Hey there, !

A short one just to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as newsletter goes on break for a little bit.

I feel like I can only really take a break around this time - this newsletter's just a habit I don't want to break, and I'm afraid that if I stop I'll stop forever!

Anyway, the break over Christmas helps give me the time to do stuff for the first time - like this:

• First time tiramisu - my favourite dessert but I've never made it before! Turns out, it's not too bad:

• First time massive creme brulee - this one was harder than I thought, but the custard looked like the steamed egg thing that I do so I had some frame of reference when it was cooking to get the right texture. Next time I'll have to add WAY more sugar to make sure it becomes a better 'shatter', and lower heat so that it doesn't burn so quickly.

I'm not really a baker but doing new things makes time slow down (subjectively) so hopefully 2026 becomes a looooong year :D

Let's hope we all have some good food and great times and look like this when the feasts are all over:

Super sleepy, warm and full, and a little angry at how much we ate.

Chat soon :)

(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)

✔️Real Life Recommendations

1. I'll always recommend you do the Die Hard and Love Actually Christmas double feature - Love Actually first, so you can hate on Alan Rickman, and then Die Hard so you can see him get his just desserts.

2. The Greatest Night in Pop - it's about how We are the World was made (the one produced by Quincy Jones and written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson) - the logistics, the background, the room itself; it's fascinating to watch. It's not super long, and it's cool to see a whole bunch of these great singers and how they meld with each other.

🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. Alpha School - Astral Codex Ten - another long read about a new educational concept in America (are they the only place that do this?? I never hear about them in Australia) - where kids do 2 hours of lessons guided by a computer in the morning, and spend the whole afternoon on group activities (whether humanities or sports) based on their interests. I don't know why but I found it fascinating.

2. If You’re Going to Vibe Code, Why Not Do It in C? - this was another really interesting perspective - coding languages are supposed to be for humans to read, so why don't we just go down to the silicon layer and have AI write in computer speak that's more specific and controllable?

3. The Geocities Gallery - while you have time over Christmas, go on a walk down internet's memory lane. Look at Coyote Canyon School's Room 13&14, or a Backstreet Boy's fanpage or just some dude's blog.