There came a point when, ever more conscious of the extent of the terra incognita between the jazz recordings I loved from the ‘50s and ‘60s, and the smaller number of 21st century ones I had taken a shine to, I decided to make an effort to get to grips with some jazz from the intervening decades. This has been a fitful undertaking, and by no means always a successful one. Even so, there has been some tentative progress, and my ignorance has been very slightly reduced.

From the ‘90s, I’ve acquired a small handful of albums by the likes of Brad Mehldau, Tom Harrell & Charlie Haden’s Quartet West; to which I’ve now added Songbook by Kenny Garrett. Last month, Garrett’s composition ‘Sing a Song of Song’ surfaced from the depths of YouTube, and caught my fancy. A CD copy of the album arrived on Friday. It’s a nicely varied affair: ‘Sing a Song of Song’ is smoothly melodic up until a more raucous climax; the opening ‘2 Down & 1 Across’ has a looser & busier feel; ‘Ms Baja’ is laid-back & Latin-influenced, with what sounds like an allusion to ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ near the end. Let by Garrett’s alto sax, his band steer a purposeful course, without veering into the outré on one side, or the kitsch on the other.

---

The other new (to me) recording that arrived this week was Gadabout Season by the American harpist and composer Brandee Younger. I’d considered buying the album when it came out last year, but then forgot about it until reminded by Younger’s recent appearance on Norah Jones’ Playing Along podcast/videocast. I already owned her album Brand New Life on CD, and likewise the one (Force Majeure) she recorded with bassist Dezron Douglas during the Covid lockdown. I would have bought this one on CD too, but, looking on ebay I found a listing for a second-hand LP copy that was the cheapest option by nearly a fiver, so I got that instead. It’s another lovely record, on which Younger is accompanied by regular bandmates Rashaan Carter (bass) and Allan Mednard (drums) plus an assortment of guests including Shabaka Hutchings and Makaya McCraven.

On the record, Younger plays a harp that had formerly belonged to Alice Coltrane. While Younger acknowledges Coltrane as an important influence, I was seldom reminded of the latter as I listened. The closing track ‘Discernment’ seemed to slightly resemble the work of the one other contemporary jazz harpist I know — Nala Sinephro. After my first couple of listens, my favourite numbers are the playful title track, and the similarly buoyant ‘New Pinnacle’.

---

On Monday I finished reading Rachel Ingalls’ 1982 novella Mrs. Caliban. I only became aware of the book relatively recently – it was one of those things where once I’d first noticed a mention of it, I kept seeing other references to it in all manner of places. Per Wikipedia: “The plot concerns a lonely housewife who finds companionship with an amphibious sea monster named Larry.” It’s an intriguing blend of domestic drama, satirical humour and ‘creature feature’, with a depth of sadness underlying it all. Its several virtues notwithstanding, the book landed slightly wide of the mark for me: well worth the read, just not an ideal fit for my tastes.

Before that I read Days of Grace: Selected Poems by Doris Kareva, as translated from the original Estonian by the splendidly-surnamed Miriam McIlfatrick-Ksenofontov. It brings together poems published over a broad span of Kareva’s career: between 1978 and 2015. As is often the case, only a proportion of the poems connected with significant force, but the hit rate was pretty good. Most of them are short & spare, cool & concise. All but one of them are untitled, and delimited by section signs (‘§’). Here's an example:

A paw extends in the dark
to probe the flow.
There’s no
knowing what will cling to longing.

Raw rough-edged words, terse
and true, translation-proof, from table
to rafters.

Lie there, wordless,
swallow the blood-spit of the dark.

---

After short sharp heatwaves in late May and late June, a third one, less intense but more prolonged, is now in tedious effect.

July 12, 2026 — Die Architektur der Trägheit / The Architecture of Inertia

Deutsch –> (/https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/die-architektur-der-tragheit/)

English –> (/https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/the-architecture-of-institutional-inertia/)

July 6, 2026 — Vom streitbaren zum verantwortungsvoll betreuenden Liberalismus / From Combatant to “Caregiver” Liberalism

Deutsch –> (/https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/vom-streitbaren-zum-verantwortungsvoll-betreuenden-liberalismus/)

English –> (/https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/from-combatant-to-caregiver-liberalism/)

June 25, 2026 — Die-vertändelte Erneuerung / The Dawdling Renewal

Deutsch –> ( /https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/die-vertandelte-erneuerung/ )

English –> ( /https://write.as/germany-a-winter-s-tale/the-dawdling-renewal/ )

I began documenting my experiences early on as those inner events unfolded in my life. Privately, of course, in my own personal journal. My reasons for this were: 1.) to keep a record of my experiences, 2.) to process them as they unfold, and 3.) to process them again later, after they settle in mind and memory. In all of that, however, I never thought of sharing it publicly. And I still don’t. My personal journal is a very private thing and therefore not to be shared. And there are many reasons for me not to share any of it.

When intimacy enters public view, for example, it becomes subject to interpretation and manipulation. Strangers often do not witness with care; they consume with reckless ease or predatory hunger. Every comment, every share, every algorithmic amplification adds noise to a signal that was once pristine and meant for quiet meditation. The sacred flattens into triviality when rendered consumable.

Then there’s the ineffable nature of the uncanny. The human tongue is incapable of speaking of reality without also betraying it. Writing to bridge that gap only somehow widens the schism. Each word narrows what should expand. Each line traps what should roam free. Each question answered only multiplies tenfold. How does one overcome this paradox?

Another reason not to share is that what I’m trying to convey may not survive the medium's noise. The open web invites all comers, but it also amplifies every static burst into something that distracts and garbles rather than clarifies. I have no way of controlling what the message becomes once it leaves my hands—how it gets parsed, clipped, or twisted in someone else’s memory. A truth given to the internet may become a burden or a weapon, neither of which serves my original purpose, however altruistic.

There’s also the fact that digital permanence outlasts all good intentions. What feels necessary today may feel dangerous tomorrow, especially when deletion is impossible. The web remembers in ways humans do not. I must weigh my future peace with present catharsis.

Though not everything real must be rendered in public. Silence can also be a kind of testimony. And what I share here is only partial disclosure, for there are things that cannot and should not be shared, or shared very sparingly.

There is wisdom in withholding.

⁂

But this blog is not my private journal. And though I’m careful about what I share and how I share it, I fully understand there are risks in doing so. And for all of the reasons not to share it, there are reasons that still compel me to do so.

Certain truths, like people, require crossing thresholds to become more fully themselves by participating in the fabric of reality rather than proving their existence. That the telling is only truly complete when it’s shared with the world—not as a proof—but as testimony.

Yet, despite the necessity of closing the loop of telling, the ineffable strains and evades ordinary language. It isn’t simply the inner lived experience that is a challenge; it is also the investigation into that experience that has lasting, often difficult implications for both author and reader, which may never be fully resolved.

For in the investigation and the documenting, there’s always the friction of doubt. And beyond that doubt lies the writing itself, as it comes to exist in some form, shaped by the frameworks the author has applied and the cultural perspective accumulated. Cobbled together using words and phrasing that may not, in part or in whole, reflect the truth of the subject at hand. Thus, the telling, any telling, is subjective and, to some degree, flawed.

But is that any reason to dismiss said experiences, either as participant or witness, and ultimately refuse their telling?

No.

The inner lived experience—the awe, the wonder—only becomes legible when externalized, even when very few, if any, understand it. Because in the careful sharing of it, there is a kind of alchemy that transforms not the experience itself or its memory, but our perception and grasp of it.

I do not have a name for this desire to document my testimony. Perhaps it doesn’t need a name. Or, maybe the name will come later through the act of writing itself. Concepts precede the meaning of words, and words form only after one has circled the subject enough times to know something of its true nature and character.

Maybe this compulsion—to drag the invisible into the light, to press spirit into ink—is what happens when creatures made of dust choose to dream in light. The body stays restless until it leaves its mark upon the world.

So I leave this here, a partial disclosure. A faint signal amid the growing noise.

We were here, once, and our love lives on.

#Liminality #Spirituality #Mysticism

∞

I saw Supergirl during the last heat wave. (So like, 2 weeks ago?). I knew it didn’t do well with critics and that the box office had been underwhelming by blockbuster movie standards, but I liked it a lot.

I think that after last summer’s bright and cheery Superman, folks were expecting more of the same. But that’s not what the filmmakers were aiming at. The idea here, which I think is cool and actually justifies having 2 identically-powered heroes, is that Clark is open hearted and optimistic because he was raised from infancy by loving parents, whereas Kara grew to adolescence with loving parents and had to essentially watch them die. So she’s angry. And she drinks too much—this is a gag in Superman, where she stumbles in at the end, a party girl who goes off-planet to get wasted, but in this movie its clear that she’s burying her grief under alcohol.

So, yeah, this is a darker movie than Superman, but not the grimdark of some earlier DC movies. It’s also a science fiction movie that takes place entirely on other planets and in space, so that’s a very different vibe from the Metropolis of Superman.

I have rarely seen a movie that tells the truth that grief makes you angry. You see it in revenge movies, but what’s touching about Kara’s story is that there’s no revenge to be had. Her parents weren’t killed by some evildoer—she’s angry, but she’s got nowhere to put this anger, so she channels it into self destruction, which is tough when you’re invulnerable, at least under the light of a yellow sun.

Also? Yes, the costume is kind of dumb with the high boots and the short skirt but at no point in this movie does the camera ogle Milly Alcock the way, for example, the camera ogled Scarlett Johansen in the Avengers movies, especially the first one where her character is introduced with some soft bondage porn.

I suspect this may be driving some of the negative responses to the movie—some people—fine, fine, men—think women probably shouldn’t be superheroes, but if they are, they need to be filmed as objects of desire rather than people.

Eve Ridley also gives a brilliant performance, and Jason Momoa is delightful, although it was never fully clear to me exactly why Lobo was in this movie at all.

I did not like the fact that Krypto being in mortal peril is the plot driver because a)Krypto was so fun in Superman and I was looking forward to more of him and b) DON’T HURT THE DOG, DAMMIT!

So, yeah. It’s probably gone from theaters by now, but when it pops up on HBO Max or whatever, I recommend giving it a watch, unless you’ve got dead parent or injured pet trauma, in which case it might be a tough watch. (Mileage may vary of course—I have dead parent

There is only one.

Choosing which MLB game to follow today is very easy because there is only one: the 2026 MLB All Star Game. The game has a scheduled start time of 7:00 PM CDT and it will be televised nationally on FOX. But I don't like watching sports on TV. So, as I usually do, I'll follow the game's score and stats in real time via MLB's Gameday Service where we can also find links to the radio-call of the game provided by announcers of either league we choose. Coming as a surprise to no one, I'll be cheering for the American League and I'll follow the radio call of their announcers.

And the adventure continues.

that define a life well lived

1. Invest more in experiences than in material things.

2. Spend more money on experiences. Try more foods.

3. Get in shape just once in your life and see how ditterently people treat you.

4. You don't find your purpose-you create it.

5. It's better to live a life full of ‘Oh wells’ than ‘what ifs’

6. Surround yourself with good people.

7. If you hear something often enough, you'll start to believe it.

8. Take it easy on your parents. It's their first time living lite, too.

9. Go and see things for yourself instead of relying on what others say.

10. Speak it. Believe it. It will happen.

11. Get into a room where you feel like you're the dumbest person.

12. Everything you want has already been achieved by someone just like you.

13. You won't miss what's meant for you.

14. You'll never know unless you try.

15. You are the sum of your thoughts.

16. Make great memories with great people.

17. Take the chance. Live the life you want to live, not the life everyone else expects you to live.

18. Life isn't that deep.

19. Progress is built on ordinary days, not perfect ones.

20. Find an amazing partner, and life will become better.

21. Falling in love isn’t a sin.

Two boats docked behind a berm.

Introduction

Many years ago (over a decade) I wrote an article about RSS Feed reader alternatives after Google announced they were killing Reader in March 2013. That article attracted a fair amount of attention, including a request from RedHat to republish the article on their blog. On the ten-year anniversary of the death of Google Reader, the Verge published Who killed Google Reader?(pay-walled article), indicating (to me) that even a decade on there was still interest in the product. Today, with the rising profile of the FediVerse and the IndieWeb, it seems RSS readers and feed aggregation are seeing a bit of a renaissance with the likes of Bubbles. I've also noted several feed reader sites showing up as referrers on my sites.

And, just to make things more interest, as I was working on the first draft of this piece, Rishabh P. Sharma posted an article on his site called: FreshRSS vs My Own Feed Reader: A fierce competition. I took this as yet another indicator that there is still quite a bit of interest in RSS/Atom Feed Readers.

This started me wondering what is the status of RSS feed readers and other news aggregators these? Are they the technology of a bygone era as once predicted by Google? Or are they still around and thriving as I'm starting to believe from seeing several readers in my websites referrers? Are there any new ones that might be worth looking at? And, most importantly, have they changed?

This Isn't a Roundup Article

The original article I wrote back in 2013 was focused on a simple, and single question: what to do now that Google Reader is going away? Back then, everything was an opportunity for open source alternatives to shine. So, that's how I wrote the article (and why RedHat was interested in it). I provided a roundup of what were the best alternatives that I could find at the time.

Obviously we aren't in 2013 anymore, so it doesn't seem like a roundup article is what is needed. Instead, what I would like to do is examine a few questions:

• Are Feed Readers bygone tech?
• What is RSS, and why is it so heavily used?
• Why would you want to use a feed reader today?
• What are your options for setting up some type of feed reader?
• Are there any interesting, and lesser known options?
• Are there any significant changes since 2013?

These might be more of interest to you today if you don't use, or don't understand why RSS/Atom feed readers are useful.

Tech of a Bygone Era?

From looking around for a bit, I was able to answer Google's prediction: no, RSS/Atom readers and aggregators are definitely not the technology of a bygone era. First, not only do many websites still have RSS/Atom feeds available, but I was able to identify a number of different ways in which they are being used now:

• Websites like Memeorandom, Mediagazer, Techmeme and WeSmirch actually use RSS/Atom feeds in several ways: First, they use feeds from other media outlets to gather current stories. The stories are then aggregated to produce their single-page quick view website. Second, they make RSS feeds available for viewing in a feed reader. Third, they use RSS/Atom feeds to export their content to social media, like the Fediverse. (Aside: they almost make a list of all the feeds they scrape available on the leaderboards, which are part of each site. This is a great way to find a list of feeds if you need one.) Basically, that's a lot of RSS/Atom based tech to produce what is, essentially, a single page website.

• Of course, we have the recent site Bubbles. Bubbles is a website that presents a ranked list of posts from IndieSites that sign up for the service. The use RSS/Atom feeds to populate their lists of articles to Pretty cool stuff, reaching back to the old days of the internet.

• As hinted above, there is a lot of RSS feeds being bridged to the Fediverse. Possibly the biggest / most common are the weather and weather camera feeds. Of course, there is also the ever popular Elon Musk Jet tracker. Fedi Directory has an extensive list of bots on the Fediverse, including many RSS bridging bots.

• Platforms like Mastodon and GotoSocial make public user posts available via RSS. For example, my feed is: Unattributed's GTS Feed. Of course, this can be disabled by users if they don't want their posts published use RSS/Atom. But why use it? It's a good way to archive your posts, especially if you want to implement automatic post deletion application, but might want to keep some of those bangers around to reuse later.

• The most unusual use of RSS/Atom feeds goes to Calibre, which uses them to scan websites and build e-Books for reading offline.

• And, let's not forget podcasts. Lots of podcasting platforms serve RSS/Atom feeds for retrieving shows, and many podcast players use RSS/Atom feeds to retrieve the podcast(s).

Hopefully it's obvious that RSS feeds are not tech from a bygone era. I would say, in fact, that RSS/Atom is literally the protocol that is literally powering a substantial portion of the internet as we know it today.

What Is RSS?

The name RSS has multiple definitions, but for our purposes here, the best is Really Simple Syndication. Its purpose is to provide of stream of updated information from a website. This information can take many forms, and can include different types of media, such as photos, audio files, or video files.

The idea is that a website produces a stream (file) when another application or website sends a query to the site. The stream contains the information that has been updated since the last query. In some cases, the site (or client) may limit the number of items in an update. This is mostly true when the site has a lot of information that is changing very quickly.

The idea that only updated information is sent is what makes RSS flexible and light-weight. Since only a limited amount of information is sent during each query the overhead in processing each request is low.

Applications that receive these updates read them, and then take actions based on the updates. For example, if an update says there is a new article, the application can download that article. This processing includes items like images, video, and audio files.

Why Use an RSS Reader?

RSS readers are convenient. They allow you to keep track of the changes on as many sites as you desire. In most cases, the RSS reader will automatically check for updates on the sites you have specified, at an interval you specify. Most readers also allow you to set an expiry period for the information it gathers.

In addition to these features, many readers include additional features to allow you to tag items, mark items as favorites, or mark them for some other processing. Many times you can also export items to other formats or programs (say a note-taking application like Obsidian or Joplin).

And even more advanced readers will allow you to set up rules to tell the program how to treat items that match a one or more sets of criteria. For example, automatically download podcasts, or tag an item if the title contains a keyword.

This flexibility can allow the user to deal with massive amounts of information in a quick and efficient manner. You can think of a reader like a berm: it provides a barrier between you and the wide ocean of information that is out there on the internet. Inside the berm's perimeter you have your docks organized into bays where each of your boats (ie, website feeds) are docked.

RSS Feed Reader Options

So, time to look at some RSS reader options that you might be interested in. This is not going to be an exhaustive list by any means. I checked out the Wikipedia Comparison of Feed Aggregators list earlier. It's a large list, with a lot of applications that are both maintained and unmaintained, and some applications that probably really shouldn't be on the list.

Instead, I want to focus on different classes of reader applications you might want to consider. We'll talk about the reason(s) why you might want to use each, and These include extensions you can add to your web browser, desktop applications, cloud based applications, and hosting your own RSS aggregation server.

Browser Extensions

If you use a desktop computer or a laptop as your primary computing device, this is the most obvious place to start. Adding an extension to your browser can make your feeds available in a way that smoothly integrates with your current environment. The ones that I would look at are FeedBro, LiveMarks, SlickReader and The RSS Aggregator.

Of all of these readers, LiveMarks is available as both a Firefox and Chrome extension, and is rather unique when it comes to how it works. When you add a site to LiveMarks it creates a folder in your bookmarks with links to all the articles that are in the feed. You open the bookmarks to read the article, which actually literally opens the website web page. This can be nice if there are things about the actual web page that you want to or should see. However, this can also open you up to being tracked by the website, so I would only go this route if you have strong ad block and privacy measures in place.

The (unfortunately named) FeedBro for Firefox, and SlickReader for Chrome are the most traditional RSS feed readers, looking like an email application in your browser. As you add new sites, a folder is created in the application's database. You open an email like view and can scan through and read the entries.

The RSS Aggregator for Chrome differentiates itself a bit by allowing you to interact with your feeds through your choice of a drop-down menu, or an email-like interface. When installed a button is added to your shortcuts which will indicate how many updates there. Clicking the button will show you the feeds you've added, and selecting a feed will show you the updates. From there you can go directly to the article, or mark it off. The one downside to this reader is if you want the Filters, Rules, and Collections features you have to purchase their Plus or Professional version.

Self Hosted

Personally, I think this is where the best options are for aggregating content using RSS feeds. However, the downside is that you need to have some technical skill, and the desire to set up a self-hosting system. This is likely most appealing to people that are already into setting up home labs. However, if you run a Jellyfin server, or other media server, maybe this approach will appeal to you.

There are three options for self-hosting that I am aware of: TTRSS (Tiny Tiny RSS), FreshRSS, and Nextcloud News App. Personally, I ran TTRSS on a server many years ago and absolutely loved it. This was right after the Google announcement that they were discontinuing their reader application. I haven't used FreshRSS, but it looks to be comparable to TTRSS. The Nextcloud News App has the advantage of being available in the Nextcloud App store. If you already have a Nextcloud server set up then this is an obvious choice.

The reason I feel the self-hosted option is the best is that they offer the most flexibility. You can access them through their web based interfaces, or you can use them with standalone applications as clients. In this way no matter what device you are reading on, your clients will always know what you have / haven't read.

Cloud Readers

Right behind the self-hosted options are cloud based feed aggregator / readers. The biggest advantage that these applications have is they often have the work to build large databases of feeds to make available to you. You get to select the feeds that you want to read without having to find and add them to your reader. Often during the account creation process you will be presented with a list choose from.

Some of the most notable cloud based aggregator / readers are: Inoreader, Newsblur, Feedly, FeedMe, FeedLand, and The Old Reader. The (to me at least) downside to many of these sites is that they want a subscription for “advanced” features. The prices and features vary between applications. The plus side of cloud based applications is they often have companion web browser plugins, and standalone cellphone apps.

The most interesting of the cloud based options is FeedLand. This is a platform created by Dave Winer – one of the originators of RSS. His idea is to make a site that is “social” based around newsfeeds. You can share posts from your feed to your own social feed, which others on the site can follow. The site also provides exporting lists of your feeds, which you can use with other feed reader applications. And, best of all, there is no charge for the system.

Another one that is a completely free cloud based platform is FeedMe. I was unaware of it until it showed up in the referrers list in my analytics. It is self-described as a minimalist feed reader, and it is. You add your feeds manually, or using an OPML file if you have one. You can make categories for your feeds, and read them. There is no tagging feature, only a favorite option, and you have to manually mark each item as read (or mark the whole feed as read). There's no option to limit the number of items in a feed, or the age of the items. And there is no option for third party application integration.

Inoreader, Newsblur, and Feedly are all sites that seem to be fairly popular as they are ones that are showing up in my referrers, along with FeedMe.

Desktop Applications

There are a fair number of desktop applications, with a couple of them standing out as being available on many operating systems: RSS Guard is available on Windows, Linux, OS/2, and macOS. Fluent Reader is available on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Communique and NewsFlash are Linux native applications, while Fiery Feeds is available on iOS and macOS. The reason for singling out these applications is they all integrate with the Nextcloud News application.

Notably, RSS Guard also integrates with Tiny Tiny RSS and Feedly.

As I mentioned in the Tech of a Bygone Era section, Calibre can take your RSS feeds and produce e-Books from them, which turns them into a magazine-like reading experience. There are also a couple of desktop email applications that include support for reading RSS feeds: Thunderbird and Claws Mail. While Claws Mail is a Linux based application, Thunderbird is available on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

All of these applications should be able to import OPML files, if you decide to move from one reader to a desktop application.

iOS and Android Applications

While I am not very familiar with iOS applications since I've never used an iPhone, the aforementioned Fiery Feeds is an option that provides Nextcloud News integration. A couple more options with Nextcloud News integration are: CloudNews and Nextnews. Additionally, I believe (although I could be wrong) there is a news application that comes with the iPhone?

On the Android side there are plenty of options: Nextcloud News Reader, OCReader, Newsout, and Readrops are all notable for their Nextcloud News integration. A couple of other notable apps include Feedly, Flipboard. On the open source side there are quite a few more applications: RSS Reader, Feeder, Capy Reader, and FeedFlow to name a few (available in the F-Droid store).

And there are the applications designed to work with specific cloud platforms like Inoreader, Feedly, and NewsBlur.

(NOTE: while I did mention Flipboard, I am not mentioning apps like GroundNews, SmartNews, Google News, Yahoo! News as those apps are more specifically focused on gathering news from a predefined list of news outlets, and typically don't allow adding your own feeds.)

Conclusion

What I find interesting about this is an image of seeing all the information that is available on the internet as a stream. Much of that information is available for the taking, consuming, researching, etc. However, it's what we do with this information that matters. Feed Readers are like docks. You use a reader to set up the bays for all the information to flow into. How the docks and bays are organized is up to you.

So, what would I do given the whole sea of available options?

I've already mentioned several times that I use Calibre's RSS scanning feature. I like the idea of having e-Books that I can just put on my e-Reader and read at me leisure. But, there is another feature of Calibre I haven't mentioned: the Content Server. This feature starts a web server application that I can use on any of my devices within my house. So, if I wanted to read anything from my library, including all the news sites I download, on my tablet or phone, I can use the content server with my web browser.

But, if I weren't using this solution, I would self-host Tiny Tiny RSS, and use RSS Guard on my desktop, and the open source Tiny Tiny RSS android app on my phone and tablet. The other option I would explore would be setting up Nextcloud, using the Nextcloud News App and using the Android version of the Nextcloud News App.

However, I wouldn't take my advice in this area, as my needs and desires are likely far different from yours. Explore what's out there, see which options give you what you want. Personally, I am happy reading the IndieWeb on my desktop using my web browser, and don't see a need to do anything else with it.

---

Categories: #Features Tags: #rss, #feeds, #readers, #windows, #macos, #linux, #android, #ios, #cloud License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

D’abord la colère.

Parce qu’il est encore possible de lutter. De chercher un responsable. De croire qu’en serrant les poings assez fort, le passé changera d’avis.

Puis vient la tristesse.

Quand la colère n’a plus rien à brûler, il ne reste que les cendres. On regarde ce qui s’est effondré. Les rêves deviennent des souvenirs. Les souvenirs deviennent de la poussière. On comprend enfin l’étendue de ce qui est perdu.

Puis vient le désespoir.

Non pas celui qui crie, mais celui qui ne demande plus rien. Le moment où l’on cesse d’imaginer une autre fin. Où l’on accepte que certaines histoires ne reviendront jamais.

Puis vient le vide.

Étrangement, il n’est plus douloureux. Il est simplement immense. Comme un champ après la moisson. Plus rien ne pousse encore, mais plus rien ne se bat non plus.

Puis vient le calme.

Le premier rayon de soleil ne réchauffe pas encore. Il rappelle seulement que le soleil existe toujours.

Alors naît une curiosité.

On relève un peu les yeux. On remarque un arbre, une odeur, un rire au loin. Le monde recommence à entrer sans demander la permission.

Puis revient le plaisir.

Celui d’un café chaud. D’une conversation. D’un livre. D’une promenade. Rien d’extraordinaire. Juste le goût discret d’être vivant.

Puis revient la confiance.

On cesse de regarder derrière soi à chaque pas. L’avenir redevient un territoire plutôt qu’une menace.

Puis revient l’amour.

Pas celui qui remplit un manque. Celui qui déborde d’un cœur redevenu paisible. Un amour qui ne cherche plus à sauver, à posséder ou à retenir. Un amour qui peut enfin laisser l’autre libre.

Et enfin revient la joie.

Pas l’euphorie.

La joie tranquille de celui qui a traversé la nuit et qui ne craint plus le lever du soleil. La joie de savoir que les montagnes russes continueront leurs montées et leurs descentes, mais qu’au fond de soi, il existe désormais un endroit qui ne quitte plus jamais la lumière.

~Haiku 1~

woods crackle loudly amputation topples bough silence views collapse

Written July 14, 2026. © 2026 AnOublietteofThought.

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I saw the weekly haiku prompt. I'm not really sure how it works, so I am just posting one in response to being inspired. Thank you for the inspiration.

Nos últimos anos, as calhas de duche lineares tornaram-se uma das soluções mais utilizadas em casas de banho modernas. A sua integração discreta no pavimento, a elevada capacidade de drenagem e o design minimalista conquistaram arquitetos, designers de interiores e proprietários que procuram um espaço elegante e funcional.

Dentro desta categoria, um dos modelos que mais desperta interesse é a calha de duche SLIM. Mas afinal, o que significa SLIM? Será apenas uma questão estética ou existem outras vantagens?

Neste artigo esclarecemos as principais dúvidas e ajudamos a perceber quando faz sentido optar por este tipo de solução.

Se pretende uma visão mais completa sobre materiais, acabamentos, comprimentos e critérios de escolha, recomendamos também a leitura do nosso guia completo sobre calhas de duche em inox.

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O que significa uma calha de duche SLIM?

Uma das ideias erradas mais frequentes é pensar que uma calha SLIM é mais baixa ou necessita de menos altura para instalação.

Na realidade, SLIM refere-se à largura da calha, e não à sua altura.

Enquanto uma calha convencional apresenta normalmente cerca de 100 mm de largura, uma versão SLIM tem aproximadamente 72 mm, tornando-se muito mais discreta depois de instalada.

O resultado é uma zona de duche visualmente mais limpa, onde o sistema de drenagem praticamente desaparece no pavimento.

Esta característica faz com que seja uma das soluções preferidas em projetos de arquitetura contemporânea e em duches walk-in.

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Porque motivo as calhas SLIM estão cada vez mais populares?

O design das casas de banho evoluiu muito nos últimos anos.

Hoje procura-se simplicidade, continuidade visual e materiais de qualidade.

Uma calha mais estreita acompanha perfeitamente esta tendência.

As principais vantagens são:

• menor impacto visual no pavimento;
• design elegante e minimalista;
• integração harmoniosa em revestimentos cerâmicos de grande formato;
• ideal para bases de duche ao nível do pavimento;
• aspeto mais moderno sem comprometer a funcionalidade.

Embora a diferença de largura pareça pequena, o resultado final é bastante percetível quando comparado com uma calha tradicional.

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Uma calha SLIM escoa menos água?

Não.

Esta é outra dúvida bastante comum.

A largura reduzida não significa menor desempenho hidráulico.

Uma boa calha SLIM continua a oferecer um excelente caudal de drenagem, desde que seja corretamente dimensionada e instalada.

No caso das calhas de duche SLIM da PRGinox, o sistema foi desenvolvido para proporcionar um escoamento eficiente, mesmo quando utilizado com colunas de duche modernas e chuveiros de teto.

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O que deve verificar antes de comprar?

Nem todas as calhas disponíveis no mercado apresentam a mesma qualidade.

Antes de decidir, vale a pena confirmar alguns aspetos importantes.

Material

Prefira sempre aço inoxidável AISI 304, muito mais resistente à corrosão e adequado para ambientes húmidos.

Kit de instalação

Uma boa calha deve incluir todos os componentes necessários para uma instalação profissional.

Nas versões SLIM da PRGinox estão incluídos:

• sifão em PVC integrado;
• saída orientável a 360°;
• tela impermeabilizante;
• pés reguláveis em altura;
• adaptador Ø40 para Ø50 mm.

Desta forma evita compras adicionais e facilita o trabalho do instalador.

Acabamentos

Hoje em dia, a calha faz parte do design da casa de banho.

Escolha um acabamento que combine com os restantes elementos.

Por exemplo:

• inox escovado;
• inox polido;
• preto mate;
• branco mate;
• Gun Metal PVD;
• Ouro Mate PVD;
• Cobre PVD.

E quando devo optar por uma calha à parede?

Embora as versões SLIM sejam extremamente discretas, existe uma solução ainda mais integrada.

As calhas de duche à parede ficam posicionadas junto ao revestimento vertical, libertando praticamente toda a superfície do pavimento.

São uma excelente escolha para projetos minimalistas e para quem pretende um efeito visual muito limpo.

A decisão depende sobretudo do tipo de obra, da configuração da base de duche e do resultado estético pretendido.

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Uma casa de banho harmoniosa faz toda a diferença

Hoje, uma casa de banho é pensada como um conjunto.

A calha de duche deve combinar com os restantes elementos do espaço.

Por exemplo:

• coluna de duche no mesmo acabamento;
• espelho LED para reforçar a iluminação;
• nicho embutido para aumentar a arrumação sem ocupar espaço.

Esta continuidade estética é cada vez mais valorizada em projetos de arquitetura e design de interiores.

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Conclusão

As calhas de duche SLIM não são uma moda passageira.

São uma evolução natural das calhas lineares, pensadas para responder às exigências das casas de banho modernas.

A largura reduzida proporciona um resultado visual mais elegante, mantendo toda a eficiência do sistema de drenagem.

Se está a planear uma remodelação ou uma construção nova, vale a pena comparar os diferentes modelos disponíveis antes de tomar uma decisão.

Para conhecer em detalhe as diferenças entre versões SLIM, calhas convencionais, modelos para instalação à parede, tipos de grelha, comprimentos e acabamentos, consulte o Guia Completo sobre Calhas de Duche em Inox publicado pela PRGinox.

Se já sabe que pretende uma solução discreta e contemporânea, pode explorar diretamente a coleção de calhas de duche SLIM em inox, disponíveis em vários comprimentos e acabamentos para diferentes projetos de casa de banho.

~Excerpt from a Moving Line~

Cold was the columns aggregating our departure. They just stood there, stoic and unconcerned—colossal measuring sticks firm in their disregard of our wavering steps.

We knew naught of the journey awaiting us, but fear of the gravity that found us here loomed a foreboding shadow to our thwart. Nary a smile gleamed present within any a shimmering eye, though mouths aplenty were straining upwards towards hope.

Hope...No longer a figure found beckoning for my measly attention. She had her eyes on a bigger prize. One that fed upon the likes of my indentured persistence with the unapologetic joy of a raptor's preening talons.

Yes. Her appetite was razor sharp. What a fool, I, for ever believing any of us might escape between the thin red lines coveting our extinction. What a fool, I, for believing “freedom” was anything other than a lie baiting unwanted lambs to the slaughter.

Hear our baas as we're quietly ground incidental.

Written July 14, 2026. © 2026 AnOublietteofThought.

I had a bad day. thats all. not really, dont believe me i always end up saying i did have a bad day and ramble about everything but my day, which is an odd way of whatever. forget it. That worm dream kept coming back to me. i was in the shower, black worms were crawling out of my skin, mixed with black ink. they disappeared down the drain while more crawled back out of it, but anyway. i figured out the bruises. yesterday, before i slept during the day, dreaming of those worms. i left a camera recording. turns out ive been my own attempted murderer. good to know. watching yourself slowly wrap both hands around your own throat isnt something id recommend. my hands dont even move like they’re mine. they just reached up and squeeze. calmly. like they’ve done it before. i thought about getting my old wrist restraints back. the ones i definitely used on the patients. decided against it, maybe. i dont think explaining why i own them would improve my week. so i stayed awake instead, around seven this morning i rode my bike to another city. wore a jacket and neck sleeves in the middle of summer because hiding bruises is more important than surviving a heatstroke. i ended up sitting on the beach watching tiny crabs, everyone else was swimming, tanning perhaps. running and i was crouched in the sand like id been hired to supervise crustaceans. i dont even know what im doing anymore, The crabs seemed to. Im home now.

Not sure when ill sleep again. knowing the thing trying to kill me every night is technically me is… inconvenient. its one in the afternoon. still awake. Thats probably for the best, my sleep schedule has recently developed homicidal tendencies.

Sincerely, The killer i wake up to

~A Biting Catechism~

Register the inhumane percussion I postpone. A drill refining honey with the bitter stench of home. Rake my reputation with a coal denied combustion. Deem me effervescent in the self-control you bludgeon.

Bleed my mind. Bleed my heart. Bleed my rage. Bleed my yearning. Bleed my pulse in quivered contest with the structure of your cursing. Read between the scriptured falsehoods strung on tenets trilled as gospel. When forever's scried as succor every thought debates debacle.

Down. Down. Trust flung wide to scale false glory. With descension's compromised, we invest to placate worry. Around and unbound, tattered flight unfurls decision. When entrapped by rigor's fang, eternal vigor sates extinction.

Written July 14, 2026. © 2026 AnOublietteofThought.

The gardens around the school are soothing.

It has been weird coming back to teach at a school where I taught for 11 years. This year began well, then sank, then rose and sank at the end. In many ways, coming back here has been good. The chances to help and connect with individual students have been rewarding. I have forged bonds with many students in grade 1, and I spend a lot of time helping them. I’ve seen students in my care improve in English. The kids want to hear the stories I read, and I want to see the work they do. There’s excitement from them when I come into the classroom, and I want to help the kids try.

In the most fluent class, I talk, play games and more to build a stronger bond with them. We can talk with ease. We tease, kid and enjoy. It’s been good, and it makes things less lonely, since there are people to talk to. I check in on a few students – those who either struggle or know their family background may not be the best.

I teach the older kids at least once a week. They are busy with exams and assessments to help them get into Secondary School. The teachers are busier and try to help by either getting out of their way or by supporting them however I can. They are also hitting puberty, when boys generally talk more and girls talk less.

There is no English Room for me to teach in and hide from everyone.

The change has been in how the school is organized. The last two schools are large – 5 classes per level – more established. The school calendar and schedules are set in advance and are followed. Here, things move about depending on the week and sometimes the day. I sometimes forget how things change without notice. I can adapt and show up where needed. It creates frustrations which I need to understand. It explains my low periods here – unsure where things are leading to. There is greater isolation and disconnection from other staff due to language barriers. It is normal as a Native English Teacher, but in other schools there was a place for me to go. Here, there is nothing, as I am in the middle of the staff room.

I am happy to come back, despite the challenges. There is more meaning in this small village school. I teach all the kids over the course of a week, forming good bonds. In bigger schools, I never had a chance. There is a sense of purpose, which is the most important thing to me, other than enough to support my lifestyle.

I asked K on a date! In five days from now we are going on our first date. When I sent the text asking her, I was pacing around my house and I was bursting with energy. When I saw that she liked the message from the notification, I screamed even though there’s food in my mouth, and I jumped almost a foot in the air involuntarily. I haven’t felt this anxiety in a good way in a long time. And I’m kind of scared if I’m being honest. I talked with my therapist today about how I don’t feel the super intense spark that comes from super accelerated intimacy, and I know that that’s a good thing and that’s healthy, but it’s kind of scary because this is unknown in a way. It feels like I have been drinking energy drinks my entire life, and this is the first time I’m trying a normal drink. Nothing is wrong with it at all, and the energy drinks constantly are not healthy or good for me, but I don’t feel the same rush. And I guess it’s just kind of scary because I almost don’t know what to look for if that makes sense. She has hit basically all of the realistic criteria I could hope for in a partner, and of course I am planning on going on dates and getting to know her better to be able to more accurately judge that, but I guess it’s scary because it’s unknown in this sense. There’s ambiguity and the brain doesn’t like that. But I do find myself falling more and more for her.