For those who like the Greek classics, I'm gratified to announce my little one-act play on the death of Orpheus, "Orpheus Changed" is up at Eternal Haunted Summer. Summary: middle-aged Orpheus meets an old woman on a hill and they have a chat that preserves the three unities of ancient Greek drama.

I’ve been compiling a mental list of favorite pairings for years, and I thought I’d write some of it out. We can also make it a “meme”: I’d love to see your list linked in the comments!

What I mean by a “love pairing”: two people who come to love each other so deeply that this relationship is pivotal to their lives. I’m a friendship bonder, and I’m not distinguishing between sexual and non-sexual love. I am leaving out literal and metaphorical close family relationships (parent-child, siblings). Expect big spoilers (like character death & ending) for any story mentioned. Below the cut are some favorite picks, some ranked, some unranked, with explanations.( Read more... )

Lindsey Stirling Night with the Oregon Symphony Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall • Portland, Oregon June 18, 2025 Panasonic Lumix ZS99 f/5.6 @ 20.6mm (115mm 35mm equivalent) • 1/160s • ISO 1600

(Note: all photos in this post were made using the Panasonic Lumix ZS99 compact camera.)

Another one of those serendipity things... on Tuesday morning while catching up on a backlog of Oregonian daily editions, I saw an ad for a Lindsey Stirling Concert in Portland. And the concert was for Wednesday night – just a day away. Really?

( Concert! Below This Cut )

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

[Goodreads | Storygraph]

3.75 / 5 stars

( More under the cut )

Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

[Goodreads | Storygraph]

3.75 / 5 stars

( More under the cut )

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

[Goodreads | Storygraph]

5 / 5 stars

( More under the cut )

Puff Nikon D810 • AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G f/13 @ 60mm • 1/30s • ISO 400

The Soft Gray Bunny I bought two weeks ago on my Excursion to MudPuddles Toys & Books needed a name. The manufacturer, Douglas Cuddle Toy, named the bunny Stormie. I thought the name was a bit harsh for a critter so very soft and cuddly.

I considered Mofumofu (which means Fluffy) – or maybe Mofu-tan. But these names seemed too bulky for my little bunny. So I’ve decided to call her Puff.

Puff will inherit Mr. Bear’s position when Mr. Bear retires (due to age and wear). Mr. Bear is hanging tough after 17 years, though. Amazingly, the pads on Mr. Bear’s paws are still silky soft. I think he wants to be hugged every night forever.

Interesting video by Jessie Gender on the "redemption" of Syril Karn in Andor. It prompted some thinky thoughts I'd rather put here than throw at YouTube. (Andor S2 spoilers)



I agree with Jessie's contention that white men are often treated with kid gloves when it comes to creating space for them to see the error of their ways, while marginalized people's lives are dismissed and errors castigated. Jessie cites the difference in fan discourse between sorrow that Syril died without a chance at redemption and near silence that Cinta (a queer woman of color) got summarily killed off. I'd add that this is partly because Syril is a better written character—but, then, white men have long been better written characters. That is evidence of her point.

But I'm frustrated by recent fandom's/leftwing YouTube's discourse on "redemption." I love a good redemption story; it's my favorite kind, but I think we need to dig deeper into the concept because, too often, it gets used without being explored.

"Redemption" is (at least primarily) a Christian concept. Traditionally, it refers to being saved from damnation, and this entails is a mix of personal responsibility and external acceptance. It requires personal responsibility in the form of actions like repentance of sins, penance, baptism, truly reformed behavior, etc. It requires external acceptance because ultimately it's God's to accept or withhold, and in many versions of Christianity, it cannot fully be attained without God's grace, that is, without that mystical quality of salvation that one cannot earn but is given.

When we use in secular discussions, as of characters like Syril Karn or DS9's Garak, or real people (Jessie mentions JK Rowling), we often end up with formulations like video commenter elanthys makes: "But not everyone deserves redemption, and not everyone who does gets it...." What does this actually mean? "Deserves" according to whom? "Gets" from whom? In the theological context, the answer is God. God can grant grace to someone who doesn't "deserve" it. (In traditional Calvinism, no one deserves it.) All redeemed people ultimately "get" it from God.

So who grants redemption in secular society? I think, by default, it usually translates to "us," the people having the conversation, the good people, the good leftists, the anti-fascists, etc. "We" judge that some do not deserve redemption. "We," sometimes in error, withhold it from those who may. What does it mean to be redeemed? In Christianity, it means heading to heaven. In the secular context, it means being socially forgiven, I guess? No longer cancelled, etc.? Slate wiped clean?

I do not trust myself to determine who metaphysically "deserves" anything. There are people I have not forgiven, but that says more about me than them. I do believe in accountability, which is, in essence, what Jessie is calling for. Accountability is a comparatively easy concept, if hard to achieve. If you've done harm, own it and take proportionally appropriate steps to repair it or—if it can't be repaired—do other, ideally related work to bring more good into the world.

Syril is never accountable for his actions. If he hadn't died and was to have a "redemption" arc, I think he would have had to spend the rest of his life trying to repair the damage or, more accurately, change the system so similar damage does not continue. But did he "deserve redemption"? I don't like the God-like insight that question presupposes.

Personally, I'm a Buddhist, and I prefer a Buddhist framework: that we are all on the path to awakening. We're just in different places, going at different rates, and taking different "side trails" to get there. The question of what we "deserve" is fairly meaningless. We are where we are; we carry the karma that we carry and work through it as best we can. And we can, to an extent, recognize that in each other and help each other through it.

I generally follow Mac Rumors for detailed coverage of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Based on rumors earlier this month, I was not expecting anything particularly notable at this year’s WWDC – and that turned out to be true. I don’t need new features anyway; I’d be happy if Apple simply fixed broken things. Nonetheless, there was an avalanche of small features and changes that will be either useful or annoying and generally balance out as zero net gain. Apple isn’t the company it was twenty years ago.

It did take me quite a while to read through all the WWDC 2025 posts at Mac Rumors. Definitely worth reading if you live in the Apple ecosystem.

As I expected, Frieren, my recently retired 2017 iMac Pro, is excluded from the list of computers that can run the next major version of macOS – macOS 26 Tahoe. (See: macOS Tahoe Compatibility) I upgraded my Macintosh just in time. (Mac Migration Assistant doesn’t work properly if old and new Macs are not on the same version of macOS.) Still, the iMac Pro had a decent, 8-year run. (Mine was over 7 years old when it was retired.)

With my computer and photography budgets for 2025 getting blown out of the water, I’ve looked to cut back in other areas. I had originally planned to use my Electrify America credits (like 700 free kWh remaining) before they expire in August to take a road trip to SF – but I killed that idea.

One big unknown in the 2025 budget was what I might end up spending if TWICE went on tour this year. My budget let out a sigh of relief when the group recently announced the schedule for their THIS IS FOR World Tour, Part 1. Part 1 allocates the last half of 2025 for stops across Asia and Australia. This means that Part 2, for the Americas and Europe, won’t be until 2026. I kind of expected this as major U.S. stadiums are dedicated to American football in the fall and winter. For 2026, I’ll budget for one or two visits to concert cities in the U.S.