Hey, friends! Glad to have you here!

Introduction

The plan for this weekly roundup newsletter is for me to write a little introduction, a section for links to longer-form writing on my blog, a section for all the silly microblog posts I put on Bluesky / Mastodon, a section for interesting things I read, and ALWAYS a Pudding picture. I'll send these every Saturday morning, for a nice little calm-reading-over-pancakes vibe.

Replies to these emails, giving your thoughts on any of the contents of this newsletter, are always welcome! I may not be able to respond in equivalent depth every time, due to fluctuating / unpredictable energy levels. But I do want this to be a dialogical enterprise! At the same time, I never expect you to reply. And if you just do not have capacity to read a given weekly roundup, that's fine; I get it; I've been there. Feel no guilt or shame, please!

Furthermore - if emails from me start piling up, and/or what I'm sending just isn't your cup of tea, please let me know! I'm currently sending this via the very high-tech process (read that sarcastically) of Long BCC List In Plain Old Email Client. But I'm still including an "unsubscribe" link at the bottom that is literally just a one-click way to send me a "hi, love you, take me off the list please <3" email. It will not hurt my feelings, I promise.

*Editorial note: in the process of sending this first newsletter, I realized that Long BCC List In Plain Old Email Client would cause my email client to yell at me and stop sending emails for 24 hours. So, I will be sending all future emails from Buttondown, and am uploading this here for archival purposes!

Long Form Blog Posts

I Contacted All My Facebook Friends (HEARTWARMING; HUMILIATING)

"I was, in essence, going round to over three hundred people, hat in hand, saying, 'Hi, hello, do you still want to be my friend?' Is there a universe where this is not soul-wrenchingly embarrassing? where such a question, and its accompanying possibility of rejection, does not put the 'mort,' the death, in 'mortifying'?"

Community, Not Competition: Business Advice from Tiny Donuts

"I remember Pip's [Original Donuts'] posts featuring a hashtag that stuck with me: #CommunityNotCompetition... The hashtag, and the evident philosophy behind it, made quite the impression on my young-adult brain: the notion that other people offering supposedly competing products could be colleagues, rather than a potential threat."

Disabled 4 Disabled: A Love Letter to My Community

"I am tempted to despair at the heat's causes. Its implications for the continued flourishing of creation make my sinuses heavy with the threat of tears, if I think about it too long. But despair cannot tell the whole story of my being alive. So, to counter the temptation to despair, I write a love letter to my people."

Micro Blog Posts

Oct 26, 2025

10:45: No "smart" devices! Absolute fool devices only! I want my vacuum to have less thinking capacity than my cat, who will literally watch me grab a clean bowl and fill it with fresh water then meow for a water change!!

10:48: Also, speaking of smart devices: while I was already predisposed to skepticism, Cory Doctorow's novella "Unauthorized Bread" permanently rewired my brain regarding what a horrible thing smart devices are.

Oct 27, 2025

17:38: "back in my day they didn't have all this autism"

i'm sorry, but there is no non-autistic explanation for the Voynich manuscript, a document from THE FOURTEEN HUNDREDS in which a still-anonymous person wrote a WHOLE BOOK in a WHOLE CONLANG that has STILL not been decoded: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/68r.jpg

17:39: "bro don't you start teaching in less than thirty minutes" look, pal, a student of mine wants to sing in Elvish, I looked up IPA resources on Quenya and Sindarin, one thing led to another, idk

all i'm saying is that if i weren't already saturated with hyperfixations right now, the way i'd be going absolutely feral on conlangs for the next 4-6 weeks...

thank FOSS/Linux that your feeds aren't about to be filled with me blathering about the Lingua Ignota ok

Oct 29, 2025

11:10: I've had Nina Simone's "Little Girl Blue" stuck in my head for much of this week, so it seemed fitting for my first contribution to #MusicWomenWednesday : https://yewtu.be/watch?v=5t5IJAIkuUs

17:16: Have been thinking a lot this week about how, growing up, I definitely received the message that “hacker” was functionally synonymous with “thief,” “criminal,” “general ne’er-do-well”… when, literally, hacking is just messing with computer programs. why did nobody tell me this (I know exactly why)

17:20: Also just generally lately have been thinking about words that have become pejoratives that didn’t start out that way; there’s probably a technical term for this in linguistics: like “villain” (just meant “non-landowning”), or “Luddite” (people protesting theft of their livelihoods) #justgirlythings

17:23: “bud you express a lot of sympathy for luddites, for somebody who’s getting more techy literally every day” it is about the means of production!! comrade!!

Oct 30, 2025

14:17: how your message finds me

Posts by Other People

The prompting event for my mini-rant on wanting devices as foolish as Pudding - Man Alarmed to Discover His Smart Vacuum Was Broadcasting a Secret Map of His House

HEAVY warning for salty language, and, Wikipedia has been right all along - Hi, It’s Me, Wikipedia, and I Am Ready for Your Apology

I feel odd linking an Instagram reel on principle, but I saw that reel on Mastodon, and this article gives context / link to said reel. Point being: Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's is making a watermelon sorbet in support of Palestine! - Ben & Jerry’s owner stopped brand developing flavour for peace in Gaza

Owls in Towels never misses - Happy Owloween!

Pudding, The Main Event

These days she enjoys sitting atop a stack of two (2) cheap white cushions. She is sitting like this behind me right now, dozing, while I write this newsletter:

Well, that's all I have for ya! Thank you so much for reading!

I write and publish stuff because I've been opinionated since birth, and I don't like gatekeeping art or information. With that said: if you happen to have the financial resources and the desire to support my writing, you are welcome to make a monthly contribution via Patreon. Every small bit adds up, helping keep me and Pudding housed and fed!

Additionally, if you know anyone of any age looking for piano or voice lessons, wherever they may live, my studio currently has a great deal of availability. Passing my website along to potential students would be a huge help to me! Thank you!