Senses working overtime #492

1 Item of the week

Yes, Jacky has a cold, now I also have a cold.

2 Listening: Human Instinct's Midnight Sun

Try their version of Dirty Creature!

3 Reading: Louis L'Amour's Last Stand At Papago Wells

4 Reading: Zen Flesh Zen Bones (A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings)

5 Listening: WTWMC Beasties

The three amigos are just over halfway through their latest playlist - sixty songs so far on all things animals. 

Overtime: Mark Manson

The person you marry is the person you fight with. The house you buy is the house you repair. The dream job you take is the job you stress over.

Everything comes with an inherent sacrifice—whatever makes us feel good will also inevitably make us feel bad.

Senses working overtime #491

1 Wellington

This week was largely spent in our capital city. It's getting a bad press at the moment with less foot traffic in the CBD but while Unity Books are on Willis and Arty Bees, Slow Boat Records are in or near Cuba St mall, I will still have plenty of reasons to visit on a regular basis.

2 World of Wearable Arts

Jacky's thing more than mine but I still really enjoyed the sensual experience.

3 Listening to: Jimmy Buffett - Living and Dying in 3/4 Time

One of my purchases from Slow Boat Records. Try Come Monday.

4 Reading: The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys

One of my purchases from Unity Books.

5 Tasting: Hot! Like a Mexican tacos

Overtime: Neil Finn

There's a certain good fortune in having a moderate amount of success.

Answering the 'How come you've avoided scandal?' question in Mojo magazine #367

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