Senses working overtime #451

1 Feeling this (Christmas) week

2 Reading: Ben Sanders - The Devils You Know

Holidays are not complete without a Ben Sandars novel.

3 Reading: Billy Connolly - Rambling Man

4 Listening: Crosby Stills & Nash - Guinnevere (live in Santa Cruz 1989)

5 Watched: Leave The World Behind

We enjoyed this one - unusual, thought provoking with excellent acting and a well disguised ending.

Overtime: Predictions

Wilbur Wright, who worked with his brother to create the first successful airplane, on predicting the future:

"I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since refrained from all prediction."

Source: Speech at Aero-Club de France (1908)​​

Senses working overtime #450

1 Feeling this week

Photo by Jorge Vasconez on Unsplash

2 Listening: David Crosby - Too Young To Die (from Thousand Roads)

3 Reading: Writer C. Raymond Beran on friendship

"What is a friend? I will tell you.

It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better, or worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you.

With him you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and, in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no matter. He likes you. He is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands. He understands. You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with him, pray with him. Through it all—and underneath—he sees, knows and loves you.

A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself."

4 Reading: This is the way

Some practical life lessons from Taoism

5 Reading: Times 1000 - Seth Godin

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Overtime: Watching: Christmas movies

Senses working overtime #449

1 Activity this week (painting window sills)

Photo by Joris Berthelot on Unsplash

2 Reading: The Boys - Ron and Clint Howard

3 Reading: The Lone Star Ranger - Zane Grey

4 Listening: Fighter Command from Gathering Speed - Big Big Train

5 Writing: Goo Goo G'Joob posts

Having re-organised my collection into straight alphabetical order I've been feverishly writing mini reviews for my music blog. Each time I have a rule that I need to listen to the record before I write about it.

 

Overtime: Maya Angelou on finding your family:

"Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what."

Senses working overtime #448

1 The feeling at the end of this week

Photo by Erriko Boccia on Unsplash

2 Watching: Welcome To Wrexham

3 Reading: edwin + matilda - Laurence Fearnley

4 Listening: Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde

5 Reading: Time's person of the year - Taylor Swift

Overtime: 

All I have learned, I learned from books (Abraham Lincoln)

It's holiday time which for me means more reading time - smiley face.

Senses working overtime #447

1 Feeling this week

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

2 Watching: Mandalorian Season 3

3 Listening: Phil Collins Hand In Hand

4 Reading: Charle's Good Tonight - Paul Sexton

5 The best thing I read this week:

Ex-Microsoft general manager and writer, Peter Atkins on how to live life.

“Laugh. We’re all going to be dead anyway some day. So while you should try your hardest to make the most of your life, when something funny happens, when you make a mistake, or even (and perhaps especially) when bad things happen, it’s easier if you can laugh about yourself and the world.”

Source: Life Is Short And So Is This Book: Brief Thoughts On Making The Most Of Your Life

Overtime: 

He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.

Confucius