⚡ 27SEP2026: A bad metaphor
My new favorite pen, a delightful record player, dialing in espresso, eink fun, and analog tech throwbacks...
Happy Sunday, everyone!
This week I've been revisiting the original Akira manga, contemplating grabbing a Ting to monitor our home for electrical fire risk, listening to the audiobook for This Is About Running, This Is Not About Running by Coach Chris Bennett, Nike's global coach for running, and sharing about this fun e-ink display for my record player that I built.
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On to the good stuff!
🖊️ LAMY dialog cc Fountain Pen - I made a short video about this pen this week! I recently returned to my journaling and affirmations habit and took advantage of the momentum to grab a pen I've had my eye on for a while—the LAMY dialog cc. It's got a really unique, modern-looking design featuring a capless twisting mechanism that lets you twist out the 14K gold nib to write and then twist it back behind a small ball valve that keeps it from drying out. It's a shorter, wider design, almost reminiscent of a fat marker, but with some slight heft due to the all-brass body. It's absurdly pricey for a pen, but if you're into fountain pens and buy-it-for-life analog tools, I highly recommend checking one out.
☕ beans: dial your espresso - This indie app stealth-released this weekend, focused on letting you capture photos of your coffee bags, which get saved to a coffee shelf along with all your notes on dialing them in perfectly. It's got a lovely, clean design, and I really appreciate all the data it lets you collect: logs on every shot you pull and reminders for things like what grind setting, temperature, and extraction time you prefer. It's also a one-time purchase, which is a rare delight these days. As a bonus, you can also make 3D renders of your favorite coffee bags for the collectors out there.
🖱 Keychron Nape Pro Wireless Trackball - If you miss the old laptops with a trackball built in, Keychron is here with a crazy modern analog. This trackball mouse has a 25mm trackball in the center of it, along with six programmable buttons and a rotatable control dial that give you a ton of control over your computer from one ergonomic grip. The whole thing works over 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, or a USB-C connection. I am sorely tempted to try it out.
📷 Camp Snap 110D - Camp Snap makes really fun, low-resolution digital cameras that are like the digital equivalent of disposable point-and-shoot cameras... just not disposable. You can keep using them. OK, maybe it's a bad comparison. You get the idea, though: fixed lens, low resolution, (comparatively) cheap. They look super fun and great for taking on adventures where you don't want to risk your high-end camera gear. They've just announced a new camera that brings an amazing 1970s camera aesthetic in a form factor that kind of reminds me of the old Minox spy cameras. It has built-in "film-like" filters and can take 500 photos on one charge.
🔈 Tinyl Play Pro Record Player - I saw this Japanese record player this past week and immediately fell in love with it. It has a loud, playful look with bright reds, yellows, and blues like a Fisher-Price phonograph; built-in speakers; a switchable phono preamp; Bluetooth; and a pretty legit Audio-Technica cartridge. It's only $199 and seems like it would be a really fun starter record player. Even if you have zero interest in vinyl records, go take a look at it—it's so cute!
That's it for this week. May you build one new thing you're excited to share with others.