04AUG2024

Happy Sunday, everyone! I had my first stint on a jury this week, which was a unique and eye-opening experience. To keep my mind off the trial's sordid details in the evenings, I’ve been geeking out on the allure of modding 10-year-old Nintendo 3DSs for retro gaming and getting sucked into various keyboard-related rabbit holes (see below). The soundtrack for my nightly wind-down walks has been these incredible downtempo covers of Nine Inch Nails tracks by Allie Goetz. Civic duty complete, I'm ready to get back to the real world.

On to the good stuff!

• 💵 Allett Wallets - A dear friend gifted me one of these wallets recently, and I’ve been absolutely loving it. Very slim, lightweight, gender-neutral designs with thoughtful touches like an optional micro-pen slot and built-in RFID blocking. I cannot emphasize enough how thin both the leather and nylon versions of their wallets are— somehow even more front-pocket friendly than my usual Bellroy slim wallets.
• 📦 Parcel - Parcel is my go-to app for tracking packages. It’s simple, lightweight, and features handy widgets and notifications for tracking mail through 300+ global carriers, including DHL, FedEx, UPS, USPS, and Royal Mail. Simply copy and paste your tracking number into the app or use the share sheet plug-in on your Mac or iOS device, and you’ll get notifications as your package makes its way to its destination.
• 📱 Widgy - If you ever used custom skins for WinAmp back in the day, you’ll love this. Widgy lets you create custom widgets for your iOS home screen to track whatever information you want. There’s a massive community making free and premium widget designs. The app has a discovery section where you can explore widgets made by others, but I’ve personally been using and enjoying ones from Lokki, as well as some cool ones I found on the Widgy subreddit.
• ☕️ DRYPLY Prestige Coffee Tumbler - If you’re meticulous about weighing and grinding your beans, and using the precise water temperature of water during your timed pour over, it feels wrong to just use any old to-go cup for your morning brew. This tumbler is part art piece, part ceramic-lined, insulated, leak-proof coffee delivery vehicle. I haven’t gotten my grubby mitts on one yet, but the ceramic lining should prevent it from absorbing flavors and odors, making it great for high-quality teas and batch-mixed cocktails as well.
• ⌨️ Angry Miao RGB 65 Keyboard - I have been getting the old itch to either mod my existing keyboard or get a new one. During my frothy internet travels, I stumbled over this new offering Angry Miao (currently only available on pre-order). It's well out of my league, but the insane mix of techno maximalism and retro video game stylings, has got me a bit sweaty. If you take a peak and find yourself tempted, just know it can be yours for the low low price of only $450 (not including keycaps or switches).

That’s it for this week—stay healthy, happy, and at peace, everyone!