D/Hr Advent

Here are two photos I took last weekend and forgot to post!

I painted my nails with a c.2017 Blackheart Beauty (Hot Topic's cosmetics brand) nail polish in "Iridescent Peacock". 


It's definitely not the easiest color to photograph. In most lights it looks like a black creme but in direct light you can see that it's actually a very dark navy polish with teal shimmer. The bottles are super fun - little skulls!

Also I worked on a crocheted ripple throw whenever Sven wasn't actively sitting on it :)

Just some notes to myself regarding my small web/open source/privacy focused shenanigans.*

I've been using a free Proton Mail account for a few months now to test the waters. There was a bit of a learning curve and it's not quite as intuitive as Gmail but I think it's an acceptable substitute. I sprang for the basic paid account this morning so I could get the extra email addresses and the auto-dumping trash/spam feature.

Also - DuckDuckGo now allows you to hide AI images in the image search!!! It's not perfect but it does weed out a lot of the slop.

I'm ready to start looking for a new spreadsheet system. I love making spreadsheets haha. Ideally it would have a web-based component so I could view/edit at work or at home. Open source is preferred. I think I'm going to start by trying out LibreOffice. 

I'm serious debating getting this teeny tiny Android as my next phone.

*I fully acknowledge that personal choices are not the answer to the evil technocracy we find ourselves in. I am a fragile and easily overstimulated individual and I find mainstream social media and AI slop bad for my mental health and I am willing/able to invest in these kinds of alternative services.

Hello friends! Have any of you taken the Chicago/St. Louis Amtrak? I'm debating taking the train rather than flying but will fly if the Amtrak is really ass. I have ridden the Metra and the L plenty but have no Amtrak experience.