Its been kind of a funny week as far as regular activity cadence goes. My wife is doing some medical stuff so I was off Tuesday and Thursday, mostly so I could drive her. The medical stuff isn’t anything major. Just some tests, but it required she change her medicine. The test also didn’t work out so I am off again Monday to take her and drive her to try again.
After the failed test Thursday we went around to a couple of resale shops and an estate sale.
Unrelated to that, my little Digital Garden project actually made me a bit of money, which is super nice. Its not a ton, but its enough to help me more easily cover my pre-orders that all seem to have suddenly dropped (its literally like 2 things).
Anyway, one of the links I came across was for my Credit Union’s rewards points website. I have completely forgotten this was a thing, and its just been, accumulating points for, hell
Probably a decade now. I had a couple hundred dollars worth of points that I could redeem into a deposit.
Like I said, not a TON, but a nice unexpected boost.
Music
Its been a busy week for music, as a result of some of the above. While out shopping the various places I picked up a few cheap used CDs.
- Various Celtic Music – I hardly actually listen to them, but I have a weird thing for these sort of, I don’t know what to call them broadly, “ethnic sounds” style albums. Very often Irish and Celtic music, but other cultures as well. These were actually free, because apparently the one charity resale shop doesn’t charge for CDs (we bought other stuff, FWIW).
- Carly Simon – Film Noir – I felt like Carly Simon was on my little list of “artists to explore a bit”. I apparently already had felt this, because when I went to rip it later, I found out I had already ripped it, which means I already have a copy of this CD.
- Norah Jones – Feels Like Home – Also on that “to explore” liat, is Norah Jones. I didn’t already have this one, but I worried I might. Mostly because I have ended up with like 3 copies of her Come Away With Me album.
- Melissa Etheridge – Skin – Seemed worth picking up. There are so many CDs I see that are not worth bothering with, at least not for my part.
- Taylor Swift – Life of a Showgirl – In digital music, since I had that little cash windfall, I decided not to wait on Taylor Swift’s new album. I got, whatever the version was that came last, that wasn’t on Apple Music, that had all the different Voice Memo tracks on one. Its… meh. I will give it more tries, but I just don’t understand how its apparently breaking records. I wasn’t big on TTPD either, nor Folklore/Evermore.
Gaming
I am this close…. to going back to Elite Dangerous again for a bit. I actually did a very brief session a few weeks ago where I just left the station, flew around a bit, then landed again. I need to see if I can find a controls cheat sheet as a refresher on how to drive my ships.
I played pretty heavily a few years back in 2020. I have a pretty large number of ships too.
On a quick Beatstar is Closing front, I am really sure I am not going to be able to finish every song at least once. I have about 20 days, and 250 Standard tracks and probably 100-200 Deluxe tracks. And I always forget to bother making progress on weekends and days off, because those days have different routine patterns, so I have more like 15 days probably.
Toys
If Omega Supreme would drop I could finally push my Pile of Loot out. Instead Shuma Gorath and the 3 pack of Cybertron Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Jazz are coming early. I am kind of tempted to ship it anyway with Ultra Magnus from a few months ago. Omega Supreme is a big boy anyway.
In actual things, I got this camper for like $2 at one of the resale shops. Its basically a decent size to go with 4″ figures, or possibly even Alternators or something. Its basically just a cool prop for all those photos I never end up taking.
Funny enough, its not the only RV I have picked up recently, I also have this more Matchbox scaled one from another estate sale.
Thirdly, This goofy Dungeons and Dragons Cube was marked down cheap enough to be worth getting. It is basically a fancy Tupperware box, but it has some good upgrade accessories for the actual D&D Figures I have.
TV
It occurs to me that I forgot to mention finishing Wednesday Season 2. It’s pretty good. Interesting that they keepbringing back the Hyde plotline. Not really a spoiler, because it’s very much in your face most of the season. I kind of wonder where Season 3 might go given the ending and the apparent Fester spin off show.
I also watched through the Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. I know this show gets a lot of flack for not being perfectly “true to the books”, but I rather like it, especially as an adaptation of things. It’s sort of a compacted retelling of events. That said, I do kind of feel like doing 2 or even 3 series might have been better. Some of the plot lines are interlaced, but I amnot sure theyneed to be and there is just, so much going on I keep forgetting plot lines exist.
- The Hobbits and the Stranger, it’s almost entirely divorced from everything else going on.
- All the family drama nonsense with the Dwarves in Khazad-dum
- Elves drama that feels weird because why is there so much sexual tension between Galadriel and Elrond, they aren’t a couple and have known eachother basically forever. Like, literally, they are elves.
- Rings stuff, Celebrimbor and Sauron. It’s interlaced with the other Elf stuff, but also all kind of it’s own thing it feels like sometimes. Poor Celebrimbor. Dude knew he was getting playted and let it happen anyway.
- Numenor Drama. The humans almost feel entirely divorced from everything, like the Hobbit plot line.
- Also Org drama, and that one black elf dude who is cool and all but just seems to be kind of floating around doing what ever.
I do think it’s funny how Isildur and Elrond never crtoss paths, but they are blood related (by like 22 generations) and will at some point stand side by side with the ring in Mt Doom. Supposedly Season 3 is going to time jump a bit to the battle where Sauron falls, but it really feels like they need a season for the fall of Numenor and the actual creation of Rivendell. Maybe that will be Season 3, while Sauron runs around seducing men into becoming wraiths with his rings, and, you know, actually forges The One Ring.
News Highlights
Link List for Saturday 2025-10-11
Brief Summary: “Sigrid has announced a headline tour across Europe and the UK in March 2026. This marks her first”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “Gorillaz have released ‘The Manifesto’, featuring Trueno and Proof, as the second track from their u”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has joined the chorus of conservatives angry that immensely popula”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Who even is this guy he wants to use instead?”
Brief Summary: “Dean Jackson, Tech Policy Press: The Trump administration’s ambitions have little to do with saf”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “God I hope Europe just tells these companies to piss off.”
Brief Summary: “The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in a case that will determine if a law banning so-“
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Oh look, here it comes…”
Brief Summary: “Japanese is full of expressions that capture subtle emotions, social values, and aesthetic sensibili”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
