i've been meaning to make posts of the cool things i come across for a while now, as a way to record my interests at certain points of my life and to practice expressing why i like things. description isn't my strong suit so i think doing this will help me articulate myself beyond "i just like it" or "idk it's nice."

here's the first installment of 'cool finds.' internet finds, real life finds—anything goes as long as i like it!

👄 Pink Trombone: bare-handed speech synthesis, an interactive website

a cool simulation of how speech works. use your mouse to interact with the parts of the mouth and throat to produce sounds. control the position of the tongue and you can go from articulating /i/ to /a/. tap on the nasal cavity and get a nasal vowel.

i visualized the vowel chart as i played around with this and was taken back to my phonetics class, my favorite linguistics course. i got the urge to send this link to an old friend from linguistics but that would've been weird (i'm sure the last thing she wants is a premature reminder of classes starting back up again). if i was still in school, i definitely would've sent this to at least my TA.

✒️ Diamine Ochre, a fountain pen ink

my second ever bottle of ink. this was kind of an impulsive buy, as in i didn't read 20 reviews on it before clicking 'add to cart.' but also not impulsive because my first ink purchase was from over a year ago and brown ink has been on my wishlist for months now.

i didn't have high expectations when i received it, but once i drew the first stroke on paper, i fell in love. it's a warm milk chocolate brown, bordering on the orange side. it even has cool shading. i'm glad i chose it.

💻 Come sketch & explore Paris with me by lemoncholy, a video

beautiful editing, narration, art, and musings about the artist's time in Paris. i love when the elements of collage and found objects come together. scrapbooks out of their usual context is one of my favorite things, especially when they're worked into video. well-made videos are plentiful, but thoughtful ones like this one are rare.

🎞 The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021), a film

months ago, when i came across The Map of Tiny Perfect Things' trailer and movie title, i rolled my eyes and ignored it. i no longer had the appetite for dramatic depictions of being a teenager in love. skip to a couple of weeks ago and my nostalgic mood led me to crave exactly that. i began the movie expecting a romance between the only two humans stuck in a time loop together; instead, i got a lesson in stepping outside of your bubble. a nice reminder to offer time to the ones doing life alongside you. life is better shared after all.

if you like intimate and melancholy films inspired by childlike imagination (see: my faves, Where the Wild Things Are and Her) then you'll like this. plus, the soundtrack is chef's kiss. i'm surprised that i loved it. it's been a while since a movie delighted me.