macro
- 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
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.
