I’m back doing Real Work at my job, but my creativity kick continues.

What I've been up to

• I loaded some film last weekend for the first time in a year and made some portraits with a friend. It’ll probably take me a while to finish the rolls and get them processed and posted, but I’ll put a test frame from my Leica M9 below
• I finally bought a matcha bowl (chawan) and whisk (chasen). I’ve really enjoyed having one more element of variety for my morning teatime and should have done this much sooner 🍵
• I missed the print sale I was trying to catch a few weeks ago because I underestimated how prepared I was for it, but I’ve since learned how to automate adding borders to photos to prepare them for printing. Computers are fine and all, but I’ve been missing the darkroom a lot recently.

What I've been into

• My friend Tyler Reed just released a new record with his band Second Suitor (Spotify, Apple Music). I have a lot of feelings tied up in Tyler’s bands and tried to do some of it justice in a post on my blog a few years back. He also streamed a living room show with his band last year, and it was such a blast to watch. Honestly, just start there.
• I’m a big fan of Jason Tate’s chorus.fm music blog, and his weekly Liner Notes newsletter is one of the things that inspired me to start this newsletter here. A couple weeks ago, a classic review of Yellowcard’s 2012 record Southern Air from Craig Manning was featured. Southern Air is a record I skipped when it came out, but I decided to give it a spin after reading, and holy cow, Always Summer has a supremely catchy chorus (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube). Yellowcard played my university’s Spring Fling in my senior year and I didn’t go. What was I thinking.
• While I was rearranging furniture, I had to unplug my media server for a little while, so I put on a couple episodes of The First Ever Radio Hour on The First Ever Podcast hosted by Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré. Every time I listen to one of his radio hours I come away with at least a few amazing tracks that weren’t on my radar, and this time was no different. Definitely check it out, especially if you’re into emo, screamo, metal, hardcore, and indie.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered its third season this week, and as expected, it’s a delight.

Musings

Adding the new matcha teaware (plus another kyusu better sized for sharing with friends) had my tea area feeling a little cluttered, so I bought a shelf to stash teaware when not in active use. The shelf replaces a cheap Target bookshelf and IKEA cabinet, and my living room looks significantly improved. I moved around a lot after college, so I still feel a reluctance to buying furniture, but I’m very happy with this decision.

What about you?

Up to anything interesting? Have any thoughts or feelings after reading this? If you want to reach out for any reason, just reply to this email and I’ll write you back ✉️✨