iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I'm cleaning it out next month, and I'm going to have a 48x96" work table. I will be set

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My daughter asked for a shailah. "What beracha do you say over Tide pods?" "Birkat HaGomel" I guess that midrasha doesn't teach everything.

Tomorrow four 25lb/11kg sand bags filled with steel shot arrive to hold down the table legs. They're a little too easy to move. And I realized if I clean out the storage room (kind of a mud room with no shelves or sinks or anything but boxes of books) I would have room for a 48x72" table

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Oh! And I'm going to make Klucel G washi tape. No water on the prints at *all* (This is what happens when I have a project; I really get into it)

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UPS lost the 3M 9425. I have a claim that may take up to 8 days.

Now that the 48x48" work table is set up, and I've done some work on it I *really* wish I had the space for a 48x72" one. Two 24x48x36" tables oriented horizontally; two 0.25x24x48" tempered hardboards oriented vertically and taped together with gaffer's tape; one 36x48" self-healing cutting board.

A large worktable. Most of it is taken up by a cutting mat with two 6" clear spaces on the side. One the left strip is a bone folder, some hollytex, a stack of cardboard, hollytex, and rayon, a strip of linen tape, and some 1mm shims made of thick paper. On the right strip are three rows of tape, three small soft weight bags, and a small pair of black scissors. On the mat are two rolls vertically oriented. The left is shorter and perhaps 32" long--all you can see is the kraft paper it's rolled in. To the right is a 40" long roll of buffered interleaving tissue paper; it's a slightly off white.

Someone I know has an interesting phone number.

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It's an uncoated PET

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I am collecting rolls of things for a project: hollytex, rayon, papers, buffered tissue, tyvek. I haven't labeled them. Today I found a 20" roll of 5 mil something. It looks like a BOPET (Melinex, Mylar). I have no recollection or record of this purchase. So now it's test time. BOPET or not!

This is a big cutting mat. Today I should be receiving the two 24x48" tables that I will top with two 48x24" pieces of hardboard that I will then, in turn, put the giant mat on. (I have 2 more tables for the 36" rotary cutter (44x15" footprint)

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Varieties of tape I have in my office: 3M 415, painter's tape, gaffer's tape, washi masking tape (two colors), Tyvek tape, PSA linen tape, water-activated washi tape, Scotch magic tape. Tape I am expecting today: 3M 9425. I am glad to talk about them all with you. Adhesives are our friends.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 14/09/2026

My theory about Tzom Gedaliah is that the rabbis were not that upset by his assassination, but they wanted to placate the Babylonian government with a public show of remorse so there weren't massive reprisals. Which is why 2400 years later I fast all day anyway

Jay. @meangrape.com · 14/09/2026

I found a 36x48" self-healing cutting mat. It took me 10 minutes to pack and apply the shipping label to the 24x36" one I bought two weeks ago.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 14/09/2026

I have found the neatest quickest way to humidify sheets of paper.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 11/09/2026

Shana tovah, everybody!

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I have 6.5 sq yards of hollytex 3257. I do not need it all. So what has my brain come up with? A hollytex shirt. (Hollytex is a museum-grade conservation interleaving sheet)

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It happened again. A bug that when I reported took me to an LLM that was a raving idiot. After 15 minutes I got a support email.

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On a positive note I really like Comme des Garçons Accident: Radish Vetiver perfume. I wish it was an eau de parfum instead of an EDT. Smelling like a radish pulled straight from dark earthy soil is pleasant if, perhaps, not universally appealing.

I'm going to stroke out. Every piece of software or hardware I have touched today is enraging me. Five attempts to reset a password because of horrible UX. An inability to get a scan from the scanner to the laptop after trying email, usb, and SMB. I'm taking a break.

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I have four bugs to submit. I do not want to write any good bug reports. They take too long. I also don't want to get on the phone/chat with Apple.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 08/09/2026

That's right, I'm wearing a linen shirt. Fuck you, Labor Day.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 06/09/2026

Color profiles on your monitor make such a huge difference

macOS picker.

1 Design & Print (P3-D50)
2 Photography (P3-D65)
3 HDR Video (P3-ST 2084)
4 Internet & Web (sRGB)
5 Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits) [selected]

Jay. @meangrape.com · 06/09/2026

The remjet backing wasn't fully removed from this roll of CineStill 800T so I've got some neat little red glowing blips and streaks here and there

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 06/09/2026

My platelet donation happened with a caveat. It went wrong enough that I had a bag of ice taped to my arm for 30 minutes.

Left arm elbow down of a white man. A small plastic bag full of ice chips is taped to the bend of my elbow and wrapped tightly to it with red stretchy tape.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 04/09/2026

I am donating platelets today because (1) there is a platelet emergency in the Boston area and (2) my daughter wants the Hello Kitty plushie the Red Cross is giving away, and she can't donate because she's overseas.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 02/09/2026

I try to bring a sense of grace and understanding to other people's software because that's how I would like my own failures and mistakes in that field to be treated. But *fuck* Slack's UX

Jay. @meangrape.com · 01/09/2026

Continuing in my quest to get a thematically correct shot of a Heavy Metal magazine. Harman Phoenix 200. Holga 120GCFN. photos.meangrape.com/galleries/he...

A black background with hints of the underlying heavy velvet structure with metallic red highlights in the upper right and down along the left outlining the center. In the center is a Heavy Metal magazine. The cover itself is bright white on the bottom and red on the top. The text is outlined in white. The cover art is a winged woman wearing typically skimpy Heavy Metal clothing.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 01/09/2026

Abandoned Harvard Square in the rain at noon. Trix-X +1. Holga 120GCFN.

Black and white photo; high contrast. Looking out from a doorway onto a brick plaza. A two story brick building in the background. It has white trim and pillars. A sign says pizza. There is a tall black lamppost to the left. Raindrops fall into a shallow puddle covering the bricks.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 01/09/2026

I hate people that (1) do not support -h and --help (looking at you docker) and (2) send output from -h/--help to stderr (looking at you tailscale)

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Somewhere in Somerville. Ilford Ortho 80. Holga 120GCFN.

Black and white. A wall. The bottom third is a medium gray, the rest a very light gray. In the center is a dark door with a mail slot and a sign that says employees only. The vertical sides of the door are curved in. The vignette darkens the corners. It looks like something you would see in a Twilight Zone episode.

Chinatown. Fomapan 400. Hola 120GCFN.

A sidewalk surrounded by scaffolding. An asphalt road to the right. The image is vertically cut in half along an angle in the center.The left is dark shadow; you can barely see the scaffolding. The right is lit. The road curves away in the distance.

The Paramount. Lomochrome Metropolis. Holga 120GCFN.

Daytime but the colors are muted. Most things are a light tan varying darker in the shadow. Two tall buildings in the background; one on the left, one--taller--in the center. A flat wall stretches from the middle to the right side angling across the image. Centered is a vertical sign that says Paramount in all caps. Below it is a fragment of a horizontal sign; its edge is a dull red. On the left are two light posts of a fancy and faux-older style. Except for the lamps on top the are mostly black. there is an orangish-reddish basket wrapped around one full of plants.

CineStill 400D; Holga 120GCFN. MBTA.

You're rushing down a rectangular tunnel that narrows to a tiny black square at the end. The bottom half is red with a pale zig-zag line on the left. The right wall is ivory; it has dark odd symbols on it. The left wall is metallic. A corrugated strip with sharp edges runs down it; above that are darker and lighter strips of varying sizes. The narrow ceiling looks like concrete. You're escaping from a dystopian hellscape.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 28/08/2026

If anyone in Somerville wants some 6x24" (0.125 thickness) Kraft tubes let me know; I had to buy a pack of 10 and don't need 10.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 27/08/2026

Do I need heavy-duty 6x24" Kraft tubes? Yes. Do I need 10? No. Is this the only game in town? Yes.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 26/08/2026

Do I need 17x22" interleaving tissue? Yes. Do I need 480 sheets? No. Is this the only game in town? Yes.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 23/08/2026

I want a good pizza. I don't want to pay $40 for delivery or go out. It's leftovers for me.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 23/08/2026

D-- is on a plane for three weeks in Germany.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 23/08/2026

Instead of buying the 100g of jin shofu* I needed I accidentally bought 1kg. So I will be making furunori**; it will only take between 5 and 10 years. I have no use for it. * wheat starch used as a strong adhesive ** fermented wheat starch used as a weak adhesive

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 17/08/2026

No wonder I'm feeling a little out of it when I'm standing up. A 76/57 blood pressure can do that. Time for a bunch of sodium.

Jay. @meangrape.com · 14/08/2026

I do not remember the last time I built ethernet cables and that fact thrills me deep in my heart.

Vangluss @vangluss.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Reposted by Jay.

Unknown Armies and Delta Green are genre defining postmodern paranormal fiction fucked up by the fact roughly 6,000 living people know about each

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 13/08/2026

Photography is 90% lighting, 10% composition, and 0% equipment.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 11/08/2026

A 4-ply backer board and a print will fit into a sleeve.

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Jay. @meangrape.com · 08/08/2026

A quick picker for macOS display reference modes. Saving myself four clicks and sorting through a list of modes I don't use.

Small window with 5 numbered items.

1 Design & Print (P3-D50) with a checkmark
2 Photography (P3-D65)
3 HDR Video (P3-ST 2084)
4 Internet & Web (sRGB)
5 Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits)

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This morning I calculated the hearts-to-message ratio in the texts D-- and I have recently sent. From newest to oldest: 100 msgs 20% ❤️ 200 msgs 15% ❤️ 300 msgs 15% ❤️ 400 msgs 16.3% ❤️ 500 msgs 15.4% ❤️

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A tree from an intentionally underexposed Lomography Lady Gray

$A black and white photo. A tree trunk and branches coming from the right and spreading to the left and bottom. The leaves look like fractals. The tree is pure black; the leaves are close to it. The blackness of the tree is dotted with many small bright white dots. The sky is a dark gray with some lighter clouds near the top outlining leaves.$

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If you're going to write footnotes with a fountain pen make sure you have blotting paper. From a guy who has blotting paper and soaked up a ton of residual ink before putting my wrist & shirt back down on it. I don't know if there's any difference in blotting paper (probably though); I like Kanso.

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