It's nearly the halfway point of 2026, and things are going alright in Oakland. I survived my trip to Chicago, and met my team in person. Thanks to a tip from my friend Sara, I had my favorite meal in years at Anelya's. When I live in Portland, Kachka was a favorite—Ukranian food rules. I'm not really a fan of Chicago, broadly, but this trip showed me that it at least has decent food. No whirlyball this time though.

After my trip, I was happy to get back on the bike, and re-add hours to my training. Two relatively low-load weeks meant I was somewhat rested, and a last-minute invitation from my friend Jonathan meant I would ride a metric century with him and a thousand other people. It's not a race, sadly, but I figured I can at least race myself. So now I'm writing this as I carb-up and get ready for bed—it's an early start tomorrow.

For my fellow sports fans, May marks the return of Formula 1, post Iran-war-related spring break, and the start of the Women's Vuelta and Men's Giro bike races. It's a fun time to watch things with wheels go fast.

Links

Cool new code editor Zed hit its 1.0 launch this week if you're the kind of person that needs to write code. The creators made Atom, but realized too late they'd made some truly accursed decisions, performance-wise (Electron), and started over in Rust. I've used Nova for a few years now, and I've always liked it, but the speed of Zed and the very robust extension support are compelling.

I still write everything blog and newsletter related in IA Writer, though I still need to try their notebook.

Lately, scientists have found that long COVID isn't the only downside of a COVID infection... your immune system resets and leaves you much more susceptible to old viruses and infections. Fun!

Another terrible thing that we've just accepted as part of our world is the prevalence of cars and road infrastructure that supports them. From environmental detriments, to public health and safety, there're so many axis on which an automotive world is horrible. It's perpetually amusing to me that suburban people spend loads of time wandering Disneyland and enjoying its simulacrum of European urban density, but think a 15 minute city is some sort of evil plot.

And while you're pleasantly walking or cycling around a human-scale city, perhaps you'll pull over to read a book or listen to a cassette tape in a fit of inconvenience-nostalgia.

The world feels as if it is moving too fast, sweeping people up in a forward churn that—among other things—aims to make individuality yet another myth. You are told that everything you desire is at your fingertips, and that your life is going to be made easier than ever, but at the cost of blending into a monochromatic background, as forgettable as the view from another hotel room in another city that is not your city. In your city, there are new gray mixed-use condos that look dreamed up by a bored and unimaginative child, but people live there and work there and shop there, and they don’t have to go outside all that much.

I own a cassette player, an MD Player, and a record player, as well as hundreds of physical books, so I'm no stranger to this desire. What I have learned through these purchases is that the tactile pleasure of an analog device rules, but the sound quality or inconvenience of transporting books, tapes, or mini discs means I don't take them out of the house often. When I travel, I might buy a souvenir tape or book, but I travel too lightlyto bring a player.

Finally, in a similar vein to rethinking convenience, this last link urges us to rethink multitasking. I manage people and constant interruptions in my day job, and spend many evenings chatting with friends online or reading articles while watching a tv show in the background, so this is more of "do what I say, not what I do," but I have found focus is worthwhile. When I do need to do some kind of analysis or deeper work and writing, focusing on just the page and maybe some music gets me into a productive mood. I think this is another reason I love bicycling, since it is so all-encompassing it doesn't allow for distraction. I usually listen to music or podcasts when in transit, but lately I've also tried to just let the world wash over me, with nothing to do. The bored moments, as cliche as it is, are the ones that often inspire me.

That said, I absolutely hate waiting in a line unless I have my AirPods or my Stink with me.

Closing

For now, I'm off to bed so I can wake up early for this bike ride. I'll keep collecting links and trying to send one of these out every month this year, and I hope you keep reading them and learning something fun. Regardless of whether we're in a new pivot to video as a society, or some other algorithmic hell, more people writing blogs and newsletters is always welcome, so send me yours if you have one. In the meantime, enjoy the springtime, and keep being cool, space cowgirls~