Week Notes 001

I tried out doing monthly media logs and found it difficult to stick to; it became daunting to log everything, and I put the unnecessary onus on myself to also write down detailed thoughts on everything. I’m going to try out shorter weekly notes instead. I want to have a record of and reflect on things that are important to me, so the effort matters, but perhaps this will be easier to maintain.¹ I’m hoping to use this space to share out blog posts and other web content that I’ve enjoyed, too.

Doing

• I redesigned my bearblog from scratch. It’s not much different than what I had before, but it’s a dramatically simpler stylesheet. I’m also loading the css from a server and embedding that within bearblog, which means I can use my preferred app (VSCodium) to write the code and bypass the bearblog editor.²

• I’m trying to get back into running after I completed The Trevor Project’s 53 mile challenge in June. I haven’t run since then until this week. I also picked up the Shokz OpenRun Mini on Prime Day which have been cool to try out on my runs.

Reading

• I dream of a better Xbox Game Pass by Phil Bothun, a great post on Game Pass’s enshittification and how it could be more consumer-oriented

• Emerging on Emma’s Dilemmas. It’s always lovely to see a new face on the bearblog discover page, and Emma’s prose is fantastic. I can’t wait to read more from them.

• Cultural Competence Now by Vernita Mayfield. I’ve joined my school district’s team DEI and we’re using this book to frame our work.

• The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation). I taught the Gareth Hinds graphic novel version of The Odyssey to my students at the end of this past school year. They and I enjoyed it way more than anticipated, and it motivated me to take on reading the actual text for the first time. The introduction and translator’s note in this version comprise a daunting 95 pages in my edition, so I’ve read that, Book 1, and into Book 2. I love Wilson’s ethos in approaching the translation and am enjoying it thus far.

Watching

• Gilmore Girls, season three (one of the best, I think, if not the) and four (also one of my favorites). Gilmore Girls was a staple in my house growing up: we binged it as a family when I was in middle school and then endlessly rewatched the DVD collection. A friend of mine and her daughter have been watching it together, and they recently invited me over for a Gilmore night, which triggered the rewatch. I’m happy to say that I still love the show dearly (despite its many faults). Joe has also (voluntarily!) joined in on my rewatch.

• Another Cinderella Story. Watched with a friend for nostalgia reasons (on her part). I’m more of a Jennifer Coolidge fan, and the real life age gap between the romantic leads is disturbing — especially when Selena was a minor.

Playing

• Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update
• Picross e series on my Switch, mostly when watching Gilmore Girls

Listening

• BRAT, Charli XCX. BRAT might be my album of the year; I love Charli and I think BRAT is her magnum opus. “I think about it all the time” has hit particularly hard, as I’m having these same conversations with my partner right now.³
• Minecraft Volume Beta and Volume Alpha, C418. I’m not a big Minecraft player, but I love the soundtracks as background noise.
• Weather, Tycho. I picked this up on vinyl this week. Great music to have in the background while working or relaxing.
• xx, The xx. Another record store pickup. A moody, atmospheric album. I first got into The xx in 2012, after I heard “Heart Skipped a Beat” in, I believe, an H&M.⁴ It was nice to return to the album and reminisce. I’d forgotten how much I love “Night Time.”
• Gilmore Guys. Joe loves podcasts and this one has motivated him to join me in the Gilmore Girls rewatch. I listened through to the show years ago, so it has been a little weird to revisit. We’re in their early days (season two), which is rough: many of their guests hate Gilmore Girls, which does not make for fun listening. Things get better (and, in my opinion, the podcast gets funnier) as they go on. I do find all of the singing cringy now, which I don’t recall from my first listen. Gilmore Guys was one of the first podcasts I really listened to, so perhaps now I’m just much more exposed to different shows and styles.