The last time I updated here was back in April of '25, which feels irresponsibly long ago. Returning to the site I had to jump through all sorts of hoops; forgotten passwords, out-of-date wordpress, making backups, migrating to a new version of MySQL. All that ate into the time I set aside to write an update, so I'm coming back to this after another subsequent multi-week interval. I'd like, in the near future, to start doing some more thoughtful writing here on topics that hook my interest - a few ideas are percolating.
For now, in the name of refusing to delay an update further, let's get a birds-eye view of what was going on between April '25 and today.
In May '25 I was watching a ton of films, usually posting a few thoughts over on Lettrboxed. I don't really engage with the social aspect of it, but having a place to jot down things after watching a movie has been nice.
In June '25 we played a ton of Expedition 33 (very glad it won Game of the Year), lots of 3D printing and learning how to deal with the myriad things that can go wrong in a Bambu X1C 3d printer (clogged nozzle, filament stuck in PTFE tubes, blob of death, etc.), though I recognize compared to the bad old days of 3d printing the Bambu experience is painless.
Then in July I started using the iNaturalist app while out on walks. It feels like a real-life Pokedex and encourages me to stay alert and snap the best possible photo of any interesting plants or animals I happen across. We travelled to Cambridge, MA and got to see the Harvard Natural History Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. High recommendations for all three, honestly. Don't skip the glass flowers at Harvard, even if you're not a big flower-person, it's to awe-inspiring to miss. I had an awesome roadtrip with my sister and niece up to northern California, hitting Sequoias and the Sequioa park zoo (though the red panda wasn't on display).
Next in August, I was still logging long bike rides, even 3d printed a new bottle cage after my old one broke. We went down to Monteray for car week, the absolute highlight of which was the Concours de Lemons. Nothing else was as good as a really bad car.
In September I started taking longer bike rides over the hills to Los Gatos, really working on my ability to climb hills on my old Trek bike. This whole month was spent deep in Silksong, we beat it but haven't yet taken the plunge on a Steel Soul (deathless) run.
In October we attended the northern California renaissance festival for the first time, was excellent as expected. After months and months of playing in early access, we finally finished Hades 2. Verdict; good fun, but missing some of the focus and tight story from the first game.
In November we finally pulled the trigger on getting a shed built in the back yard. This would serve as a small craft space, but also liberate enough space in the garage to work on the newly acquired Corvette (a 1970 C3 Stingray!). We made it up to the DeYoung Museum with some friends for their Art of Manga installation which was much more in-depth than I was expecting.
Next in December, the annual Arizona trip to see family and various booksellers! After something like 6 years of taking up space, we got rid of elliptical finally. If you ever consider buying cardio equipment for your home gym, if you live somewhere walkable, re-consider. We had trouble giving that thing away, much less recouping any of the money that went into the purchase and repairs. In lighter new, we started working on the Corvette in earnest, draining the stale fuel, pulling the spark plugs, inspecting the cylinders, and so forth. We attended the Dickens Fest up in SF for the first time, it was interesting - sort of a renaissance festival for early 19th century England. One of the big trips for the year, we took a trip across Texas with the goal of seeing as many of the MeowWolf locations as possible! My personal favorite was RadioTave, though OmegaMart will always have a special place as the first one I visited.
Then in January '26 we joined some friends for tidepooling in Half Moon Bay, which I'd never done before. It was fun, I should try to make more time for outings like that. In March we got up to south SF for the stationary festival, picked up some very nice notebooks, pens, and even a few stickers. Definitely making time for that next year. Our annual trip up to Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con of course happened; Seattle remains a city I love to visit and spend time in.
In May 26' we trekked to Las Vegas for MagicCon! While we were there we made sure to stop in again at OmegaMart, as well as trying out the Interstellar Arc (spaceship VR experience) near by. In addition to lots of chicken and waffles breakfasts, we had some absolutely amazing noodles at Shang Artisan Noodle, underrated meal of the trip for sure. Also we booked massages at the Wynn spa for the first time and it was far fancier than any other I've been in, but then again, I've only visited a few spas in my time.
Next in June we were off to Sacramento to see Atsuko Okatsuka's stand-up live! She was awesome of course. We also got out to a friend's wedding in the same area; I always appreciate a wedding I don't have to fly to. In July we made a day trip out to Pescadero to pick strawberries with friends, and in the process happened across the best burritos I've found in Northern California (outside of SF's mission-style monsters). Mercado & Taqueria De Amigos: of course it's located in a gas station and takes cash only, that's how you know it's good.
In August 26' we took a long day down in Monteray for a couple of boat dives, eager to knock some rust off before our trip to Hawai'i. We got in a really exciting pair of dives; during the second one a sea otter curiously followed us for nearly the entire dive! My first time having such a close encounter with one of them. In September we got out for our big trip of the year to the big island of Hawaii for two weeks. Lots of diving, finally made it up Mauna Kea for the first time, too much good food, lots of time with family and friends, 10/10 trip.
