#7 Weekend Bites 🍪

It's been a bad/good week

First off, sorry for not posting a Weekend Bites last week. At some point I may worry that this is becoming an unhelpful narrative that I’m building in my head, but at least for now I accept (and those close to me know) that I’m not always the most reliable or consistent. I try my best though and if you need someone to drive you to the hospital and argue with doctors on your behalf, I’ll be there in a jiffy. Now you know this about me too, so we’re friends. Secondly, I confess it’s been a bad/good week over here - I’ve received some lovely compliments and noted other areas where I need to improve. Every week feels like a small reckoning with who I am, what I care about, and what I’m willing to do. At times like these, I seek the gentle, calm and constructive. If you too want to be encouraged, grounded and soothed, I hope some of these links do that for you. As friends, shall we continue on with this week’s edition of Weekend Bites? Let’s.

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Listen to this as you read the newsletter:

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I’m becoming a bit obsessed with Rajiv Surendra - not in a ‘I’ve looked through his entire Instagram feed and figured out where he lives’ kind of way, but in a ‘I really like him and love the way he thinks and explains things, maybe we can be friends’ way. That sounds less creepy, right? Anyway, I really enjoyed this recent video about his apartment. One of the things I absolutely love about Rajiv is his ability to surprise me - I’ll think he’s going to rehash the same-old-same-old advice or topics but he somehow twists them to be more thoughtful, mindful and beautiful. You might not agree, but if you’re here, I have a small notion that we’re all kindred spirits.

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A colleague reminded me that this tool exists - Goblin Tools. I first saw it on TikTok but, like most things on there, I saved the video and never revisited it. I’ve now resorted to screenshotting or saving videos to my phone with the idea that somehow this will change things. I mean, when was the last time you reviewed your phone photos? I digress though…

If you click the ‘magic wand’ icon, goblin.tools will automatically break the task down into smaller sub-tasks. Perfect if you’re unsure where to start or what to do next.

Goblin Tools is a free web application that uses AI to help people, particularly neurospicy folk, do a range of things, like build a task list, check the tone of something you’re writing, or estimate how long a task will actually take. These are all things that neurodivergent people tend to find challenging (hello time blindness, my old friend) so the fact that this tool exists is *chef’s kiss*. I haven’t used Goblin Tools for anything serious yet (my brain is actually quite good at breaking things down into smaller tasks) but I can definitely see myself using the Compiler, Chef and Formalizer tools at some point.

I put in a bunch of random ingredients to see what the Chef feature would generate. I mean, will this be good? I’m a little scared to find out after knowing what AI crochet patterns are like (i.e. Not good). But hey, my neurospicy brain has nothing in it when it comes to food ideas, so this is better than nothing. I think.

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Corinne Bailey Rae has new music out and I just think this song and music video is beautiful.

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Despite having a Substack newsletter (hi, you’re reading it), I hadn’t downloaded the Substack app before this week. This morning, I used the app to read through the latest newsletters that I subscribe to and it was pretty wonderful. I’ve often looked romantically on weekend mornings reading the paper after breakfast but end up death scrolling on social media in our curtained living room instead. I may not have a physical newspaper or a breakfast nook, but now I have the Substack app and it’s actually really good? If you love reading and writing, I think you’ll like this app. So many writers, artists, scientists and other amazing folk are on Substack now and subscribing to their newsletters feels a little like direct access to them in a very pleasant way. Like,

Patti Smith

has a Substack newsletter! With the app you can easily see all of the newsletters you’ve subscribed to in one place, and I love that you can bookmark ones you want to save for whatever reason. You can download the app through the usual means and, if you want some newsletter recommendations, you can find mine on the right hand side of the Like Minds homepage. There’ll also be more recs below.

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You wanted recs, you got recs - The best Substack newsletters according to The Guardian.

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Alexander Noughton’s illustration for The Intrinsic Perspective.

Really enjoyed reading this recent newsletter from

Erik Hoel

about federated social networks like Reddit and Substack being the future. If you’re like, ‘what’s a federated social network?’ - same. Erik’s piece explains everything and is super thought provoking to boot.

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And now just something fun for your weekend - Sohla and Ham’s Mystery Menu. In each video, the married duo are asked to make a multi-course meal using a surprise ingredient. I love these too and a top tier goal would to absolutely go to their house for a dinner party. It’s always amazing to see what they can create out of something like jell-o. In this video, they tackle durian, which is famously a fineable offence if you bring it on the train system in Singapore. Sometimes described as smelling like warm, very old rubbish, Ham and Sohla handle durian like the pros they are. As an illustrator, I also adore Sohla’s food drawings when they’re planning out the meal. Sohla has a Substack newsletter at

Hot Dish with Sohla

if you’re keen.

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That’s it for this week. Have a sleepy, gentle Sunday with this song: