weekly retro #38: the heat is on

yesterday i finally caved and turned the heat on, started this retro, and then abandoned it as i suddenly had the urge and momentum (the edible hit) to design some candles for the holiday season. it's just crossed over from monday morning into monday afternoon, time for some retro closure.

photo from a dentist chair showing a tv up above me showing a weird still ai-generated image of an autumn scene on the deck near a pond

this was my view as i was getting a brutal deep dental cleaning one week ago, today. i inherited challenging teeth from my father and hashimotos disease likes to do a number on my gums, which is why i'm never without Content about dental work. i absolutely have to pride myself on my ability to withstand pain (and ai slop) or else i'd avoid it entirely like older generations in my family and lose my teeth.

photo of a train on the opposite tracks wrapped with a psa for the 988 suicide prevention hotline

you have to admit it's a little funny that this is what i saw when i realized that i was sitting on the wrong side of the tracks as what was supposed to be my train home pulled up. fortunately the next train was in 38 minutes and not a full hour. i paused reading tim curry's 'vagabond' because my library hold on keith mcnally's 'i regret almost everything' came through. i went into it knowing nothing at all about the guy, just that i once spent $7 on a spray gun seltzer at the odeon. how peculiar is it that i keep picking up memoirs this month of older men who have had strokes, half of them by pure coincidence?!

photo of an empty side of the path train car i was on that is plastered in posters of "bad cinderella"

this broadway show closed in june of 2023 after a 3-month run and yet its ads plastered my train home from visiting my dad. he's in an acute rehab and for the first time said he's seeing improvement. he really does look and sound great compared to the first time i saw him after his first stroke, he just needs to regain use of his left side - he calls his left leg his "flat tire".

blurry night photo of an uber eats robot trying to cross at the corner but there's a car parked on the crosswalk with its hazards on

these robots are so stupid, i sometimes catch myself rooting for someone blocking the crosswalk. this is hell lol. i took this photo on my way home from aerial yoga. i hit 150 classes attended at my main studio and wrote about my equipment. the thought of one of these robots driving into me and injuring me, forcing me to retire from amateur aerial yoga, has crossed my mind. those fuckers are getting faster and dumber.

photo of the building barcade was in on newark ave in the process of being broken down - there is no roof or windows, as is noticeable by the blue sky showing through where the windows were

they started tearing down the building that former jerseyscript venue barcade was in. rip. that was one of the few places that were around when i moved to jersey city in 2014. that was the year i quit the nba to work at bocoup, just as the donald sterling scandal was unfolding. when i can't remember what year i moved here, i just search his name. that racist bozo is 91 years old now.

photo of my black cat pumagreg being very handsome laying on the table with his paws politely laid in front of him.

pumagreg has been very comfy this past week, since not only is his heating pad about, but i've started turning the apartment heaters on. one great thing about taking an animal in is the sense of accomplishment i get when i see him zooted out on the couch, tail tip ticking back and forth like a metronome as he takes in the warmth from the living room heater. it almost makes the heating bill feel worth it lol.

photo of a pumpkin outside that has a big eared cat carved into it

this is not pumagreg, as you can tell by the fully-intact ears, but i love this pumpkin and can not wait to see the squirrels go asses-out feasting on these decorative snacks that my neighbors have laid out for them.

things i enjoyed this week

anil dash's "the majority ai view" is a very good essay that cuts through the lack of nuance in the broad ai discourse.
a content warning is necessary as it talks about murder and domestic violence: "kill list: hacking an assassination site on the dark web" was an great defcon talk given by carl miller. it was a very impressive use of storytelling to shine a serious light on a very scary part of the internet.
shared on bluesky by @andreagrimes.com, i wish i always knew about the nikon comedy wildlife awards. my favorite finalist is this eagle pissing on a hawk?
this stream vod of t-pain finishing his new song 'club husband' was really fun to watch. it's cool how he includes his community on the process, largely in part because they demanded he finished the song haha. your community is a great motivator!
i will never forget having just a few blocks left to walk to get home after therapy, with my phone in hand playing a news site livestreaming zohran mamdani's speech addressing the raging racism he's facing from even so-called allies. i'm going to remember that speech and the moment it was addressing forever.

have a spooky yet safe halloween.

xoxo jenn

this was published October 27, 2025 under living health weekly-retro teeth trains books reading robots ai jerseyscript pumagreg halloween yoga