Part of building better creative habits is making sharing easier. Now that I can post here directly from Feedbin and Keep let’s see what happens…
I picked up Issue 12 of Own Your Web at just the right time. This week’s focus for me is establishing a rhythm for my creative practice, whether that’s writing, sketching or printing.
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 🤯
Currently reading: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch 📚
Oof, this packs a punch. Only ~100 pages in but I can already see why it won the Booker.
This comma butterfly was out making a point today, hanging out on a local wildlife sign that only told us to look out for peacocks and tortoiseshells
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.
Finished reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 📚
Excellent. A complex narrative balanced by an easy style made this a pleasure to read.
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.
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
A warning from Mary Oliver.
I’ve just deleted my recurring ‘Publish weeknote’ task from Todoist. Every week it’s been slipping and it’s time to admit that frequency doesn’t work for me. I think I’ll try monthly updates for a while and see if that’s sustainable.
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.
A well balanced Sunday
- reading in bed with dog on lap
- creating a master meal plan to make weekly planning and shopping easier
- virtual games (junior Catan) with nephews
- Liverpool vs City
- roast chicken dinner
Finished reading: Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler 📚
I wasn’t as engaged with this book as I was with the first in the series. The telling of the story felt disjointed. However I’m pleased to have seen how Lauren’s story unfolded.
Finished reading: China Lake by Meg Gardiner 📚
Looking for a new (to me) crime series with a female lead. Trying out a few options by Meg Gardiner. First up Evan Delaney.
Weeknote 09/24
Better late than never, here are a few things from the week that was:
- 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
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.
Finished reading: The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason 📚