midweek thoughts

I thought that I would only write one of these per month or something but I realized I just want to write them whenever the hell I want, and that I can do that because this is my website hehe.

espresso making progress ☕️

This morning was a really good one for coffee making. Every morning, I make myself a latte or some sort of espresso drink. I use a bottomless portafilter which is beautiful gorgeous when done correctly, or a spraying horrible mess when done incorrectly. High risk, high reward. The last few days, I’ve been especially attentive to my Fellow Opus grinder leaving a ton of grounds still in the machine. I believe I’ve been under-dosing my shots slightly! I shook out the remaining grounds, noticed my portafilter was fuller than usual, and went with it even though I figured I’d have a mess on my hands. It ended up being perfect. The only time I haven’t had coffee spray at all and the shot tasted delicious. That being said, I believe it was slightly over-dosed still, as the puck wasn’t as solid when I tossed it. I’m taking it that all of the grounds didn’t make contact with the water. However, I’m on the right track!! Now to tackle latte art…

zine making 🤝 open source software

I’ve been working on my first proper riso zine, and it’s just been such a blast. More on this and the production of it later, but it just has me really appreciating open source software.

I’ve been using Spectralite for some of the heavy lifting with file set up and riso prep. I am just…so impressed with this software. Impressed isn’t strong enough of a word. It’s so incredibly thoughtful, polished, and useful. You can tell it was made by folks who just really love what they do, and love the marriage between print + digital. It got me curious, so I decided to look up the creator(s) of this app.

As fate would have it, this software is a labor of love by Anemone – a “collaboration and artist initiative” between Ameila & Adam Greenhall, who I presume are a married/partnered couple. I was also shocked to see that Amelia co-wrote a book I’ve heard of but haven’t read called How to Sew Clothes. Kind of love the easter egg of finding this connection between two unrelated hyperfixations of mine.

I think their story is incredibly beautiful, and so extremely special that these two folks who love each other came together to make something that shares that love with the world in a very real and useful sense. They loved the medium so much that they want to solve these problems for others, selflessly, and for nothing other than the joy of doing it. I believe that these are the types of things that make life worth living.

excitement to expand this website

My brain is buzzzzzzing with ideas. I know I need to sit down and really explore and ideate and RECORD how I want this site to flourish. I’m trying to take care of myself while feeling so inspired, though. My brain is like GO GO GO CREATE THIS NOW WOULDN’T IT BE SO COOL IF.. and my body is like water…food…please…

I need to find the balance. ope.

So, maybe it’s best to end things here. Until next time!