posts

For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to unusual forms of expression and the idea of repurposing objects to do things they were never intended to do. For me, the purest manifestations of this idea were New York artist Tristan Perich’s 1-Bit Symphony and Noise Patterns records. They are essentially an electronic circuit mounted in a CD jewel case with a headphone jack on the side. I was so proud to have them in my collection that I even put them on my wall for display. ...

I bought my first real coffee grinder in 2019 in the form of a Porlex Tall. I based my decision solely on the great video that James Hoffmann made comparing cheap hand grinders at the time. Towards the end of 2022, the taste started to get hollow. gear acquisition syndrome ⚙️ Speaking of that video, I started seeing more and more content related to coffee equipment, which led to the desire to buy something nice. First it was ceramic cups from Sebesi Ceramics, followed by a cutting/serving board from Vinovita. ...

Being an avid podcast listener for a decade has the consequence of pushing them into the background and not paying much attention to the content. Fortunately, this time I was in an exploratory mood and came across a conversation with Tamás Sajó that triggered something. In addition to being extremely knowledgeable, Sajó is the most humble scholar I’ve ever heard. He can speak on any subject because of his vast knowledge, but he does so with the utmost respect. An art historian by profession, he worked at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and teaches medieval history and applied information science at CEU. After leaving the Academy, he founded his own publishing house, Studiolum. He translates books, holds online seminars and organizes thematic trips. According to the podcast – Az élet, meg minden – he speaks at least 15 (fifteen!) languages and can make himself understood in 15 more. ...

Sometimes I feel the itch to clean up certain aspects of my life. I’m not a die-hard purist or minimalist, but this itch has become unbearable over the past few months, so I decided to do something about it. There is no better time to do so than at the beginning of a new year. So here is the list of things I want to tackle. photos 🖼️ My photo backup strategy prior to 2015 was rudimentary. I had a folder for each year with a subfolder for “significant” events and unsorted pictures. This was stored on the hard drive of my then Windows based laptop. As you might expect, that hard drive failed, rendering the pre-2005 photos inaccessible. Moving to a Mac in 2015 and subscribing to iCloud storage was a blessing in disguise, as this collection is one of my most valuable assets. ...

A month has passed since my last post and we have conveniently slipped into 2023. With the New Year New Me approaching, I can make a fresh start with some reservations. I think it’s bullshit, but I’m in better mental shape to change things. blogging 📰 I came across an article on The Verge that nudged me in the direction of continuing this blog. I don’t agree 100% with everything the author says, but it resonates with me. I’m very far away from all the Twitter craziness that’s going on right now, so I’m not looking for shelter. However, I’m carving out my space on the web that can be my creation. ...

Recently I received a notification from my hosting provider that the annual payment is due on December 20th. This got me thinking, so here is the deal. Frankly, I’m not accomplishing what I had in mind when I started this site. I had vivid dreams of posting at least every other week and how much it would help me articulate my thoughts. There were times when I enjoyed writing posts, but other times it was just the opposite. It felt like a burden. There were no KPIs attached to it, but I am still not that happy. ...

It’s been more than a month since I wrote about keeping an offline log of the coffees I try, and maybe posting some of them on this blog. Good news, the first one is here! meeting the parents 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 On our recent trip to Slovenia, we happened to visit Stow Coffee in Ljubljana. It was a great decision because they had Coffea eugenioides on their filter menu. The price was steep at €20, but I let the barista talk me intoto trying it. ...