🍂 Season’s Change 🍃

I’m summarizing a conversation between my wife and I yesterday, which resulted in a new hyper fixation.

Me: We have the renaissance faire coming up this summer. I kinda want to dress up. We could probably make costumes for the kids too.

Wife: Don’t make promises that you can’t keep!

Me: Babe, I’ve got this!

I don’t know anything about sewing or sewing machines, but when I went out to the thrift store I found this Kenmore model 158 for $25 dollars. It’s built like a tank and seems clean so I thought I would take a gamble on it. I have a replacement pedal and some oil being delivered today so I’m hoping I can conjure my inner seamstress.

When I take the case off it smells like… grandma’s house, for lack of a better word. I tell myself that it’s the spirits of grandmothers passed, offering their blessings.

#crafting #sewing

So, I had recently posted that I’ve been on a bit of a reading spree. I just finished Alice In Wonderland & Through The Looking-Glass a couple nights ago. Obviously, I’m familiar with the Disney film but I had never read the book.

It’s a fun read, and there is a lot of captivating imagery and colorful wordplay. I think that Alice is a clever protagonist and I really enjoyed how she isn’t afraid to tell people to their face that they are wrong. Meanwhile, the residents of Wonderland have no hesitation about telling people that they are not only wrong, but are flat out stupid.

I wish I had that kind of courage lol 😝

Over the past week and a half I’ve significantly cut back on my screen time, and noticed an improvement in my mental health as a result. I’ve replaced my smartphone habit with a reading habit, and I’ve been getting into reading speculative fiction (mainly from the 1970s). To feed this habit, I’ve been spending time browsing the shelves at a local used book store.

Yesterday I got into a conversation with one of the regulars - a delightful older gentleman and horror aficionado - and he got to telling me about his blog. It’s about fiction books and their cover art. I thought I would share because it seems like a good blog and I know Mastodon enjoys this sort of human made content.

https://paperbackpalette.blogspot.com

Making friends in my 40s feels like quasi-dating in a way that I was not prepared for.

“Oh, I’ve gotta be cool but I don’t wanna seem like a try hard”

“Oh, I don’t want to come across as desperate”

“PLEASE don’t let me say anything embarrassing, and no info dumping!”

😅

At this point three day weekends just need to be mandatory. Legalize it, don’t criticize it.

Hey so if OOO is short for Out Of Office in corpospeak, then could AWOOO be short for A Wolf Out Of Office?

Gundam series creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino: “Remember kids, war is bad.”

COD Devs: “Unless?”

https://youtube.com/shorts/BiYAqWU2Vio

So this is only slightly interesting, but I just realized that in James Brown’s 1970 song “Sex Machine”, he asks for the audience’s consent before proceeding to each part of the song. Neat!

I’m searching for attachments for my vintage Kenmore 158.1914. Feels a bit like a hunt for the Grail. I have the part number that I need for the buttonholer attachment from my user manual, but I’m rummaging through listings that don’t quite seem to match the part that I need, or have the incorrect part number despite being described as compatible with my machine. Fun stuff!

I’ve got to say, I thought that my mental health was solid but I was tested this week and it has definitely buckled a bit. I was traveling for work and this week has been a bit stressful. However, I need to remember that it’s ok to be tested and it’s ok to fail sometimes. I’ve just got to pick myself back up and try again.

I was exploring the idea of buying an Apple Watch w/ Cellular and treating it as a “dumb phone”. I’m thinking I could get notifications that I care about (texts and work emails during office hours) but leave my phone somewhere off my person. My hope is that I could avoid mindlessly scrolling or watching videos on YouTube.

Can any Apple Watch veterans tell me how viable this might be? I really don’t know much about the watch so I’m not familiar with what it can do and what kind of apps it has.

I ordered a bunch of trees from online tree nurseries last year. This one is a Wine Sap apple tree on a semi dwarf rootstock. I really don’t like how the branches are shaping up (it’s also a bit taller than I would like) so I was kind of thinking about lopping the top off and starting fresh. I see that I have a couple of buds that are starting to open. Is there any risk of pruning it back now or would it be better to prune during summer?

#gardening #homeorchard

I really struggle with April Fool’s day. Maybe it’s just a neurodivergent thing, but I really struggle to filter out the extra “noise” on top of just… existing.

I got my new-to-me Kenmore sewing machine up and running today so I went to the thrift store to pick up some fabric to practice with. I found something cool, but also kinda bizarre. This is licensed Power Rangers Megazord fabric from 1995. It’s NOT a sheet because it’s got the raw end that sewing fabric has. I didn’t buy it because it was pricey and idk what I would even do with it, but it’s still a cool find.

I’m not British, but I think that I can really identify with the guy.

https://youtu.be/IL37xdB6lsw

My chonky cat is losing weight ❤️

I’m… gaining weight :blobcat_brokenheart:

They’re coquettifying the ice maiden warriors! 😫

(Oddly specific example sentence lol)

OUTTA THYME

April 2026, and I am still waiting for Flash to save every one of us.

In case anyone was thinking about changing the message on their voicemail, I’ve got you covered.

https://youtu.be/qGksRY2J4WM

What is your ritual after you finish reading a book? Do you write your thoughts down in a journal? Seek out commentary from other readers? Something else?