sound gets trapped by the mouth (WN43)

As a matter of business, I’m going to tweak how these week notes work starting with the next one (the first of 2026). Instead of incrementing numbers (this is week-notes/043/), I’m going to number them based on the week of the year (so next week will be week-notes/2026/W1/). This will affect no one but me. It does mean I need to be more regimented in doing these every week, but I’ve been consistent for the last few months and I enjoy the habit.

Doing

I added a games tracker to this site, modeled after the books tracker (with some minor additions to surface relevant info).

Joe and I started two of our holiday break projects. We bought some metal shelves and plastic bins to establish a storage area for our basement, and he replaced our kitchen faucet, which we’ve been meaning to do basically since we moved in. In the process, he found the supply line for our dishwasher, which he installed when we bought the house, was leaking. It really never ends. He fixed all of that, thankfully, without too much trouble. We still have to actually organize our belongings in the basement, but the system is there.

Otherwise the week has mostly been rotting on the couch. I’ve been a little listless and spending way too much time on my fucking phone. I need to get out and do things, work on some projects, something, but it’s been hard to muster the motivation. I’ve been so exhausted and run down by the last few months that I just haven’t felt like I want to exist this week. But I know that if I continue this, I’m going to get to the end of the break and feel like I’ve wasted my time.

There are some other personal things going on that I’m not ready to write about on my silly little blog, but they’ve consumed a lot of my mental energy. It’s a good thing and something I’ve wanted for a long time. I’ll be less cryptic in time.

Reading

I have not touched Villette since school ended. I don’t reasonably think I’m going to finish it before the end of the year, which is fine. I’m bad at making time for reading when it’s not something I’ve scheduled in my day.

Watching

Joe and I started rewatching Breaking Bad, which I still love. Season 1 is good, but I don’t think the show really hits its stride until Season 2 and then evolves into its best form in Seasons 3 and 4. We’re in the middle of Season 3 right now.

Playing

I started Control, which I’ve been interested in since it released. I really like what the game is doing aesthetically, and the constantly shifting Oldest House feels like it was inspired by House of Leaves, a book I adore. I’m not sure the gameplay is clicking for me just yet, and while I respect a narrative that doesn’t spell out all its secrets, the story hasn’t given me enough of a thread to latch onto yet.

Control didn’t run great on my Steam Link and I really wanted to sit on the couch this week, so I went back to Fields of Mistria. I genuinely love this game and am so excited for 1.0 to drop in 2026. I’ve done all the story quests available at the moment and am at 90% or better completion for everything in the museum; the last few items are a matter of grinding or just waiting for the final release. I can beautify my farm and just enjoy the gameplay loop and characters in the meantime if I want.

I’ve been thinking about going back to Final Fantasy XIV, especially because they’ve updated their vanity system to allow you to use gear from any class.¹ I really like playing on my Steam Link, though, so maybe it’s time I try playing the game with a controller. It’ll be a pain in the ass to recreate my hotbars, but I’ve already completely forgotten my rotation and how to play the game, so there’s no love lost there.

Listening

I’m just shuffling my unplayed playlist this week, so my playlist is going to be ten of the songs I’ve favorited (in no particular order). The list is eclectic, to say the least; some of these are songs I’ve loved for a long time, others just new (to me) by artists I already like.

1. “Olive Hearts” by Bowerbirds
2. “The New Year (demo)” by Death Cab for Cutie
3. “Cookie Thumper!” by Die Antwoord
4. “More Tongue, Less Heart” by Johnny Foreigner
5. “Blood on my Jeans” by Juice Wrld
6. “Marijuana” by Kid Cudi
7. “Say Anymore” by Kiiara
8. “Singing Machine” by Kimya Dawson
9. “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box” by Modest Mouse
10. “Two Cousins” by Slow Club

I couldn’t find my travel fountain pens (but I did order one for home), so I used my trusty standby for this week’s playlist (Pilot Juice Up .03). I like my fountain pens and want to get better about them, but the Juice Ups just feel comfortable to me (because I’ve been using them for so long). I applied some sharpening to the image to try to make the lack of focus better, but I need to dig out my proper camera.