Weekend Wrap 5/17/2026

Each weekend, I like to pause, reflect, and look back on the past week. This isn't a deep dive or grand reflection—just a quick review of a handful of things that brought me joy, made me think, or challenged me.

Music

I've always had a soft spot for death doom, gothic, gloomy, and melancholic music. There are a number of bands that pedal in this particular genre, and I just can't get enough of them. Think things like Swallow the Sun, My Dying Bride, and the sadly now defunct Ghost Brigade all come to mind. And then there's Draconian. I've known about Draconian since their 2015 album, but their 2020 album didn't exactly click for me. Enter 2026's In Somnolent Ruin.

Look, the truth is some works of art just connect with us. When asked to articulate what it is about them, we are left thinking, pondering, and wondering, but not necessarily able to say what it is that connects with us so. That's the case with this album. It is beautiful, but the guitars still have plenty of punch. There are moments on this album that just make the hairs on my arms and neck stand up because they're so perfect. Some ineffable quality about this album. The elevated songwriting, the elevated music, and the vocals are magnificent. I can't stop thinking about this album. I can't stop listening to it.

Books

The latest Dungeon Crawler Carl book dropped this week: A Parade of Horribles. And it's fun. I'm probably about halfway through, and I don't really know where it's going to go, but I am having a good time. I still feel like I have a bit of a conflicted relationship with this series because while I enjoy it, I don't fully understand the almost maniacal love that the internet seems to have for it.

Is it more Dungeon Crawler Carl? Yes. Is it about what I expected? Yes. And am I enjoying it also? Yes. It does feel, understandably, that the series is coming to a conclusion. And I think that in a lot of ways that's smart. I think that, despite its popularity, I could see where Matt Dinniman would want to move on from this. While I'm sure he loves these characters, I would imagine at some point it's good to find some closure. Though what closure Carl will find, along with Donut, and whether or not it will be satisfying, is still very much up in the air.

Refinement

I continue to find significant value in the Daily Note. I find it interesting that this is a concept I'd known about for years, but never really tried to apply to my life. Having that time in the morning to prepare for the day, to reflect, and to consider what my most important tasks are does feel like it helps set me up for a more successful day.

I also enjoy the end of the day wind down and an opportunity to reflect and take an honest assessment of how I did that day. I am still struggling a little with how to marry this to a more comprehensive task management system, but honestly, task management always feels like it's been something that has eluded me. At least at the moment, this is working pretty well. I fully anticipate continuing this after the month is up, though I am still considering the best way to make that work.

Quote of the week

I am carrying too much water. I have created a number of different things to do, and I occasionally find myself feeling burnt out. Not by tasks others have placed on me, but by tasks I have placed on myself.

I don't have a solution for this problem. I don't know how I want to carry less water, but I'm feeling that it's definitely something I need to do. I'm looking at a few ways to streamline some of my workflows and processes. And while that continues, I'm trying to make sure it doesn't become its own set of tasks and its own new bucket of water.

Still, it's an important concept for me to remember. Oftentimes, improvement doesn't mean more. It means less.

Area of improvement

And so, appropriately, that is an area of improvement that I'm working on this week, and probably next week, and probably the week after that. It is taking an honest assessment of what I am doing and whether or not it fits with this phase of my life.

Wrapping up

This week on Generations, which will be posted later today, Aubrey and I talked about some widely cited health myths, which was a fairly long list of things, and not surprisingly, not a single one of them was actually true. It makes me realize just how often our fears and anxieties are preyed upon, how often we are manipulated. And it's all for the benefit of other people, whether it's them selling their products, getting more views, using those views to get brand deals, or whatever it may be. There's just so much fearmongering out there.

It's a good reminder for us to ask questions, to be optimistically skeptical. We'll never be perfect. But we can find ways to be better.