Trying something new here today. With the recent Twitter fiasco going on I started re-evaluating what I get out of using social media, and condensed it down into two things:

1. I like watching awful people argue with each other
2. I like keeping up with what my friends are up to, and tell them what I’m up to.

Number two is the important one here - I only care about particular things my friends are into. The important stuff - babies being born, new jobs, etc. - that stuff I can hear about in person.

Social Media, for me, is about the minutia. I like seeing what my friends are reading, listening to, watching, drinking - this is what social media excels at.

For a minute I began working on yet another social network that focused on social media under the lens of tightly formatted, curated lists - but came to the realization that this information better exists wherever you want to put it, and allow it to be seeked out and discovered by people who care.

So I’ve decided to start putting this information here.

What I’m Working On

I’ve been seeking out a way to catalog my private collection of books.

Previously I had them all listed on a digital catalog that I built in GEOS on my Commodore 64. It was a fun project but I’m looking for a more modern system now, mainly so I can access the catalog when I’m away from the house.

I’ve experimented with a lot of different catalogs, and might write my own - but this week I’m trying out inventaire.io, to see if it suits my needs.

Bookwyrm looks promising as well - it’s an ActivityPub enabled Goodreads alternative, but the system is a little overwhelmed at the moment with the Twitter exodus, so I haven’t had the opportunity to really sink my teeth into it.

What I’ve Been Reading

I finished the CCRU collected writings last week so now I’m going through the 1977 Necronomicon.

I’ve been treating the reading the same way Arthur Edward Waite treated every grimoire that came across his table when writing The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts; That is to say, inspecting the underlying cultural inspirations that went into the book (beyond the obvious Lovecraft connections), and seeing how they connect into larger theological systems. It’s fun.

Also if you’ve never read AE Waite’s books, you should, he’s a great and very accessible occultist.

What I’ve Been Listening To

I’ve been listening to the back catalog of Meursault lately. He’s a scottish neufolk artist from Edinburgh.

I like his music but I’m frustrated by his drive to “remaster” a lot of his back catalog, and remove the original album. I like the grungier, lo-fi recordings of his earlier stuff and that sound is suppressed in the remasters and recreations. Still, his music is great and he’s worth checking out if you like folksier stuff.

What I’ve Been Drinking

Best of Kin Brewing has been my go to brewery for the last half-year or so, but they’ve started going up in price so I’m forced to seek out a new “regular” brew, and treat Best of Kin for special occasions.

As for wine, I’m still on an orange / biodynamic kick.

Most recently I drank the Quarisa Caravan Petit Sirah, and I think it was a little bit beyond my amateur palate.

I opened it up too chilled, and it was a very tight and mineral at that temperature. Once it warmed up and opened up, it had a delicious Maple Syrup nose with a peppery, maraschino cherry body. I’ll have to try it a few more times, I think.

As for my favorite wines of late, the Quinta Da Boavista Orange Dao Vinho Branco Rufia was phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone who even remotely likes wine.