Weeknotes: Week 31, 2023
These are the highlights from the week of July 31 to August 6.

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It was time again this week for that great annual tradition: the Ohio State Fair. (pics) We managed to avoid most of the food abominations, but we did enjoy a special lemon-flavored cream puff from Schmidt's and a banana ICEE. We saw horses, cows (real and butter), sheep, chickens, and rabbits. We even saw a red-tailed hawk named Colonel and a barn owl hoos name I didn’t catch. (See what I did there?)
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⚽️ I got up early twice this week (3:00 AM on Monday and 5:00 AM on Sunday) to watch the US Women’s National Team play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, only to be disappointed with lackluster performances in both games. A shootout is always a terrible way to decide a match, but the outcome was sadly right. USA deserved to be eliminated. Better luck next time. But there are some interesting matches still to come in this World Cup!
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🦨 Second bath for the doggo since he killed a skunk last weekend. The house doesn’t stink any more, but his face still does. Blech!
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I’ve begun using Day One for journaling. So far I’m enjoying the ability to quickly get something out of my head just about anywhere, thanks to the cross-platform sync feature. In addition to my private journal, I’ve also begun authoring everything there first, including microblog (Mastodon) posts and weblog entries.
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I started reading The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin, based on a recommendation I saw on the socials. (I don’t remember who it was. I need to start writing these things down.) It strikes me as a rehashing of a lot of well worn advice for the short attention span generation. But sometimes blurby is what you need. And as someone who does not occupy what would normally be considered “creative” spaces, it could be a very useful reference.
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My introductory rate for Google Workspace is coming to an end, so I started looking at Apple iCloud (which I also pay for) as an alternative. The short story is this: it’s too much trouble for too little gain (and giving up too much of value in the process) to be worth the trouble. So, we’re sticking with Google Workspace. (Don’t hate me.)
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Barbie is a great movie with an important message that is at its best when it’s not trying too hard to be overtly funny. A few of the jokes just don’t land and instead get in the way of an otherwise smooth story arc. America Ferrara’s long-winded speech could have been poignant if someone had consulted an editor. But the good far outshines the bad. Of the many clever references and Easter eggs, my favorite (to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey) came in the first few minutes. And what retro toy themed film would be complete without a car chase?
This Week’s Other Media Highlights
Reading
- 👞 “I’m a Luddite (and So Can You!),” by Tom Humberstone
- 🕸️ “Splitting the Web,” by Ploum
- “What Boys and Men Can Learn from Ken,” by Jackson Katz
Watching
- I finally got around to finishing season one of Star Trek: Picard and it was really good!
- The season two finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds lived up to its name by delivering one of the strangest Trek episodes ever.
- 🛬 Hijack - Not terribly original and not without some serious flaws, but entertaining nonetheless.
- 🤠 Justified: City Primeval - I just cannot get into this. This simply can never live up to the heart-pounding drama of the original’s season two.
Listening
- Pure Walking - Tried this one for the first time this week during one of my lunchtime walks. It's just okay.