Hi :D.

Its been a minute, and quite an eventful one this time. A lot’s been on the brain, so i’m excited to sit down and write about it (and relatively early compared to when I usually do it too).

The first bit has to do with the fact that i’m writing so early to begin with. Ive been finding it a lot easier this week to wake up early (with the exception of one day that ill get to) and ive been getting my assignments a tad bit earlier than usually. On its own that honestly isnt saying much, but ill be finishing some of last weeks assignments after this, so ill be pushing the needle forward nonetheless. Hopefully, by the time im done with some of the assignments I can revise more of the mathematics worksheets, since that’s what I’ve found is the most difficult for me so far this course.

There’s also just the fact that waking up this early everyday (a time frame of 5-30 to 6 on sleep cycle) just makes it so im never late to anything that im up to (LIKE THIS POST RN >:)). I make it to classes on time, I can cook relatively early and not bother my roommates or vice versa, I get to use the washing machine first ITS JUST REALLY NICE.

And not in a grindset type of way either, trust me im still lazy as SHIT when I wake up, but it being so early sort of lazy proofs me in a way that matters. On weekends, assuming I havent stayed up for some reason (not this week thankfully), I wake up so early that even if I bedrot till 9, thats still a really good time to start the day, and of course I need to wake up that early on weekdays for classes and to prep myself a nice breakfast, so its a win win.

Of course, I did doomscroll a bunch this week before heading to bed, enough so that on friday I almost missed class, but that one day was honestly really fun because of that.

I woke up with 50 minutes to spare, so I frantically gathered my things, put my clothes and biggest jacket on, brushed my teeth (and put my socks on too), and BOLTED IT to the bus. The hurry was unreal, and I mean that not as hyperbole but as a genuine description of how it felt.

It was blurry, my brain was still in that dreamish haze you get for up to a minute after you wake up, my body, despite the hurry, was awfully relaxed on the bus and in class. And I mean it, almost heavily so. It was like a weight was lifted off of my body, especially my face, for that whole morning.

This is not even mentioning the bus trip, which was beautiful. I couldnt tell you why, but out of each day that I had spent this week, even the ones where id wake up at practically midnight to prepare and where I had the chance to take things in, I never felt as the world was as beautiful as I did on that trip. The scenery, coloured an almost transcendental orange, with the light shining through every part of the bus. Mind you, not an awfully bright light, a perfect tint on every window.

It was mellow. It was nice, AND I DONT KNOW HOW OR WHY.

Genuinely baffling how nice that whole day was.

Was it cuz id had an energy drink the other day, and maybe I was coming off of that high? Did the headband tense me up the other day, and that day my head felt better for it? Did the lack of sleep contribute possibly????

I have no idea, but I really enjoyed it. I also, quite viscerally, want that level of comfort in my own body back. Ive never felt so relaxed in my entire life, it was so nice.

Anywho, in case your wondering about the headband, I got a thin elastic headband from decathlon, mostly cuz ive gotten sick of my hair getting in the way of whole damn head. I’m constantly pushing my hair back every damn lecture, especially around my ear, which particularly pisses my off cuz im not at all used to it (I dont my hair has never been this long before, so, figures :v).

The mousse isnt particularly helping either, especially when theres wind, it just makes it hurt to move my hair around, so im trying to find alternatives for now. That might end up being a mousse with a stronger hold (mine is 3), but the headband is a more attractive alternative for me so far, especially cuz I get to keep my hair silky smooth. My hair looks better pushed back anyways, and the headband helps with that.

Apparently, it also “trains” my hair to stay back??? Idk about that, I saw it on some reddit thread, and an old friends swears that his hair got used to him pushing his hair back and now it stays like that, so maybe theres some truth to it.

IDK, im just gonna keep using it for comfort ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Mostly at home, cuz it honestly looks a bit silly on me atm. Ill probably start using it outside when my hair is longer, or ill switch to a bigger headband, but those’ll probably worsen my pimples so its a no go for now.

Also this week, and a BIG highlight for me this week, had been my new RGB LIGHTBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULB >:),

Its so stupidly fucking cool I genuinely dont know why I havent gotten it sooner.

You remember that whole “externalizing your brain” thing from a couple of posts ago? The reason I thought to get one was sort of that.

I was thinking of ways to make my living space more to my tastes, and I realized how easy getting a new bulb would be and it was genuinely the best decision I made this week.

You want cozy? Orange lights. You wanna code? dark blue. Music? Literally any color you want.

Its lovely, and I dont know why I didnt get it sooner.

This also prompted another thought too (well several but this one was most prevalent) and thats getting a pixel display.

I remember quite vividly the divoom timebox from my childhood, as small pixel display/alarm that me and my sister got as a gift from our dad (hands down one of his best gifts). I think it stopped working after a while, and ive seen similar critiques on divoom themselves after looking into them, but the thought still stands.

PIXEL DISPLAY ARE SIIIIIIIIIIIICK.

Id love to get my hands on some and just smack them on each table, cupboard and stand I have. I think theyre really neat, and one more fun way I could make the room suit me more without worrying about lifespan. That bit, again, is whats stopping me atm from putting up my mindwave poster, but im sure ill make a decision on that at some point.

O, also, the bulb comes with a lot of features, best among them atm being the wake up feature. You can make it so it turns on at a certain time of day, with a certain color, and have it increase in brightness incrementally. This + sleep cycle is a DANGEROUS combo and I love it, it gives me the ability to have the light in my room gradually build up as the alarm gets ready to wake me up in its half hour time frame and is making it a lot easier to wake up.

(yea thats also partly why I harped on about waking up early for so long >.>)

But anywho, back to the headband for a second. Something quite neat happened the day that I got it (and also the rgb bulb).

There was a festival going on.

Not a big one, some sort of arts festival called leeds nighlight. Initially I had no idea, but the bus stopping early, coupled with other stops showing a message that busses had been cancelled due to nightlight and the obviously huge crowd drew me in. Since I was at decathlon, I was already quite near one of the main events too.

Turns out they were planning on projecting a story, an animated story, on the big hotel by the train station. I was, though admittedly ready to go home and relax, slightly reinvigorated at the thought of the event, and so I went by to check it out. I stayed of course, since there was only about 15 minutes left till itd premiere, and I was ready to enjoy the show.

…

……

It was AI generated.

I dont even know how to explain to you how sour my outing went at that moment. I noticed the style looked generic and crazy bland (it looked like generic nasty glossy 2d AI slop) but despite that, part of me was hoping that it wasnt. For the first bit, I was holding on to the idea that “theres no way theyd play AI at an event so blatantly”. Then the climax of the story hit, where the two strangers met at a subway and it exploded into this moment of love, and I swear I was damn near about to puke.

I left early, of course. But not before meeting an interesting figure. I was walking behind a man on the way home amidst the crowd, and he looked back once or twice. Then, when I caught up to him, he turned and asked me what the hell was going on. I told him I had no fucking clue until now myself, and we talked some more.

That man’s name, ill just call him leon for privacy’s sake, had just come from an interview in london, still in his trusty suit and tie. He was a programmer too, applying for jobs with his software engineering degree. We talked for about 10-15 minutes, and walked towards a mall. It was fun :).

That really made my day, it was quite nice. He gave me advice on my degree. Mainly, to find a niche to differentiate yourself as a programmer, and to bundle your programming skills with another sector, like healthcare or law. He told me about his job, how he’s working on software built for emergency services (like the ones you connect to when calling 911). We even met another man, self proclaimed “leeds legend” who overheard when leon said he was hungry and suggested a chicken place, which I also let him know was really good (I might be mistaken but im 70% sure he was talking about the restaurant id went with a friend to a couple of days prior). That was really fun too.

What I enjoyed the most though, if im being honest, was to be able to relate to someone over the fucking garbage that id just watched projected by the train station. He called it “AI slop for the masses”. I hope he’s wrong, that by the time the AI bubble bursts people will get over this garbage, but its undeniable that people did come to see it that day. They probably didnt know, and hell its not like anyone clapped, but its not like anyone boo’d either. Regardless, I had leon to share that moment with. A moment of pure fucking disgust at a bunch of AI “art” X).

Never took his contact info, but if your seeing this man, im glad I met you. That was a good day, and not just because of the headband I got ofc.

Anyways, that mention of chicken has me hungry so im gonna go make some food. Thanks for reading this far, I hope you enjoyed.

Ill leave you with one more thing, not a list of videos or some songs, but a channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@timpappo

Ive been watching pappo quite a lot recently, and honestly his stuff is really cool. I love his critiques and breakdowns of media, especially the outcome memories and undertale videos. His editing exudes so much style, every part of it knaws and claws at your brain in a way that I dont get from anybody else, and I love it for that. Its abrasive, sort of pushy but really fucking cool nonetheless.

His newest video in particular, on trans music and the desire to exist, is AMAZING. He really sheds light on some amazing trans artists, who themselves make some of my favorite music.

You already know if you read this frequently that I fucking love femtanyl, but stomach book’s songs are just as awesome, and the video had me revisiting a lot of the songs that ive added to my playlist, along with a bunch of her other work :). Revisiting requiem, since that was what got me into stomach book, was particularly fun, and anarchy!!! is really scratching an itch for me right now.

The third artist, patricia taxxon, is also excellent, I love cilantro so much its such silly but eloquent whimsy (and shy patterns is SO GOOD, it reminds me of oliver buckland and its delicious), though I havent really delved into her work like I have the other two. Mostly just listened to cilantro and shy patterns, the rest have mostly been on my backlog. Though, given how much music shes made though, and the fact that its all free on bandcamp (id definitely have to donate afterwards tho cuz damn do u deserve it for that <3), I might as well give it a go sometime. Ill let you all know how that goes sometime once I get around to it.

So anyways, go watch pappo’s videos, let me know how you like them.

Im off to have indomie. Have a great rest of your week everyone.