Things
While most of the luxuries of life are logged under travel, dining, or projects, I do like to buy nice things. If I find myself wanted to share the joy with others, I’ll add it here to recommend to the world.
The fads of sharing your “setup” or maintaining a /uses page come and go, and I’ve always found them a bit too airline-magazine consumeristic. Yet, here’s mine. My rationale is in line with the rest of this site: I find is helpful to document my life. With that in mind, not everything listed here is meant to be relevant in the present.
Digital Life
Computer
Naturally, my primary computer is a very important part of my life so I’m starting a log at /logs/computers. I think the PowerBook Duo and NeXTstation stand out as favorites.
Currently, I love my M2 MacBook Air (2022). I wish I could get the matte display from my work MacBook Pro (2025), but the form factor is just so nice.
I’ve been an on-and-off iPad user. There have been times when I used an 11" iPad Pro with a keyboard/trackpad case as my daily driver, especially with reoutine train commutes and a cellular connection. But I keep comping back to macOS.
PDA
There have been other companion devices in my life since the first Palm Pilot. I got a used Newton MessagePad and really thought they were under-rated, but like the Apple Vision Pro, no amount of amazing engineering could make up for it just being too big and heavy for the use case.
I was slow to have a cell phone, but loved my Motorola PEBL and only gave it up when I could replace both it and my beloved Palm V with a Treo. Then the iPhone happened and I’ve been replacing those roughly every other year, with fond memories of the 4, 5, and X. I’m very unhappy about how big they’ve grown.
Watch
Loved the Pebble, but was happy to replace it and Fitbit clip with an Apple Watch. I keep upgrading those, but none are special; they work as advertised, mostly by reducing the amount of time I glance at my phone.
Carry Kit
Wallet
Around Christmas of 2014, I bought a Framelet from Matthijs Ariens. It was an experiment in manufacturing and he decided it couldn’t be made and sold profitably. I think it’s the best of many, many wallets I’ve tried, though.
Headphones
Commuting and calls: Airpods Pro Sport cycling: Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Inflight plugins: Urbanears Kransen (sadly discontinued)
Belt
I found a Bison belt at REI that’s made of stretchy webbing. This makes it both vegetarian and pizza-night-compatible.
Cycling
History
After a decade of use, the battery in my Philips IconiQ died and I changed to the flagship Braun razor. It works well, has a slightly more pleasant buzz, and shaves closer. But I miss the IconiQ’s form factor. It was a delight to hold and use.
I still fondly remember my childhood boombox.