macro
- adapt activities from my workshops into digital workbooks that I can sell
- refresh my freelancer away days so they can be done at any time
- focus on finding short-term facilitation gigs with small businesses and teams
- The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson
- The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers
- War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson
- The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
- Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, 2024 - ★★★★
These days if you can hold my attention for a full 2.5 hours you’re likely to get 4 stars. And if you give me a main character who is someone competent and excessively resentful on top of that, it’s a lock in.
Anora, 2024 - ★★★★
Quite the rollercoaster. At times uncomfortable to watch, at times laugh out loud funny and then one final moment of gut wrenching despair.
Frosty mornings
I much prefer the crisp cold morning we had yesterday to today’s slushy snow. We went for a walk along the River Derwent and it was magical.
Year in books for 2024
Here are the books I finished reading in 2024. I didn’t reach my goal, but who cares. I’ve read some outstanding books and abandoned a few that didn’t feel worth my time.
Perfect Days, 2023 - ★★★★★
Some films come along at just the right time, and this one I needed today. Now is now.
The Holdovers, 2023 - ★★★★★
An actual Christmas film that is actually very good. I enjoyed how it was set up to be one thing then turned into something entirely different. All three main actors were at the top of their game. And Payne’s touch is so subtle I was fully immersed in the story and the unfolding relationships.
Happiest Season, 2020 - ★★
Call me when they’ve made the alternative ending where Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza live happily ever after.
All We Imagine as Light, 2024 - ★★★★
There’s so much depth to this film which essentially presents itself as the story of three friends working at the same hospital in Mumbai.
Despite the hum of the city constantly in the background there’s a calm throughout.
Now (July 2024)
The latest look at where my energy and attention is focused now…
Freelance work
The quiet of July and August is giving me an opportunity to rethink my entire freelance business.
My plan for the rest of the year (and beyond) is to:
Part-time employment
I’ve now been in my part-time content design role for just over a year. It’s taken a while to get the service off the ground, as you might expect, but right now my time is booked up at least a month in advance.
I’m still enjoying the variety in the work, getting more involved with the strategy behind projects and leading on discovery workshops focused on user needs. This week I’ve contributed to setting up a user research project too.
There’s a seed in the back of my mind about where the opportunities are for development. I’m a team of one at the moment, and if that grows I’d love to add some research expertise into the mix. I also wonder whether I’ll need to make a decision about increasing my hours. Nothing concrete at the moment, but I want to be prepared should the conversation arise.
Activities
I’ve been really enjoying playing tag rugby over the summer. After attending a taster session in May, I signed up to join the league and was assigned a team. Over the past few months, we’ve really bonded, finishing third in the first mini-season and qualifying for the Cup competition.
At work, there’s a small group of us ‘doing PE’. We started off playing Spikeball and have expanded to throwing a ball between ourselves as we walk/jog along the Quayside.
Through the print studio I’m a member of, I signed up to take part in the 20:20 print exchange. After a lot of thinking, I tested a concept and printing of the edition is under way. I’m still finding the process a little scary, not really knowing how the final piece will come out after three blocks, each adding a different colour/layer.
Relaxing
I am reading a lot at the moment, fuelled by regular trips lunchtime to the city library. On my summer reading pile are:
Summer also means that I’m watching a lot of sport. We’re really spoiled for choice at the moment with a variety of forms of cricket and the Olympics. And as we hurtle towards the start of a new football season, my photo library is currently filling up with drafts for my Fantasy Premier League team.
This is a ‘now’ page, inspired by Derek Sivers. Intrigued by this? Read about the origins of the /now page movement then make your own.
Shifting feelings on blogging
Licorice Pizza, 2021
Gave up on the hour mark, just after Sean Penn’s character is introduced. Sometimes I don’t have the patience for films where I can’t connect with at least one character.
Amanda Palmer on rest and seasons
I’ve been trying to clear out my podcast feed, starting by prioritising a handful of episodes to listen to each week. I started with a 4-year-old interview with Amanda Palmer (listen or read the transcript) on the now defunct Routines and Ruts podcast.
The upside of coming to this episode now, is that there were some nuggets of wisdom that align with the current focus of both my work and my personal projects. The downside was that I’d chosen to listen while out for a run, and every few minutes I felt the need to pause and make a note of something I’d heard.
What follows are some highlights and ideas that were sparked through listening to this conversation.
Our phones have turned us into Gollum
Amanda’s point is that because our phones have become a single place where the majority of daily life happens, it’s hard to create boundaries. A thought popped into my head, probably from the one device thing, that our relationship with our phones is similar to Gollum’s relationship with the ring - if we’re not careful, we lose sight of who we are and what is important to us, just like Sméagol did.
There is no pause button for creative minds
This is a really valuable reminder, something I’ve experienced in the freelance communities I’m in, especially with creative folk and knowledge workers. The urge to keep making things and putting them out into the world is strong. There’s a pull to keep going. A fear that if we stop, maybe we’ll never start again. However, when we allow ourselves to rest, what we’re actually doing is changing gear or switching modes, and creating space for more expansive thinking.
“Your internal combustion engines are always working on something and your experience is always being synthesised into whatever is going to come out in the tray at the end of the day, whether it’s a week from now or ten years from now.”
Rest is not a reward, we don’t have to earn it
That’s it. There are no wiser words I can add to that sentence.
Everything works in seasons
Sometimes our commitments (our work, our relationships, our hobbies even) require us to be constantly on, constantly active. Sometimes there are lulls or droughts. It can be easy to feel the need to push against that, but what would happen if we accept and work with the season we’re in?
“anything in general has these cycles that you just need to take in, respect, and work around, and then have enough understanding that you don’t stack them back to back to back.”
Bend It Like Beckham, 2002 - ★★★½
Take out all the scenes with the creepy coach and this could be a 5-star film.
How to Have Sex, 2023 - ★★★★
I’ve been trying to articulate how I felt come the end of this film. Helpless is one way to describe it - I could see what was coming and couldn’t do anything to stop it. I realise I also feel culpable, like so many of the so-called friends who aren’t looking out for each other.
I’d like every 16 year old to watch this before they head off for that holiday.
Past Lives, 2023 - ★★★★★
Just brilliant. Excellent script. Fantastic acting. Subtle directing. Keep having to remind myself this is a debut from Celine Song 🤯
Dune, 2021 - ★★★
I enjoyed the first half, but when the action moved out into the desert it all got a bit too broody for me. And as the foresight/dream sequences increased I started to get bored.