Salty popcorn

I’ve got planes and a chisel from late 1800s, some of the best tools I own. The steel of the blades is fantastic, and the feel of the handles after more than 100 years of being handled is fairly unique

You’re dead to me - history, different expert and comedian guest every week, very good

No Such Thing as a Fish - superb trivia show

Sci-Show Tangents - “lightly competitive science knowledge showcase”

A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail - science and math facts around a random topic from 3 very smart people

The Infinite Monkey Cage - science and comedy with Brian Cox and guests

Journey to the Microcosmos - interesting things in our microscopic world

This is why I like telling people that they’re one in a million. It sounds like a compliment, but I’m literally saying that there’s 8000 people exactly like you.

Oh, nice marmot

Massively. My first manoeuvre when I go in someone’s house is to look at their bookcase, and judge them accordingly.

Here’s my favourite car YouTube, awesome videos

It’s really pleasing seeing the seconds all change in unison!

System shock

Go and live in a remote cave somewhere maybe? Oh no, wait, that’s fucked too

Microplastic a found in FUCKING CLOUDS!! That nonsense is absolutely everywhere, and will be there forever. And wherever you go, it’s going to follow you. Rubbish

“I threw that shit before I even walked in the room!” One of my other favourites is the pool hall fight, where the pump actually smacks the actor he’s fighting, and the guy loses his cool. Then there’s a swift, unplanned cut, and suddenly he’s fighting someone else entirely. It’s all those little pastiches of shoddy movie-making that you can miss, such a good movie!

Black Dynamite

I’m reading The Best Of World SF Vol 2 compilation, edited by Lavie Tidhar. There are some phenomenal short stories in this and the first one, and I really enjoy hearing voices from outside the English-speaking bubble that I usually read

Get a lamb tagine recipe down, and work out all the trimmings, it’s pretty easy, and it makes a proper spread with pretty minimal effort. The tagine is the only real cooking, and it’s pretty relaxed. Then do a decent couscous (or CPU’s void as autocorrect would have it), with lots of stock, butter, and zatar, get some decent flat breads, and then bung out a whole load of mezze bits like humous/olives/stuffed bell peppers etc. It looks like loads of effort, but it’s actually cruisy, and it tastes fantastic

Working with my hands really helps me. I have a fairly weird life, but the times I can throw myself into making things, or fixing stuff, are the times I find the most peace. Physical work, that’s also a bit of a cerebral workout really helps my brain state. There’s a lot of the time that I don’t really enjoy being me, but looking at a thing that I’ve made that solves a problem or serves a purpose, and will do so for years, that makes me feel pretty good. That said, my brain works best when solving physical problems - I guess it’s different for everyone, so finding that thing that your brain is good at, and makes you feel good by doing is the key. You might be useless at carpentry and metalwork, but a good cook or artist, or whatever, but putting effort into creating a thing that you’re proud of will definitely give you some lasting satisfaction

Edit:- less time scrolling or playing endless phone sudoku definitely helps me have more space to find happy moments too. The fediverse is a fantastic place, but I think it can be pretty detrimental to my mental health too loose myself in here

I’ve only just discovered Darktable, so I was a bit reticent to call it one of my favourites, but for the relatively minimal editing I actually do, it does seem to be pretty ideal. I only use Digikam for organisational stuff really - do you find that Darktable’s filing/cataloguing ability is good enough that you only use the one program?

I’ve been liking Digikam and Rawtherapee (which is an awful name for the record) for photo gubbins.