selfaware soup

In 2023 the crowdfunding campaign for the MNT Pocket Reform open source laptop started and I backed it right from the beginning, securing one of the first devices of that batch.

Butterflies This week I went to Alaris Butterfly Park again.

About a year ago I built a new PC, for the fist time since 2006, to use it as my main computer, replacing a Mac Mini at the time.

About a week ago I did something I wanted to do for years: ride along the Berlin Mauerweg by bike.

Building This week I built and painted a tabletop miniature for the first time in ages.

Powerlifting vs bad eating habits I want to write this up as its own post.

Wheels I fulfilled a little dream of mine this week and got myself a cargo bike.

Thanks algae I’ve probably been deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids for a long time since my everyday diet doesn’t really contain any typical sources of them.

Here’s a fitness hot take: People who are, either admittedly or obviously, on anabolic steroids have nothing useful to say in terms of training advice outside of the context of competitive enhanced bodybuilding which doesn’t apply for the vast majority of…

University My schedule at uni is starting to relax.

Damn, it’s been a while since I wrote one of these journal posts.

I used to have a pretty large collection of MP3s when I was younger.

The new US administration is taking a lot of valuable information offline in what can only be called a fascist purge of knowledge that will likely continue.

Contents Introduction Getting off my ass Some theory Where does strength come from?

CW: alcoholism, mental health It’s the 20th of May 2024, Pentecost/Whitsun weekend for those who observe it, and on this weekend ten years ago I had my last alcoholic drink.

Whenever the design of user interfaces comes up, one quality is almost always mentioned: it should be intuitive.

(The 6D I had until a couple years ago) In the last 15 years I’ve shot on Nikon and Canon DSLRs, as well as Sony and Olympus mirrorless cameras and after a few years on Micro-Four-Thirds decided to go full-frame again and landed on a Canon 5DS, a camera f…

Spoiler warning for Dune, Part One and Two of the Villeneuve films, the original novel and the later entries in the series.

There’s been quite a few good pieces of media in 2023 and it’s not always easy to pick a favourite.

Two major changes have happened in my life.

I’m sick and tired of the razor cartridge ripoff and I’m doing something about it.

Content note: sex, sex toys, genitals, dysphoria (no details), transition (I’m not being paid for this review and the Volta I own was not provided as a review unit.

In 2010 Chase Jarvis published “The Best Camera Is the One That’s with You”, a book about iPhone photography accompanied by an app and online community.

I’m usually not a morning person, and even if I have to get up early for something, I rarely spend the very early morning hours outside.

Spoiler warning for The Last of Us 1 and 2, and by extension also the TV show Earlier this year I played The Last of Us Part 2.

I have an old analog SLR, a Praktica BC1.

This is an archived copy of two Twitter threads I wrote in 2022 about how I learned very late in life that my home town was host to a concentration camp during the Nazi era, how both east and west Germany failed to confront the past, enabling a resurgence…

It’s been a minute.

It’s often said that you can’t solve social problems with technology alone and there’s many reasons why this is true.

Where do I even start with this year?

Content warnings: medical transition, surgery, scars, bruises, skulls I went through one of the most significant steps in my life in 2022.

This week I attended my first large concert in several years.

A few weeks ago this made the rounds on Twitter in various variations: The four stages of a Mastodon user: what’s a Mastodon I feel lost and alone how does this work oh wow this is actually pretty cool I’m an instance admin now Well, I’m at stage four.

We haven’t has real winter in Berlin for years, it’s always been more like a prolonged fall with temperatures around 5°C and high humidity.

Some super-rich people like to paint themselves as “self-made”, meaning they claim to have amassed their wealth through hard work and smart decisions.

In order to learn more about Rust, I’ve started last years Advent of Code and I think I’m making good progress.

It’s been about a week since Elon Musk took over Twitter and things have been chaotic as expected from that side.

4.1 equivalent tons over 42100km.

It has actually happened.

This week I gave Hollow Knight another try.

(This is going to be a bit of an aimless collection of thoughts with no particular point) There’s this popular concept of “power corrupts”, meaning that anyone who when placed into a position of power will ultimately abandon any altruistic ethics and act…

It’s been a weirdly uneventful week.

I’ve done it.

It’s been a difficult week again and I struggle to focus on anything productive.

Last weekend I skipped my weekly post because there was just too much going on and too little time for writing anything between dropping one date off at the airport and almost missing my train to visit another.

If you’re reading this in an RSS reader, first let me compliment you on keeping the old ways alive, but also recommend you open this page in a modern web browser.

The image above was generated by a machine, DALL-E Mini (now called Craiyon) to be exact.

This week has been worse than the previous one and emotional exhaustion has become physical, to the point where I had trouble getting up the stairs to my flat.

I spent a lot of this week crying and processing complicated feelings, both good and bad.

This week was incredibly hot in Berlin.