Fr. Josh Miller

In order to end the tyranny of the morning person, we must first prove that they do not exist.
Even at the neurological level, study after study has proven that the brain isn't at peak function in the morning for the general populace. This is especially prevalent in children, and yet it seems families build their sleep schedules around early-rising kids (who are only such because they have to get to school, where they sit comatose before their brains actually turn on).
Anecdotally, I see the science evidenced frequently: the joke that hits hard at 4pm Mass might sail over everybody's head at 7:30am, because people just aren't awake in a church filled with people who will tell you they "get up early. " I feel like tapping on the mic. Making them get up for a little calisthenics, like they did to us in grade school when everyone was half-dead.
There's a reason comedy clubs don't do 9am shows.
Farmers have no choice, and I know this via experience in the field. Gotta do what you gotta do, whether you like it or not.
Hemingway used to write in the early mornings. But this was only because he couldn't wait to start drinking at midday. Honestly, I see the appeal -- but what could a sober Hemingway have accomplished in the power of the night?
His fellow Nobel laureate Bob Dylan has spoken over the years about the night, and how certain things live there creatively, inaccessible during the day. He's right. The "mystic hours when a person’s alone," he called them on his last album.
St. Thomas Aquinas, mega genius he was, wrote during the day. But what he wrote was the product of long nights spent before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer. Those mystic hours when a person's alone. He slept very little, and I suppose that's the ideal.
It's really the cycle of sleep that makes the fake morning person. People who are tired after long days, turning in early. Can't argue with that. Older folks who cannot sleep in long stretches, beginning sleep in the late evening. Understandable.
But not natural, not even by basic brain function. Patterns of living thrust upon us via extraordinary condition.
The morning person does not exist: they are only made such through anguish, exacerbated as it is by the Protestant work ethic.
Big Coffee does not want you to know this.
#nevent1q…68sd

2026-05-01 18:50:42 CEST

GM. Around these parts on Friday, that entails office work leading in to visits to the homebound.
Have a blessed one out there good people, and slide on in to that weekend.
https://i.nostr.build/Y3kPP0NzjEO0xjtm.jpg

2026-05-01 09:29:57 CEST

A cleaned up version of "How to Make an Awesome Confession."
https://frjosh.org/blog/how-to-make-an-awesome-confession/

2026-05-01 05:56:20 CEST

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Thanks! Some good stuff here.

2026-05-01 01:10:33 CEST

Just learned of David Allen Coe’s passing. He wasn’t a perfect guy, but none of us are. An outlaw who did the genre proud.
https://youtu.be/LZbso7sNqv0

2026-04-30 23:01:30 CEST

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Much Tex Mex is not actually Mex. Burritos. The very concept of "taco" most Americans/foreigners hold. All mirages, fakes.
One might argue that even the flour tortilla is a foreign invention, flour having been introduced by the Spanish. Small soft corn tortillas, meat, cilantro, onions. That's how you make a taco.

2026-04-30 20:40:03 CEST

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My long, drawn-out episode with USPS is now ended. The package came today, and -- surprisingly -- the contents were not destroyed.
#nevent1q…n4j2

2026-04-30 03:44:16 CEST

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Amazon could have literally sent this thing by donkey and it would have been here quicker than with the USPS.
#nevent1q…l96l

2026-04-30 01:28:39 CEST

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In my dream world, the interior smells like spilled beer and cigarettes.

2026-04-30 01:24:16 CEST

"Do you think the owners inside will hear us if we start it up?"
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55239232566_0ee9becc7c_c.jpg

2026-04-29 21:11:23 CEST

The new pop discourse is around "assassin culture," but that's a messy term.
I saw the pivot ca. 2020 with the "punch a Nazi" dialogue, where consensus grew among certain groups that committing an evil (unprovoked physical violence) is morally permissible because it brings about a desirable outcome (owning a "Nazi"). This is really just utilitarian pragmatism in contemporary clothing, and is nothing new, even if it speaks to a weakened moral formation.
Rule #1 of Morality: Do no evil.
Rule #2 is implied via the first, but apparently needs to be reaffirmed: Do no evil such that good may come of it.

2026-04-29 18:14:15 CEST

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I am perpetually an old man.

2026-04-29 16:49:50 CEST

I used to start my work morning reading the paper, catching up on the news. Now I've abandoned the news and simply just scroll my Nostr timeline.
Upgrade.
Have a blessed day, people!
https://i.nostr.build/Y3kPP0NzjEO0xjtm.jpg

2026-04-29 07:33:59 CEST

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Everyone hates on Trump, but the true enemy hides in plain sight.
Goodnight all. That is, except for the institutional USPS.
#nevent1q…pnqf

2026-04-28 23:21:06 CEST

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Fortunately for all of us, the symptoms aren't severe and it looks like a garden-variety cold, same as the rest of the mutations.

2026-04-28 23:12:06 CEST

Just saw a YouTube video about the New York Times' best novels of 2026 (so far).
Modern literary fiction sounds dreadful.

2026-04-28 21:27:37 CEST

The item that was expected to arrive April 23rd now has a projected delivery date of May 5th.
Your United States Postal Service, everyone.

2026-04-28 19:53:13 CEST

The MacBook Neo is still an absolute masterpiece in my opinion.

2026-04-28 05:11:30 CEST

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It's too expensive to just chill there. They killed it.

2026-04-28 04:57:52 CEST

Whaddaya mean we don't miss NFTs?

2026-04-27 22:43:22 CEST

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Got it. Ugh. I am an idiot. Thanks.

2026-04-27 22:39:28 CEST

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https://blossom.ditto.pub/59abe0baecaa001a580abd2063afb95e8bf5785a9e0b7b7c3894e9cffee60e86.png

2026-04-27 22:21:43 CEST

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Went back in time a ways, and same issue. It shows my follow list; shows the number I am following. It just displays zero content.

2026-04-27 21:47:09 CEST

Toy cameras are, of course, bad. But that's the whole point.
The Camp Snap Pro is a very good bad camera.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55233684522_95670303a9_h.jpg

2026-04-27 21:32:43 CEST

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I am on a 1gb low latency connection, so that's not it. And it's consistent across every computer.

2026-04-27 18:56:08 CEST

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The best tool is the one that gets out of your way.
The problem is that we end up too focused on the tool itself, and it becomes the focus of our creative attention.
If your identity is as "bitcoin," then it is essentially an identity built on top of money. That's boring. And sad. And... you know... something the Lord warns us against.
Rather, show me what you do with those tools, living your life as you do. That's what makes you interesting.
#nevent1q…vz42

2026-04-27 18:37:32 CEST

Good morning.
The USPS is still your enemy.
That is all.

2026-04-27 09:28:55 CEST

I have, somehow, some way, nuked my main feed on only Ditto. Still working perfectly everywhere else, but Ditto says I am following no one. I am, though.

2026-04-27 08:33:23 CEST

How about somebody fixes the Primal web media server settings. Pretty please?

2026-04-26 05:33:18 CEST

Nothing like a little extremism from a leftist nut to drive Trump's poll numbers, so at least he has that going for him.

2026-04-26 03:17:20 CEST

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As a wise older fellow once told me, “Bedford Park is where mail goes to die.”

2026-04-26 03:16:21 CEST

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I don’t get salty often. It takes a lot.
I’m still very, very salty. Nothing worse than USPS in Chicagoland.
#nevent1q…d467

2026-04-25 20:26:29 CEST

Nice turnout for the bike blessing. Bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters always welcome.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55229790569_de375a0530_h.jpg

2026-04-25 20:23:55 CEST

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He just keeps on bullying, though. Iran is a good example. He's not satisfied with his win yet.

2026-04-25 18:20:15 CEST

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Just about the only thing I admire about Trump: he will say absolutely crazy, absurd things in order to arrive at a new point where he comes out ahead. He knows what he's doing every single time... and it works.

2026-04-25 08:31:12 CEST

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Meanwhile, on a second unrelated shipment...
The USPS can go hang.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55229142219_c63b4dc04a_h.jpg
#nevent1q…melh

2026-04-25 04:05:02 CEST

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Estimated delivery date went from yesterday to... Wednesday.
I repeat: worthless.
#nevent1q…w65j

2026-04-24 21:37:20 CEST

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True enough, but at least they get it more often than not. As soon as I see the USPS involved, I know I'm in for a ride where my order may or may not get here.

2026-04-24 21:35:17 CEST

Why on earth would Amazon consider it good policy to use the United States Postal Service as a shipping partner? Talk about the very worst logistical operation they could cozy up with.
Sure, they have the infrastructure, but they don't give two squirts about proposed delivery dates.

2026-04-24 17:44:40 CEST

One of the major advantages of Nostr is that it's essentially my blank canvas. There's no right or wrong way to use it, so I just create for myself.

2026-04-24 17:30:51 CEST

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Steak n Shake is great. Nice shoestring fries.

2026-04-24 17:13:01 CEST

GM. It's Friday. Slide into the weekend, and do some penance for me.
(Morning picture on a Kodak Charmera, aka "Potato Cam")
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226665447_f4fa26cb94_c.jpg

2026-04-24 04:25:18 CEST

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I learned about her through you a couple weeks ago. I'm still on the fence about your initial reaction: almost seems like performance art.

2026-04-24 04:23:37 CEST

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Top secret things. Like blobs turning sentient, demanding proper care. Emoji packs granting powers unknown to the outside world. Kinds you haven't dreamed of.

2026-04-23 22:56:53 CEST

The Kodak Charmera is, in fact, charming.
I had a young photographer in the office today when it arrived and we decided to dub it "Potato Cam." But what fun, to have this tiny little thing in your pocket, always available for one purpose: to take the visual equivalent of "low-fi" photos with. #photography
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226496009_2989b891e9_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226414543_3f9f265d02_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226654935_5670b5fb4c_c.jpg

2026-04-23 18:25:49 CEST

Random Twitter Genius: "doNt yOu kNoW JeSus wASn't wHiTe?!?"
Equatorial Guinea:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55226157750_2ee7a64da0_h.jpg

2026-04-23 16:19:57 CEST

GM. Mass celebrated, and now into a busy day. Haircut on deck, so it can't be all bad.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55225574906_e39d38782d_4k.jpg

2026-04-23 04:42:01 CEST

GN when your time comes. As we pray in Night Prayer, "may God grant us a restful night and a peaceful death."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55223809061_b576d16724_h.jpg

2026-04-23 02:15:30 CEST

Yow.
https://0x0.happytavern.co/28935c1c27ab46948c0dd876196fa3a7f4a93c52f6787982462975affb79f3ce.mp4

2026-04-22 21:17:10 CEST

A good reminder that the bull doesn't always lose...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55224145411_803c85202c_c.jpg

2026-04-22 18:43:06 CEST

The Nowhere project is one of the coolest things I've seen in the Nostr space in a while. It's the power of this crazy little protocol unleashed.
https://hostednowhere.com/

2026-04-22 16:58:03 CEST

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55223034578_3aefa92fee_c.jpg

2026-04-22 16:48:28 CEST

GM. It's Wednesday. I think I wished you a blessed Wednesday yesterday, so may it be doubly blessed now that it's arrived.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55223759633_dcf2382d64_h.jpg

2026-04-22 11:36:46 CEST

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In discovering the site this early morning here, I thought to myself that this is the one thing missing!

2026-04-22 05:00:50 CEST

Among other tasks, I had the privilege of ministering to a very sweet woman with terminal pancreatic cancer today. Grateful for the opportunity.
Gratitude. As Ray Wylie Hubbard sings:
"And the days that I keep my gratitude
Higher than my expectations
Well, I have really good days."
Today's been a darned fine day.
https://i.nostr.build/JKsSK8nUH9h0nMPa.jpg

2026-04-22 04:06:31 CEST

Will be interesting to see where John Temus is able to take Apple. Things grew stagnant under Tim Cook, but maybe Temus' experience on the hardware end will shake things up.

2026-04-22 02:57:44 CEST

🤷‍♂️ No one knows...
https://live.staticflickr.com/7283/9430959276_2fdbc15d82_h.jpg

2026-04-22 00:20:15 CEST

Was just reviewing some of my old photos. The statuary at Gettysburg is something else.
https://live.staticflickr.com/7428/9736304669_6dec815634_h.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/7308/9736300589_3a43e6ebf5_h.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/7439/9736306395_cf7ec5d64d_h.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/7330/9736305931_3c0e4aef3e_h.jpg

2026-04-21 19:21:08 CEST

Not really morning here anymore, anon, and I've been going a while. But just wanted to wish you all a blessed Wednesday.
https://i.nostr.build/Y3kPP0NzjEO0xjtm.jpg

2026-04-21 16:09:07 CEST

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I wonder. Would it then persist on my own timeline?

2026-04-21 09:08:45 CEST

Too much caffeine = too much wasted time when the sun goes down, but that's how she rolls this time of year.
https://i.nostr.build/JKsSK8nUH9h0nMPa.jpg

2026-04-21 07:17:10 CEST

I had Grok make me some Chick Tracts, and this is one of my favorites.
https://0x0.happytavern.co/33f02f9230de837f1abad3d205d74ed3d05defbca9bbbf9311709174f1a8a839.jpg

2026-04-21 06:52:23 CEST

https://0x0.happytavern.co/19a51b9962ceb229e395377f39dd165baa3388f2ff82bcefca1264e8a055b1e0.jpeg

2026-04-20 20:09:49 CEST

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My main problem with the song is just that it's bad songwriting, but outside of that, every time I hear "Mary Did You Know?" said, I say: YES! YES SHE KNEW! SHE NKNEEEWWWWW! SHE WAS TOLD! SHE KNEW!"

2026-04-19 15:25:43 CEST

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It really is! I explain it to every couple I marry. When I celebrate Eucharist, I do the action of confecting it. In Penance, I give absolution. But Marriage is unique in that I don’t “do” anything save for serve as a witness; it’s the couple doing.
Even more interesting historically. For a time, the Church struggled with the reality of the Sacramental bond formed in private, between the couple, with no witnesses. You can imagine the problems this caused, so the Church established the fact that this is a public sacrament, to be done in front of the Church with witnesses. Even the “Wedding Mass” is a young concept, as the most traditional mode was to get married at the entrance/stairs of the church building in front of the entire town in a simple ceremony, in keeping with the Church’s determination that it was in fact a public event.

2026-04-19 06:01:55 CEST

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Not wanting to defend this guy, buuuut:
"Vance was named James Donald Bowman at birth. Afterward, he was adopted by his mother's third husband and had his name changed to James David Hamel. In April 2013, he adopted his maternal grandparents' surname of Vance."
If I'd been renamed after my mother's third husband, I'd probably want a new name myself.

2026-04-19 04:57:23 CEST

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I had to chuckle. Deacons, for many generations, were the actual power brokers of the Church. St. Gregory the Great is a good example.
That said, Matrimony is one of the things I agree with them doing, since they're not exercising any power at all. The priest doesn't marry a couple: the couple marries each other, and are the proper ministers of the Sacrament.

2026-04-18 21:15:21 CEST

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This was a convalidation. Usually when people seek out the sacrament after being civilly married, they’re good ones.

2026-04-18 20:25:51 CEST

Had a nice wedding today. Good couple!

2026-04-18 17:37:29 CEST

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Nuke the moon. It's our only option.

2026-04-15 22:06:46 CEST

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This is why I blame the clients themselves; running two different ones will show a disparity in delivery, even though the relay has done its job.

2026-04-15 21:30:47 CEST

Sigh. What clients absolutely cannot do is skip events. This is a basic issue.

2026-04-15 20:21:26 CEST

Ditto is on the Apple App Store now. Working great!

2026-04-15 17:23:46 CEST

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...especially since there can be no such ban. The Roman Missal PRESUMES! we are celebrating Mass facing liturgical East, and therefore contains instructions as to when we are to face the people.

2026-04-15 05:15:03 CEST

Free LLMs only.

2026-04-15 04:25:00 CEST

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Both of mine are Rugged Rosary also. Probably my favorite maker. Thinking of learning how to make them myself.

2026-04-15 02:54:14 CEST

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A small beaded rosary (up top) and a one-decade chaplet (bottom). EDC in a small pouch. https://i.nostr.build/HXQtHNt4IeipyrtO.jpg

2026-04-14 19:04:19 CEST

Taxes, am I right?

2026-04-13 07:15:06 CEST

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The total Trump crash out has been something to behold. Color me impressed with this guy's ability to alienate pretty much everybody.

2026-04-13 07:06:38 CEST

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Still laughing at the notion of the Cardinals electing Leo to serve as a foil for Trump, as if that were an actual concern.

2026-04-13 07:01:05 CEST

How about... no. Just... no. Log off, Don.
https://npub13tahtl9pjw9u5ycruqk84k6sfmkyljsr7y2pc4s840ctlm73fxeq3j6e08.blossom.band/9fc312f1fc46bc998717418cecc78e70f69c2dc515f8d81ae5b735f271287004.png
https://npub13tahtl9pjw9u5ycruqk84k6sfmkyljsr7y2pc4s840ctlm73fxeq3j6e08.blossom.band/e8be8d6918a0ca79229a42eb6527065117237f24528e73d2992f8a8ff3401c56.png

2026-04-13 01:16:41 CEST

UPDATE: For the 45th year in a row, I did not win the Masters.

2026-04-11 21:39:09 CEST

"Sister Faustina pondered on the mystery of God's mercy, not only in the Holy Scriptures, but also in the events of her own life. Such meditations on the mystery of God's mercy led her to the conclusion that there is not a single moment in human life without God's mercy, as Divine Mercy is like a golden thread woven into all the moments of our human existence." - Introduction to the Diary, by Sr. M. Elzbieta Siepak, OLM

2026-04-11 21:02:28 CEST

Unpopular Opinion: The White Sox "Pope Hat" giveaway is cringe and in bad taste.
In reality, I recognize my own sensitivity, as the sight of a miter should repulse every mediocre priest.
https://blossom.ditto.pub/939166a030252b93a2335b96c1a5e312edb1f228526cf72392b5200ab5821e12.png

2026-04-11 01:23:01 CEST

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Turns out, yelling “where my flat-earthers at” isn’t the quickest way to success.

2026-04-11 01:04:08 CEST

Trying to infiltrate the flat-earthers and the Moon landing conspiracists at my parish bar but failing.

2026-04-10 21:25:25 CEST

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I am not above posting the occasional AI slop, just as long as it hits.

2026-04-10 21:20:54 CEST

http://cdn.hzrd149.com/c4aaaf7ec92b3d22fbb28e5d62fc4e8f1f00c9815b135aef13cbc03398fd4882.mp4

2026-04-10 21:01:00 CEST

As suspected...
https://blossom.ditto.pub/ce0636dd788f602f86874d0a78f78c3260c38cdc09cdf750a7f0ec555fdb50e3.png
#nevent1q…85mm

2026-04-10 05:42:42 CEST

I've read McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" all the way through, once, when I was in my 20's, but have struggled to re-read it to completion ever since.
I get what it's trying to do. But instead of building up a kind of existential dread in me, the reader, all it really provokes is ambivalence. Not exactly what you want in a "horror" read.

2026-04-10 04:50:17 CEST

On the one hand: If anyone actually took any kind of threat of force against the Vatican seriously, they're bonkers.
On the other hand: There's no doubt Trump and his people turn the screws to get what they want.
The reality of what went on probably falls somewhere in the middle, as is always the case.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/04/09/pentagon-confirms-it-met-with-vatican-but-denies-reports-of-a-bitter-clash-amid-the-popes-mounting-criticism/

2026-04-08 04:18:16 CEST

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They’re not that bad for generating ideas. But they’re just bad in finished product. I’ve used AI to explore themes, but to actually use one of these at Mass? I’d walk out on myself. 😂

2026-04-08 02:31:34 CEST

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Not a one and never!

2026-04-07 22:58:44 CEST

I write a lot, and I do a lot of writing by hand. I'm picky about my tools, so I spent years trying new pens and pencils.
Until I found two things that are as close to perfect as I need them to be:
1) The Uniball Zento. Yes, I own three Signature models, and no, you don't need a single one, as rare and overpriced as they are. But you need the ink. Buy a cheap disposable pack. Try writing with one. It's as close to perfect as I've ever found ink to be. I don't want to use other pens anymore.
2) The Pentel Orenznero. Mechanical pencil. Extends the lead tip when raising the pencil tip off the paper. The key with this one is how perfect it feels in the hand. Supposedly crafted by an engineer who obsessed over it, and it shows. I own three now, in various lead sizes.

2026-04-07 20:55:24 CEST

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For my part: the young people I work with who have this problem tend to have a small IRL social graph. Dating apps and the like don't work for a lot of people, and yet the majority expect them to.
Most of the good guys I know just don't know enough people. They don't know the good girls out there, so I always push them towards something, anything social. My pastoral version of "touch grass."

2026-04-06 01:16:54 CEST

Survived the morning, was rewarded with a giant ribeye in the afternoon. He is Risen!

2026-04-05 09:26:40 CEST

:hyves_banaan2: I just sorta feel like this is it: this is my emoji now. :hyves_banaan2: