It was a week for end-of-year wrapups and reflections on the fediverse and for me spending small moments at home with Celestine.

I had my first haircut since April today.

I taught Celestine to play the game Atlantis tonight. I thought it might be too complicated, but after the fairly complex setup, she was able to play through to the end. Tonet joined us mid-game, so it was a brief family game night.

In 2025 I ran more kilometers (1261) than any year since I started running consistently in 2014 after I started with Zombies, Run! I’m happy I could be more consistent this year and was especially thrilled to finally get back to doing an in-person race in September.

I learned today that Charles de Lint published a new novel this month and that earlier in the year he released this image as merch. Newford stories enriched my compassion and solidarity, and I’m happy de Lint continues to centre that in his fiction.

In 2025 I set a gentler goal for myself to read 50 books in the year. I passed that with 60 books, averaging 5/month.

I track my reading at BookWyrm, a bright part of the fediverse.

I’m at @[email protected].

This year I set a goal to read 52 books so I can keep up a relaxed relationship with books. I’d love to read many more books, but to balance with all my interests, obligations, and ambitions it’s a good fit.

When thinking about 2026, my thoughts settled around three things:

⌨️ Creativity
📧 Connections
💬 Comics

I want to take action on some little creative projects I’ve had in mind too long this year. I’ll make something each month.

Last year I was able to reconnect in person with some of my oldest friends and plan to continue meeting up frequently. I’d love to have more activity in my social life online and off.

I’ve loved comics my whole life and want to spend more time with them in 2026.

Earlier this week I played Escape from Atlantis for the first time with Celestine. I had been given the game by a friend years ago and finally sat down to play.

The pieces are excessively bulky, but it was a fun game once setup was done. The mechanics are easy enough to grasp and the dread of a sinking island is captured in a way that makes the game feel more desperate turn by turn.

The week felt stranger as it went on, with background worry about the fallout of the assassination of an American fascist. There were comforts to be found on the fediverse and the wider web, though.

Celestine started her first full week of grade 1 today. She has settled into the routine again well.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115168399905345862

With Nova Launcher shutting down, I tried out Pixel Launcher again for the first time in years. It’s lacking a lot of the little quality of life features Nova Launcher was so good at. I might experiment with some alternative launchers later, but I’ll definitely miss Nova Launcher.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115173936852268394

After some looking around for recommendations, I decided to try out Niagara Launcher as a Nova Launcher replacement. So far I’m liking how it can be shaped into a minimalist launcher.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115175664249271642

I noticed this charm hanging from a tree by the stairs up to my home tonight.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115176767682859831

This little starling was hopping about at my feet while I waited for a bus at the terminal this morning.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115179558527506750

These verbena stood out as dusk approached last night in Dartmouth.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115179573623748343

New music from The Dears!

They’re consistently excellent album after album, so Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! coming out in November has me excited. The first two tracks are hopeful, glorious songs.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mJtKTILPZtbkpCS6nnQoVbV0OatiaM0Vw&si=ADAJ3qCZs9F4b6wt

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115179628795386567

I just backed the game Chuck, because it’s exactly my kind of game: a romantic solo TTRPG with simple mechanics but heartbreaking stakes.

“Chuck is a romantic comedy TTRPG by Tyler Crumrine illustrated by Brianna Lei. Inspired by the manga Minami’s Lover by Shungiku Uchida, Chuck is a solo game that follows your with your now extremely tiny romantic partner, Chuck.”

The illustrations look absolutely wonderful.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115181230275143636

I need to do further pruning of my tabletop game collection, and it has me thinking about components.

Most games have all needed components in the box, but the waste of amassing dice alone seems absurd. I got rid of most game boxes and unnecessary bits from games, but as I downsize further I’m thinking of what to do with duplicated components across multiple games.

I shifted my games buying toward printable and digital games, and choosing what to keep to support that is part of this thinking.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115186134857614614

The video for The Dears’ “Tears of a Nation” is a very DIY and simple experience, but that haunting song has its hooks in my brain even more after watching it.

https://youtu.be/mdbN7bXEimo?si=gkWG3Bl9BoMFGM6U

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115192609922925089

Today’s episode of This Filipino American Life is an interview with Chrissa Sparkles, including discussion of her songs “Fuck ICE” and “Don’t Fuck a Fascist“.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lhRNIDAT9Ug4T6bPWatUuUL_o0TQKdW2c&si=8pIDRRv4lWKQvxDB

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115193319122665882

We went on a short walk and the signs and stickers we spotted were a weird mix.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/115199302769036043

https://apollolemmon.com/2025/09/14/social-digest-2025-09-07-2025-09-13/

#Celestine #NiagaraLauncher #NovaLauncher

It was a full week, with roll and write games, flowers, and taking Celestine out for adventures.

Mike Duncan just released the last of the Martian Revolution episodes in his Revolutions podcast. I loved his step into speculative fiction for this series, and he wrapped it up with a satisfying conclusion. He informed the story with his deep and broad knowledge of revolutions from our own history and infused a suitable dose of hope.I’m looking forward to his return to history following after the Russian revolution. I assume that will be next.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114687549292089016

This week I’m playing Voyages as my roll and write game. I finished the first voyage today during downtime while invoicing and will work on the A Most Epic Voyage variant throughout the week as I find time.The game is fun, with the random elements not causing enough friction to get in the way of movement.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114694702141367316

The ElfQuest website has a dorky wolfrider name generator.

I’m not sure how I feel about Appleleaper.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114695059462652937

These dogwood flowers made me stop, even with the threat of rain heavy above me.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114709537686172523

Neon Ichiban is a new platform for digital comics that looks like it will do things surprisingly differently, such as offering resale of digital comics. I’m not sure it’ll be all I want from digital comics, but having an alternative to Google Play will be nice.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114712641976344012

I took a lunchtime walk through the marshy former park near my work and found these irises hidden throughout.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114716685857272290

I finished playing through the second map of Voyages this afternoon. The variant A Most Epic Voyage has made it more challenging, and I’m really into the game.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114717455572757653

Celestine and I visited The Old Burying Ground this morning.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114722726632815967

We spent most of the day along the waterfronts on both sides of the harbour. Visiting a battleship bored Celestine, but she was enthusiastic about slushies.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114723775740397717

Celestine was excited to visit many bouncy castles and play in the sand.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114723792270955603

Kristen De Palma’s We Love Nova Scotia mural at the waterfront is an ad for wine, but it’s beautiful.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/114723824506793808

https://apollolemmon.com/2025/06/22/social-digest-2025-06-15-2025-06-21/

#Celestine #Revolutions

Deze sierlijke Cortez dropt komende zomer.
Check voor release informatie.

👟 Nike Cortez - Celestine Blue
🔗 https://www.sneakeragenda.com/agenda/nike-cortez-celestine-blue-ih3574-441/?feed_id=1940&_unique_id=6829d05277331

#cortez #celestine #Swoosh
https://www.sneakeragenda.com/agenda/nike-cortez-celestine-blue-ih3574-441/?feed_id=1940&_unique_id=6829d05277331

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https://apollolemmon.com/2025/01/12/social-digest-2025-01-05-2025-01-11/

#Celestine #fediverse #KennyOmega #mail #OrchestreàVentsDeMusiquesDeFilms #XenobladeChronicles2 #XenobladeChroniclesX

It was a mostly quiet week for me on the fediverse and off, but there were some little bright bits to share.

$0.20 cans of evaporated coconut milk at the grocery store and some eggplants needing to be cooked waiting in the fridge made eggplants in coconut milk the obvious choice for dinner. It’s a hearty meal I don’t make often but absolutely love. Some calamansi soy sauce gives it the dark colouring while garlic and red onion add some nice complexity. It goes great over rice.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/113540085432223599

I took Celestine to visit the infamous Woody this morning. Luckily for us, he was sleeping.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/113575459180231548

Celestine delighted in the many Christmas displays at the mall. I appreciated the train theme they used throughout.

Posted at https://cozymech.com/@apollo/113575479720466989

https://apollolemmon.com/2024/12/01/social-digest-2024-11-24-2024-11-30/

#Celestine

Each year at the Gem and Mineral Show I try to identify what's new and trendy, something that every dealer has. This year it seems to be #celestine and #vesuvianite samples. I also saw these samples, new to me (and too dear for my budget; prices in Canadian dollars): #tourmaline and #albite with #muscovite. It seems to have all sold!

#Montreal #Minerals #Geology

#MinCup24

⚒️🧪 geology

Congratulations #Calcite. Your effervescence has won our hearts. And farewell #Celestine We’ll always have the blue skies.

#mincup24

#Celestine has strontium! I love a good radionuclide.

The radiolarian Acantharea ( https://photosymbiosis.com/about-the-acantharia/) which unlike other silica-shelled radiolarians, chose to make a Celestine skeleton, clearly knows something. Most plankton skeletons are silica or #calcite, but the discerning Protozoa knows strontium sulfate is ever so much more stylish.