Luna’s been pretty quiet and at times apprehensive since her surgery. Often, she’ll spend most of the day upstairs on or under one of the beds. This evening is the first time in maybe six weeks she came downstairs with a toy in her mouth, wanting me to play with her. A lovely feeling

Just discovered that an old manga I want to read only ever got an Italian translation. Somewhat fortuitous timing given I’ve just started learning the language

difficulty scheduling the follow-up session is also true to its inspirations

A reminder that when absolutely nobody wanted to save Homer from being publicly horse whipped, Marge is herself in that audience…. We literally only see her blue hair, which is just a beautiful detail of this scene.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face etc etc

Luna turned 5 yesterday. Tried to take a nice photo of her with her new toy looking happy etc. but failed as, the moment I took it out from the packaging, she immediately ran upstairs to bring it into the Lunker

Feeling strangely proud to have seen that Sam Billings praised my favourite local coffee shop (Forts; have your pick of the Margate or Broadstairs branches their pourovers are lush)

Today has been another day where “I hate every ape I see from chimpan-a to chimpanzee” has lived rent free in my head

A decade or so later, and Ruby + Sinatra is still my favourite tool to build simple web apps

Another year, another birthday card from my parents where my name is in quotation marks

Love the Arsenal fans chanting, "we are unbearable". And so we should be

Band on the Run is too good

Someone get a live feed on the Tollington Arms now

CHAMPIONS

Happy new Macca interview day to those who celebrate www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNQY...

Don’t mind me, I’m just thinking about the lyrics to Kashmir for like the 1000th time in my life

I mean let's be honest, it was a blatant foul

This post is utter, utter bullshit. The establishment of a single patient record had been something government has rightly been trying to do for nearly 30 years. If Palantir is given access to NHS data, the existence of a single patient record will, at worst, make it marginally easier for them.

The sun can bend an orange sky

My tennis coach yesterday said I have a textbook one-handed backhand "when the ball is in the slot" and I am absolutely chuffed (we do not speak about my backhand when the ball is bouncing with heavy top spin)

People who are critical of Zack Polanski (and I’m increasingly one of them) need to be able to recognise that, even if you think he’s handling antisemitism within his party really badly, he is himself a victim of antisemitism.

Only a few episodes in, but I’m vibing with Daemons of the Shadow Realm. You could tell it’s written by Hiromu Arakawa because a lot of the tone and style have echoes of FMA. Think I’ll pick up the manga

Honestly a bit lost for words (particularly as one of the reasons Niemöller wrote it was in repentance for his own anti-semitism).

Setting myself a goal of learning all the guitar and mandolin parts to this version of Going to California by the end of the year. It's a very good mix (I need to buy a mandolin) www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBk9...

What do you mean the song about the admirable qualities of an octopus and his garden in the shade has such a finicky opening riff (Luna is unimpressed)

Fixed my telecaster and decided what better way to celebrate its resurrection than by playing a bit of Jeff Buckley’s arrangement of Hallelujah while sitting on the floor

You can, unfortunately, get away with a lot of bigotry and be a viable party for national power. But I don’t think you can be open to positions like this one on crime and be viable.

From yesterday. I simply cannot enter a Uniqlo and leave empty-handed

Happy new glasses day (yes I need to put more stuff in my display cabinet)

Thought I'd give a dating app a go and I was not expecting the onboarding process to be as long as it was. Gives civil service job applications a run for its money

Lovely time spent at the Hyakko exhibition at Japan house. Really interesting to see the creativity and craft in person, and learn a little bit around the processes

Well, I made it (despite my own directions)

Southeastern train was delayed and St Pancras was heaving. Now having to put my fate in the hands of the circle line (pray for me)

When you work in tech, it’s really important that you have a dystopian sci-fi corner of your office… or something like that Let SHODAN’s hectoring presence be a reminder that building systems without safety is not good, actually

Coach at my tennis group lesson brought a speed radar to the session. Not sure of the margin of error or accuracy - the radar was placed on the surface behind the net - but mine peaked at 72mph, with most around the 64mph mark. And here I thought I was serving faster (tennis continues to humble me)

Upon realising what train I need to catch this Saturday, I'm now harbouring some slight regret for choosing the 11am slot for the Japan House Hyakkō exhibition. That said, I know I'll enjoy it, and it gives me a good excuse to mosey around London for a few hours afterwards

Took me a while to get around to sticking this cyberpunk displate on the wall

Pleased to report that this time I somehow managed to pick my new glasses at the opticians in under five minutes instead of the usual five hours (please applaud)

I can only marvel at the logic that concludes that organisations who want greater predictability from software development should wait as long as possible to test their assumptions.

Another sunny day

I have an eye test this morning which is bound to mean a new prescription. Thus begins the exercise of picking new glasses which, combined with my indecision and complete lack of aesthetics, means I’ll be spending all day at the opticians

Guy I used to manage at my previous job is a Coventry fan. Can only imagine how his head's holding up this morning

Second postop checkup done. Vets really pleased with how the wound looks; stitches have been removed, recovery suit is off. Madcap adventures can resume

Going through old boxes the other day and found my beginner’s Japanese textbook. Evening classes at Kings College back in 2015. Couldn’t continue beyond the semester due to work commitments changing. Might be time to pick this up again

Vet called to discuss the histopathology results from the lump they removed from Luna last week. Pleased to say it’s all clear, no signs of malignancy 🎉 (she still has to wear the recovery suit for another week, though, pray for Mojo etc)

Post-op checkup went well. The wound is healing nicely. Luna still has to wear the recovery suit, though, and isn’t allowed to run around or jump on and off the many furnishings she has dominion over (poor lady)

✍️ Digital ID, payments, and data exchange should be treated as public infrastructure, not siloed IT projects. @eaves.ca, @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social, and Beatriz Vasconcellos argue governments must build shared digital foundations to avoid fragmentation. 🔗 Read their new article: buff.ly/bo9FpiL

Every last Sunday of the month, my local indy cinema has a "Sunday Silent" screening - as the name suggests, a silent film with live piano accompaniment. This month it's a Buster Keaton triple bill of Backstage, The Balloonatic, and The Blacksmith. Colour me intrigued

I've long thought that the kei car segment - especially as EVs - would be well suited to UK roads (buyer sentiment notwithstanding). The Honda Super N looks really nice, though it does make me wish the Honda E was still in production www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-sE...

Luna had surgery yesterday to remove a lump. Procedure went well, and her recovery so far has been smooth. She can't go for walks or jump up/off beds and sofas, though. She's also taken great offence at the recovery suit she needs to wear