Notes #1
I chanced upon a photo series by Deanna Dikeman in one of the newsletters that I subscribed to. Deanna started taking photos of her parents in their driveway, as they bid and waved goodbye every time she left their house. It started in 1991 and lasted until October 2017. Deanna ended the series by taking a last photograph of the now-empty driveway. The title of the series, Leaving and Waving, is ordinary but each photo tells a different extraordinary story, you can tell.
In Terry Freedman's newsletter (24 January 2025), he shared a conversation with his wife about whether she would tell him if she were diagnosed with a terminal illness. The reason behind his question will make you chuckle.
I love Japan. Everything about it is mesmerizing, including these stunning photographs of their railway trains. These were taken by Matt Murray, a travel photographer and a writer based in Japan. While you're at it, explore his post on learning that some of his friends gave up shooting with film.
This illustration from the post 10 Thoughts From the Fourth Trimester.
I learnt how to use the "Copy Link to Highlight" feature on the very same day that I discovered its existence.
I can embed Todoist into Notion—only to delete it shortly after because it was a tad distracting.
I attempted to build my blog site using HTML. Although I didn’t succeed, as I found it too tedious without a web development background, the process led me to discover how to create an HTML file in Notepad to make a webpage. That felt like a small win for me.
I installed Feedly on my tablet and wanted to sync my feeds, but it wouldn't detect a QR scanner. Frustrated and unsure of what else to do, I handed my tablet to my husband, hoping he could figure it out. Turns out, all I needed was to install a separate QR scanner app before attempting to sync via the QR code. I felt so foolish.
Tengu and rokurokubi from the book, Strange Weather in Tokyo.
When you conduct an annual review, you’re not just reflecting on the past; you’re equipping yourself with insights and tools to create a more intentional future. It can transform how you approach the coming year. And these benefits also compound over time as each annual review builds on the previous ones.
— Excerpt from The Power of an Annual Review by Ness Labs.
- Sold a custom ukulele that no longer sparked joy—at 30% of its original price.
- Bought the Kodak Ektar H35 camera (loving it!).
- Built a Play Nation Sanrio Summer Wunderland Mini Kuromi Parfait Fountain with my daughter.
- Some of the food I ate, aside from home-cooked meals, included steamboat grill, Thai cuisine, McDonald's, and Swensen's.
- A colleague gave me her homemade pineapple tarts, and they were delicious!