I really like your run through of all these demos! I even added a couple to my wishlist for when they come out later.
I made a short blog post about more paper bead jewelry Iāve been making. Thisāll probably be the last of those for a little while, lol.
https://www.thefrugalgamer.net/blog/2025/06/01/more-paper-bead-bracelets/
Just a small update, mostly about games Iāve been playing:
The Weekly Wrap Up is posted! Links this week include fungus batteries, thoughts on AI and cross stitch patterns and a story of the intersection of an internet game and a college radio station. I finished the fabulous kitty cross stitch project! I talk about the Bluesky cats all meeting up for a party. And, as usual, I listened to, read and watched things.
Excellent! This is now my go-to piece to share when I suggest someone who is unfamiliar with the concept of making personal websites to make their own website.
I have linked to your piece on my links pageās webweaving category.
What better way to catch up on the past two months with a mega recap post: Monthly Recap: May 2025
Thank you, itās an honor!
Excellent link selection in this post!
Also, loved the sandcastle story. Not just getting to build them with your kiddo but how others added on to it. 
And so sorry to hear about your good boi.
New post about my leopard gecko rescue and learning to care for a new critter.
Lovely to see someone rescuing reptiles! Theyāre often quite overlooked, especially with how finicky their care needs can be- and their long lifespans, as your little critterās previous owners dealt with.
Leopard geckos arenāt one of the species Iāve a special interest in, but I do know a bit due to spending time in adjacent exotic communities and there being quite the overlap in owners. The weird onion/turnip-y tail is totally normal: they more or less always grow back a bit strange after having been dropped in the past, though at least they grow them back, unlike cresteds! (Those little guys just sort of have mouse butts afterwards, and it can cause some balancing issues, but they tend to cope just fine.)
He does look a bit chunky- but itās a bit hard to tell from the angle of your photos. Basically, there should be a smooth taper to the body- itās when they sort of look like the pear/tear drop shape of milk drunk kittens when viewed from above, then you know theyāre too chunky. A kitchen scale can be useful for weighing them, especially if youāre going to be putting him on a diet.
They donāt strictly require UVB lighting, and it can be an issue for albino or more light sensitive morphs: but it can be helpful in maintaining good health. One of the worst afflictions from improper care reptiles can have is something called Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), which is usually caused by improperly balanced calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3 due to poor diet and/or lighting. Basically, it results in permanent bone deformations- they get all squishy and malformed, and itās a very painful and debilitating condition that is unfortunately common in the hobby.
Itās for this reason itās recommended that calcium be dusted onto all meals, a once a week multivitamin provided, and D3 be supplemented distinct from calcium either on a twice-a-week basis (if no UVB light is used), or a few times (1-2 times) a month if a light is used. Your calcium supplement should not be bundled with phosphorus- their diet of bugs should provide plenty of that. Arcadia and Repashy are both reputable brands that offer easy dusting solutions.
Theyāre a bit trickier than crested geckos, for whom a complete diet is made in whatās more or less fortified fruit smushy paste like baby puree packets. Live feeder insects should be gutloaded for best practice- basically, feeding them yummy vegetables or fruits and bits of scraps like that before being culled for feeding.
Dubia roaches and crickets are a common choice for staple feeder insects- (crickets being so chitinous can sometimes cause concerns with impaction as a sole food source, especially in younger babies, hornworms and earthworms are common ātreatsā and can be nicely hydrating rotations as staples, though some like superworms or waxworms are not suitable as a main staple due to nutritional imbalances. You can keep a box of dubias in a moving tote with some egg carton packaging for them to hide in, and theyāre super easy to rear and feed. Crickets tend to be noisy and stinky, and also run away super fast, annoyingly.
Leopards do tend to be calmer by nature, and less likely to drop their tails than cresteds: but usually seem happiest if theyāre given the choice to hang out on your hand/with you, rather than being scooped up and plucked up. They should not be flipped over (canāt breathe in that position easily), and they are a bit bitey sometimes, something thatās hilariously common with little hunting exotics: but if that happens, a little droplet or spritz of water onto their heads tends to get them to release, rather than yanking or shaking them off (which could hurt them.)
Try not to grab them by the tail or around the head, since that tends to startle them pretty bad- which can lead to biting or tail dropping. If the tail does drop again- the wound should kept clean and dry, but will generally close over just fine on its own. Dilute betadine (in about a 1:10 part ratio of betadine to water) can be used to irrigate/flush the wound to prevent infection, and swapping them over to a papertowel substrate will help prevent loose soil from getting in there. An antibiotic ointment like Neosporin specifically without additive painkillers/analgesic ingredients, as those can be toxic to reptiles can be used over the stump while itās all gnarly. Hopefully this doesnāt happen, though! But just in case it does.
They live in fairly arid conditions, and donāt really tend to have as many shedding issues- but a shallow soak (tupperware container lined with a bit of paper towel to give them the safety of ātractionā to keep them calm, and a little bit of lukewarm water, about a third of your finger high and under monitoring) or a very careful, gentle roll of a dampened cotton bud can help loosen stuck shed retained about the eyes or in between toes, or the tips of tails. The shed should come off easily, and should never be forced off.
Forgive the blathering post- this is just information Iāve off the top of my head when it comes to these little guys. I hope you two have a beautiful life together, congratulations on the new pal, and thank you for rescuing a reptile in need. Purchasing from ethical breeders is how weāre able to sustain healthy captive bred populations, but there are always already existing little guys in need of a good home.
Thanks so much! All of that echos the care practice of the r/LeopardGeckos wiki Iāve been studying so itās good to see it seconded! I just got the repashy calcium plus in the mail and I have him on mealworms until I can get dubia roaches (my little former-Florida self paying for roaches breaks my brain lol!). He doesnāt have UVB yet so I am supplementing D3 until my job starts and I can get him one. Good to know about the tail! The shelter vet had his body condition at a 9/10 and wants to see him at a 5, and he is definitely a bigger guy when viewed from above (his tail is like 1.5x the size of his neck and they like a 1:1 ratio).
He is really calm and extremely chill about being handled, but weāre not doing much of that until he resettles into a new groove. Thanks so much for all the tips!
wrote some about our DIDiscoveryā¦part I of ???
itās quite personal but im satisfied with what i have so far. i think itās a meaningful story to tell.
Thanks! The sand fortresses were fun, we built them above the shoreline (unknowingly) so we managed to work on them across a couple of days which was fun.
Itās sad about the dogs. For the last fifteen years, my boys have been a defining part of my life, itās so strange not having them to take care of and chill with any more.
small thing, mostly just me thoughtdumping about journaling and the ways i end up doing it in other ways thatās not physical journaling (though id like to return to it!)
School is officially over for summer (and I did not sign up to teach summer school), so I am celebrating by doing as little as humanly possible this afternoon. By which I mean āwatching 1990s cartoons on the Internet Archiveā and writing this blog post: yeeting social media and Oligarch Tech: month 6
Also had an idea for a YA novel that is not-bad enough I might actually try drafting it this summer, just for fun.
This ended up being one of my longest blogposts to date, where I try and use the (fantastic) novel āBlindsightā to delve into topics linking Machine Learning, Philosophy of Mind, Transhumanism and the Internet and Christian History.
Little weird, the thesis is streatched near breaking point, but I am still kinda proud of it as the closest thing to an āessayā Iāve written since my undergrad days.
https://caffeineandlasers.com/blogs/TranshumanisminaTechnofeudalSociety.html
(For best results, imagine Jacob Geller is the one reading the essay in your mind)
I just wanna say I donāt post in this thread much because the sheer size gets overwhelming, but I really love reading all your discussions and I just love this community so much 
I also wrote a blog post about the rights (or lackthereof) that children have, inspired by an interesting convo in the Discord the other day, because itās a topic Iām very passionate about
I also want to get into physical journaling, but I never manage to. I like your one-line plan. And I love your site! Itās so calming.
aww thank you!! it was inspired from this video that talks about the struggle of journaling and was my inspiration, though he mentioned initially doing the one-liners in his phone (and finding it distracting cause heād do other stuff), i thought itād be good to try to do in a physical one as well
and thank you!! it makes me happy to hear that ;v;
Hell yes Jay, hell yes. This is so excellently written. Also have you read Sophie Lewisās Abolish the Family? Youāve already got a good and extensive list of articles in your further reading section (Iāll be perusing those 
), but if youāre looking for more literature on the subject of Rights of the Child and Youth Lib I highly recommend her book.
I also found this article eye opening. Why we donāt like it when children hit us back. | by Alba M. | Out of the pen of babes. | Medium
Also Dr Devon Price has been writing some good articles recently about Youth Lib, and making space for children in different (mainly online) communities.
I also like your one line plan (and your gorgeous website) 
Although Iāve styled my site like a journal, Iāve never actually been able to keep a physical journal.
I tried bullet journaling when it was popular, but got side tracked by making pretty layouts. I always found I couldnāt quite settle on what tasks to track and could never diligently fill in my little trackers. I always felt like I was wasting pages if I couldnāt make it perfect first time and some of the things people in the bullet journaling community tracked feltā¦ redundant? I donāt run my own business though so parts of it didnāt quite fit my life.
The closest thing to regular physical journaling Iāve done is a couple of attempts at Hourly Comic Day. That said, I did start a travel diary on the second last day of our trip to Seville in April that remains unfinished.
Even though Iām constantly making notes on my phone, I wouldnāt call it journaling. However, I like the idea of recording one line a day and seeing where it goes. Inspiring post, thanks for sharing