Senses working overtime #490

1 Last week of term 3 is done and dusted - study break time for two weeks!

Meant my posts were often late this week, but what follows is a recap in case you missed them...

2 Baggy Trousers

3 Goo Goo G'Joob

4 Purdzilla Show

5 Wozza's Place

Overtime: 

Playwright and poet Sarah Ruhl on love as a creative force:

"There was once a very great American surgeon named Halsted. He was married to a nurse. He loved her—immeasurably.

One day Halsted noticed that his wife's hands were chapped and red when she came back from surgery. And so he invented rubber gloves. For her. It is one of the great love stories in medicine. The difference between inspired medicine and uninspired medicine is love...

[He] loved her to the point of invention."

(Courtesy James Clear)

Senses working overtime #489

 1 Quote of the week

Nature is merciful, and does not try her children, man or beast, beyond their compass. It is only when the cruelty of man intervenes that hellish torments appear. For the rest - live dangerously; take things as they are; dread naught; all will be well.

Winston Churchill


2 Reading: Dr. Brené Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection

3 Watching: The Rookie (season 1)

4 Reading: Anne Tyler's Morgan's Passing

5 Listening: WTWMC - Beasties

First week is done and dusted.  

Overtime: 

None of us own anything. Everything is constantly in flux. What we have today may be gone tomorrow—we ourselves may be gone tomorrow. Understand that. Appreciate everything accordingly. Be grateful and humble...or life will rebuke you.

Ryan Holiday

Senses working overtime #488

1 Feeling this week

2 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

The three amigos have completed their travels and returned home (next up is an animal centric playlist, as in critters/beasties). Final Motorvatin' playlist has 105 carefully selected songs for your listening pleasure.

3 Reading: Right Thing Right Now

It's so good! Ryan Holiday's book deserves another plug on JFTT.

4 Watching: The Good Cop

Jacky isn't feeling it but I'm enjoying its quirkiness. Tony Danza is an acquired taste though - I get that.

5 Listening: Hard-Fi

Love their first two albums. Takes me back to living in the UK in the mid naughties.

Overtime: R.I.P.

Sérgio Mendes

Herbie Flowers

Doug Hood

Senses working overtime #487

1 Spring is in the air at Maple Grove

2 Reading: Right Thing, Right Now - Ryan Holiday

3 Listening: Garden Fresh - John Hanlon

John Hanlon is one of my favourite NZ artists. This was his break through album in NZ (1974) and still sounds pretty great to me.

4 Reading: George Orwell on Charles Dickens (Selected Essays)

Still reading through this collection of essays. I'm up to this one on Charles Dickens from 1940. First sentence:

Dickens is one of those writers who are well worth stealing.

5 Listening: Austin Kleon's Playlist

Austin created and shared his playlist of songs that inspired The Beatles White Album (so named - actually it was just called The Beatles - and officially my favourite album of all time). Nice concept!

Overtime: 

"It's nice to have a little help, but we often resent when someone else tries to do it all for us. Each individual wants to make their own dreams a reality. If someone hands you the whole thing on a silver platter, they gift you the result, but rob you of the accomplishment.

Remember this not only when chasing your dreams, but also when supporting others. Help along the way, but let them run their own race. Your job is to live life with them, not live their life for them."

James Clear

Senses working overtime #486

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Emma Harper on Unsplash

2 Reading: Seth Godin on what language reveals

If the argument you’re hearing isn’t based on what we know to be true, and doesn’t lead to a logical conclusion, it could be because it’s not actually seeking to be a productive discussion.

It’s awkward to say “yadda, yadda” but that might be what’s on offer.

(This came to mind during the week as I listened to a guy in a suit without a tie talking to me and a group of other teachers).

3 Reading: The BBC's Football Extra - on Everton after 2 losses

Everton's current plight has not come out of nowhere. It's merely the latest hoof in the genitals for a fanbase whose will to endure such pain would impress the Shaolin.

4 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

5 Listening: Haken - Aquarius

Overtime: 

"When you're on the field, play as if nothing else matters.
When you're off the field, remember that the game doesn't matter at all."

James Clear

Senses working overtime #485

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

2 Reading: Serviceman J - Jamie Pennell

Jamie is a distinguished MAGS old boy, and his book is perfect for the library at Hastings' Boys' High School. I've recommended it to all my classes as well.

3 Listening: Pelican West - Haircut One Hundred

Perfect for anticipating spring.

4 Listening: WTWMC Motorvatin' 

We're nearing the home straight - one more week/lap to go. 

5 Listening: Charm - Clairo

Overtime: Zen and the journey

"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow."

Writer and philosopher Robert M. Pirsig

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (courtesy Dylan O'Sullivan and James Clear)

Senses working overtime #484

1 Reading: Mojo magazine (issue 366)

2 Reading: Monument Rock - Louis L'Amour

3 Listening: Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins

4 Watching: Season 7 of Monk

It's a perfect, gentle, easy to watch evening show after a day at work.

5 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

Overtime:  

“The most important decision you will ever make is to be in a good mood.”

Voltaire