It’s not every day two bands I love pop up at the same venue within two days of each other. It’s gonna be a rough week! I wonder if they’ll let me bring a lawn chair.

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These cookies are where it’s at. 🍪

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We’ve been taking the business of Halloween decorating pretty seriously. 🎃

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Hey @robb, do you have any documentation on how to use Webmention with Echofeed? I’m a newb still trying to figure this stuff out but can’t find any resources on the site.
 https://micro.blog/robb


I don’t know who you are, but I want to be your friend.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/76e55767fa.jpg


Finished reading: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan 📚
 https://micro.blog/books/9781423142492


Currently reading: Kane Chronicles, The, Book Two: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan 📚
 https://micro.blog/books/9781423154389


Epilogue book search is not working for me.


I use Rayon Design in my work to create floor plans and design spaces. It’s a French startup and I love their product. I’m excited about their plans to integrate generative AI into their product. They’re hiring a Sr. Machine Learning Engineer and I thought I’d pass along the job posting.
 https://rayonapp.notion.site/Sr-Machine-Learning-Engineer-Rayon-ad85f185090746009caf77d437f3fba4


Time to make some sauce.


This batch of homemade tomato sauce turned out pretty good. It’s going in a Lasagna tomorrow.


The only bad thing about storing all the spooky Halloween stuff in the attic is that I have to go into the creepy attic to get it back out…


Testing feature image.


Last week was busy flying solo while dw traveled to see her sister in San Diego and see the Pink concert.

I managed to mostly finish a new website for my blog yesterday now that I have reinforcements.

It’s 8:30 a.m. on the U.S. west coast and we are moving slow, enjoying family time, drinking coffee, pla... bryans.life https://bryans.life/2024/09/15/last-week-was.html


Hulu w/commercials price going up to $9.99/mo. Those commercials are like 2-3 minutes long every time now, too. Remember when the commercial version was free?


Picking my wife up from the airport this morning because it was $75 before tip to take a Lyft when she left on Tuesday. Just insane.


Getting ever so slightly more confident with web development in Ghost. Still have some visual tweaks I need to make, but the micro/photo blog I’ve been building is finally where I want it to be functionally, for the most part. No idea why I had such a hard time.
 https://afterword.blog/


Nearly forgot about this album by fellow Michigan natives Taproot. Gift was on heavy rotation in the early 2000s.
 https://music.apple.com/us/album/emotional-times/301645679?i=301645683


One of my biggest irrational fears living with two young kids is that the background blur on my camera goes away during a Teams call.


USPS split my ZIP Code 10 years ago and added a new one, which my house is within. It still causes issues for deliveries. For example, in order to get deliveries from the local IKEA, I have to psych out the system by entering the old ZIP for delivery address, and my new ZIP for billing. 10 years!


Since I’ve been having some issues with my Leviton smart switches, I decided to get a few Matter enabled light bulbs. I know this was the promise of Matter, but setup was a breeze compared to the switches. Here’s to hoping they last—physically, and from a firmware perspective.


I listen to a few Deftones songs last week and suddenly my Apple Music discovery station is completely ruined with crappy new metal bands.


Just got hit with like 25 new adds from those fake women phishing accounts on Threads after posting a selfie yesterday.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/756b177b67.png


So strange how the household, with a 5 and a 2 year old, is way easier to manage when the wife is on vacation.


I liked the look of these clouds.

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When the office mini split is right above your cube. I generally run pretty warm, but my ears feel like they’re going to fall off.

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In my mind, James Earl Jones is Darth Vader reading the Bible. Growing up, my friend (and the drummer in my band) used to borrow his mom’s van for practice. In it, she had the unabridged Bible on tape, as read by JEJ. I couldn’t separate Vader from the experience of listening. What an icon. RIP.


As an urban planner, I wish Apple would start highlighting good urban design and human-scale infrastructure in their screensavers instead of flybys of automobile infrastructure (e.g. huge California freeways) or mega-scale, unsustainable building patterns (e.g. Dubai). Bigger is not better. #apple


One thing I like more about Threads over Mastodon and Bluesky is that you can post up to 10 photos, and you just swipe left on the post to see more. This is a winning design, the type that drives adoption. Too bad they don’t show up that way in the fediverse!


Might need to get this one.

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It’s been a great year for tomatoes. 🍅 #pnw

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Who am I to tell anyone how to run their shop, but the locally owned hardware lost my business this morning because I had to fix a plumbing issue, but they’re only open from 12-5 on Sundays. Those hours seem strange to me just given the limited time working people have to do home repair.


How awful, and way too close for comfort in terms of both location and profession.

Melissa Jubane’s body found, neighbor charged with murder.
 https://www.khon2.com/local-news/we-are-devastated-mother-in-law-of-oregon-woman-murdered-says/amp/


Not sure how I missed it before, but I watched Prey (2022) tonight, prequel to the Predator series. I needed something I didn’t have to think too much about, and it fit the bill. I’ve always liked hunters as an idea, so my bar is pretty low. For what it was, I enjoyed it.


Noticed a typo at the skate park this afternoon. Can you spot it?

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/9fe770e1db.jpg


Yay.


We are pretty much addicted to Himalayan Dumplings by Kyikyi in Beaverton, Oregon. The noodles, the dumplings, the hand pies…all so good.


The dog days of summer, hopefully coming to an end.

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Ultimately, what it’s going to boil down to for me in terms of social media platform adoption, is the moderation tools. Both Threads and Bluesky have the ability to hide replies for everybody and detach quotes. It’s awesome for de-platforming trolls and mean people!


The new routine. She insists on carrying his backpack.

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There’s this spot on my bathroom floor where, if I move my scale there before hopping on, I weigh like a pound less. What can I say, I love lying to myself!


S: I was born in August, I’m a Leo.
P: What’s a Leo, mom?
S: It means I’m bold.
P: You’re not bald mom, dad is!


I wish the west coast would get on with that whole high-speed rail thing. Tijuana to Vancouver, and all points in between, we want trains.


Beautiful morning in the northwest, but time to button up the house until this evening. These temp swings are pretty drastic. #pdx
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Happy to have found some #detroit dad hats in 3xl made by ‘47 on a specialty site for the cranially endowed.
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Some meetings just require you to put on your best Cillian Murphy.


Some meetings just require you to just put on your best Cillian Murphy.


The phrases “rock music” and “rock and roll” seem anachronistic enough now that I don’t think we need to throw “classic” in front of them anymore.


Spun up a GoToSocial instance in Docker to see how it works. Surprisingly easy. Not as feature-rich as Mastodon, but it's supposed to be a lot lighter on resources.


Here we are on Labor Day and my kids (5 and 2) are already so excited for Halloween that they’re begging us to take them to a store to buy decorations. 🎃


embed.music.apple.com/...

I Think I Like When it Rains - Willis

https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-think-i-like-when-it-rains/1674901168?i=1674901173

 https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/locals-2-ep/1674901168?i=1674901173


Little friends at the park.
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I need to make more friends on the westside of Portland. Time to get back on Meetup?


Civil War (2024) has got to be one of the most boring movies I’ve seen in years.


Saturday Market
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Exciting times, lol. Some of the bumper crop of tomatoes from our garden are finally ripening. Tons of tomatoes this year, even though I got started late this year. I attribute their success to the organic fertilizer recipe I got out of the book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades. Bring on the BLTs an... bryans.life https://bryans.life/2024/08/31/exciting-times-lol.html


Trying to reduce my subscription and other misc. costs so last night I migrated several hosted software applications over to my home lab. Going to give Actual envelope budgeting a try as well.


I’ve been stuck at 49 states for a few years now, with the last state being Alaska. Starting to think about knocking it off the bucket list next year, even if only for a long weekend. But where to?


#fensterfreitag #photography
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Looking for a new memory foam bed. Anyone had any luck with an affordable mattress-in-a-box? 🛌


Friday vibes.

Chuck Berry - Maybellene

embed.music.apple.com/...

 https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/berry-is-on-top/1425230909?i=1425230914


I'm feeling Bluesky's approach to this stuff. Bluesky adds ‘anti-toxicity’ tools and aims to integrate ‘a Community Notes-like’ feature in the future | TechCrunchBluesky on Wednesday introduced the ability to hide replies, as well as a way to detach your original post from someone’s quote post.TechCrunchSa... bryans.life https://bryans.life/2024/08/29/im-feeling-blueskys.html


After a stressful day yesterday, and with my son starting kindergarten today, I’m having a helluva time focusing on work! Pomodoro time?


Tesla started its referral program back up. If you sign up through my referral link below, you can get $1,000 off (and I get $500). They're also offering 1.99% financing if you order by 8/31.

[ts.la/bryan9411...](https://ts.la/bryan941125)


The new TriMet light rail system map showing the extension of the Red Line 10 stations deeper into Washington County and improvements made at Gateway and the Airport.

#pdx #transit #portland #trimet
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Took the day off to spend the day with my son. The kid starts kindergarten in 2 days and I’m trying to not let the waterworks hit me.


Things get interesting now that Oregon is on the Big Ten. Going to the MSU - Oregon game this year in Eugene. So weird.


Mein - Deftones


embed.music.apple.com/...

I stopped listening to Deftones sometime shortly after the album White Pony was released. However, my Discovery station recently recommended this song off their album Saturday Night Wrist from 2006, which I didn't even know existed.
 https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/saturday-night-wrist/202277935?i=202277959


TriMet completed its Better Red project, extending the MAX Red Line all the way out to Washington County Fairgrounds. I can now take one train all the way to the airport. Hopefully they’re still working on bettering security. #pdx #transit

https://www.koin.com/news/trimet-max-a-better-red-line-expansion-... bryans.life https://bryans.life/2024/08/26/trimet-completed-its.html


I know spiders are important and all, but I’ll never get used to the size of the (harmless) orb weavers crawling around my house. I don’t miss living in the south, where some spiders can actually hurt you.


It’s gonna be fun whenever I go to use these pedals again.
 https://afterword.blog/content/images/2024/08/IMG_1673.jpeg


Spending time with the in-laws - different politics, but steering clear of our differences.
 https://afterword.blog/content/images/2024/08/IMG_1645.jpeg


My next house will have a mud room, if I'm ever lucky enough to escape.


IKEA delivery could be bad.


Just realized Umami analytics has an iOS app, and it's pretty nice.
 https://afterword.blog/content/images/2024/08/image-1.png


#pdx
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Sort of makes me laugh that while Ghost is struggling to implement ActivityPub,  Npub Pro has already made Nostr-based websites that use Ghost themes.

[npub.pro](https://npub.pro/#themes-onboarding)
 https://npub.pro/?ref=afterword.blog#themes-onboarding


Whoa, looks like maybe I’m taking the day off? Gov system down. Blue screen of death.


I distinctly remember being taught that “dilemma” was spelled “dilemNa” in the early 80s. Why, I have no idea.


I was in the area for work, so drove up to Council Crest Park to break up the routine. Hazy, but gorgeous day (70° F), with many people out enjoying it. #pdx

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I wonder if the doctors who don’t like prescribing antibiotics have any idea what’s happening in the meat industry.


After some thought and many years wearing the thing, I’ve decided to drop the Apple Watch in favor of my old mechanical Seiko for daily wear. What little value the Apple Watch brought never outweighed its annoyances for me.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/e7b2381cfd.jpg


Switched our flat rate electric service to time-of-day pricing with PGE. So long as you can divert your energy use away from 5-9 to other times of day, your bill shouldd go down. I charge my EV overnight ($0.08 per kWh) and saved $29 last month over the flat rate plan. #pdx


Fellow parents, how much time (if any) do you schedule for your own interests, creativity, hobbies and other pursuits in a given week? How do you negotiate that with your partner?


I just realized I had the ISO cranked way up yesterday on my camera during our family trip to Enchanted Forest and I didn’t even realize it. I thought full auto meant full auto…guess not. I still have so much to learn, and need to pay attention. Thankfully some of the photos still turned out.


Rest in peace Shelley Duvall and Richard Simmons. The world lost two authentic ones this weekend.


Oregano ruins anything it touches.


Hate to say it, but I’m ready for fall.

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"Zawojski said he once mistakenly received mail from the Crooks house, but never engaged with the family members directly even as he returned the mail to their porch. “I couldn’t even tell you what they look like,” he said."

Source

Sadly, this is much of American in the age of streaming services and smart phones. I’ve got a neighbor two doors down that I’ve lived next to for 6 years and have only seen him 2 or 3 times to get his DoorDash from the porch.
 https://www.npr.org/2024/07/14/nx-s1-5039185/who-was-alleged-trump-rally-shooter-thomas-matthew-crooks


Goodbye, ol’ Suby. You were a great car for the 11 years you were mine. I probably took this car to 30 states on road trips. Sold to a friend’s son as his first car, hopefully he gets another 100k out of it.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/8040157071.jpg


I got tired of my polycarbonate lenses always scratching, so last year I sent in my WB frames to Eyeglasses.com and had real glass lenses put in. No scratches. I love them.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/884a177643.jpg


I dragged a friend to the Les Savy Fav show and I don’t think they knew what they were getting into.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/56aa971513.jpg https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/a316d52e8d.jpg https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/fc9adc84a7.jpg https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/af730a7f6d.jpg https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/af730a7f6d.jpg


Very stoked to be going to the Les Savy Fav show tonight in Portland. I was a HUGE fan 20 years ago and their new album is really good, too.


Ah yes, tis that annual tradition, the ol’ pay the Junk Guy to come take away all the rotting crap. No one told me about this requirement of homeownership, but I’m going on year 9, and the accumulation never fails to amaze me.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/3136482fc4.jpg


Downgrading your Verizon bill be like.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/66ae5f9d77.jpg


Decided I’m abandoning my affiliation with the Democratic Party and will become an independent (small “i”) voter. Between sidelining Bernie in 2016 and now attempting to block 3rd party access to state ballots, this system needs to be systematically demolished and rebuilt.


It was only 93° today.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/dsc-1789.jpeg


Out back patio is usually chaos. Zoey doesn’t seem to mind. She says she could do without the heat, though.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/5cdb89453e.jpg


Roughing it, obviously.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/a6e81374af.jpg


I see you, Cannon Beach.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/60bbc3db49.jpg


Happy to see more EV chargers at state parks & campgrounds across Oregon.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/5b1e942e37.jpg https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/4ff0a56104.jpg


Glamping supreme. Ask me if I brought the portable AC. 🏕

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It’s going to be around 100° the next four days. We walked around the neighborhood on the early side and stopped to listen to the bullfrogs at the wetlands. The creeping thistle looked neat. The bees looked happy.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/0fe2c04896.jpg


I worked as a cook at P.F. Chang’s in college. Whenever someone finds out about this, about half the time they say “I love their chicken lettuce wraps!”

Then I break the news to them that it’s just ground up and fried chicken fat and skin, the stuff that normally gets thrown away.


I want to see a block by block heat map of neighborhood happiness for the Portland metro. Let’s start collecting that data and then replicating the good stuff.


Organic fireworks.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/0422c31774.jpg


Nice day in PDX, and surprisingly quiet due to the holiday.

 https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/92110/2024/21c883893d.jpg


Explained Independence Day to my inquiring 5-year-old son today, as best I could. He responded:

"But dad, war is not good. People get hurt and that’s not something that we should be remembering."

Couldn’t argue with that.