March 29–April 4, 2026
Not everything needs 1,000 words. Here’s the short stuff from last week — quick takes, random thoughts, and links worth clicking.
March 29
If I were short, I wouldn’t mind a Hobbit-style house — but at 6'0", I’m more like Gandalf. I’d spend most of my time tilting my head just to navigate the place. 🙄 Check the video out on Facebook. (Disclaimer: probably AI-generated, but you never know.) ↗
Ooh, LEGOs! Saw some Crocs featuring a LEGO design the other day — meh. But the LEGO x Crocs collab from Stoop and the City? That’s actually pretty awesome. ↗
March 30
Those sliding doors are everything. I’d love something like that in my own place — maybe it’s finally time to replace that old door I’ve been holding onto. Future project? I think yes. ↗
March 31
New research finds the U.S. has caused roughly $10 trillion in global climate damage through its emissions since 1990 — more than any other country. The bill is real. The tab keeps growing. And we’re still arguing about whether it’s a problem. ↗
Wood walls. One good chair. A window. That’s all a writing space really needs. Everything else is just stuff pretending to be important. Link ↗
That enclosed porch on the Shoreline Glass House is living rent-free in my brain. Warm wood, big windows, winter trees just beyond the glass. Tiny house goals aren’t always about the square footage. Sometimes it’s one good room where outside and inside stop arguing. ↗
A leaked LEGO set of Gaudí’s Sagrada Família could dethrone every set before it. At 12,060 pieces and $599.99, set 21065 drops July 1, 2026 — right on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. Curious to see how it comes together. But with zero shelf space, I’ll admire it from afar. ↗
Still rocking my 2017 Pixelbook, minimal lag. This article nails it — sticking with Chromebooks over the MacBook Neo makes sense. ChromeOS and Android work seamlessly together. With AluminiumOS merging both, why switch to Apple now? ↗
Research points to the 70s as the happiest decade of all. But for me, at 50 is my happiest time — living in a tiny house in the Appalachian hills, working a side job on my own terms, sitting on the porch watching the mountains do nothing fast. Maybe happiness isn’t an age. It’s a life that fits. I’ll check back in at 70, just to see. ↗
TIL you can soften cold butter fast with just hot water and a glass. Fill it, wait 5 min, dump and flip it over the butter like a little dome. Ten minutes later — bake-ready. No microwave meltdown. Bookmarking this. ↗
The Court says banning conversion therapy silences free speech. But every major medical group calls it harmful and discredited. So when does “free speech” become a license to hurt kids? And on Trans Day of Visibility, of all days — that timing stings. A sad day for the LGBT community. ↗
NASA’s Artemis II launched April 1 at 6:24 PM ET — four astronauts spending ten days flying around the Moon and back. No landing, but the first crewed lunar mission in 53 years. The actual Moon landing won’t happen until Artemis IV in 2028. Weather was 80% go. 🚀🌕 ↗
Most streaming services default captions to the smallest size, settings don’t carry across devices, and finding where to adjust them varies wildly. How-To Geek breaks down where to find the settings on Netflix, HBO Max, and others. For Deaf and HoH viewers, that’s not a minor annoyance — it’s a barrier. ↗
There are only 51 Rice’s whales left on Earth. They live exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico — that’s their whole world. The Trump administration’s “God Squad” voted to strip their Endangered Species Act protections so oil drilling could proceed unobstructed. No energy company even asked for this. As one law professor put it: “If Trump is successful here, he could be the first person in history to knowingly extirpate a species from the face of the earth.” ↗
Watched: Project Hail Mary 🍿 The start is somewhat slow, but the ending really landed. The portrayal of their friendship in space is strangely charming. ★★★½ ↗
Scarpetta Season 1 had promise, but keeps drifting toward family drama between Kay and her sister Dorothy instead of committing to the murder mystery. The investigation is there — it just keeps getting pushed aside. Watchable, but unsatisfying. ★★½ ↗
Students are paying $20/month to make their own work sound worse just to pass a broken AI detector. Non-native English speakers are getting flagged at higher rates. One student rewrites everything until the detector approves it — not to cheat, but to survive. At what point does “proving you’re human” become the assignment? Link ↗
Tomorrow is April 1. March was a blink. Where did it go? What was I even doing? Scratching my head. ↗
Studying for my driver’s permit. Hoping to take the test next week. I haven’t driven a car in 30 years. Wish me luck. The road should be nervous, not me. ↗
April 2
Wild violets taking over the yard like they own the place. That deep purple against all that green is pure Appalachian spring. The woodpile in the back just makes it feel more like home. ↗
Happy World Autism Awareness Day. “Autism is not a limitation. It is a different way of experiencing the world.” —Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari. I already wrote a couple of pieces on Autism this month — will share them when they’re published. ↗
Carl the Collector just won an Emmy for Outstanding Public Service Initiative. PBS Kids’ first autistic lead character is voiced by Kai Barham, a 10-year-old autistic actor: “I hope that people who are not on the spectrum will learn that autism is not like the stereotypes.” Built with autistic writers, directors, and voice actors behind the scenes. That kind of representation matters. ↗
Finally upgraded to Hugo 0.158! Hit a small snag with an outdated plugin using a removed function, but updating the plugin cleared things right up. Theme is clean, builds are faster. Upgrade approved. ✅ ↗
Ever spot something in your yard and wonder what it is? iNaturalist is a free app that identifies plants, bugs, and more — and your photos actually help scientists. Just downloaded it. Time to go exploring. ↗
Happy 50th anniversary, Apple 🧑💻! You’ve come so far, making computing great again and gaining so much admiration along the way. Here’s to many more achievements and innovative years ahead! ↗
April 3
MIT says AI isn’t a job apocalypse — it’s a slow tide. Work changes broadly and gradually, not through sudden sector wipeouts. AI has a 53% success rate for managerial tasks like planning, writing, and analysis, but is weak on coordination, judgment, and decision-making. More of a slow creep than a cliff. That’s… not exactly comforting, but okay. ↗
April 4
It is heartbreaking to see this. A 12-year-old should be hiding safely, not guarding a military checkpoint. Iran’s IRGC recruiting children as young as 12 as “homeland defending combatants” is a gut punch. HRW calls it what it is: a war crime. Kids deserve protection, not deployment. ↗
Love browsing new LEGO sets even when I have no intention of buying. The Toy Story ones are cute, just not my vibe — but still worth a look. Some sets are fun to admire from a distance. Others are already testing my willpower. The Toy Story sets release May 1st. ↗
Read every Harry Potter book. Watched every movie. Now it’s coming to HBO as a TV series. The big question: will it match the magic of the books and films? Guess we’ll find out together. ↗
Amazingly, just four days after launch and Artemis II’s Orion spacecraft is already closer to the Moon than Earth — more than 160,000 miles from Earth, less than 120,000 miles from the Moon, traveling around 2,540 miles per hour. Link ↗
US chicken looks pale and watery next to Icelandic chicken. American bread molds in a week while Icelandic bread lasts way longer. What exactly are we putting in our food over here? 👀 Click to watch the comparison. ↗
Seeing them in space is incredible. The Earth appears breathtakingly beautiful — and the photos and videos from deep space make it even more real. Watch the video. ↗