Senses working overtime #361

1 A Terrible Kindness

I'm the first in our family to get a dose of covid-19. This week my senses have been assaulted but are standing firm. My sense of taste and smell are still there - maybe a tad diminished but hanging in there.

This week's episode of JFTT is about the other ones that are carrying me through.

First up - A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe. I wouldn't have found this without a recommendation from a good buddy. It's superbly written and has transported me back in time and place to England in the late 50's and 60's.

I've managed to read it a few chapters at a time in my more lucid moments along with...

2 No Way Back - Andrew Gross

This is for when I don't want to think too much. Nowhere near as well written as A terrible Kindness, but good to get lost in and nod off to. A colleague at school lent this to me.

3 Formula 1: Drive to Survive

Another colleague clued me to this. It's noisy, brash, sweary and addictive viewing (and I am NOT a petrol head at all).

 

Again - great for when no thinking is required.

Have been binge viewing - now halfway through season 3.

4 I Call Your Name

A great playlist on Spotify that two buddies and I put together recently.

5 Knowing men - Holly Haworth

Finally in this edition, before the overtime that is, coming out of covid-ville, I read this essay about men by a woman which ends up being more about women. Just saying.

Overtime: 

Senses working overtime #341

1 When a house finds you

Great piece from SwissMiss on finding her house.

2 WTWMC 1

The Wander To Wozza's Music Club (it would take too long to explain why it's called that) has a terrific playlist out - every year since 1957 has one song each from three discerning music fans. As GK says - it traces our lives and friendship.

We're still building it too (1995 was today's year).

3 WTWMC 2

We also rotate an album choice each week around the three of us. Yes, I know - we have great taste. Thanks. 

We love to share that great taste with others so you can catch the evolving playlist (one song represents each album) here.

4 Vinyl Countdown

One of my happy places. They have a huge range of stuff at present - band facemasks? Got you covered (see what I did there)! Check it out - best service around as well.

5 Poetry corner

from You Will Read In the future things will be enigmatic and profound, exclamations will be used onomatopoeia will be used if need be brakes will be used why so urgently urgent? similes, figures of speech will arrive the sun will rise buses will run people will go to work they go about their work like drinking a soft drink, less costly, less labour easy to breathe, everything will be alright Aung Cheimt trans. ko ko thett & Maung Tha Noe (2012)

Overtime: Erasure poetry

Austin Kleon's example

Senses working overtime #312

1 Taupo vacation

2 RIP Michael Collins

3 Netflix' attempt to combat decision fatigue

4 Imperatives

Books for mindset.

Quiet time to think for strategy.

Conversations with successful peers for tactics. 

(James Clear)

5 Film endings are tricky!

Overtime: For Jade and Asher 

(Courtesy of Swissmiss)

Senses working overtime #301

1 Cape Kidnappers

During the week I was on a school trip to Cape Kidnappers - one of the students was impatient for the next stage of things (How long are we here for? When does lunch finish? etc) so I suggested he look around and enjoy his surroundings. For instance the clouds. He then proceeded to look up and tell me the names of all the clouds we could see. It was great! He'd love this cloud atlas.

2 Rest in supreme peace Mary Wilson

Mary is the classy one on the left - she'll always be linked to her time as one of the Supremes.

3 The easy way 

Photo by Rubén Bagüés on Unsplash

Seth Godin makes a great point about taking the easy pathway ...or not.

4 Drive and listen

This is great - Laura Olin alerted me to this (from Swiss Miss' blog - check it out below) on her own newsletter/blog thingy. Cruise some of the world's most famous city streets and listen to street noise or the local radio (London has three choices of radio - sadly no Radio 2 but you can't have everything!)

5 Swiss miss

Loads of great items on the Swiss Miss blog.

Overtime: Keep going

This week's sign off: 

“You don't always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that's plenty.” — Alice Walker