Weeknotes

Weeknotes: W15, 2026

2026-04-13T04:32:06.000Z

Highlight of the week: I got to attempt making Nasi Goreng Pattaya this week, and it turned out great! Usually the dish is made with chicken fried rice, but I used tempeh instead and a bunch of Indian spices. Delicious and vegetarian!

I made two servings, for my mom and I. Next time, I’ll get some chili sauce that didn’t come out of McDonald’s sauce packets.

things I did

I got to cook more often this week than usual, which was lovely.
My youngest brother’s play was this week. The acting was great, though I wasn’t a huge fan of the script (mostly the pacing). He did a great job.
I got some more work done! I’m doing better at keeping to a work schedule, these days, which is a huge relief, though I still need to fix my sleep schedule.
I wrote a hand-written response to a lovely email I got about my blog post about an analog internet. Took a picture and sent it in the reply email. What fun!
I accidentally published the beginnings of the website redesign I’ve been working on. It’s most obvious in the footer of the website and the homepage, which I’m rewriting (but haven’t finished yet). I like the changes, so I went ahead and left them up.

things I read

I read the first few stories of Clarkesworld Magazine issue 226, which I’m enjoying so far.

words I looked up

puissant

things I listened to

I discovered (more like paid attention to for the first time) a song by James Taylor, “Suite for 20 G”. It’s a fun song, in a few different distinct styles, with a mystifying title.

Upon looking it up, I discovered that Taylor had been promised $20,000 for completing the album and needed one more song, so he stuck three song ideas he had together and gave it that title. 😆

A hilarious story, and a great song!

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W14, 2026

2026-04-05T14:46:52.000Z

Highlight of the week: I got a real, productive workday on Friday! It’s been a long time since I’ve actually gotten what I’d describe as a “work day”, sticking to a schedule and everything. Here’s hoping I keep it up next week.

things I did

I published a blog post: currency is an abstraction of value
Finished a poem for Nantucket Lit’s First-Class Fiction. Speaking of which, a piece of microfiction I wrote will be the next postcard to go out!
Worked out a lot of error handling for Ariadne, my web crawler. This was some of the work I’d been most putting off for the project, which means I’m practically-speaking a good deal closer to being able to release all the progress. I’ve also significantly sped things up by making the logic more sophisticated to avoid pauses.
I got to make Chana Masala for guests on Wednesday! I made Hummus at the same time.
I survived some particularly harrowing social interactions.
After many attempts without improvements, I’m finally making a lot of progress on roasting chickpeas as snacks. I’ve finally gotten the crispiness level perfect; now I just need to hone in on the flavor and seasonings.
- I’ve begun experimenting with seasonings; tonight I tried using garam masala, though I haven’t had a chance to taste the result yet.

things I read

Didn’t actually read much this week, other than blog posts (see below for that).

words I looked up

effluent
vituperative

things I listened to

Honestly, I may retire this section. I don’t keep track of what I’m listening too closely while doing it, and it’s easy to forget things looking back.

Lots of James Taylor albums
The Manhattan Transfer - Bodies and Souls
Chick Corea - all three Trilogy albums

If I do drop the section, I’ll replace it with something else, don’t worry.

links around the small web

Being Certified ‘Cool’ - the Wry Writer
Time flies — bojidar-bg.dev
- Be sure to check out the fun minigame linked: Cursor survival — bojidar-bg.dev
March Tinkering
Recognized for my brilliance and forethought 🥕 - small good things
#algernonReviewsHackerNews - Chronicae Novis Rebus
Please Compensate The Work You Appreciate | Brain Baking (this feels to me like a more practical take on the topic I addressed in my blog post this week, where mine was more “here’s some theory behind what money even is”)
Initial thoughts on the tiny XTEINK X4 ereader | Neil’s blog
curl > /dev/sda
This Is My Genre (Science Fiction!)
The 49MB Web Page | thatshubham
Unpolished human websites
Oh Hello Ana - Overthinking: AI wasn’t the first to break my heart
NeoVim is Dead (to Me)? Long Live Who Knows What - The Darth Mall
Art journaling in The Brunch Book the last two Sundays - small good things
Can I hear a difference between MP3s and uncompressed audio? - 82MHz

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Weeknotes: W12, 2026

2026-03-23T09:07:49.000Z

Keeping things short this week…

Highlight of the week: I solved a problem with my computer setup that’s been bugging me for years. Apparently, running powertop --auto-tune when SwayWM starts up tells my external keyboard and mouse to fall asleep every few seconds of inactivity, meaning keystrokes and mouse movements kept getting missed; to fix this, I’d have to unplug and re-plug them. Removing that command from my config has everything running smoothly. Apparently “auto-tune” means “turn off literally everything that could drain my battery faster, such as being able to type.” Ridiculous.

things I did

Family vacation is coming up next week for my family. (I’m not really a “vacation” person…)
Got a lot of reading done! See below.
Happy Eid al-Fitr to those who celebrate! I’ve got fond memories from my childhood.

things I read

I managed to read the entirety of Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon in 30 hours, across three days. While I didn’t enjoy everything, overall it was a good book and I had fun. It was more interesting for being largely set in my geographical neighborhood.

words I looked up

catenary
architectonic
epiphyte
sigmoid
quotidian
specious
puckish
vertiginous
raconteur (I know this one, but it’s a really good one and I’m writing it down to remember to use it)
codicil
moiety
frisson
obloquy

things I listened to

Norah Jones - The Fall
A lot of Duke Ellington
A good bit of The Manhattan Transfer

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W11, 2026

2026-03-16T03:17:00.000Z

Highlight of the week: My birthday was this week! It was a fun time with family.

things I did

I set up a tea station for myself in my bedroom! I have several types of loose leaf tea, whole spices, a teapot with an infuser, some sugar, and an electric kettle all ready for me to use. Should be a lot more convenient than needing to go all the way to the kitchen (which is two floors down from my room) for tea, and then bringing it back up if I want to work at my desk.
I think I’m getting hung up on my publishing project as a primary project to work on… I need to put it aside for a bit, banish it back to the “side project” realm, and do some actual writing for myself. I have a good story idea, I’m going to put some more work into it.
My hummus side-hustle has officially begun! I’ve sold three 700ml batches so far. I also got to check “deliver hummus via bicycle” off of my bucket list.
One of my old posts has been making the rounds again on the Fediverse.
Weeknotes are late because I had something of a small meltdown last night during a social event. Then promptly went to bed upon getting home and slept for fourteen hours. Not sure what’s up.

things I read

I reread most of the Tintin books this week. They’re a bit dated at times but overall still enjoyable.

Other than that, I read a couple stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #450. I’m feeling like starting a longer novel once I finish this issue.

words I looked up

immiserated
metonymically
double-checked difference between “amend” and “emend”. It does appear there are some subtle differences between an amendment and an emendation, as I’d suspected.

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W10, 2026

2026-03-09T08:04:18.000Z

I spent most of this last week spending time with family and close friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, so I’m actually going to skip most of my usual weeknotes stuff (I either didn’t keep track or stuff is private) and keep things short and sweet.

I cooked a number of times this week! Made chickpeas with red curry paste again, which I still have leftovers of even after eating it as leftovers several times. I made Chana Masala for a family friend’s birthday, and every bit was devoured. Also, I made a batch of hummus on Wednesday night, and the full liter was gone by the weekend.

Speaking of hummus, I just received four orders for half-liter batches of hummus, from my parents’ coworkers. So I guess I officially have a hummus-making side-hustle, now? That’ll be a task for this coming week.

On a final note, while I don’t share my precise birthday publicly online, I will say that it is during Week 11 of 2026, as per the ISO Week Date calendar (which, to make things simple for the uninitiated, is what I use for these weeknotes). So, if you’re wanting to wish me a happy birthday (very kind of you!) you may do so at any point this week!

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W09, 2026

2026-03-01T14:10:35.000Z

Highlight of the week: Finally revisited The Book Thief; it’s been years since I last read it, and I really missed those characters. Shed a few tears, too.

things I did

I have a story idea I’ve been working on developing… I think it could be pretty good, though I’m still not sure how most of the plot will go. In the meantime I’ve reread a couple stories with similar premises.
I made fried rice with Indian spices, raisins, onions, and tempeh, and it was delicious! Tempeh seems like a great option for protein in vegetarian fried rices, as long as it’s seasoned well.
I’ll get to see some old friends next weekend. Looking forward to that a lot.
I set up a shared shopping list for my family that syncs through my self-hosted Radicale. Seems to work! (Except for some odd Apple shenanigan on my dad’s phone that I’ll tackle another day.)
I finished my recent goal of finishing six video games from my backlog! The ones I completed: Spindle, Crypt Custodian, Gris, Braid, Bastion, and VVVVVV.

things I read

Decided to try a list format this time.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams
Beneath Ceaseless Skies #449
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

words I looked up

lugubrious (thought I knew this one but I’d mixed it up)

things I listened to

SeaFury - we who wander
Diahann Carroll with the Duke Ellington Orchestra - A Tribute to Ethel Waters
Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett - Songs of Supergiant Games (this is so fantastic, especially if you’ve played the games in question)
Sons of Korah - listened through all their albums
Chick Corea and Return to Forever - Light as a Feather

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W08, 2026

2026-02-22T13:59:57.000Z

Highlight of the week: I’ve had some fresh story ideas for the first time in a while, which I’m looking forward to writing.

things I did

I renewed my Clarkesworld Magazine subscription!
I made potato and bean qorma for my family, which was very tasty.
I also made potato and egg tacos for my family, also very tasty.
I came up with a URL structure for my upcoming publishing project that I’m happy with. Which doesn’t sound like a huge victory, but I’ve been agonizing over this since starting the project. Yeah, I’m a weird nerd (and proud of it).
I’ve transformed my pen case into a wallet slash EDC kit that fits comfortably in my pocket by removing a few writing utensils and adding some cash. This should fit my needs better at this time (since I’m not regularly commuting with my backpack, and I’m somewhere that I use cash more than cards). As with my previous wallet, I’ve tucked in a few Clew and Writing Month stickers to give to people I talk to.
I’ve started sending webmentions from these weeknotes, since I link to a lot of other sites.

things I read

This week I continued reading Clarkesworld issues, completing issues 223 and 224. Some favorite stories from these issues:

As with last time, all of these have audio versions available.

I’m almost finished reading issue 225, which will mark seven monthly issues read in this one month, a significant dent in my backlog. To celebrate, I’ll probably pick something different to read in the remaining week of February. I haven’t decided, but I’m leaning toward a reread of Watership Down.

words I looked up

I finally got around to setting up dictionaries locally and don’t need to look up words using online dictionaries anymore, so I probably won’t continue to include links with these words. I’m sure you can figure out how to do a dictionary lookup, y’all are smart.

intubation
weft
inimical

things I listened to

Miles Davis & Quincy Jones - Miles & Quincy Live at Montreax
Marc Cohn - The Rainy Season
U2 - The Joshua Tree
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
The Manhattan Transfer - Bop Doo Wop

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W07, 2026

2026-02-17T12:36:23.000Z

Highlight of the week: I’m finally beginning to feel like I can focus on things again, which is very gratifying. Now I “just” need to work on my motivation to actually accomplish the goals I’m setting.

things I did

Last weekend, I wrote my weeknotes on Saturday, so I’ll include an event of Sunday: I the entire afternoon in the kitchen, cooking Hummus first and later a special request from my dad for a chickpea dish using red curry paste. Here’s the recipe he sent me, though be warned that I found this recipe somewhat annoying to work from. Also, I literally quadrupled the recipe to get the number of servings it claims (with some other tweaks based on what ingredients we get here).
Chinese New Year is coming up which is a big deal here.
My parents and I all got health screenings this week, which was a harrowing experience (my first time) but I received very positive results and appear to be very healthy, which is good to know for sure.
I’ve been making a ton of progress on the code for my upcoming publishing project. If I can keep this up I will be able to begin publishing in March. (Maybe in time for my birthday?)
I got a new laptop stand at last, after my old one broke a few months ago! This one is much higher-quality than the previous.

things I read

This week I focused on catching up on my magazine subscriptions, incredibly completing issues 220, 221, and 222 of Clarkesworld Magazine (which finally means I’m less than a year behind). A few of my favorite stories from this mix:

(All of these have audio versions available.)

I think reading lengthy Neal Stephenson novels has helped me get over my usual hesitance to read the longer novellas and novelettes when I encounter them in magazines, which has helped a lot with getting through my backlog. I’m on a roll so I’ll probably continue this trend into next week.

things I listened to

I didn’t pay as close attention this time around to what I was listening to, but I know there was a lot of big band music (particularly Les Brown) and, of course, Chick Corea.

links around the small web

The inverted index pattern | James’ Coffee Blog
Index Compression, Query Execution Improvements | marginalia.nu
A programmer’s loss of identity - ratfactor
Overscan: Stories from Beyond the Screen’s Edge (I was in the anthology this is a review of!)
Paper Books vs. e-books vs “librebooks?”

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Weeknotes: W06, 2026

2026-02-08T18:06:55.000Z

Highlight of the week: I got a feature request from a High School English teacher who uses Writing Month with their students, which is awesome! Participating in NaNoWriMo alongside my Middle School and High School English classmates was a huge influence on my own development as a writer, so it’s great to be helping that carry on.

things I did

My mom and I were watching The LEGO Batman Movie and I realized the singer of the song playing during the tuxedo changing scene is Al Jarreau! I did quite the double take as I heard it; the last time I saw the movie was before I discovered him and he has become one of my favorite singers in that time.
2/7 authors are officially on board for my upcoming publishing project. Progress is being made on the code, too!
Got some really cool ideas for my search engine. A little hesitant to start coding that since (1) I’m not done thinking and (2) I have other things I should be coding, but good things are coming.

things I read

You may have noticed… I skipped a week in my weeknotes. Well, then, I’ll just summarize two weeks worth of reading.

Last week, I started Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, and I finished it this week (breezed through it, quicker than Anathem was). I liked a lot about the plot, though there were moments that I didn’t find as interesting and overall I think I liked it less than Anathem. I’m still looking forward to reading more of Neal’s work, though.

Also last week, I read issue 448 of Beneath Ceaseless Sky, which I enjoyed very much.

This week I finished Clarkesworld issue 219, which had what is probably my favorite short story I’ve read so far this year, “The Coffee Machine” by Celia Corral-Vázquez.

things I listened to

Worth a mention: in the Grammy award ceremony last Sunday, Chick Corea won an award for the live performance of “Windows” on Trilogy 3! Not bad for a guy who’s been dead five years. This puts him at a total of 29 Grammy awards, breaking the tie with Quincy Jones for third place.

Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Chicago - Chicago 17
Passengers - Original Soundtracks 1 (“Passengers” is the pseudonym used by U2 for this album, which is very different from their usual sound)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade
Columbus State University Trombone Ensemble - Full Tilt

links around the small web

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Weeknotes: W04, 2026

2026-01-25T13:49:13.000Z

Highlight of the week: I finished reading Anathem!

things I did

I did some more work on the code for my upcoming publishing project.
I made Dal Tadka for a family member’s birthday.
I made a very experimental batch of hummus. The weirdest thing was using desi chickpeas instead of kabuli chickpeas, giving it a very dark brown hue, but I’ve received very positive feedback on the other changes. I may update my recipe soon. As I write this, I’m working on a second, larger batch, integrating the flavor tweaks but returning to the usual kabuli chickpeas.
I got some awesome new tee shirts, three for 65RM (about $15)! Pictures below.

Three new shirts! Slothmode is my favorite.

things I read

I finished Anathem, which I enjoyed very much! It’s given me some new ideas for my seven-dimensional universe, which was eerily similar to the cosmology of the book. I’d complain that Neal stole my idea, but I suppose he had it first.

Other than that, I’ve been reading a few books I found lying around the house that I enjoyed as a kid. I also discovered that my mom borrowed Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism from a friend, so I may read that next.

words I looked up

things I listened to

Beethoven - Symphony No. 3
Claude Fontaine - La Mer
Bobby McFerrin - Bang! Zoom
Peter Cetera - One More Story

links around the small web

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