Week 15

🤷‍♂️ Life

• We had an impromptu lunch on Friday, just Becca and I, at local eatery Roo’s Kitchen. It’s about the only place in our area that is dependably open AND has great food! Apparently the last day of their current menu so, OH NO, I guess we’ll have to go back and try the new menu soon!
• We had a poorly boy on Friday, he made it through nursery but barely ate all weekend, napped on his Mum on Saturday afternoon too. He’s picked up today though and eating much better (just in time for nursery again on Monday, yay!).
• Finally, got the first grass cut of the year done! The weather and my schedule hasn’t played ball, but it’s done now. We got it all relaid last year so there are some patches that’ll need some TLC/repair but overall it’s looking good.
• A hint of insomnia on Thursday when I was up at 4am. However, that meant I got through a lot of little digital tasks I’ve had in mind for a couple of months.
• Writing has apparently been the theme this week for me. Lots of it. Some for here, some for my Journal, some for my novel.
• Moving has also been more of a theme. Whilst I still have the last twinges of an odd back spasm/muscle issue from last week, I did manage some walks, cycled with Jack to and from his nursery a couple of times, went to the gym, and had some time on the Zwift Turbo. Every little helps.
• DIDN’T wash Vera, who badly needs it, so hopefully can squeeze in a quick once over during the week (weather, as always, permitting).
  

📚 Read

• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood – Not sure why I bought this, but I do enjoy these first person, character driven stories. A woman who visits nunnery and ends up staying, far more compelling than it sounds, I raced through this just to enjoy the people in it.
• Better the Blood by Michael Bennett– fairly general crime/killer storyline but with Auckland Māori history thrown in, never quite got the blood pumping but plenty to enjoy.
  

📰 Considered

• Is ubiquitous A.I. writing “inevitable”?– AI as a disruptive tool, matches my underlying view of the technology.
• Lunar Flyby – MOON PHOTOS GALORE
• Writers Write – “Make choices consistent with your values as best you can, and when you can’t – which is inevitable – acknowledge the costs of this choice” another AI piece but I liked this callout from it.
• Limiting Not Just Screen Time, But Screen Space– Always feels a little zealous — the whole ‘put your phone in a different room’ — but I’m starting to come around to it.
• Zeigarnik Effect – “Unfinished tasks create a cognitive burden, weigh more heavily on the mind, and are more easily recalled than completed tasks” and may also be why I don’t stop to credit myself for completing things. It’s done, move on to the next undone thing already!
• Stunning Artemis II Phone Wallpapers– Moon Photos for your phone!
• Rethinking RSS, newsletters, and how I read every morning – I don’t have a morning routine like this, but I am considering RSS/newsletter consumption to this was interesting.
• Pat on the back – A post ‘inspired’ by me. No comments though, so hard to converse to point out that I’d either phrased it badly (most likely) or he’d picked it up wrong (possible) but I feel this missed the entire point of my post.
• Boards Of Canada – ALERT – New album… maybe? Soon? Sorta?? Fingers crossed
• How To Future-Proof Your Career In The Age Of AI – Not an immediate concern but definitely on my radar. A good piece if you are starting to see/hear AI mentioned in your workplace.
• RSS Gets You Off the Platform; Curation Gets You Off the Drug – THIS. I’ve gone a bit RSS subscribe mad over the past few weeks and it’s now as much as a chore as social media (in a different way, admittedly). Time to curate. May also be time to try Current.
  

📺 Watched

• Still re-watching Schitt’s Creek, it is such a sweeping joy of a show.
• Started Your Friends & Neighbours, enjoying it so far which bodes well as the second season is imminent.
• Monarch – Legacy of Monstersdoesn’t require any brain power, the cast carry it more episodes than not, and hey, Godzilla! King Kong! What’s not to like.
  

Up next will be For All Mankind, and excited for the return of Criminal Record.

🎧 Listened

• Blue Lines by Massive Attack – 35 years, 35 YEARS, since this dropped and lodged in my brain, never to leave. Been lucky enough to see them live a couple of times as well, powerful stuff. One of my favourite albums so happy to have this on repeat through the week.
• Sexistential by Robyn– following on from linking to a post about this, it’s catchy enough to have stayed on my rotation this week.
• Nightmare Tripping by Don Broco– an immediate contrast to the above, heavy rock with some killer choruses and grooves. Yes please! Volume to 11 for this one.
  

🩻 Health

• Current Weight: 113kg. Down from last week.
• Avg. Sleep: 6h 39mins. Same as last week.
  

👨‍💻 Tech

• Ulysses – been using it since the start of the year and it sits right in the sweet spot of usability versus utility. Simple to use at first, but the richness builds as you explore. Two edit panes, and an outline view have proven excellent ways to review what I’m writing.
• Apple Shortcuts – After managing to build a little Quick Notes publishing shortcut (for the Notes section on my blog), I’ve continued to reach for it to solve little minor workflow tasks, one of which is keeping a lot of things I’ve read/stumbled across, most of which appear in “Considered” above. A simple shortcut to grab title and URL, apply simple markdown formatting, and dump it in a text file for me to grab each week.
  

🗓️ Next Week

• Best mates birthday tomorrow. Back to the gym, the routine is needed, and then at the end of the week, a couple of nights in Perth (in Vera) to meet up with family so Jack and his cousin Lennie can hang out. Can’t wait.