Monthly Roundup: September 2025
September was my entrance into a truly unemployed life. Wrote my final exams in medical school, and I passed!
What I Did
- Moved from WriteFreely to Bear Blog. The WriteFreely server I was on was down (and I don't know if it's up again), and I've already moved blogs twice. I liked WriteFreely, but there was too much friction involved if I wanted to do more than just write and post. I still can't use JavaScript on Bear Blog (or embed links, unlike WriteFreely), but at least the CSS is easier to customise.
- Some blogging platforms I tried out (or considered) before settling on Bear Blog, helped along by this post:
- Mataroa: Looks like Bear Blog but no customization.
- Pagecord: Lovely visuals, but no customization.
- btw: I think you can see where this is going. No customization.
- Prose.sh: Seemed exclusively for programmers, plus having to send blog posts over SSH or something ties writing posts to my computer. I want to be able to write posts on my phone and send them from my phone, so no thanks.
- Leaflet.pub: Looks really nice, but creating a publication and having subscriptions requires a Bluesky account, and I'm not interested in using Bluesky. Plus it has limited customization. It's a good alternative to Google Docs though, as is Ellipsus.
- Initially I wanted to make a website of my own, as the small web and indie web seems to be all about having your own website and so on and so forth, but when I really examined what I wanted to do I realised I just wanted to blog. There's no difference between some websites and blogs. Really. Some of the items on lists of things to do on your website might as well be blog posts, or pages in my List of lists. I did try out Eleventy for a bit, but it was more complicated than I wanted to think about. So, blog.
- Some blogging platforms I tried out (or considered) before settling on Bear Blog, helped along by this post:
- Switched palettes from Flexoki to NetOperator Wibby's uchū.
- Finally learnt how to write and structure a resume (I attended a webinar). I still don't know what to put on it, but at least I got some guidance. Will write out my notes from the webinar in a future post.
What I Watched
- Barbie
Finally got to watching the Barbie movie. It should have been advertised as a comedy. Ken stole the show, which is ironic considering the unsubtle feminist message, but it was still a fun, silly watch. Loved the costuming and sets, and the music was great too.
- KPOP Demon Hunters
I wrote about it in a separate post.
- Shrek
- Dark Shadows
All of Barnabas' problems could have been avoided by not being a h**, but he didn't learn that, even till the end. Fun watch, especially if you watch with company.
- Only Murders In The Building
I've only watched one episode so far, but I'm already hooked.
- Lucky Star
This isn't really something to binge, so I'm taking it slowly. Nichijou is still my favourite of the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (CGDCT) anime sub-genre, but I can see why Lucky Star is a staple. The theme song is fun to sing along to, so that doesn't hurt.
- Cells At Work
The PLATELETS! THE PLATELETS! I WANT STICKERS OF THE PLATELETS! Ehem. Now that I've calmed down, this is an anime that follows a newbie red blood cell in her adventures as the body undergoes various injuries and disease processes. It's pretty accurate and the level of detail is amazing (the Y-shaped antigens on the influenza-infected cells in one of the earlier episodes was a nice touch). My favourite characters so far are the uber-cute platelet squad, the basophil who does nothing but be ominous and give off ninja vibes, and the dendritic cell. It's extra fun to apply all my knowledge to what's on the screen, and even if you're not interested in biology or anatomy it's still a good watch.
What I Listened To
- Childlike Things, FKA twigs
still have to go listen to EUSEXUA, but this was a great advertisement for the album.
- The Witty Committee podcast
This is a podcast in which the two hosts tackle books from the rich, mean girl genre of books that went platinum in my personal library (Gossip Girl, The Clique, Alphas, The It Girl, The A-List). In hindsight these books were completely unrealistic, silly and very problematic, but they were still fun to read, as long as you didn't take them too seriously.
- DAYS BEFORE DREAMBOY, Lil Nas X
I finally got to listening to DBD and this was an entertaining listen from start to finish. I have no idea why it didn't get more traction, but I'm definitely going to go back to this.
Standout tracks: RIGHT THERE!, need dat boy, HOTBOX, LIGHT AGAIN, SWISH
- YUM, Kep1er
Interesting Links
- This article perfectly expresses my feelings about Stardew Valley and many of the 'cozy' games like it. I don't mind farming in games, but it gets very tedious and draining at some point, and the game doesn't do enough to keep me interested.
- Basic Laws of Human Stupidity: this tickled me.