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
- I took Wednesday off to spend with Izzy after she returned from a week away
- at work I moved desks - I’m now on my third desk in 9 months
- I caught up on a few smaller projects that took a back seat while I worked on a tender document
- in my freelance time this week, I worked on tasks associated with relaunching my coaching practice and had a very fruitful supervision session
- I recovered from an annoying hip injury to play two hockey matches over the weekend, including the O35 Plate competition quarter-final which we lost on penalty shuffles
- Izzy went away again over the weekend and I subsisted on supermarket pizza and beer for three days
- I went back to try again with Picard - so far I’m enjoying the second season way more than season one
- on Sunday Aggie arrived for a few days stay
- I had my belated 6-month review at my part-time job and without fanfare passed probation
- I moved my newsletter to Buttondown and sent out an update to tell subscribers about my intended changes to the format and frequency
- I made progress on the repositioning work I’ve been doing for my coaching practice
- I caught a bug towards the end of the week and ended up having a sick day on Friday
- I recovered enough to play hockey but made a mistake that gifted the opposition a goal and, as it turned out, the victory
- I spend Sunday full of rage for no apparent reason
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.
Young Adult, 2011 - ★★
This won’t be leaving a lasting impression, but it fitted my requirements for the evening’s entertaining - 90 minutes of uncomplicated entertainment.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 2020 - ★★★½
A lot like a recorded theatre performance in terms of its staging and extended monologues. And on the whole I think that worked, largely as a result of stellar performances from David and Boseman.
Weeknote 09/24
Better late than never, here are a few things from the week that was:
Petite Maman, 2021 - ★★★★
Small and perfectly formed. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Celine Sciamma.
Weeknote 07/24
I still don’t feel that I’ve fully got into a rhythm for my freelance days. At the moment I’d say I’m only spending 1 day at most on this work. As a result I made the decision this week to bump a couple of workshops I had originally scheduled to happen in March. They’ll now take place in May.
I’m spending much of my freelance time at the moment focused on repositioning my coaching practice and working towards re-accreditation with the International Coaching Federation. This week I outlined exactly what I need to do to achieve that.
It was a subdued week in the office at my part-time job, after we got the news on Monday that a colleague had died. He had been ill for some time and recently left work. Although you could say his death was not unexpected, I think we all hoped he had more time remaining with his family.
On Wednesday, I took the afternoon off to have my induction at Northern Print. I’ve joined as a member to make use of the studio facilities. After the health and safety tour, plus a refresher on using the Albion press, I was left to do my own thing. I focused on printing a new lighthouse design I’d made for the day and with a few tweaks to the pressure of the press I was pretty happy with the results.
This week’s Monday night movie was Official Competition (before it disappeared off Netflix). I followed this up with a trip to the cinema on Tuesday after work to see All of Us Strangers.
I decided I needed a brief pause after reading The Parable of the Sower. When a book leaves such a lasting impression whatever follows it always gets a raw deal. And yet, there was still time for reading, so I picked up a crime novel to be my stop-gap. These types of book are perfect for this situation; they’re formulaic and therefore easy to read and there’s no pressure on them to live up to what came before them.
Both Izzy and I had more free time than usual over the weekend, so we went on a Saturday morning date. First pancakes for breakfast (as we were both busy on Shrove Tuesday), then on to the touring Yevonde: Life and Colour exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery.
All of Us Strangers, 2023 - ★★★
There was a moment about three quarters of the way through the film when I became aware of the soundtrack of sobs in the cinema screen. I wondered briefly why my heart was so impenetrable today. Then Harry’s story reached its denouement and I felt my heartstrings being tugged.
This portrait of loneliness and grief made a lot more sense when the credits rolled and I saw it was based on a novel by a Japanese author.
Official Competition, 2021 - ★★★
I knew I was going to enjoy this as soon as Lola started flicking through her annotated script.
Weeknotes 05-06/24
Week 5
After a busy weekend, I mostly took Monday off to catch up with myself I did some digital spring cleaning, got some household chores done and made a plan for the lino project I want to take to my upcoming induction at the print studio.
I watched Bottoms for Monday movie night. I really wanted to like it more than I did.
We had a dog sitting duty Tuesday to Friday which meant I worked from home for an extra day.
On Saturday, I went to Wakefield to play hockey. It was a close match, in which we spent the majority camped in our defensive half. However, we held strong, defended a slender lead and finally came away with three points.
I rounded the week off by giving blood (on a Sunday!) It was my 37th donation and keeps me on track to reach 40 within the year of my 40th birthday. It was a good donation day as there were mint Clubs on offer in the refreshment area.
Week 6
This was a week of ups and downs.
The ups
The downs
Maestro, 2023 - ★★
Lacking in chemistry, I got zero connection with the characters. Although very well acted, as you’d expect, it left me totally cold. Had I been watching on my own I reckon I’d have switched off before the hour.