This is where I might post short items. Like what I’m currently listening to, or reading, or watching.
It’s organised in a fediverse-like timeline. It might not get used very much, I don’t know. I like the idea, but we’ll see how it goes.
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This page lists entries for the current year. For past entries consult the Now archive.
Work has been very tiring lately. A lot - a lot - of more social skills. Meetings, discussions, conferences, that kind of thing. Really takes a lot out of me, so been kind of hibernating and just getting through it all.
Bought a new notepad recently. Endless Recorder, in green; I wanted red but they didn’t have it in stock, and the green looked nice too. This paper is so good with my fountain pen. I’ve been trying a few different papers, to see which I like. Rhodia is OK but really feels too ‘hard’ to me, less enjoyable to write on. Moleskine feels great to write on but the ink spreads so much and the reverse of a written sheet is very messy with ink bleeding through. Tomoe River paper seems good; soft to write on, didn’t notice any messiness, nice paper. Midori, felt similar to the Rhodia; hard and less pleasant to write on. The Endless is a bit expensive, but certainly my favourite so far; that slight softness to the texture feels so pleasing to me, and the thickness of the sheets does feel high quality. My Cadwaladr ink looks simply stunning on this paper; there is a depth and beauty to it that I have never seen in an ink, and this paper really seems to suit it. It’s only really my second ink experience, so perhaps I will find others to be even more enjoyable to write with, but this ink on this paper is just gorgeous.
Seen a few great TV shows recently. The Blame is incredible; a police drama with a strong focus on misogyny (in particular in the police). White hot anger at some of the scenes (especially when they featured some real-life messages taken from group chats, very powerful stuff). Blue Lights, another police drama - but this one about patrol officers rather than detectives. Set in Northern Ireland, there is a strong focus on post-Troubles life. This is one of my favourite shows of the last few years; the kind of show where every moment, every scene, every character is just performed to the highest level. Constantly just thinking “this is so good” throughout every episode. Currently watching The Dark; another detective show, this one set in Scotland. And episode and a half in, and indeed the title is very fitting.
I have a couple of weeks off work now, so hoping to keep up with my Arabic study, maybe write a bit more on my blog, and starting another play of The Witcher 3 now that the Remastered edition is out. Not sure how far I’ll get, but it’s such a good game.
Been a brutal week at work. So not done a huge amount outside of work. Not that I really do a huge amount outside work anyway. But less this week. Just been really done in by work most days. So not done any reading, ignored a whole bunch of interesting-sounding articles. Such is life.
Been on a big nostalgia binge, musically. Revisiting my youth, late-90s trance. This stuff was just incredible. Nothing like it before, nor since. Gatecrasher Black and Red albums, really seminal compilations. So many seminal tracks on there. Black was probably the big introduction to trance for me; I’m sure I’d been hearing stuff around, maybe read mention of it in magazines (I was too young to actually go to Gatecrasher in 98). So I suppose I got the album based off that, rather than knowing all the tracks. But it blew me away and changed my life. It came out the same year as Paul van Dyk Vorsprung Dyk Technik, think I got both for Christmas that year. Absolute classic records on both compilations. Red, the following year, was even better than Black; sure Black has a special place for me, but the tracks on Red are just… wow.
Recently, early summer maybe, I bought a fountain pen. TWSBI Eco, with a nice transparent ink reservoir. First ink I used in it was a deep bluey-purple colour; Diamine Lilac Night. Very beautiful colour, so lovely to write with it; less purple than I perhaps imagined, but just felt so luxurious to write with. Found myself wanting to write more, just to use it. Went kind of down a rabbit hole of looking at inks, ended up buying a bunch more. Today was time to refill the pen, and switched to Pure Pens Cadwaladr ink; a glorious dark red colour. Not super dark - but much deeper red than a red ballpoint. I’m way outside my comfort zone with coloured inks; I’ve only ever used black pens. The Lilac Night was close enough to black that it just felt great, but this red - really unusual to me. In a good way: I’m trying to bring more colours into my life. So this is part of that. And it’s quiet a deep red so not too wild. But still: feels very new to me to be writing in red. It is gorgeous though.
I’ve kept on with my Classical Arabic study. This week the course moved onto sentence structure. And it feels kind of amazing to be in a position, after only six months, to be starting to do grammatical analysis of Arabic sentences in Arabic. For so many years since covid my brain has been so broken that learning new things and studying anything was essentially not part of my life. But this year, finally, that changed.
So I had intended to write in this place a bit more frequently, and a bit shorter. But for a few reasons I’ve not managed that. So here’s a few things I’ve felt like writing about in August and early September.
Firstly, I finished The Terraformers. Fantastic book. Really different vibe. It’s about a future, space-bound humanity. As I was reading it I was trying to put my finger on just why it felt so different. And coincidentally, Adam Becker had on his podcast Lucian Walkowicz and Erika Nesvold, talking about the idea of “space colonisation”. And how that word, “colonisation”, is really bound up in how we talk about space, how we imagine it. How it’s part of the colonialist worldview. And this is why this book felt fresh: it’s not about space colonisation; it feels anti-colonial.
I’ve also started reading Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor. It’s really good. Not what I expected, but in a good way. Not felt up to reading for the last week or so but hoping to get back to it in the next few days.
I’ve been watching a few good TV shows, too. Ludwig, on BBC; David Mitchell is really on form in this, very funny, think I prefer the second season over the first, which is unusual. Trigger Point, on ITV, with Vicky McClure; nice thriller kind of thing about bomb disposal, exciting even if it did get a bit silly. The Other Girl, on BBC; this was darker than I expected but really compelling and tense.
I’ve been pretty exhausted so not progressed massively with my studying, but still kept up my 30 minutes every day on Classical Arabic. Really starting to get into sentence structure and analysing stuff beyond single words or fragments; it’s getting really interesting now.
Musically, the biggest thing has been discovering ZAINAB. In particular, her deput EP, Canal View - some fantastic Urdu house. Love the track Azadi - “Freedom” - such a vibe. Azadi on Youtube has English subtitles; powerful video. Also watched a couple of live shows she did: ZAINAB | Boiler Room: Montréal is just wild, and ZAINAB (fka ZEEMUFFIN) House Set: Live from Brooklyn Rooftop is incredible, really uplifting party.
Finished reading The Last Murder at the End of the World, by Stuart Turton. Bought it on impulse when it was on sale for 99p. Never read anything by him before. But really enjoyed it a lot. One of the reader reviews says “unlike anything I’ve ever read before”, and yeah, I’d agree with that. Now reading The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz. Heard them recently on Adam Becker’s podcast, and they sound like the kind of person I want to support. They have a new non-fiction book, Stories are Weapons, which I’d like to listen to on audiobook next too.
Started doing a Phoenix course. Given how many people seem to be deskilling themselves with “AI”, I feel like learning how to do things is only going to be more important in the future. So I decided to start working on my own skills.
Finished all the ‘beginner’ modules in the Classical Arabic course I’ve been doing. Roughly 100 hours of study over the last four months. Minimum of half an hour per day, every day; a bit more at weekends and on leave. Now onto the ‘intermediate’ stuff.
Been listening to some Chez Damier; his compilation Aspire to inspire. Really fantastic retrospective of his work. Also revisiting some singles I bought this year. The new Groove Armada track Love’s Theme is just gorgeous, such a good sound, instant classic. Soneec & Soultizer In Your Eyes is still probably record of the year for me, and it came out on 2 January; just so good.