Weeknotes: Week of 4/26/26
Whatās New
Been a few weeks since I published one of these. Iāve been poking away a bit at my digital garden, though. Itās nice to feel like Iām starting to use that a bit more regularly rather than intermittent brain dumps. After what felt like more False Springs than usual weāve finally transitioned into Real Actual Spring here in Chicago. Thereās more (interesting) nature to observe, which means the 5-year nature log that sits on our kitchen table is getting more use again, as is customary for us. I found a bit of robinās egg shell while cleaning up our front yard this week and itās such a brilliant and colorful little artifact of the season that Iām hoping Iāll be able to think of some fun way to use it.
On Saturday I went mushroom foraging with my wife and some of our friends. It was an Illinois Mycological Association event, their first survey of the year. We had a great time rooting around in the forest, and we actually found some morels! We also found a couple of others, including one really teeny tiny one. Iāve collected all my iNat observations in one of their journal posts, though itās not really clear to me if thatās what theyāre for. Unfortunately I also managed to find some ticks, including one that managed to get itās mouthparts attached. Lyme disease kind of freaks me out, so I was a bit jangled after that, but thankfully that wasnāt until we were already headed home (and also the danger of Lyme is much less when youāre able to remove it as soon as we did).
Reading
- From the excellent Long Library (AKA friend of the site Peter Raleigh), a piece on Americaās foundational sins through the eyes of Scorceseās Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) specifically and his entire filmography more generally. Iām sure film buffs will get more out of it than I did, but deep lore is not required.
- I promise, Iām trying to talk about AI and LLMs less, but this piece is a really good one on the fundamental nature of the technology.
Other Things Besides Reading
- Potato fonts! Thatās right, you heard me.
- Itās nice to see font-folk having some fun.
- Watched the first Taskmaster Champion of Champions. I thought it was going to be a full season so I was a little bummed to find out it was only a two-parter. With that said, I thought it was very funny and I very much enjoyed what they did with the trophy.
- Iām most of the way through season 5 of My Hero Academia (spoiler warning, I guess, for whatās below, though I will attempt to be vague).
- I canāt say I love the attention the series pays to Endeavor. They donāt seem to be forgiving him outright but they are putting a lot of work into his redemption arc. He isnāt one-dimensional, at least. Weāll see where things end up, though.
- Iām enjoying the āMy Villain Academiaā bit, getting to spend some more time with the villains and watch them experience some growth has been fun.