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I don't know this kid, but I don't see the homophobic element to his stupid "joke." I think it demonstrates a racial commentary because AIDS in Africa really wasn't about the gay community. I think he was just mocking Africans. Regardless, I don't see why you wouldn't tell him how offensive it was and make clear you don't approve of or accept that kind of comment. If he truly feels that way, he doesn't deserve your affection or attention.

I was knocked on my ass today, figuratively, not literally. There are a few things that I'm hyper sensitive to, so I'm not really sure if I'm blowing this out of proportion. I'll give a little background by saying that there's a young man at work that I've grown pretty fond of. Not at all in a sexual way. He's completely straight and I'm not attracted to him in any physical way. But he's a very nice young man, with real life goals for himself. He's a very hard worker, he's kind and polite to everyone. Recently his Father decided he didn't want to be a husband or father anymore and abandoned his wife and two children, and moved back to his birth country of Ireland. Of course this young man was quite distressed by this and confided in me, looking for advice. There wasn't much I could actually do to ease his pain, but I gave him encouragement. I also cooked his favorite dinner (my homemade macaroni) with all the sides and fixings and dipped it off at his house. He, his Mom and his Sister all thanked me profusely and I got a nice little Christmas confection package from them as well. His Sister also works at the Hardware store, and is a total sweetheart. I have had Grandfatherly feelings for both he and his Sister, and keep tabs on how they're coping (finish Carpenter joke). And I have received similar feelings of friendship from both of them. He's been going through all the steps to become a firefighter, and has been pretty successful thus far. Fast forward to today... He came by the lumber desk and just off the cuff made a very offensive joke. Something along the lines of "they should send mosquito netting to Africa to humanely save mosquitos from catching aides." 3 of my co-workers including my Manager were there. All of us found this highly offensive. My Manager first perceived the racial connotations, while I sighted the homophobic implications as well. We were all pretty dumbfounded. I had my last break shortly after this, and had time to reflect on how offended I actually was by this. And am struggling with the idea that he couldn't understand how anyone, let alone a gay man or Black man wouldn't find this completely offensive. After this my Manager mentioned a MAGA conspiracy rant by this same young man a week or so earlier. I'd never gotten any MAGA vibes before either. I'm kind of shell shocked. You can tell all the gay jokes you can come up with, and I will happily laugh along with you and repeat my favorite gay jokes as well. But as a gay man that survived the AIDS epidemic, and personally watched about a dozen friends die in their early twenties, I'm hypersensitive to AIDS jokes. Is it possible this young man could in any way not understand this? Am I overthinking this, or blowing it out of proportion? I have no idea how to act, or approach this situation. I'm also afraid my Manager is going to say something to the higher ups, as I had trouble keeping my emotions in check and actually left work a few minutes early in tears. And he was angered that it upset me that much. I don't want to make a thing about this. And I feel that I have no right to expect others to share my values or ideas. I'm just more shocked than anything else, and I'm deeply hurt. But I don't want to retaliate in any way. I also don't want to give anyone else a negative view of said young man. He also has a right to his own ideas and views, political and otherwise. But I can't help feeling this was designed to offend me. I'm completely unaware of any situation that would have prompted any kind of negative feelings toward me. As I've stated, there have been zero reasons for him to feel anything inappropriate between us. He did recently move from the hardware dept. to the lumber yard, where the attitude can be a little more macho, and the jokes a bit more bawdy. But this seems extreme in any case. Am I misreading this? Am I just too sensitive?

You Wish.

Lunchtime assignation (with Joanne) Fish Taco's 'N Usual @Big Rock

Guess I need to get a pair of K1000s and start walking around with them. I'll be cool then, right?

a mashup of Ewan McGregor in Star Wars and talking about sea otters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfR4MCDx0Pw

In better, and somewhat hilarious news... I'm especially fond of the 14,000 vs. fewer than 40 metric. Tell me how your bill failed without saying your bill failed...

Who knew? https://www.cnn.com/world/wired-headphones-comeback-spc

I'm going to need a second job...

https://bikerumor.com/proposed-new-hampshire-legislation-would-require-all-bike-owners-to-pay-registration-fees/

"🇬🇧🇬🇧 it has six lenses 🇬🇧"

I saw this too. Although I believe the best way to cook bacon is with a bacon weight. Been doing it this way for about 7 years.

"It is now 85 seconds to midnight" https://www.reuters.com/world/china/atomic-scientists-set-doomsday-clock-closer-midnight-than-ever-2026-01-27/ https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2026-statement/

Just in the last few years: Lagerfeld, Westwood (who was also predeceased by her natural successor Alexander McQueen), Miyake, & more recently Armani. Now Valentino last week: The remaining big Japanese designers of that era: Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons) & Yohji Yamamoto are both getting up there in age. Ralph Lauren is up there too, and thankfully still active for the brand. With Donatella having stepped down from Versace, who else is left from that period (70/80/90's)? Is Calvin still working? Mucia Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Tom Ford (Gucci), Marc Jacobs are a few young-ish [sic] names I know crossing over into this century. I have no idea who is leading classic houses like Chanel, Dior, etc. On a positive note, I am currently amazed at Coutre to the Max, who appears to be an old soul in this young boy's body, & doing amazing things. Can this be real?

Not a ton of info, but if anyone is interested, here’s an interview with Mr. Zhou, of Light Lens Lab, on their recreations. I’m lucky enough to have several of the lenses discussed, including the 8-element, 1966 “Noctilux” (one of my faves), Z21 Angénieux, and the recent Double Aspherical. Big fan.

That's a tough one.....they were incredible.... On a more personal note, RIP to a friend, Pete Savickas. Pete was a partner to a woman who knew Karen from New York City single days in the 80's. She moved up to a small town in NH and expanded a house on a small lake there. She met Pete many years back and - while they never married - were partners all those years. No kids, but a nice life and acclimated to small town living. Pete was a bit of a curmudgeon, but he could've been in the Dos Equis beer commercial; he was one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He and Debbie were our New Year's Eve partners for several years. A great cook, boater (he had two beautiful wooden Chris Craft boats), wine & beer connoisseur, investor, weather watcher, animal whisperer, and so much more. We would talk about so many things, and I'd learn something new every time we chatted. It was a pleasure to chat about audio, finally something I could teach him; and his interest was always there to learn. I will raise a glass to him, if you are drinking and think to toast him, please do.

‘We get a lot of requests for it be used in sex scenes’: how Goldfrapp made Ooh La La https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/26/sex-scenes-how-goldfrapp-made-ooh-la-la-baudelaire

This one is only 5 lbs so you could still win the measuring contest

My bologna doesn't chub as much as it used to.

send it.

RIP Sly Dunbar, 1/2 of the greatest rhythm section of all time. Robbie Shakespeare preceded him 4 years ago.

Looks good. I'll check it out.

Dinner tonight was at Javalina Indigenous Dining at it was excellent. We had a variety of dishes but the only one I snapped was the elk fry bread with a significant pile of pulled elk, arugula and pickled onions on fry bread. Delicious. At the front counter, there was a basket of whistles for anti-ICE protests and support of the targets of this fascist aggression.