basilsimon.bsky.social

I had koa doors built for my den, hung with saloon style hinges. I wanted them for dramatic entrances but 5 minutes ago I discovered I can now "Homer Simpson meme" out of awkward situations in my living room. I'm so happy. And yes, my wife is glad my midlife crisis vibe is "cigar club for owls".

11h

Owning neither a motorcycle nor a jet ski lately I've been trying to perfect the way scented candles melt and making the perfect humidity-resistant wax for my handlebar mustache. The ingredients are basically identical, one simply twiddles the details.

11h

It scratches the same itch as 3D printing but is also way more chill. I've been storing wax ingots in butcher paper to let bubbles escape. I'm reveling in my ultra limited supply of v3E, and very annoyed that I have no idea how v3A was made so basically I'm a Warhammer40k martian heretic.

I am not an influencer. I'm just an old man who hates buying new shoes, but I did just get the New Balance Andrew Reynolds 933 sneaker in wide my 40+ feet feel like I'm 15 and in Airwalks again. Plus it comes in "grandpa brown" for stealth since I'm here for the features, not the midlife crisis!

Does anyone else wonder if, depending on how the data center arms race goes, it might actually be called The Butlerian Jihad? I know Dune isn't wildly popular but Metaverse was lifted right from Snow Crash and people use the term all the time (if derisively). Sigh. Back to the dystopia of the week.

The problem with DIY mustache wax is that even if Amazon thinks I make my own candles, I can't get mad and say "Do I *look* like I make candles?!" because either way the answer is yes.

When I say "witch", I don't mean either Wiccan or evil. She has the skills to be a village doctor using what she has in her herb garden to approximate proper medicine. She is also superhero good at surviving. She is generous but woe to anyone who cheats a bargain or forgets their manners.

In a sense, like every heroine from the Wicked/Maleficent genre was played by James Woods, faced with the general annoyance of the witch at the start of Rapunzel - who I maintain does not want to adopt babies but nothing else seems to keep dudes from stepping on her radishes.

The problem with DIY mustache wax is that even if Amazon thinks I make my own candles, I can't get mad and say "Do I *look* like I make candles?!" because either way the answer is yes.

The whole thing is ridiculous. Plus going all pellets simplifies storage at the cost of volume. Bars are both pre-measured and more compact, but if you need less than 1oz then it's back to pellets but I lack a pellet maker (unless you count my youngest child and his wet hands). It's a 1-way process.

This deep into a thread inexplicably extending into a tirade about wax ingot molds, you might be asking yourself "why doesn't he just keep bees?" and I can tell you. My wife is a witch and until we complete the stone walls around her garden the construction would stress any hives and we'd risk swarm

The problem with DIY mustache wax is that even if Amazon thinks I make my own candles, I can't get mad and say "Do I *look* like I make candles?!" because either way the answer is yes.

There are some 3D printable solutions for incrementally adding small pocket notebooks to an expanding hardcover book, and I think I will do this as soon as I fix my 3D printers. I've abandoned them since July and it won't be pleasant, luckily I'm really distracted by making stuff out of wax!

Also going from pellets to bricks is weird because the molds are sold to make either two 1lb or five 1oz bricks and that does not divide appropriately. You either need to store an extra mold or do an extra round of melting.

The problem with DIY mustache wax is that even if Amazon thinks I make my own candles, I can't get mad and say "Do I *look* like I make candles?!" because either way the answer is yes.

What I'm trying to say is it's hard to buy small amounts of reputable bee or paraffin wax, so there is pressure to find ways to use the big sack of pellets you once ordered online at 2 AM. I also make a great non-greasy lip balm (I didn't measure the best batch-always take notes, kids).

On the topic of note taking, having a physical notebook is underrated. Carrying a pen you like is more fun than you'd expect. Plus a notebook doesn't get corrupted or turn into a subscription. I found my DJ notebook from my 20s, works just like when I lost it. My wife still does this; I should too.

The problem with DIY mustache wax is that even if Amazon thinks I make my own candles, I can't get mad and say "Do I *look* like I make candles?!" because either way the answer is yes.

And while I do both (it's the same ingredients with different proportions), 2.25kg of beeswax is a surprisingly large amount of wax, considering a lip balm tube is 5.3g and a charming scented candle in a jar is mostly oil. Not a lot of wizards in my area either, so it ends up being a lot of wax.

I feel like every celebrity impression I do is just a copy of several other much more skilled entertainers' versions. Right now it's Dan Soder's Macho Man doing children's books and classic songs until they devolve into a wrestling promo. This morning it's Somewhere Over the Rainbow. "Waay up high!"

My journey into cottage-core polymers: I went from 3D printing to making scented candles in jars to making mustache wax and the last is going great but my look is waffling between 1880 in Arizona or Germany. Anyway my point is lately I've been looking in the mirror all "Ich bin dien huckleberry 😉"

3 Sept

Sometimes I DJ mashups of dancehall, techno, and metal, only to then remember Nine Inch Nails already exists. Years ago I heard an interview with their engineer (who had almost exclusively produced Jamaican styles of dance music) who was picked for his tight and crisp drum sounds. Good call.

20 Aug

With the recent enthusiasm for cottage cheese as a source of macho protein, I am surprised nobody capitalized on the 'curds and whey' aspect to make a brand called "Muff-Tuff". Their ads could be "Spider is NOTHING! Protect your tuffet with Muff-Tuff high protein curds and whey!"

20 Aug

Do you ever think about how, if dark chocolate is better for you than sugar cookies, putting more dark chocolate chips in a chocolate cookie recipe would make every bite healthier?

29 July

Part of me wants to take up oil painting in order to paint pictures of audio hardware. I want to express how using and hearing each one makes me feel. I want to spend more time with details on controls I use the most. I want to show the regret in the scratches from when I shipped them carelessly.

24 July

While traveling, I ordered a decent sewing machine to be delivered to my wife at home with her side of our family. The reasons this was acceptable include a)her asking for one and b) decades of my A+ complaining about tension and tangled bobbins.

24 July

She also knows that anything with a manual is catnip to a certain kind of partner. Oh, she knows how to field strip everything in our home like a marine but she also knows she can make it my "special husband puzzle" at any time.

18 July

My baby brother has a nice 1 pizza wood fired oven. He makes everything from scratch and throws parties for the whole neighborhood. Slushies too-with the big machine! Went to culinary school. Doesn't charge a dime and doesn't stop until he's out. Yet he is suspicious of his rep as "the pizza guy"🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

12 July

My 3 year old was scared of the Old Dark Frog. I explained to him that, based the size of the frogs he's seen, he's bigger than the ODF. Plus you can't be scared of an eldritch jump rope enthusiast. It's just too silly.

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9 July

Does anyone else sing "Talarico" to the tune of Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso? Does @jamestalarico.bsky.social know?

6 July

It's not that I inherently oppose USA progressives's endless infighting (I am on bluesky), it's just odd that it often seems to happen right in the middle of election crunch-time. I'm not debating validity of concerns, just noting a pattern of weird timing.

When two people interact, there's a groove where they meet. A point where who I am stops and who you are begins. That groove is the relationship. That relationship is a vibration. And if you can feel it (feel it) you'll have a much better handle on the nature of this mad world.

That said, the key to a happy life is a great attitude and a staggering amount of energy. I have neither, so while I am fortunate that I have a good life, I am cursed to battle my true nature - a sourpuss with limited energy but unshakable loyalty. That last one does the heavy lifting.

Oh, I understand now. The power of love has made me deny my evil nature and pursue the dreams I had before life got in the way. Only with minimal training or talent in the "wonderful person" department. Being awesome really is a skill, with training and practice. Oh right, buddhist monks 🤦‍♂️

If you slow the Seinfeld theme down just enough, it sounds like a fairly decent Primus song. I don't know how I feel about any of that. Anyway happy USA Independence Day 250 Summer Slam Oh Yeah for all who celebrate standing up to kings and tyrants.

29 June

The French Horn is a brass instrument, long as a tuba, that is actually 2 horns in different keys, post-teleportation error, and you switch between those two tortured instruments depending on each note you play while shoving your hand in the bell for microtonal adjustments. Who hated trombonists so?

28 June

Okay, aluminum extrusion for nerds as I understand it: 4040 is for bases and outer perimeters, 2020 holds stuff that's light and/or moving, and 3030 is easiest to get compatible with SAE hardware. Electronics go on DIN rails. Invest in a good set of taps for threading and a jig so they aren't wobbly

28 June

I say this because it's not obvious and coming from the consumer-grade casual 3D printing world having a big picture understanding of optimal uses for various extrusions and T or V track is NOT clear from the start. I have way too much 2020.

12 June

I thought I was broken as an artist because I haven't been creative in a few years. Now I believe hard times come in 2 flavors - the fast kind that gives you raw feelings you can express in the moment, and the long relentless churning kind that doesn't let you sing because you're holding your breath

12 June

I've been going through the second. There have been a few amazing moments, and also lot of loss, all on a backdrop of terror in my private life. I hope there will be a year where my personal experiences bottom out at "kinda meh", and I can turn these past few years into a story worth telling.

12 June

But that's the thing-I'm starting to think I can't tell this story because it very much isn't over. Thought it was, many times, but like Bilbo waiting to write There and Back Again until the livid dragon had ceased to be a problem, I think I'll write when this part is over-hoping just one more year

4 June

It's a pity that one of the world's most annoying questions is "Am I annoying you," as so many people both know this and struggle with the underlying concern. Each time you ask the question the answer leans further toward yes, but not knowing while caring deeply is...I guess it explains bad poetry?

27 May

Yesterday I finally tried darning an old frayed hole on the thigh my tan, stained, work pants. I used pretty teal thread and followed online tutorials. It's colorful and the only way was up. I often worry my best isn't enough, and I like the certainty that the next repair will look better.

25 May

Here's a spicy test - if AI advice is read in Kat Williams' voice and it sounds like A Pimp Named Slickback, maybe it's time to look harder at your role in the relationship you have with the AI.

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23 Apr

In 1991, Hook explained private equity more clearly than any media before or since. The movie holds up well, but in a less dreadful way than the whole "what if we caused the Mad Max future by building Skynet on purpose?" situation we're dealing with elsewhere.

19 Apr

Every so often I remember a conversation I had with a massage therapist and in my efforts to disagree with her ideas on "vibrational energy healing" I accidentally taught her how to turn a table into an open air microwave oven. I hope she chose not to, or that my math was wrong. Either is fine.

6 Apr

I'm halfway through the second episode of the live action One Piece. It is my first experience with the franchise. My wife will not be joining me (it is not her thing), and if she ever asks I'm unsure I can explain it without sounding insane.

28 Mar

This morning my very early rising 3 year old woke up way too early so I taught him a short version of the geopolitics of late medieval europe through the lens of heavy metal, drone-based instruments, and rhythmic motifs. There was a slight detour where we were just lifting lyrics from The Hobbit.

6 Mar

Real talk - in a world where, if we were honest, World War numbers would look more like the Super Bowl, Samsung is showing me ads for their latest world changing technology, "The Black Matrix", and quite frankly if it isn't a doomsday machine I'd call it a wasted opportunity. But I hope it isn't.

6 Dec 2025

The Nutcracker but the dad and Drosselmeyer go to bed in the middle of their longstanding annual Warhammer 40k game and the mouse king suddenly regrets the choices that lead to this situation. I'd definitely go see it.

2 Nov 2025

Oh brilliant, now America's enemies know the exact size of slightly larger tire needed to overwhelm our secretary of defense. The next Tom Clancy novel is going to be awful 🤣

Alan Elrod@aselrod.bsky.social

This has absolutely nothing to do with readiness

30 Oct 2025

My father in law worked in tech systems and security for well over 40 years. He's never voluntarily carried a mobile phone, much less a smart one. It's very "old man yells at The Cloud" and cleans his network more often than his gutters. I speak freely for he avoids social media. I will prank him 🧵

30 Oct 2025

He does not like having so much as his photo online and only tolerated it for work. He pays with checks. We all know such a man. I will take family photos and make a mesh. I will use it to 3D print an x-mas ornament that is very recognizably his head. I will say I used AI but this is not the prank.