Weekend Wrap 9/28/2025

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.

This week was one of challenges. The most notable challenge was time management. That led to this list being a little shorter than it otherwise would have been. I just didn't have nearly as much time to check things out.

Music

Feast your eyes. Bathe in the glorious AI slop that is the cover of Dark Angel's 34 years-in-the-making triumphant return, Extinction Level Event!

It's shit. It's all shit.

The cover is a harbinger of what is found once you start to listen. As my older son said when I threw this on in the car: "This sounds like what you get when you say you want generic metal for some low-budget video game."

He ain't wrong.

The drumming is great. Gene Hoglan is always solid. But everything else is just so pedestrian. The production is all over the place. The vocals are just generic shouts. The songs are uninspired and uninspiring. And despite the band saying it isn't on streaming platforms as some sort of moral stance, one listen and you see right through it.

It isn't there because it sucks.

We waited 34 years for this?

Testament's forthcoming release Para Bellum can't come soon enough.

Book

After finishing Tiny Experiments, I thought this would be a good follow-up. I was looking for more fodder to fuel my motivation to do and think differently. Liminal Thinking, by Dave Gray, was a quick and easy read.

And left me wanting.

It's not that it was a bad book. It just felt incredibly superficial. It all boiled down to this: Your beliefs shape how you act, and questioning those beliefs about the world around you might change how you think and act!

So, change what you do by changing how you think about it?

Not really ground-breaking stuff.

I feel like I'm being too hard on the book. I just kept waiting for something profound, and instead found myself thinking, "No kidding," to just about everything I read.

Quote of the week

I feel seen.

This really slapped me in the face this week. All week long, I felt like I didn't have enough time to get the things done that I wanted to or felt I needed to. I felt behind the 8-ball all week, and tried to convince myself it was because I was just too busy.

There's a quote for that one, too.

But this was a good reminder: focus, don't complain. If I can't get things done, that's on me. Either I didn't say "no" when I should have, I didn't prioritize appropriately, or I didn't focus.

What didn't work

To that, what didn't work this week was my time management. I felt rushed all week. I kept thinking I just had too much to do, not enough time.

We have all been there.

As the week went on, however, I realized it was my fault. I didn't use my time well when I had it. We are all busy. That's no excuse. My problem was not making good use of my time.

That changes this week.

Wrapping up

I just wanted to take a moment here to thank those who have been reading, those who have signed up. I'd love for more people to join us as we all work on getting better, together.

Life can be tough, and having others around helps. I've had a few people mention things they've read here and shared their thoughts on it. I love that and am grateful people feel that way.

Thanks. You all are awesome.