Somewhat to my surprise, I still …
Somewhat to my surprise, I still cry - even after more than 20 years of marriage - when the mister goes out of town on a long trip.
Mitten
Latest posts
Can we talk about the PyCon schedule?
I've been to two PyCons - 2024 and 2025. I had a terrific time in '24, there were so many cool talks about how people were using Python creatively and weirdly and amazingly. And even though masking was required, the hallway track was vibrant and talkative and everyone seemed to be having a great time. In '25, I gave a talk , so I was a bit focused on that, but still heard some good talks on…
So it was the mister's birthday …
So it was the mister's birthday a couple weeks ago, and I bought him one of those 'neck lights' - the kind you'd use for knitting, but he uses them for reading. Annnnnnnyway, this morning he's sitting in his office chair with the neck lights on, spinning around slowly, gleefully announcing 'I'm a lighthouse!'
A Useful App for Focusing
I'm needing a bit of extra, er, encouragement to keep off the Fediverse at the moment, and I thought some of you out there might be in the same boat, and I wanted to share the app I use for that: focusedOS I think there are lots of apps out there that will help either block or put a little speed bump between you and distracting things on your many shiny rectangles, but this is the one I've been…
And here we are, heading into …
And here we are, heading into the week that has no days. Today is supposedly Monday, but Friday is happening on Wednesday this week, so is it really Wednesday? And who knows what 'real' Friday will be - a second Saturday, perhaps? And don't even get me started about Sunday happening on Thursday. I'm just gonna free-fall my way into the new year…
I've been busy baking sweets to …
I've been busy baking sweets to go in the 'Christmas Boxes' I send to family, and yesterday I made some cookies and iced them with royal icing. The icing didn't set - it's still sticky, and whether I put too much water in or it's just too humid, I do not know. But they can't be mailed and I am bereft. The mister, on the other hand, is gleeful and views this as a complete boon - an entire batch of…
Mind Blown
I learned two things today that have created a kind of seismic shift in my workflow: You can put custom fonts on the iPad Adobe Illustrator works superbly on the iPad now 1 is a little convoluted; you do need an additional program to get them on there. Illustrator can do it, and there are other programs like AnyFont that can as well. But you can! 2 is huge to me. I mean, like, ginormous. I tried…
Toilet Paper Math
In my efforts to never buy from Amazon, I restocked our toilet paper from Target this week. I tend to buy the big multi-roll packs and have them shipped since we don't own a car. The mister noted that these new rolls were smaller - we compared the old and new directly, and yup, definitely smaller. Now, you and me both were ready to scream 'Shrinkflation!', but not so fast, fellow homesteader.…
Straight kombucha is too hard on …
Straight kombucha is too hard on my system, but I've been enjoying mixing it with San Pellegrino. I've been calling it Boochagrino, but the mister thinks it should be Pelleboocha. He's wrong, but I love him nevertheless.
Went to a holiday party out …
Went to a holiday party out in Agoura Hills last night. Big house up in the hills. We were talking about whether I could stand living someplace like that. 10 years ago, I would have said absolutely not. Now, it's more like probably not. But mostly still best to have friends you can visit who live in houses like that.
I have a knitting project - a …
I have a knitting project - a hat, to be exact - that has been sitting in my drawer unfinished because I can't bring myself to pick up stitches around the edge to do the brim. Note to self: never start a pattern that needs stitches to be picked up.
Such odd feelings this morning. The …
Such odd feelings this morning. The mister left in the wee hours for back-to-back out-of-town shoots (Bardstown then Albuquerque) and won't be back until nearly Christmas. I am simultaneously thrilled and bereft. It'll be lovely to center myself and lay groundwork for my projects, but I'm absolutely dreading a solo run through most of the holiday season. Why can't things just be all good once in a…
I've moved this site to Pelican …
I've moved this site to Pelican , and away from 11ty . Having it in 11ty was just too much of a hurdle for me - it's written in a language I don't know, and the monthly updates to the system were too stress-inducing. Never felt like I could keep up. So I've got everything moved over to Pelican, which is written in Python, which I at least have a passing knowledge of. They seem to do a release…
To Laptop or Not to Laptop
I'm now two versions behind on the iPad Pro, so today's announcement was of interest to me in a big way. All my current machines are on the same M1 processor - a 2021 iMac, 2020 MacBook Pro, and 2021 (5th gen) iPad Pro. 1 I would love love love to upgrade. The new Pencil - with pinch! and twist! - would be so spectacular. Truthfully, my desire for an upgraded machine is largely driven by the…
Why can't cookbooks get all the …
Why can't cookbooks get all the things right? I just borrowed a bunch from the library, all focused on meal planning. One has good looking plans and cooking strategies, but no shopping lists. Another has nicely paired recipes, but they're not indexed (and no TOC, either!) C'mon people, this just isn't difficult.
Around the beginning of the year …
Around the beginning of the year, I realized that every morning, the first image I had of myself was me dressed in a ratty old t-shirt. It just didn't seem like a good way to start the day, so I bought some proper pajamas. Nothing fancy, just a nightdress and a couple 'camp style' pajama sets from Lands End. But I tell you what: it has made a huge difference! When I see myself in the morning now,…
The mister has put on the …
The mister has put on the Eras tour movie as music to work by today. I'm sitting in the next room, out of his line of sight, but in the reflection of the glass of pictures on the wall, I can see him dancing - but I don't think he knows I can see him. It's very sweet, tbh, and I just love him so much.
My Default Apps
Rarely can I resist answering geeky surveys like the one currently making the rounds, so here are my default apps at the moment: Bookmarks: Raindrop Browser: Arc (but trying out Orion) Budgeting: YNAB Calendar: Fantastical Chat: Messages Cloud File Storage: iCloud Drive Code: VSCode Contacts: Apple Contacts Mail Service and Client: Fastmail Mastodon Client: Mona Music: Apple Music Notes: Obsidian…
Starter Villain, and the Joys of Writing and Performance
I try very hard to apply the verb reading to books I listen to as audiobooks, but the word still lands jarringly, even with my heroic internal efforts to cushion its crash. Surely part of the trouble is eyes vs. ears, but I also suspect that it has to do with the fact that when I listen to a book being read, it's no longer just me and the author. There’s a whole nother layer: performance . I have…
Seeing Through My Own Eyes
I got contacts last week. It was on a whim, really - I had made an appointment for an eye exam because I like to get new frames every year, and also, it’s just the right thing to do for your eyes when your work requires sight. But a day or two beforehand, I got to thinking “why haven’t I ever looked at getting contacts?” and “maybe I should try them.” By the by, I actually sort of know the answer…
When I was small, I liked …
When I was small, I liked to make my Halloween costumes. Then there was a stretch of years I made them for the boys. And since then, pretty much nothing. To my mind, it's a kid's holiday. Why should adults tread all over it? Anyway, Happy Halloween, no matter how old you are.
Getting our picnic ready for tonight …
Getting our picnic ready for tonight - Wynton Marsalis 'All Rise' at the Hollywood Bowl. Last concert of the season - really looking forward to it.
ARGH. Just realized that Clickup's timeline …
ARGH. Just realized that Clickup's timeline view, which I have been enjoying so much, was in a kind of 'trial' state and isn't available at the $5/mo level. Have to spend $12/mo. I don't know if I'm angrier at Clickup for leading me on or myself for not noticing it.
I'm into the discovering-the-quirks phase of …
I'm into the discovering-the-quirks phase of starting to use ClickUp, but I haven't run into any dealbreakers yet, which is heartening. And I'm still really liking being able to view my projects as timelines and boards as well as plain old lists. So far so good, ClickUp!
Photo post on August 28, 2022
I've used Todoist for forever, but …
I've used Todoist for forever, but it's just not working for me any more - I can't visualise the big picture with just lists. So I've spent the last week looking through project management apps, which are all team-focused these days, of course, which is frustrating for a solo act like myself. Trello is, uh, beastly, and to get the functionality I want, is more expensive than I want. I gave Hive a…
Ugh ugh ugh. I dearly, dearly …
Ugh ugh ugh. I dearly, dearly wish that the Kindergarten Aesthetic (bright primary colors, softened corners) would just go out of fashion already. I am not a child, I do not need visual stimulation like I did when I was 18 months old. (Sitrep: looking for a task management app)
Photo post on August 23, 2022
Photo post on August 19, 2022
YAY YAY YAY! There is now …
YAY YAY YAY! There is now an official plugin/integration between Readwise and Raindrop. Which means it pulls into Obsidian automatically, too! WOOT! readwise.io/changelog...
Photo post on August 16, 2022
Photo post on August 16, 2022
Busy busy busy on picnic-making for …
Busy busy busy on picnic-making for our outing this evening. Rachmaninoff will be accompanied by empanadas, mini bacon cheeseballs, melon, homemade cheesecake and peppermint patties. And wine, of course. Plenty of wine.
Bella Luna's day today, full of …
Bella Luna's day today, full of dreams and plans. Still kind of glowing from the Scheherazade performance out in the open air last week, under the fullness of her light. It was magical.
Eating a peach and reciting poetry …
Eating a peach and reciting poetry in my head.
To his credit, though, it does …
To his credit, though, it does smell damn good.
There are plumbers in the apartment …
There are plumbers in the apartment. They are talking to my husband, who is cooking in the kitchen (lamb tagine) and asking him if he's a chef. It's all a tad surreal, given that he cooks maybe twice a month.
Ugh. Have that awful kind of …
Ugh. Have that awful kind of cold (no, not that one) where you're not sick enough to just sleep all day, but you're too sick to actually do anything. Miserable.
Just saw three riot police transport …
Just saw three riot police transport vehicles go by - fully loaded. Guess the ladies down at City Hall are getting rowdy. Either that, or LAPD wants more overtime.
how do i, I mean, how …
how do i, I mean, how is this, I can't even you children, you scions, this is your world - sieze it, grasp it, what are you going to do with it?!
I just hooked up Obsidian and …
I just hooked up Obsidian and Readwise, and I have to say, this feels like a game-changer. I haven't yet used Readwise with podcasts, only books, but to be able to have all of my little clippings and highlights in one spot seems super good. Was pleased with the amount of customization possible in the import. (Link to Readwise, will get you an extra month free: readwise.io/i/laura14... )
Pandemic Pentimenti: So strange to walk …
Pandemic Pentimenti : So strange to walk through the city and see all the fading marks on sidewalks and entryways, each dutifully 6 feet away from the next, reminding us of where we were not so very long ago.
Opening the second bottle of wine …
Opening the second bottle of wine, wondering 'how is it that I am not French?'
[husband editing in the loft, which …
[husband editing in the loft, which means listening to the same 2 second clip of audio over and over and over and over and over. and over. and. over.] I'll just go up to the roof to work, where it's quiet. [pool party with approximately 5,261 toddlers in attendance] I'll just go down to the lounge, there's never anyone there, it'll be quiet. [some guy watching a penguin movie at volume level 756,…
Been trying to bang out a …
Been trying to bang out a brief essay for a gallery application, and have been making zero headway for days. Finally found the path this afternoon - required ditching the first paragraph and then everything else just flowed. Ahhhhhhhh.
This is your captain. We are …
This is your captain. We are about to attempt a crash landing. Please extinguish all cigarettes. Place your tray tables in their upright, locked position.