184 - Life Update ☀️
Hey there, !
Let's get straight in:
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By the time you're reading this, I'll be back from a trip in Darwin. I don't know how it's gone, but I'm sure the hot 30+ degree days have cooked me to no end :D
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I've started getting more stuff done at home - installed some colorful new smart lights, hung some art, cooked some more at home. It's all about settling in. The plants are still alive as well - very big win! I put up a pseudo-Kanban board at home to try and help motivate me to do stuff and see progress happening, but it's hard to be your own Scrum master since you can just let yourself slide...
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Fig season is finishing soon, and the harvest from my fig trees have been coming in thick and fast. I don't like fresh figs that much, and they don't keep well, so I tried drying them. First attempt was not great (they got really dry and crunchy) so we're going to either a) try again, or b) make fig jam instead!
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My 'comfort' TV show of more recent times has been The Sopranos, which I'm absolutely loving. Why? Well, the Mafia vibes definitely, but also the discourse on the Italian-American experience, as well as some pretty forward-thinking views on therapy, which are really fascinating to see through a more modern lens.
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I have had some pretty socially taxing weeks for some reason - I think it's the the ebbs and flows of: lots of stuff going on -> getting tired and slowing down to take a rest -> recovering and feeling bored -> scheduling more things in -> lots of stuff going on.
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I unfortunately didn't end up finishing Every Version of You before I had to return it to the library - will have to go get it again later. Working through Death on the Nile and The Wisdom of Rilke at the moment :D
What should you ask me about before my next Life Update?
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Have I got my 3D printer set up in the house yet? When are we gonna get more fun 3D printing content?
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What's the best thing you've cooked in the last few weeks? Can I have some figs? (yes)
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How was Darwin!
Chat soon :)
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✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves - the thing I love about this is that you can watch this as a fun romp in a fantasy setting, as well as appreciate it as a DND-specific movie as well. It's got a lot of the underlying shenanigans that players would normally do (i.e. screw up a puzzle by making rash decisions) or breaking a warlock's concentration to screw up a spell, or how magical items work, or attunement, or the different monsters and races - it's just a love letter to DND and it works so damn well. Even if you don't know DND, you'll still like this movie. Recommended for a fun fantasy romp!
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NOPE - another fantastic movie from Jordan Peele - definitely not as creepy in the way that Get Out and Us are, but still a fun mystery / thriller / horror movie. I enjoy that the characters keep trying to make plans, that don't always work, but they definitely learn from them and adapt. A tightly made movie, it's a really good film too. Highly recommended for some Daniel Kaluuya and Steven Yeun western vibes!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Training an LLM on my groups 500k chat messages - FANTASTIC. Very Black Mirror vibes but really fun to see someone actually try andmake it. I kinda want to do this as a side project?
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Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic - The Art of War is highly valued as a great strategy book, but is it that good? I liked this interpretation and opinion of it as well - essentially that there's been so much more strategic thinking that has evolved over time, and people should not slavishly abide by the principles of the past. In addition, those who are able to 'read in' interpretations for business can make up whatever they want since it can be so broadly interpreted.
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GRID WORLD by Alexander Miller - a cute little website that's been built as just a little garden in a world of massive websites. I love the story, I love the way it's presented, and I love that it's so intuitive to interact with. Fantastic!