Weekend Wrap — June 14, 2026

Each weekend, I like to pause, reflect, and look back on the past week. This isn't meant to be a deep dive or sweeping life philosophy—just a collection of things that caught my attention, made me think, brought me joy, or stayed with me in some way.

What I Noticed

I didn’t get a newsletter out this week. I have a draft. I keep coming back to it, working on it, tweaking it. At the heart of it all is the following:

Articles of this ilk have been all over my feeds lately. All questioning the worth of systems, of optimization, of efficiency. I get it. I see value in everything they are saying. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that they are missing an important point. Optimization, if it serves our true goals, isn’t bad. I’m still trying to wrangle my thoughts. 

What I’m Enjoying

I’ve been a fan of Khemmis since their 2015 debut, Absolution. And while there has been a bit of a fading of the doom influences, they continue to release great music. Self-titled release, Khemmis, is no different. We still have the classic, crunchy guitars, the soaring vocals with awesome harmonies (and only occasional growls), and the signature Khemmis sound and feel. They still haven’t topped 2016 release Hunted, but I like all their music. 

I’ve been getting back to Diablo IV this week. I plowed through the end of the “Lord of Hatred” expansion and have started playing with the Warlock more. I will never be one of those hardcore Diablo players, min-maxing the perfect build. And that’s okay. Even if I don’t go down that rabbit hole, I can still have a heck of a good time. 

What I’m Practicing

This month has been about experimentation. Trying new ways to smooth out some of my workflows. I’ve had some successes. Some failures. But overall, I am learning and enjoying the process. Yes, it involves AI tools. Never for creative work. But finding ways these tools can free up my time and effort to better do the things that matter to me. 

One Thing to Improve

My patience needs some work. That’s on me. I’ve allowed it to slowly erode over time. Yes, it is tested daily. But isn’t that true for all of us? My goal this week is to pay attention. Notice when I am losing my patience, then ask why. Why am I feeling frustrated? What is the actual reason? I suspect that the answers to those questions will help me catch myself. 

Wrapping Up

For the next little bit, I am going to be scaling back my articles a bit. I will still try to ensure there is meaning to be found. But it is time for me to really buckle down and put in the time for my next novel. 

I’m making progress on the planning, but things are going more slowly than I would like as I only have one or two days a week to dedicate to it. I need to do more, so this will be contracting a bit. I look forward to sharing the novel writing process though. It is good to feel this one taking shape.