice person in here somewhere. This was a very good day for my mental health.

Some cool music this month, and a couple of nice surprises. I've listened to quite a lot - my tube amp warms my office up quite nicely, and my big headphones are super warm, so got lots of options for listening and staying warm.

VOLA - Friend of a Phantom. Let's start out with a disappointing one. Their last record was so good, and there's a couple of tracks I like on this one, but it's nowhere near the quality of the previous one. And they had a disappointing Audiotree.
Cane Hill - a piece of me i never let you find. This one's a rager. 2020s nu metal continues to grow.
Counterparts - Heaven Let Them Die. Had no idea this one was coming and I've listened to it a lot. These guys just get better and better. Super heavy and aggressive, just like I like.
Sol Invicto - Loosely Aware. Side-project of Sikth, Deftones, Cypress Hill. I wasn't expecting this to be as heavy as it is, but it's pretty great actually.
drive your plow over the bones of the dead - tragedy as catharsis. I've got more and more into screamo as I get older. There's probably a reason for that. A lot of it feels like a version of black metal that isn't so hammy and gothic, so I don't cringe when I listen to it. Anyway if you're looking for some screamo, it's right here.
Bottom Bracket - I'm So Afraid of Where. This record reminds me a lot of Giants' Break the Cycle. They don't sound particularly similar or anything, but they both infuse a pop punk energy that adds an interesting dimension to a non-pop-punk record.
Chaosbay - ARE YOU AFRAID? I discovered these guys at Takedown a couple of years ago, and enjoyed them a lot. I don't like this new record as much as their old one, but it's still fun.
Kendrick Lamar - GNX. Whoa. I don't think anyone knew this one was coming and it was a great surprise. I'm not a huge fan of Mr Morale (although it is apparently a grower so I might go back to it), but I was instantly taken with this, and it's only grown on me.
Poppy - Negative Spaces. The answer to the question "what if BABYMETAL came from America?"
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. I will be listening to every King Gizzard album. I have only ever listened to one King Gizzard album, but they were talking about microtonal guitars on a rig rundown I watched and now I'm intrigued. I think it's very proggy though so this could be a short-lived experiment.

New songs:

Functionality...if the function is lookin' tough like a redneck drug dealer. The Evo 8 is a car for guys who are done fuckin' around. Absolutely stellar quotes from this episode
Drew Gooden on AI was recommended to me by someone from Spa (yeah I'm behind. Shut up). I didn't realise Drew is the "road works ahead...? Yeah I hope it does" guy from Vine. I like him. Would watch more. Lots of strong criticism of generative AI
Chelsea Wolfe - Tiny Desk
KolibriOS
Pirelli F1 tyres can displace 65l of water a second. I don't have a link for this, it was on a Grand Prix and I thought it was interesting.
This Lexus LC is so nice. Tad expensive but such a nice shape
This will always be the month I first heard Mark Zuckerberg singing about his sweaty balls.
The Onion bought InfoWars. Perfect combination of humour and a gigantic fuck you to Alex Jones. More.
I like this octopus
CBS on GeoGuessr. It's quite rare to see something like this, where it's normies talking about something super niche, but they're doing it in a respectful way; no sideways glances or sneering. I like that.
Ferrero Rocher now prints a QR code on each chocolate that links you to their website. Why?
This 1/43 RUF Collector's Model is not a toy
Chicago Kare remastered. Wish I had something to use this on.
Graphic Design for ISIS - I love articles like this. 404's stuff in general is so good.
Wil Shipley's Delicious Library API got killed by Amazon, and it reminded me of this cool interaction he had with Wolfram, and how it'd be nice to be that organised.
Teach yourself programming in ten years
There's a new deep sea slug in town.
ifi have been coming out with some cool stuff recently. That Kensei is way too rich for my blood, and doesn't look super portable, but the Go Max looks and sounds great and is super portable. Also took the chance to upgrade the cable on my SE846
The Perfect Keyboard is Weird. I've wanted to make a video like this for a while. Maybe that can be a job for this month.
I'm getting pretty sick of Nintendo going after YouTubers. I've said before that I'm done giving them money, and that doesn't look like it's changing any time soon.
Interesting insight into the appeal of retro digital cameras. It makes total sense - it's not like retro technology has limited appeal even for me. Just funny to think of people valuing ~~crappy~~ nuanced image quality when I couldn't wait for better quality at the time!
Someone made a chase camera mod for art of rally. I love this idea but I'm bad enough at the game without making it more difficult!
passive aggressive housemates. This channel makes me laugh deeply, and internally.
The Tulip Computer looks super interesting, but I always get caught in a spiral when looking at things like this, where I just want a couple more features, or a bit more power, and then I end up on my laptop that does everything I need it to.
My DAC battery finally died, and I was looking at a pretty hefty cost to get it replaced. Then I saw a pointlessly long YouTube video showing how easy it is and replaced it myself and saved £50.
Charlotte sent me this thing about finding it hard to make friends, and transmitting that to your kids. Making friends as an adult is so tricky. I've talked about it a bit here, and it's something we both struggle with. I describe my personality as an extroverted introvert (which there's probably actually a name for, but I'm not looking it up. It's probably just extrovert + anxiety + low self esteem). When I'm in groups larger than one-on-one, I get super class-clowny and try to make myself the centre of attention, and I hate it even as I'm doing it, but I don't know how to not do it. Then, because of that, I try to avoid some situations, knowing that I'll be a version of myself that I don't really like, which can make me seem aloof and withdrawn. The more time I have with my own thoughts on why I am the way I am, the worse off I become.
Dan and I have been trying to talk ourselves out of the Ayn Odin 2 this month. I think we finally succeeded. Well, I have anyway. I like new shiny things, this is true, but I can just see this thing sitting in a drawer. If I could have the RG351M with the Analog Pocket's screen resolution, I wouldn't need anything else ever.
Silo season 2 sneak peek. This show is so good.
Severance season 1 recap. Apple TV has so many hits.
I love this description of cryptocurrencies.
Wicked Little Letters is based on the truth?!
Luke Harris added microblogging to his site and now I want to. He's also done it in a rickety-looking works-for-me way that I recognise and respect.
I need to play Arco. It looks so good.
I've wanted one of these for years, and I live in hope that someone surprises me with one because they know me so well.
Changing the headlight bulb on a 986. Easier than I was expecting. Probably saved me £200.
Articles like this remind me of how incredible and irreplaceable Nintendo's DS systems are. Glad I got mine before I stopped giving Nintendo money.
Beau Miles on filmmaking. Beau is just a storyteller, through and through. He has the ability to pull me into something so simple and mundane and tell and enchanting story about it. A lot like Casey Neistat (this one made me properly emotional). The big takeaway here, for me, is the edit. Remove, remove, remove, until you can't remove any more. Yes I'm aware that this wall of waffle flies in the face of that. I am not Beau Miles.
Intrigued by Hellbreak. An FPS take on Vampire Survivors?
King Arthur Bakery have this really nice bread hat but I don't think it'll suit me. You should buy it.
This month I discovered that you can get socks suitable for feet larger than 11. I have never seen this in my life, and I've always worn an 8-11 (or thereabouts), and they hurt my feet, leave marks on my ankles. The first thing I buy this month is going to be some socks that are actually the right size for my feet. I can't tell you how excited I am about this.
Benn Jordan - The Really Dark Truth About Bots. Make sure you're in a stable head-space before you watch this; it's pretty bleak.
Chase Bliss - Dirt Bird. These guys have their tone of voice absolutely dialled.
We learned about Panzerotti. I want one. Fried calzone; are you kidding me?
Axie Infinity is evil, I can feel it in my bones. Like someone saw Monopoly GO and was like "hold my beer".
Building an ultrawide DS, for some reason. I love how this is edited.
The GBA is also an amazing console, and I remembered about Makho's Slate which I'd love to make but can't justify. I also love the GachaSP but it looks a bit too fiddly for me. I have quite big hands. But look at it.
Spending the money from sales of David's retro collection. I love David.
I'm no longer in the market for artisan keycaps, but if I was I'd be lusting after these. Why do I know about these even if I'm no longer in the market for them? That's a great question and I'd love to answer it but
YouTube loves to recommend me SNL sketches. Most of them are pretty terrible but I love Washington's Dream (also discovered Nate Bargatze this month and I like him), Beavis and Butt-Head, and Inside SoCal.
I love everything about this comic from The Verge.
Superchargers vs Nitrous in HiLow. This has been a good series so far.
More GBA stuff. I want a 3.5mm headphone jack on mine. I have loads of the things from split keyboard builds, but there's just not a good place to put one that doesn't make it a pain to get the motherboard out or something else so I probably won't do it. If I was going to do it, this is how.
Rally driver in an F1 car
China is building the world's largest bridge.
Zoom is now an AI company first. Ugh. Is there a good, down-home video chat app that isn't going to end up in the toilet?
Draplin redesigned. Love it, of course.
I got new badminton shoes. My old ones were killing my feet. Would love my achilles to properly recover now - it's been nearly a year thanks.
I want a pair of Harden Vol 8s as well, but Adidas is dreadful at keeping them in stock. I had some before but they broke so I sent them back and rather than offering a replacement I got a straight refund.
Been thinking about Dan Rogers this month. I don't know how I know Dan, but I think it's through Instagram. He's a tech guy but he's been learning to paint and I love his work. I should reach out to him - I don't have a way to contact him now that I don't have Instagram.
I want to go to New Orleans now please.
Balatro has gone crazy. I don't know the developer but I'm so happy for them. One person, making a weirdo poker game in Lua, and they've made millions. The game is so fun as well.
Dean and David challenging viewers
I tried to teach my son soccer. Here's what it taught me (kottke link for the nytimes gift! 🤫). Some interesting insight into coaching children and, particularly, your own children.

I qualified as a level 1 badminton coach this year, and to be honest I did more coaching before I had the qualification. This year's been weird. I have tried desperately not to coach Tabitha; she works with some excellent, and extremely qualified coaches. She doesn't need my insight - at best, I'd just be reminding her of things that I learned from her coaches.

But you do learn a lot from being close to this scenario, and there's an interesting perspective in that article that I hadn't considered. As a parent-coach, you're in a unique position to see your child in situations that are analagous to experiences they're going to have in later life. They're going to get beaten by someone who's just better than them; someone who's practiced more, or who has more natural ability that gives them a head-start, or better instincts. They're going to have to deal with perceived cheating and unfairness. They're going to have to deal with not always performing at 100%, and how being aware of that is likely to make you overthink and get even worse. They're also going to be on the other side of that, and it's important for them to be able to temper their excitement so that they're not rubbing their victory into other people's faces. The only thing worse, in this context, than a bad loser, is a bad winner. This is an opportunity as a parent to coach them through that as well; to help them to handle victory and defeat with grace, and I cannot overstate how valuable that opportunity is.

Had more to say about that than I realised.
Old Holmes - That Mitchell and Webb Look. I must have seen this 50 times and it still makes me teary.
Unusual commit IDs - going to give this a try. I need to make something that goes through all my working copies to build a list of commits, then a cross reference so I can find it again if there's anything interesting. Made me think of lolcommits which I am happy is still being worked on.
Knocked Loose played on Kimmel, which is pretty great. Heavy music has been so important for me; I love when it gets signal-boosted like this so that some kid can find it when they wouldn't have otherwise. Some people are always going to whinge, though.
The Dove Book is online. Of course it is. I wish I still had mine, but between moving out and parents divorcing, it's in landfill for sure somewhere. I loved bellringing as a teenager, and I would encourage everyone to embrace weird hobbies, even in spite of the fact that it painted a target on my back. I was talking to Tabitha about picking it up again at some point.

Receive this via email, once a month.