Notes from March 2025#

2025-03-01#

Skype is getting killed off. It's not that surprising but why now, perhaps.

2025-03-02#

Żółw#

We were walking dogs with my father when I noticed a taxi driver parking ahead of us and picking something up from the crossing and carrying it to the grass next to the pavement and putting it down there. But there was something in the way he carried it, as if it was alive. It looked like a rock. "Does he have a turtle there?" I thought. The driver got into a car and drove away, while I rushed to see it for myself. And there it was, a tortoise.

I had a tortoise when I was a kiddo. He lived for 13 years after which he got ill and eventually passed away, and I decided to never have a tortoise again because I felt I was not able to provide enough for him, which led to his premature departure off this world. And yet, here I was standing over a tortoise, which was almost driven by a car. If I leave it here, I was thinking, this might happen again, and the next driver is not gonna be that considerate.

So I took the tortoise and now I need to figure out a setting for him at my place. It's a yellow-bellied slider, and I had a red-eared one, so I generally know what's what. It probably helped me to make the decision because he looks very much like the one I had. People buy them for their kids all the time, but then they turn out not to be like hamsters and live long, so they throw them out in the wild. The smaller dog is losing her mind over him, but he's kind of cool about it. As well as about people.

This does feel like some sort of fate or something. Let's get him a new home.

Cruise control is a form of Ulysses pact to me. I set it to the maximum allowed speed on a given road and stick to it. While I get better at resisting peer pressure from my fellow road pirates, I still fall for it. But when "computer says no," it's easier. It's also easier than controlling it with my feet. BareFoot shoes make it somewhat easier, but I'm discovering it just now. So, it allows me to observe the road better. All pluses, no minuses.

Speaking of BareFoot shoes, they were terrific for climbing.

I like Katie Melua and I have her first 6 CDs, but I can't get over how she massacred Leonard Cohen's "In My Secret Life." It's like she sang a song without understanding what she sings about. There's no depth to it. It pains me and it hurts me on a couple of levels. And this is coming from an artist who gave us a deeply haunting performance of "Spider's Web." Years later, it's still puzzling to me.

2025-03-03#

And by the way, those are hogs, not boars.

I saw a guy today who was throwing food to a nearby hog. How are they not supposed to get deeper into the city? There's a hefty fine for feeding them, even higher than for not collecting your dog's poo (which a lot of people don't do either), but apparently, it doesn't work as a deterrent.

I just read in what conditions James Joyce used to write (in short, horrible conditions), and there is something beautiful in it. This determination. The same with Franz Kafka. Writing anywhere, on anything, relentlessly. Stories like this give me this conviction that it can be a choice. I can just decide to be this Terminator of literature, this Anton Chigurh of writing. Then it collapses.

It's not easy. But maybe it's the choice of tools? I wrote with a computer, then with a pen, and for a while, we had a nice thing going on, me and my writing, but eventually, the source would always dry up. Perhaps, I'll get better results with scraps written here on Mastodon, which I transform into HTML at the end of every month. A galaxy of interconnected short notes.

The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you're older.

I decided not to watch the Zelenskyy/Trump meeting, but focus instead on the relations from it and reactions. And it's insane how they vary. It's as if people saw different meetings. It must be symptomatic to the predicament we found ourselves in as mankind. The tower of Babel is probably on its way down.

2025-03-04#

It's not a tortoise. It's a turtle.

May I introduce you to Żółw Trafalgar Law (the name is a result of family's brainstorming).

2025-03-06#

Seagulls copulating.

2025-03-09#

I realised that I've never seen Marilyn Monroe directly, as herself. It's always some photo stills, someone else's relation, a recreation of Marilyn Monroe by an actress (vide Theresa Russel in "Insignificance"), etc. A symbol. Or even a simulacrum. It took me a while to notice that.

2025-03-11#

I'm in the middle of nowhere now, which amounts to a Finnish ski resort, but what's most interesting was the airplane that got us here. It was the smallest flying machine I had pleasure travelling with: the wheels didn't fit underneath and it didn't have jet engines, but propellers. Inside, there were only 4 seats per row, so only isle and window seats. And it was noisy. I didn't know I had it on my bucket list, but it can be now considered checked.

Technically, I don't have a bucket list. I rather decide post factum that something was on it. An emergent bucket list.

2025-03-12#

If I could sing, I would go to YouTube, but I can't, so I went to karaoke.

We went to see the Northern lights, and they were there! It's not always the case. They surprised me twofold. First, they weren't as green as they show in pictures. Must be something about the spectrum of light. Though, it got better. And second, they are fast! Dynamic. Like clouds in the wind.

I committed a mistake of assumption.

But now I must retire into my quarters.

2025-03-14#

For the last 5 days, I have barely used any social media, and I'll try to maintain that. This accounts posts are probably safe because due to next to no comments, it doesn't really feel like social media. :D

Also, I was in Oslo.

Listening today how an Estonian, a Lithuanian, and a Finn discus Russia was a treat. Very realistic look at the topic.

It's hard to pinpoint, but over 20 years ago, thanks to Wielki Por (Big Leek; thanks to a flash animation where an anime character swings a leek while singing), I learned of a folk song "Ievan Polkka" by Loituma. And for 20 years, I trained singing the chorus. And so, yesterday I got convinced by a Finnish coworker to sing it on karaoke in Finland. She helped me a lot with non-chorus, but it felt amazing to sing it to an audience. Another thing I didn't know I had on my bucket list.

2025-03-16#

Kieran Culkin got an Oscar for "A Real Pain." Nice.

When I was grabbing breakfast, the other hotel guest stood next to me grabbing his, and he was breathing so hard due to his obesity that I felt concerned for a moment that he might not gonna make it.

A woman next to me on a plane had a panic attack. First time I saw something like that. She was grabbing the seat in front of her and shouting for help to herself in her native language. Everyone on the plane were acting as nothing happened, myself included. After we landed, she looked at me in a way that might mean she was embarrassed by it or even upset with me, but it could be she still felt traumatised. I am wondering now if there was something more I could have done.

After reading a script to "There's Something About Mary," I decided to see the movie to have immediate comparison of effects. Firstly, it wasn't that funny knowing the puns, which I did not expect for some reason. Secondly, there were more gags than in the script. I think they were improvised during filming. The movie also had a different ending. Cameron Diaz plays Mary in a very subversive way; she's not your typical rom-com sweetheart. And it's positive.

I just recalled that back in the late 1990s, I would call a phone number found in a computer magazine's ad and place an order by saying the title and my home address, and pay later to the mail man when it was delivered. Seems crazy looking back.

I still remember ordering "Perfect Assassin" and never receiving it. When I called the company again, the man on the other end was surprised that anyone would even take order for this game. Years later, I found it on some abandonware site.

"The Substance" is a visually stunning story of an ageing (and lone) TV star, who's being pushed out by the relentless capitalism. In this aspect, it reminded me a lot of "Bubba Ho-Tep." It also felt a bit like Faustian story and the trickiness of all the deals with a devil. The movie incorporates male gaze equally framing all the bums: of the main character in all her incarnations, of a young lover, and the monster later.

That is such a clever idea for a sculpture. I am genuinely amazed. It must be cool alive.

Mephistopheles and Margaretta.

(Picture taken from Wiki: Mephistopheles.)

The second season of "The White Lotus" takes us into sunny Sicily, which was a very familiar setting for me and not exotic. I like the slow burning plot where all but the last episode are rather drama that suddenly becomes a crime story. It's hinted at the beginning that someone will die, but it's hard to figure out who can be a victim and who a perpetrator. I am surprised that the format became popular enough to spawn 3 seasons to date.

"Ostatni turnus: Pocztówki z czasów PRL-u" from Marcin Wojdak is a half-album with photos and half-collection of short stories about post-communist vacation complexes. The main goal, which I feel was achieved, was restoring the lost world of these resorts, which are long gone. The author is roughly my age, so it's very relatable. I like how self-commenting on its form it was, which felt like a very natural continuation of "Lost in the Funhouse" (something I didn't plan).

The word "turnus" means a period of 2 weeks during which the same group of people would spend time together. And then another one. It creates an interesting dynamic where people would form short-term relationships, which would probably be gone short afterwards (but not always). I don't think there is an equivalent in English. I was even considering writing about this book in Polish due to lacking vocabulary.

And it was really nice to find a photo/story from a place where I was with my parents back in 1993.

"Barry's" season 3 gives us more unhinged Barry, who's slowly falling off the wagon. It's a bit of relief because acting-as-a-therapy worked for a while, but Barry probably wouldn't be a good actor. I like how the show juggles with funny and scary moments. You laugh at first, then you're terrified for the characters.

I liked the episode where he fought the dirt-bike gang. It reminded me of the season 2's episode where he had to deal with the the Taekwondo master and his daughter, but in itself it didn't feel like "The Sopranos" episode but rather the "Oldboy's" fight in the corridor (something that was also recreated in "Daredevil's" season 1).

It shows the diversity of the show, which is a comedy, a drama, and then action like that all in one.

"Arthur Miller: Writer" from 2017 is a documentary made by Miller's daughter, Rebecca. She shot a lot of interviews with him, which later became this film. There is a bit of history (i.e., with Marilyn Monroe, which was the only thing I knew about him beforehand), but the tastiest part is the old Arthur Miler who shares his life wisdom. The thing that landed the most is when he says that if you want to write something good, it needs to be almost embarrassing for you.

"Perfect Days" from 2023 is Wim Wender's movie about a cleaner of public toilets in Shibuya in Tokyo. Slow-paced every-day’s routine of a middle-aged man turned out to be a very appealing lifestyle. Working, taking pictures of trees, listening to music, and reading books. And all by himself, not really talking to anyone, not even coworkers. Like a hermit in the middle of a crowded city.

I realised that the movie shows my favourite part of movies like "Le Samouraï", "The Killer", or "Map of the sounds of Tokyo" where a lone killer is leading a very ascetic life, very ritualised too. Jim Jarmusch took a swing at this in his "Limits of Control." But that was still the killer. Turns out you can make a movie like that without actual killing. It's a relief that you can have a monk-like quality of life without taking anyone else's life at that.

"Moja osoba. Eseje i przygody" from Łukasz Najder is a collection of essays and something that doesn't have any other name than "a personal blog post." Our the Internet's contribution to the world of literature. Anyway, the author captures a couple of things in his writings, like the role of a man in the modern world, the traps of writing about oneself without consulting other participants, or death. I like his very rich style at times, something that I abandoned years ago.

An interesting thing when reading this after "Ostatni turnus" was that one of the stories is about first remembering and then visiting (and re-visiting) an old vacation complex. Another connection I did not plan when selecting it as my next read.

I read James Sallis' "Drive" over a decade ago, as a huge fan of the movie, but I always thought that I rushed through it without much of a thought, so when I was choosing a back-up book for flying, I decided to give it another shot. It's very different from the movie and feels like a pulp story written in much higher literary style, which creates an interesting effect. A story of a man who wants to be anonymous in the world. As such, it reminds me of "Perfect Days."

Łukasz Najder's text about death and dying reminded me of 1977's "The Disappearance" with Donald Sutherland. At some point, he says to another hitman that at one day in his thirties, a man starts thinking about his death and then does it for every single day till his death.

Finland: where people try to reach you by phone, but you're not picking up because you're in a sauna.

2025-03-17#

The const keyword on top doesn't create a property on the window object. Interesting. It can be used as is, but not through window.

2025-03-18#

You never know when you have the good time of your life at the moment of having it. Only looking back, you realise that and say, "Yeah, that was the time." Therefore, recently, I try not to avoid events that I would previously avoid because in hindsight, they might end up being those that I'll look at with nostalgia.

It feels unnecessarily convoluted, but it's late, so that's the best I can offer at the moment. I'll look at this post years from now and I'll realise that was it. Maybe.

My wife found these Asian-like noodles, which boil into this jelly-like consistency, so, very much like Asian-like noodles. And they're fantastic.

In our area, there are many riverbeds which are dry for the better part of the year, so they have roads crossing them. And for the better part of the year, they're very usable. However, recently it has been raining heavily, and they are closed. One driver bypassed the road barrier and tried to drive through the river in his sedan. The vehicle was carried away and firefighters had to rescue him. Once he was safe, the river claimed his car.

2025-03-19#

Not your keys, not your commits.

A story about a man who has read all the books in the world. But the world is different and there are only 6 books in total. So, the challenge is to explain why getting a hold of all of them is a thing.

808 State won after all.

2025-03-22#

Google Maps "briefly experienced a technical issue that caused the deletion of Timeline data for some people." All my history before March 2025 is gone. I was a bit torn about using this service in the first place, so no biggie for me. We worry about crazy amounts of data those behemoths keep on us, and they just lose it. :D

Also, a bit of a fuck-up on their end. Might be symptomatic to the declining quality of software.

2025-03-23#

They updated "Sky," and it's no longer working smoothly on Switch. Shame. But I see they finally created the second starting island (when you play every couple of years, you're up for surprises). More vibrant this time. I liked the challenge with playing music.

• Full thread

I like the bitter foretaste of orange jam. I am surprised it took me years to try it.

After one working week with no social media, I can say it's working tremendously well for me. I am more focused on work, less tired, calmer, and kinder to people. I am also more "in the moment." Quite amazing, actually.

This reminds me of when I saw "No Country For Old Men" and I was in love with a setting where everyone's disconnected from each other. It seemed so liberating. There's no returning to that, but I can disconnect individually.

The thing about yellow-side sliders is that people buy them for their kids when turtles are small, but then kids grow and turtles grow and suddenly, you're in a position where you're kid's bored already and the animal requiring 300-litre aquarium. So the turtles end up in the wild. Kind of irresponsible to sell them, actually.

Stick to hamsters maybe.

"Appaloosa" from 2008 is a western directed by Ed Harris. He also plays the main role. But not the narrator who is played by Viggo Mortensen. The story is, I suppose, classic Wild West story about a dispute in a face of lack of the law, and it resolves as such. The most interesting aspect was chemistry and dynamics between Harris/Mortensen characters. Plus I didn't expect to see Renée Zellweger, which was a nice treat. I haven't seen her in anything in a while.

As strange as it may sound, I have never seen "Fatal Attraction" (1987). Apart from love scenes, like the one in the elevator, the movie got old pretty well. It can be seen as a cautionary tale for married men or (probably) something about oppressive patriarchy, which shows the initial quality. Glen Close plays a role which usually is reserved for male characters, and she can have a very chilling impression when she's calmly scanning the environment.

Season 3 of "Wellington Paranormal" is at home with its jokes and the actors feel confident with their characters. And Parker, the season 2 addition, fits in just right. I am also getting better at understanding kiwi accent. It's fascinating how differently English can sound.

The screenplay for "Looper" felt better than the movie, but I saw the movie very long time ago, so I take it with a grain of salt (I was, for instance, very strict about time-travelling rules back then). It read a bit like a future-noir kind of story. The foreword mentions that the order in the actual movie was changed for the pacing reasons and maybe why it works so well in writing: it's more adjusted fot the medium.

St. Vincent's "All Born Screaming" is the second addition to my CD collection this year, thanks to the courtesy of Father's Day. It's also quite amazing that there are new CDs in 2024. But all that aside, I added it to my wishlist because the artists reminded my of many other things. Listening to it now, I can't remember what things. Never mind. It's very versatile, combining nice guitar strings, heaver wall of noise, and the vocals.

"Dogs Don't Wear Pants" (2019) is a Finnish film, which is listed as erotic black comedy, but for the most part, it feels like a drama with an additional layer of funniness. A story of a man who even years after losing his wife is sort of passively moving through life. This changes, however, when he accidentally meats a dominatrix. Due to heavy BDSM imagery at times, it might not be for everyone. Really beautiful camera work and framing and colours. And music.

The part about dealing with the loss of the wife vaguely reminded me of German "Cherry Blossom" (2008). But very vaguely.

I also liked the subtleness of showing how the relationship of the two main characters emerges. Something in Mona's face when she was depriving Juha of breath.

And finally, Mona, when not in her dominatrix attire, reminded me of Lisbeth Salander from David Fincher's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."

"Blowup" from 1966 is a movie about which I read regularly in the TV guide when I was a kid back in the 1990s, but I never actually saw it. It aged well, even if I'm not sure what is strange and what is normal there because the past truly is another country. A story of a photographer who captures something in the background when casually taking picture in a park. Mysterious by design and with a lot of flesh in it.

Everything that has a beginning must have an end. Unfortunately, they tell you that *after* you have begun your life.

2025-03-24#

Reading screenplays allows me to relive movies without watching them, on my own terms.

2025-03-25#

When I go to the office, I wake up earlier. I wake up earlier because driving to another city takes time. To make it easier for my future self, I prepare a complete set of clothes waiting for me, so when I wake up, I can dress half-awoken without ending up in mismatched clothes. Years ago, I read that big shots like Facebook's CEO wear the same clothes every day, so they can relieve themselves from choosing their clothes every day. I don't know if that's true, but it does sound appealing.

I saw two rainbows on my way back.

2025-03-27#

We were at a ramen place, and I shazamed a song that was playing there, and it turned out to be some sort of 1980s lounge music from Japan, and I started listening to it in the car, and it fits driving round the coast quite nice, but I feel it will soon overstay its welcome, so I need to dose it better in the future.

I was wikiscrolling on WikiTok and I found an album from a band called Psyclon Nine ("Divine Infekt"). The description suggested something industrial, so I decided to give it a shot. And oh boy. If I ever had a picture of heavy music as a child, that would be it: heavy beat, walls of guitars, and vocals straight out of Cradle of Filth. Turns out someone had exactly the same idea for heavy music as 10-year-old me. It was an interesting experience.

2025-03-29#

A bit of fooling around. I started wondering if it's possible to style <head> and it's elements. It turns out you can! I managed to quickly remake <title> into a top bar. :D

• Continue to Styling <head> elements

2025-03-30#

Suddenly, the hot is here. Normally, the weather changes gradually, but due to weeks of rain, the change was hidden form us. And when the clouds were finally gone, the heat was revealed. Not really surprising in general, but this year, it actually was.

2025-03-31#

Notes on [taking] notes are like paintings about painting.

I had a lot of paella for lunch yesterday, but did not manage to have coffee afterwards and then we forgot the one we prepared for the road, and so I was very sleepy. We were waiting for our friends because we got there earlier, and I dozed off. On the pavement. My daughter woke me up when the friends arrived.