Week Notes, 2025-06-15
Weekly Features from June 9th - June 15th:
📷 The Canon returns tomorrow from its repairs and maintenance. The light meter was recalibrated to work with 1.5-volt batteries, which are both more plentiful and cheaper than the 1.3-volt originally required. I also paid for additional repairs, even on something like the self-timer as I'd rather have everything possible fixed in one go.
🏞️ Prior to shipping my camera off, I shot my first black-and-white roll of film...and the results were okay. I experimented heavily with color filters with this roll of Kodak Tri-X 400, though I need to take better notes to figure out which filter works best. In any case, the best three were uploaded to my Early days with the Canon Canonet QL17 GIII series on Glass, though I think the following is my best photo of What The Duck:
❓I finally finished the Doctor Who post on Tuesday 06-10, and just to give a quick peek behind the writing curtain, it was a tough one to finish. I had started and stopped twice, with one version having a totally different conclusion than what I had originally intended. My third edit was the successful one, as I had pre-planned it by first writing it as an outline. I'm still not fully satisfied with the end result, mainly because I can view where I had joined together various excerpts from different edits. Still, it's out there for the reading, and I hope it makes sense to someone besides myself.
✍🏻 On the subject of writing, I will participate in this month's IndieWeb Carnival, under the "Take Two" theme. My post will be about my decision not to move to Spokane in the early-mid 1990s for grad school, which is arguably the biggest "what-if" in my life. It should be ready to publish this week.
🌿 Here's something different that should make sense: a Gin Basil Smash. Our version isn't as lurid green as in this photo, but it's still a healthy yellowish-green with prominent basil flavors. If I make this again, I'll buy fresh basil at a store as our sweet basil plant barely had enough leaves to make two drinks.
📽️ YouTube video recommendations have a reputation for being notoriously messed up. However, I had one recommendation last week that I immediately played at high volume. You should do so as well.
🩻 This upcoming Wednesday, I'll have an ultrasound on my liver to see if my regimen of Lipitor and GLP-1 injections has helped me reduce fatty deposits on it. I suspect the results will be positive, but who knows?
💺 Finally, one bit of free advice. Never remove the fabric cover from your IKEA Poäng chairs to clean them in your clothes washer. You're better off spot-cleaning or using a steam cleaner. The struggle to reinsert the foam padding is one I never want to do again.
Other Things to Note from The Week That Was:
📺 Watching:
- Episode 506, “Eegah”; _MST3K_ (and yes, I also want to slap this move so hard)
- WWDC 2025, Apple
- Eduard Khil - "Я о́чень рад, ведь я, наконе́ц, возвраща́юсь домо́й," (aka The Trololo Song), YouTube
- Japan's Oldest Sleeper Ferry Service Discontinued | Compact Capsule Rooms, YouTube, ITSUKA JAPAN
🎧 Listening:
- Episode 992 Laurel Halo, Resident Advisor
- Episode 567: Are We So Back?, Upgrade
- WWDC 2025: A First Look at Everything Apple Announced, AppStories
- iPad podcasting and glassy design, Six Colors
📖 Reading:
- Strap in for this history of the strap-on, MetaFilter
- At Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, an ‘inland tsunami’ is making a sea, ABC News (Australia)
- 7 Tips To Capture Perfect Black And White Images, The Phoblographer
- Every Bottle Of Four Roses Bourbon, Power Ranked From Good To Great, Uproxx
- A Condition of the Space: Mary Anne Hobbs Interviewed, The Quietus
- Democrats Are Throwing In the Towel on Rural America, Jacobin
- The New Renault 5 Is Brilliant Small Car First And A Compelling EV Second, The Autopian
💫 Creating:
- Posted the Doctor Who post, as mentioned earlier.
- Working on the IndieWeb Carnival post, as mentioned earlier.
- Went through the black-and-white photos, as mentioned earlier.
🗄Organizing:
- Bought a replacement external DVD player for the Mac, as it uses a USB-C cable like all my other external drives.
- Fine-tuned my storage of blog posts on iCloud Drive.
🌾 Socializing:
- Lunch at a couple coffeehouses: Rosemary Coffee on Monday 06-09; Kaldi's on Tuesday 06-10.
- Quick visit to Side Project Cellar on Thursday 06-12 for their weekly bottleshare.
- Called my father on Sunday 06-15 to wish him a happy Father's Day.
🧪 Testing:
- Downloaded digiKam to test its photo management capabilities.
🗃️ Work:
- Pretty low-key week; nothing major to report.
🏥 Health:
- Doctor appointment and haircut on Wednesday 06-11.
- Scheduled ultrasound for liver on Wednesday 06-18 in the morning.
- Two walks with L. in our neighborhood, and a series of walks on public trails in Ellisville on Saturday 06-14.