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The early partial eclipse. Not bad for a four year old phone camera through a pair of eclipse glasses from 1999!
Qubyte Codes
Latest posts
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It’s been a while since I shared a picture of my nails! Usually I go for bright colours, but this time I’m pairing bright clothes with black nails. Sadly the top coat ruined the perfect layer of glossy colour beneath, but I still love the colour.
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Bandanas now.
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Goodbye Tokyo! See you soon.
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One of my favourite popular treats in Japan is coffee jelly. It’s not too sweet, very firm, and usually served with cream.
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On a walk through the Ibaraki countryside, this little one dropped from a tree, narrowly missing my head.
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Back in Tokyo.
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A cute pair of ceramic earrings I got at Trans Pride.
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Happy Brighton Trans Pride!
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Aura farming
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I had a head CT scan a couple of weeks ago and they gave me the data! So I did what you’d expect and extracted my skull to 3D print. I failed to get the tooth enamel (it’s denser than bone) though.
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One day I’ll take a selfie in which I smile without looking unhinged.
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The Conservatory at The Barbican. I’m here for Sate of the Browser.
What happened to 2025?
I've not posted in over a year (the whole of 2025). I don't have a readership (there are good odds that nobody besides me will read this), so nobody has missed my writing and I've felt no pressure to force a post. It is unusual though. A handful of times in a typical year something will grab my attention to the point that I take the time to write about it. So what was different about 2025? And why…
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I forgot to post for the 1 year anniversary of being on HRT (end of January)! Have a photo of me looking a bit tired in a pub last Thursday.
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I’d do a year in review but it'd be mostly about trans stuff and all the people (the supreme court, the government, rich authors, etc.) who can fuck off. Or maybe it’d be about the surprising joy of being fully myself. Because it’s not like the aforementioned cowards and the genital obsessed made the slightest dent in my progress. Plus I didn't leave the country this year because I was getting my…
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Cold day! Fortunately, a short walk from dropping the kid off at school is Casco, one of my favourite cafes. It’s warm in here.
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I had a 2010 MacBook Air in a cupboard in my office. I was still using it up until a couple of years ago, and the hardware is still good. My kid needs a machine for homework, so I put Linux on it and it actually feels fast again. He loves it!
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I’m at Taith Coffee in Lewes. Incredible vibes here.
Link to https://www.selfawaresoup.com/notes/2025/08/28/a-year-of-linux-on-the-desktop/
I love this. I've not had a dedicated Linux rig for a while (not counting a NAS and a couple of appliances I've built using Raspberry Pis). With the decline in quality of MacOS, and the tentacles of LLMs getting everywhere in commercial OS's, Linux is increasingly attractive as a permanent home again... A Year of Linux on the Desktop - selfaware soup
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Post-migraine Aura
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Nipped into Presuming Ed’s for a coffee while I wait for the Pride parade.
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Trans Pride Brighton was beautiful.
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A scarlet tiger moth.
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Today I celebrate four months on HRT.
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I got my ears pierced. Just the lobes (my first piercings, very vanilla). The technician described the pain as “spicy”. Then she described the other ear as “spicier”. Apparently it’s an adrenaline thing. Anyway, a minor victory in an otherwise fucking appalling week but I’m still chalking it up.
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I’ve done it folks. I’ve achieved the final, most important step of coming out: ✨updating my LinkedIn profile ✨
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I’ve spoken with one or two people I know who are mostly supportive of trans rights, but expressed one of the usual tropes as a point of concern. Such moments elicit immediate anger from me, and I’m not sorry. I’m just so tired of supposed allies falling for that shit. I’m not here to talk you through it.
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Bright night! This is my shadow, as cast by the moon.
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Once again in The Botanist in Brighton. One of my favourite occasional haunts. I’m in a new pair of heeled shoes and my feet are killing me, so I guess it’s time to read a book.
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Photos never do an incredible sunset justice.
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The ruins of Brighton West Pier near sunset.
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Back in Fahrenheit Coffee in Toronto.
How I syndicate links and notes to Bluesky with GitHub Actions
Inspired by Jeremy's post on how he syndicates to Bluesky , I thought I'd follow suit (many examples are useful when it comes to API integration work). A disclaimer though... I'm dubious of the long term prospects of Bluesky for reasons I won't go into here. That being said, it's currently a vibrant place, and syndicating from my site to other places keeps my content [1] in my hands. My setup is a…
Link to https://blog.kizu.dev/my-mastodon-starter-pack/
A really great how-to article for getting started with Mastodon. My Mastodon Starter Pack — Roma’s Unpolished Posts
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Spotted my first jay of the autumn! I think this is probably as close as I’ve ever been to one.
Link to https://htmlforpeople.com/
Wonderfully written and beautifully presented. This reminds me of my own first efforts on the web using a basic text editor. I'm going to share this with anyone and everyone who wants to build their own first website. HTML for People
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It’s not much, but I’ve waited so long to see it. I caught a shooting star while waiting too.
Like of https://catgirlin.space/activity/111/
Like of https://catgirlin.space/activity/111/
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I’m challenging myself to walk 100k steps this week. I have about 15000 to do today, and I’m half way through that, so I’m taking a coffee break. Portland Coffee in Kemptown, Brighton is super chill. Look at that stained glass, too.
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This sparrowhawk caught a sparrow right in front of my eyes. I managed to take a picture of it through the back door before it vanished again.
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HND ➡️ LHR
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The super blue moon over Tokyo.
Favourite music
Here are a selection of albums which are all-time favourites of mine. They stand up as a whole (not just as single tracks). I don’t claim to have good taste in music, or that my taste is better than anyone else’s! With each album I’ve written a little about times and places I associate with it. The albums are presented in no particular order. I’ll garden this post over time and add new material.…
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My view from the Rikugien tea house.
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Iced matcha and a fireworks themed Japanese confection at a tea house in Rikugien (garden).
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Yeah, fuck ‘im up Shinji. Now get back in the fucking robot.
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Back in Hitachino Brewing Lab in the old Manseibashi Station building, just outside Akiba
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I’m back at Glitch Coffee in 神保町. Delicious.
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My partner treated me to a couple of days stay in the Tokyo Station Hotel for my birthday. We’re in the south dome, and I can see the gates and folk come and go from up here. I don’t know how they did it, but it’s totally silent here. Absolutely no station noise at all!