What I'm up to - July 2026 | Philip I. Thomas

My monthly newsletter about what I am up to, which I send in place of social media.

What I did in June

I left Chroma, and I start a new role in August.
In this liminal time, I am spending a couple of weeks in Japan and practicing photography. I started a pop-up newsletter called Tsundoku sharing photos from the trip. Take a look.
I published Spring cleaning about pruning old projects.
I spent a lot of time listening to music. I saw James Blake perform on his Trying Times tour, went to two baroque performances in Berkeley, and have been hopping between hi-fi jazz kissaten in Japan. A high point was stumbling into Lion, where they happened to be playing two of my favorite pieces: Dvorak's cello concerto and Kabalevsky's cello concerto.
I had a straight flush in a poker game.

Articles: Instead of taking your job, A.I. might transform it. Dear A.I. Companies, the Doom Trolling Needs to Stop. Drew Austin on authentic local culture: "In the contemporary landscape, the punishment for being authentic is becoming someone else's content." Talkie and Claude (no, the other one). The importance of personal projects.
Books and magazines: Cherry Bones issue 2 had some great articles about the death of the "bohemian bargain" and the exploding durian market in Southeast Asia. I read Mundo Mendo, Book One in a jazz bar, and appreciated Luis's reflections on craft.
Podcasts: Forty ways to pay for coffee in Japan.
Films/TV: I enjoyed the latest season of Clarkson's Farm.
Ideas: Preference falsification is such an interesting concept, especially in the context of revolutions.
Objects: I have been collecting tenugui on this trip.