Just discovered my Soundcore earbuds provide live translation to a kazillion languages. Never thought I’d live to see the day that Babelfish do exist. Well, now, Share & Enjoy, I guess!

Vroeger hadden we daar een woord voor: postkantoor nos.nl/l/2602275

Nearly finished constructing the new dog pad, but it’s already been approved by the client. I’d like to think animals are no fools when it comes to judging material qualities.

Post a banger that is not in English Not to be missed, the glorious video made for modern dabke master Omar Souleyman’s song Warni Warni. youtu.be/lVlgMEFu1PI?...

Post a banger that is not in English.. Ukrainian band Boombox with Andriy Khlyvnyuk performing their version of Chervona Kalyna. youtu.be/jMs36ZMAmmY?...

Post a banger that is not in English (and encourages those currently bravely protesting fascism and authoritarianism) youtu.be/l7wuRxbLbKE?...

Post a banger that isn’t in English (and possibly so woke as to give the fascists a skin rash) youtu.be/dB4CqygbVb4?...

Post a banger that isn’t in English … I rarely am tempted to partake in these chain posts, but this I can do all day. For instance, take this magnificent single long shot video by Mashrou’ Leila youtu.be/Qn3EFPOuEGM?...

Ukrainian soldiers share how the war changed them

AI slop meets second hand clothing apps. It’s not even clear if the seller or the platform generated these images, if the seller is private, commercial, human or bot. The rot is everywhere and hard to escape.

Today, I was invited to clean, sharpen and lubricate hand tools for a communal garden. The grass shears pictured were almost given up after a vital part went missing during disassembly. By sheer luck I salvaged it from the bin someone had chucked it in thinking it was plastic rubbish. Such relief!

If this doesn’t disturb you, you need to ask yourself some hard questions. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

“Some are saying we’ll have a 10% GDP loss at between 3C and 4C degrees [of global heating], but the physical climate scientists are saying the economy and society will cease to function as we know it. That’s a big mismatch,” Where to find a hammer big enough to wake up our politicians?

Knitted my friends a fulled wool dog blanket with left over arts yarn from the 1970s and now their house looks so cozy.

Out with patriarchy! Stop the war on women. “Older women disappear from presenting roles across the BBC while older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”, according to an internal review of the broadcaster’s record on representation.”

Stop the war on women. And maybe it’s time to rethink the existence of digital photographs that spawn the deepfakes.

“Less than 40% of countries have laws protecting women and girls from cyber-harassment or cyberstalking, according to 2024 World Bank data. The UN estimates that 1.8 billion women and girls still lack legal protection from online harassment and other forms of technology-facilitated abuse.”

Pien’s owners have a stomach bug so I’m taking her for extra walks. Pien and Malle are BFFs and together they decided to visit Aqui, a mutual dog friend who lives behind the green door, but who is in Spain now. I think we don’t appreciate enough that dogs value and need friendship just like we do.

Yay, Spain, yalla! www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

WTAF Germany? «…the powerful CDU grouping that represents Germany’s small- and medium-sized enterprises has said that as the economy is suffering from a lack of skilled workers, no one should have a legal entitlement to do what it refers to as “lifestyle part-time work”. »

Post-playdate naps are the best. Haven’t heard her in hours 😂.

Trump’s US is “just like Yeltsin in Russia in the 1990s – promising a new kind of democracy, but in reality allowing the oligarchs to loot and distort the society”, says Curtis. Seven months old article but still loaded with actuality. I’d say it describes how collective trauma unfolds.

Another fine tool saved from the bin and brought back to life for a customer: a beautiful pair of fabric scissors by the Japanese brand Breen Bell. It’s never going to be perfect, but it will continued to be used and loved, and that’s what matters.

The city arborists pruned the magnolias that line the streets, so I brought a few budding branches home to see if they could be coaxed to bloom. Now look at these happy faces!

Proud to find out SOMO is based in AMS but wondering why the 🇳🇱 press is not reporting on this and I have to hear about it from a 🇺🇸 senator on social media. 🙈

Project Mega Scarf is finished! Knit in a brioche stitch from scrap wool that I saved from the incinerator twenty-odd years ago. And there are still several kilos waiting to be repurposed. What’s next! A felted dog bed?

“Eurosky is an initiative of the Modal Foundation, a non-profit foundation based in the Netherlands. The Modal Foundation supports social technologies whose commitment is to the public interest. The foundation grew out of the Free Our Feeds campaign to advocate for alternatives to big tech.”

Pumpkin pie made with homemade condensed milk - because you can’t find organic tinned variety - and found butternut pumpkins. It smells heavenly but am afraid to cut it and discover it isn’t the perfect golden circle that it seems now.

Largely agree with Zuleeg’s analysis but you needn’t be «chief economist at the European Policy Centre» to come to these conclusions. Perhaps he can use his position to reach actually relevant actors in this dismal time joint in ways that commoners can’t before the EU is broken apart.

How my Polish friendly neighbor and I exchange messages: we send pics of what we’re working on.

Happy happy, I got to use the angle grinder today. And made a mess with linseed oil. But the spades will live another year, if all goes to plan.

Did you miss me?, I ask dog, ‘I was gone for hours!’ Nah, not really, but I’m happy that you’re back nonetheless, replies dog, as she digs deeper into the duvet covers.

New year, new kitchen towel from old stock cotton yarn. My fingers are getting callouses, the US talks about grabbing Greenland and it’s snowing outside to the delight of dog. For no clear reason, many politicians seem ready to wreck the planet in exchange for what? Here’s 🥂 to 2026!

Perhaps, like Russia, the US isn’t the military superpower it thinks it is?

Eat the rich. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

In a park in the city center, a young adult buzzard is trying to gain a foothold, no doubt salivating over the number of birds zipping around. It’s greatly amusing to watch these attempts being stymied by the resident crows and magpies, who will have none of this newcomer nonsense and chase it away.

I just revitalized pruners that were donated to a community garden. They are on the right, next to my Felco. I could tell you in how many ways this imitation is inferior to the original - but that would be a waste of resources. Suffices to say I loathe the mindset that births such monstrosities.

Extractivist, imperialist and brazenly capitalist driven by unmatched greed.

New Year’s resolution : continuing the circular economy effort by knitting a sweater from yarn taken from a thrift store purchase. Currently testing patterns, gauge and my skill level (not a pro). Still looking for a good pattern that can be adapted to this material. And ICYMI: Knitting is code.

It is the year 1987. Floppy disks had shrunk. Arpanet was four years old. Graphic computer art in metal frames was popular. The world was full of browns, beige and yellows, objects were made of hard plastic that broke easily . Lady Di was a fashion icon to many. Everything was terrible.

Brought a friend’s well-used but rusty Felco 6 pruners back to life by way of a Xmas present. Remarkably, the blade barely needed sharpening. I like this size probably more than my own #2, which is built rather for larger hands than I have.

Happy winter solstice with these perfect roses found lying on a bin! Let the light grow brighter again. This week also gifted me with a carton full of butternut squash abandoned on the kerb. There will be pie, soup and curry for the holidays.

A survey of more than 1,000 artists found that 56% of participants are mired in debt. What’s worse is that this number climbs to 59% for those with gallery representation and museum shows under their belt.

Proof my dog is an idiot. Rolled over backwards, half fell into the plants and thought ‘this is just fine’.

I rescued and reseasoned two carbon steel pans for a community kitchen. The fried egg test was passed with flying colors! While laboring on these pans I dreamt of a society that levies extraction taxes on new goods and rewards tax reduction points for keeping items from being thrown out.

Someone gave me some left over cotton yarn and now I have a new kitchen handtowel :) Does this count as circulair economy?

I stripped and re-seasoned a cast iron Dutch Oven for someone only to find that a hairline crack I spotted after cleaning the cauldron wasn’t just superficial. It had leaked oil 🤦🏼‍♀️ But look how beautiful the seasoning turned out!

Fascinating what data can reveal about social realities: “Italian, Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Thai, British, Japanese, French, American, and fish-and-chips all trace distinct settlement histories, labour networks, retail formats, and relationships to capital and rent.”

'Women work longer and earn just a third – 32% – of what men get per hour, when paid and unpaid labour, such as domestic work, are taken into account. Even when unpaid domestic labour is not included, women only earn 61% of what men make, according to the report.' 1/2

Eat the Rich: www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...