Category: media

hacking at leaves, free books, ai shopping scam

Hi, happy Friday! Here’s some links for y’all to explore:

Media

The Yellow Nineties 2.0 is a digital collection of Victorian magazines, specifically “searchable digital editions of eight late-Victorian little magazines in the context of their production and reception between 1889, when the first issue of The Dial appeared, and 1905, when the last volume of The Venture was published.” I noted it for myself because it has copies of Pamela Colman Smith’s The Green Sheaf magazine as well as an excellent scholarly introduction to the series as a whole AND INDIVIDUAL ISSUES explaining the contents and how it was made, etc. Fantastic!

Hacking at Leaves is a recent documentary released via the Internet Archive and is available for free. Summary: “Hacking at Leaves is a 2024 Austrian documentary film directed and written by Johannes Grenzfurthner. It explores various themes including the United States’ colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement, through the lens of the story of a hackerspace in Durango, Colorado, during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was produced by monochrom.”

Free books (and a few zines) from Cita, a feminist indie press.

Here’s a collection of public domain and/or Creative Commons films hosted on Wikimedia Commons. You can sort by year, genre, country, and there’s a few special lists like works by female or LGBTQ+ directors.

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watched: the merchants of joy (2025)

🎬 The Merchants of Joy: Directed by Celia Aniskovich. Follows five NYC families as they source, bargain and hustle to sell Christmas trees, blending street smarts and holiday spirit. 🔗

Watched on Amazon Prime; could’ve been really cheesy but it did a good job of showing the realities of running a seasonal small business in a cutthroat city alongside the gooey sentimental Christmas stuff. Still, it didn’t dip too far into sensationalism or anything– just a straight-on viewpoint of what it’s like being a Christmas tree seller in NYC.

Recommended if you’re interested in the topic (or just like NYC documentaries).

🎄 2025 Watched List / All Watched Posts

lfl visit log (3)

I’m luckily in a neighborhood where I can make a big circuit and visit 4-5 Little Free Libraries in about an hour’s walk. I’ve done two of those loops so far, and have gotten quite a few books! Some I’m planning on reading myself, and some I got just so move into other LFL later.

It’s a great area to walk around and explore, honestly. Even if I don’t find a book to take, it’s fun seeing the old buildings and the trees nearly bare of their leaves.

These are my logs for my 2 weeks so far in Denver!

New LFL visited

  • LFL #12071 – Denver, CO
  • LFL #12326 – Denver, CO
  • LFL #26248 “Leftin’s Little Free Library” – Denver, CO
  • LFL #49608 – Denver, CO
  • LFL #119643 “Nancy’s Book Nook” – Denver, CO

Also found a few unofficial/un-chartered LFL book swap spots: an interesting dollhouse style (shown below), a bookshelf found in front of a house, and a community book exchange in the laundry room at my sit.

Dropped off: A Trip of One’s Own (picked up in [redacted location] LFL in September), Taking a Stand (picked up at UBS in Ann Arbor).

Added to my stash: An Urchin in the Storm; The Tomb of Zeus; American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI; Walking My Dog Jane: From Valdez to Prudhoe Bay Along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge; Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup; Pioneer Days in the Catskill High Peaks: Tannersville and the Region Around; The Quokka Question.

Photos under the cut!

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reading log: cheap lands colorado by ted conover

Book Info

Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge by Ted Conover (2024)

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, History

LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/work/28281260/book/300006632

Acquired from: Little Free Library, Denver, Colorado, USA

Started reading: November 13, 2025

Finished reading: December 2, 2025 (DNF)

Reading Notes

Page 20: It’s hard not to be a little judgmental of people who buy land and put a house up and then have no money to sustain themselves afterwards but this author is supremely kind and writes in an un-sensationalistic manner which I appreciate.

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weeknotes (nov. 9-15, 2025)

Life Updates

Kind of a bleh week for blogging but enjoyable for living– relaxing and non-stressful, which is all that I want.

One thing of note: I realized I booked my flight from here to my next sit for the wrong day, but luckily I was able to cancel it and use the money towards a ticket for the correct day. I DID end up paying double what I originally did, which sucks, but at least I’ll get there on the right date now.

And it worked out okay anyway, money-wise, because the owner invited me to stay the night before she leaves, so I’ll save $100-something on a hotel! It all balances out in the end, really.

🐈 Curious orange kitty (codename Mr. B-Denver) has figured out how to open cabinets and got into the ones right above the fridge, which was hilarious! Luckily nothing important is up there. Overweight Siamese kitty (codename Ms. S-Denver) meanwhile has warmed up to me a lot and is now regularly sleeping next to me while I work on the computer. They not lap cats, which is kind of a bummer, but they do like to be in the same room as much as possible.

Continue reading “weeknotes (nov. 9-15, 2025)”

weeknotes (nov. 2-8 2025)

Life Updates

Since my last Weeknotes update, I’ve left [redacted location] and arrived at my new catsit. I’m in Denver for the rest of the month! The cats here are adorable (as always) and the apartment I’m staying in is really nice; the owners are kind and let me come early and stay a few extra days, which was great for me because I saved a bit on accommodation money.

I’ve now been here with the cats alone for a week and I’m really enjoying the whole experience. I’m in a residential area and it’s super fun to walk around looking at all the interesting houses and the trees slowly dying for the winter. I’ve been going out nearly every day just wandering around (in a borrowed fleece jacket because it’s been fairly cold (for me)) with a few occasional forays into the rest of town.

I’m a little annoyed that most (all??) of the museums here have a fairly high entrance fee ($10+ minimum). Of course yesterday was free museum day and I totally forgot…

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reading log: confessions of a concierge by bonnie g. smith

Book Info

Confessions of a Concierge: Madame Lucie’s History of Twentieth-Century France
by Bonnie G. Smith (1985)

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, History

LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/work/1238610/

Acquired from: Capitol Hill Books, Denver, Colorado, USA ($6.50) [see also: Indie Bookstore Visit Log]

Started reading: November 6, 2025

Finished reading: November 13, 2025

Review

An interesting memoir/biography of a woman who grew up in early 20th century France and lived through to the 1980s. Focuses almost entirely on the subject (the concierge) and not so much on the people who live in her building, and in fact the “memoir” part ends when she gets the job and then the “biography” part starts when she’s been working there for 40 years. The gap was noticeable but I assume it happened because the author couldn’t get her to talk about that time period as much as she did the before-concierge job part.

Reading Notes

Copyright page says the following:

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

I’ve never seen that before, but sure enough the pages aren’t yellowed and are sturdier than many other paperbacks, more like a nice hardcover paper.

Page xvi: Quite a long-winded intro on why this story deserves to be told by a historian and why it’s important to historians or whatever which I think must be a sign of the time it was written (1985,) because nowadays it’s just taken for granted that first-person historical info is important and wanted?? Published by Yale so maybe something there too– like author had to argue why it’s academic, maybe?

Page 3: First part of book is written in first-person POV from POV of Madame Lucie, and covers her childhood and adult years up to becoming a concierge. Second part is third person from POV of historian and covers her life that overlaps with the historian.

Page 12: Can’t find a “Queen Navolo” but there was a Queen Ranavalona III around that time period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranavalona_III

Page 14: Separation of church and state apparently means you can have religious schools but the teachers can’t wear religious garb? I’m gonna have to Wikipedia this later for more info.

Page 19: “little bugs” in their hair from lack of regular washing, but it wasn’t lice. French term punaises — which a quick search pulls up either stink bugs or bed bugs, neither of which I think someone would tolerate in their hair for months.

Page 38: First boyfriend died in the war, second one was already married. My god, it’s like a novel!

Page 51: Both her parents were buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery. I’ve been there!

Page 60: Secret stash of 700 francs in 1925 = worth about $645 USD in today’s money

Page 63: Ford factory workers (and their families) were evacuated from Paris during WW2 and sent to Bordeaux! I didn’t know that.

Page 76: Kitten murder! Gah 😖

Page 88: About a Californian painter living in Mme Lucile’s building:

Harton always returned to Paris, glad to be back to the French style and a place where he, like most expatriates, could feel his freedom by not belonging to the society.

Page 129: Noticing quite a few typos/missing ending punctuation in this part of the book.

Page 151: Interesting theory that as Mme Lucie aged her memory started to go and as it went her focus became her physical body because that’s all she could see/interact with. On the other hand ending the book with the main “character” sitting with her underwear around her ankles because she couldn’t bend to pull them back up is a major bummer.

See also: Books Read (2025) / All Reading Logs

reading log: my love affair with england by susan allen toth

Book Info

My Love Affair with England: A Traveler’s Memoir by Susan Allen Toth (1992)

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel

LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/work/56906/

Acquired from: Capitol Hill Books, Denver, Colorado, USA ($7.50) [see also: Indie Bookstore Visit Log]

Started reading: October 31, 2025

Finished reading: November 4, 2025

Review

I picked this up because I nearly bought it from a UBS in Milwaukee a few months ago. It caught my eye again, mostly because I’m planning to go to England for a few months next year AND I adore pre-internet travel memoirs, so I decided to get it!

It’s a very charming book which focuses mostly on the bits of England that the author enjoyed, mixed in with some memoir-type stuff about her personal life and how it intersected with her visits to England and how that affected her time there. I enjoyed reading about the specific things she likes, as you can tell she REALLY likes them– but not to the point where it sounds like ass-kissing.

I also liked that she said specifically she only likes visiting and doesn’t want to move there; often I find that actually living somewhere is way different than being a visitor, often to the location’s detriment because now you have to deal with things like sorting trash and paying electricity bills, when really what you want to do is wander around looking at old buildings and eating bacon sandwiches.

Having been to England myself several times I recognized a lot of the stuff she was talking about, and that was fun, too. Overall I really enjoyed this book!

Reading Notes

Page 9:

I do not blame the English. If they keep to themselves, I also keep to myself. At home in America, I guard my privacy, cherishing the easy and congenial company of my husband or quiet time alone. When I am in England, I need even more meditative space. Since I travel quite intensely, looking and listening and walking hard, at night I am ready to stop. I have to absorb what I experience and gather my energies for the next day. I want to sink into bed with a book, not traipse down to the pub to talk about politics or football. So I do not usually make social overtures.

Same!!

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[belated] weeknotes (oct. 5-11, 2025)

Life Updates

This week had some bummer personal things happening– mom went briefly into the hospital and had several tests done for potential mini-stroke, but luckily(?) it turned out to probably be an autoimmune thing instead. She got some meds for the symptoms and is doing better! (Or so she says, anyway.)

I had headaches 3/7 days and am sure part of it was the pillow I’m using, which is insufficiently cushion-y. But probably also partly the stress, and dehydration.

🐈‍⬛ The most curious cat, Mr W, has started going up onto the counters and sniffing every single food item I make, plus then trying to touch it and/or eat it. If I put a dirty dish in the sink, he tries to get in there at it. He also started drinking dirty sink water, which is gross, so I put a water bowl up on the counter to distract him from that and it seems to have worked.

Miss K is a little more chill but only because she doesn’t like jumping higher than the bed OR going into cabinets. She does like to sit on my lap for 5-8 hours a day, though, and despises my laptop. ;D

Continue reading “[belated] weeknotes (oct. 5-11, 2025)”