Here’s this week’s list of things to check out.

Butcher and Singer

OK, I’m cheating a bit by picking a place I featuredyesterday with a bunch of pix last night, but there’s a bit more I could say. Butcher and Singer is a steakhouse, an in Steven Starr’s thematic approach, has a kind of Mad-Men-era vibe. (Starr is famously a concert promoter-turned-restauranteur, which is often credited for his curated collection of foodie experiences.)

There is a fascinating collection of Manhattans, and I find it interesting that there are no martinis featured on the menu in the way that the Manhattans are. I was sorely tempted to try the Robber Baron, which would be a Rob Roy by most definitions.

I ordered a NY Strip, which is a cut I almost never cook at home, but often find on the menu in steakhouses. It’s a leaner, grainier, beefier cut than my favorite, the ribeye, but I make ribeye at home all the time. I like the texture of strip, too. One thing I’ll say about this strip, and it reminded me immediately of the specimen my son, who attends a local technical high school’s culinary arts program, brought home from class one memorable day: the cut was of the bone-in variety, and this made the experience of eating it completely different from the thinner boneless version I’ve usually enjoyed. I prefer the bone-in version hands down.

The kitschy, throwback-to-bygone-era vibe even includes Baked Alaska as a dessert option. It’s hard to pass up; like the Lobster Thermidor at the Knife and Fork in Atlantic City, it’s one of the few (if only) places I go that has it on the menu.

ActivityPub

One of the concerns people who right on the internet entertain from time to time is how to promote their work. I don’t have any intention of making money doing this, but I do want to participate as fully as I can in an online community. And the version of that participation that would include Facebook and its associated services isn’t what I have in mind. I started digging around with WordPress, which powers Uncorrected, and learned a bit about ActivityPub. I’ve followed a few tutorials and got things linked up with Micro.blog and Mastodon. I had long ago set up a Mastodon account, but never really used it. But I don’t really use Twitter/X and Facebook isn’t interesting to me save for the occasional family post. But the idea is to decentralize your social identity.

Oliver Burkeman’s The Imperfectionist

Burkeman chronicles the the post-GTD landscape: there’s too much to do, there’s not really anything you can do about it, but let’s not fall into despair. It’s comforting and empowering writing about being productive, but encountering meaning and value outside of your role as an information worker.