Month: January 2026
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Cauliflower with cassoulet beans and capers
Read more…: Cauliflower with cassoulet beans and capersThis week’s bean dish was cauliflower with cassoulet beans and capers. I really enjoyed the smoky tanginess that the sherry vinegar + smoked paprika added to the dish. I served this as our main side with a pork tenderloin. This was tasty enough to make again, but probably not going into the standard rotation. I’ll…
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What I’m Reading, January 2026
Read more…: What I’m Reading, January 2026Non-fiction Fiction What are you reading this month?
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Just hit publish
Read more…: Just hit publishBlog posts don’t have to be Atlantic-style essays, ground-breaking ideas, or heavily researched. Not everything has to be epic or viral. You can post whatever you want, whenever you want. Keep it low friction and hit Publish. Personal blogs are meant to be low stakes. Some ideas: Don’t overthink it or get caught up in…
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Blogging Beyond the Wall
Read more…: Blogging Beyond the WallSocial networks are walled gardens. They are closed networks that restrict how users interact, what they see, and how data flows. Outside of the walls is the blogosphere. It is diverse and distributed. If the web is Westeros, social platforms are the Seven Kingdoms, run by mad kings from their Iron Thrones, and the blogosphere…
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Shopsmith Mark V Single vs Double Bearing Quills
Read more…: Shopsmith Mark V Single vs Double Bearing QuillsEarlier this year I started noticing some runout on the spindle of my 50 year old Shopsmith Mark V. I did some reading about my specific model and came to two conclusions: Replacing the bearing is straightforward. Alex’s Shopsmith Repair sells them and with a few tools you can replace it yourself. What I also…
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Why I Blog
Read more…: Why I BlogThis weekend a friend texted me a screenshot of a Pinterest link his wife sent to him. It was a link to my climbing wall post. She wants him to build one for their son. He recognized Charlie and my blog right away. Someone had pinned it and it gets a decent amount of traffic.…
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Weekly Beans
Read more…: Weekly BeansOne of the things I want to do in 2026 is to cook more beans. It occurred to me a few nights ago that I should try to make at least one bean dish each week. I started on January 2 with a chicken, wild rice, and black eyed pea soup. Here are some more…
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Winter gift for the birds
Read more…: Winter gift for the birdsFor the past three years, we’ve started the new year by going for a walk in the woods to collect pinecones and make a little treat for the birds. We roll them in peanut butter and birdseed, then go back out the next day and leave them on logs, tree stumps, and branches for the…
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Month of December 2025
Read more…: Month of December 2025December was all about the holidays. We started the month by getting rid of the Thanksgiving decorations. Charlie wanted to run them over with the car, so we did. We set up the Christmas Tree in stages. First the tree + train, then the lights and ornaments Amanda and I prefer, then Charlie’s additional ornament…
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Things I’d like to do in 2026
Read more…: Things I’d like to do in 2026I’m not big into resolutions, but here are some things I’d like to do in 2026. Many of these are getting back to old interests I’ve moved away from for one reason or another. I know that adding more means that I’ll have to do less of something else. I’d mostly like to scroll less…
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Top 3 (2025)
Read more…: Top 3 (2025)Happy New Year! I like to do a more narrative recap on my birthday, so at the end of the calendar year I make lists of top things in multiple categories. See also: 2024, 2023. Meals Shows Non-fiction Books Fiction Books New blog follows Places Purchases Memories Things I’ve made Accomplishments