One of my coworkers thought I was her age (early 20s) til I corrected her last week and it’s somehow made me feel even closer to death.

Anyone else out here up bowed under the crushing weight of their own mortality

Blasting the Uma Musume soundtrack certainly adds a frisson of intentionality to the tourist dodging I end up doing on my commute through the Green Park interchange betwixt the Piccadilly Line and Jubilee.

I asked him to not scratch the door jamb given there’s a perfectly good scratching post a few feet away. He huffed at me, waited for me to go back to work, and then immediately started scratching it again. I live with a delinquent.

The only way Gideon will eat the super expensive wet food is if he thinks he’s stealing it from someone else, but he’s gotten wise to me pretending to eat it. He needs the rush of taking it straight from his brother’s plate. Fair play.

After 10 days of trying to transition the boys to eating wet food in the morning and Gideon refusing to even countenance the idea, I caved. This morning I put down a bowl of dry food for Gideon and a bowl of wet food for Gigi. Gideon devoured the dry food…then ate his brother’s breakfast too.

My hand holding a beautiful plush version of vtuber Himemori Luna. In the background is a bookcase full of academic texts and complicated novels. I promise I’m smart. Please believe I have more than my extreme love of vtubers going for me. Please please please please.

My collection of Hololive Friends with U plushes has grown. With Luna now in my hands, I’m missing 3 before I complete Hololive JP and can move onto finishing DEV_IS/EN/ID. This is not even the nerdiest thing about me.

Gigi (medium black cat) is lying half on top of Gideon (large orange cat), with his chin on top of Gideon’s ear. He looks happy. Gideon is less pleased.

Gigi assures me Gideon is not being held hostage despite the fact that to convince Gideon to accept any affection from him he has to physically hold him in place.

This picture is exactly the same as the one attached in the previous skeet, except Gideon has wrapped his tail around Okayu and has rested his head on Fubuki to sleep. Not captured in photo: he also just farted. It’s important others know the truth behind cute photos. Holy fuck. What a stink.

Gideon, my large orange cat, reclines on my couch surrounded by Hololive Friends with U plushes. Fubuki, a white fox girl, is lying across his stretch out paws. Mio, a black haired wolf girl, is flopped next to his head. Korone, a King Charles cavalier spaniel girl, is faceplanted into his side. Okayu, a cat girl, is side-on. Not captured in this photo: Gideon is purring so hard I can hear it clearly from the other side of the couch.

New member of Hololive GAMERS just dropped

I think the best game I played this year that came out this year was probably Blue Prince. Shout out to @ambigram0.bsky.social for putting me onto that.

I’d like to finish my book and apply for my PhD, but all things in time.

My New Year’s resolution is to finish more projects. Over the course of the last year I’ve worked on a good five or six, three of which are in a good state for Q1 and one is ready to go on the App Store in another month or so.

Having said that, the best 2025 movie I watched was Four Mothers, a movie about family, acceptance, love, and dealing with your parents as an adult. It was fantastic.

Trying to come up with other topics but my favourite movies I watched this year were not from this year! I fell in love with Toshiro Mifune and Ingrid Bergman as well as Wong Kar-Wai so many of the movies I watched were pre-2000.

ReGLOSS 'アワータイムイエロー' OFFICIAL MV YouTube video by hololive DEV_IS ReGLOSS

Hour Time Yellow - Regloss

youtu.be/TO4W5iUe4Jw?...

Regloss are virtual idols under the label Hololive, but the talent they show is extremely real. They have some of my favourite unique voices in the music space now and Hour Time Yellow is so danceable and delightful. I stan.

Chappell Roan - The Subway (Official Music Video) YouTube video by ChappellRoanVEVO

The Subway - Chappell Roan

youtu.be/woLfAvD5iXI?...

Yeah I know, fork found in kitchen. But if you live in a city with a tube/subway and haven’t blasted it while thinking about lost love you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s total catharsis. You understand why Ancient Greeks invented tragedy.

CHUU 츄 'Only cry in the rain' MV YouTube video by CHUU Official

Only Cry in the Rain - Chuu

youtu.be/NhoZ_BYqp0I?...

Chuu’s work as a solo artist has been outstanding. Only Cry in the Rain has a retro feel with her voice adding such brightness to the texture of the backing track - like a spritz of lemon. You can lose yourself in the melancholy. Stunning.

My song of the year, based on songs released this year is a three-way split between three really really good acts.

The best game I played last year was Elden Ring, a game I platinumed for my birthday, forcing @chloeiouise.bsky.social to watch me play for hours.

Thinking about it now here on January 1, 2026, the best book I read last year was Pride and Prejudice. I know, please be amazed at my thoroughly modern sensibilities.

A summary of the last year. The first book read was the Kamogawa Food Detectives. The last book read was A Magical Girl Retires. The longest book read was A Pattern Language. The shortest book was Call of Cthulhu. I read 54 books last year and 15,486 pages. My top genres were Fantasy, Short Stories, Classics, Literary and Manga. My top authors were Tsukasa Abe, Kanehito Yamada and H. P. Lovecraft. Three 5-Star reads from me were Letter From Birmingham Jail, Monstrous Regiment and A Ghost in The Throat. The Avg. Rating of books I read this year was: 4.07

My StoryGraph summary of the year kindly leaves out how many books are in my ‘still reading’ pile. Eighteen. Eighteen books.

If this makes no sense cut me some slack it’s 2am

Small changes bring a brighter tomorrow.

Under a capitalist structure we are conditioned to believe that constant output and work that makes us marketable is the unending goal. But the mark of a truly beautiful life is the ability to sit with oneself and know that you have learned or developed in some way - even if it’s invisible.

You do not need to be continuously and furiously producing in order to grow.

It’s vital to understand the difference between productivity and growth.

Thank you! 😭

A Christmas dinner consisting of home pickled red onions, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, roast chicken, champ, roast potatoes, roast turnip, roast carrots and brussel sprouts (roasted also).

My thumb wrapped in tissue and Christmas sellotape awaiting medical attention after cutting myself open due to my extremely unearned confidence in handling knives. (I have since received medical attention).

A steak cooked medium well - the second steak I’ve ever made in my life - because my dinner guest was difficult and didn’t want chicken. She wanted two steaks. And ate all my champ then went back to doing trials in ff14. BABE THAT WAS GOING TO BE LEFTOVERS!!! I WAS GONNA MAKE LUNCH FROM THAT!!!!

Two cats, one ginger and one black, fast asleep. The black cat has buried his face into his orange brother’s furry tummy. They are cozy and warm and love each other.

I cooked Christmas dinner for two with only minimum injuries. Now we rest and hibernate in wait for 2026. ✨