Senses working overtime #465

1 Autumn at Maple Grove this week

2 Listening: WTWMC True Colours

We're now doing our hair colour (silver and grey) - Kev's choice.

3 Reading: Bleak House

Up to page 274, nearly half-way.

4 Watched: The Gentlemen

We finally finished the second set of 4 episodes. I liked it, but didn't love it. The Susie Glass and Bobby Glass characters were superbly played though.

5 Reading: Fifty failures by great directors

Overtime: On failure

"When my brother and I were growing up, my father would encourage us to fail. We'd sit around the dinner table and he'd ask, "What did you guys fail at this week?" If we had nothing to tell him, he'd be disappointed. The logic seems counterintuitive, but it worked beautifully.

He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure. They're constantly afraid of what others will think if they don't do a great job and, as a result, take no risks. My father wanted us to try everything and feel free to push the envelope. His attitude taught me to define failure as not trying something I want to do instead of not achieving the right outcome."

Entrepreneur Sara Blakely 

Senses working overtime #464

1 The weather this week

Photo by Vasiliki Mastropetrou on Unsplash

Cooler and windy.

2 Listening: Howlin' Wind - Graham Parker

White Honey (first song on this his debut album) got a lotta plays this week (package arrived from Real Groovy)

3 Listening: Taylor Swift - Midnights

This was my most played album on Spotify in 2022. I'm still listening to my vinyl copy. It's still amazing.

If you just want one song - try Snow On The Beach, but really the whole album is her best yet. A five star classic. A new one is coming!

4 Listening: WTWMC True Colours

Greg 'Pretty Boy' Knowles has the latest colour choice - RED! Watch the fun unfold in real time during the week.

You can also play along! Who chooses what? Is It Kevy, GK or Wozza's choice?

5 Watching: Oppenheimer on Spotify.

We split it over two nights - 3 hours is a tough ask when you're watching in your lounge.

Overtime: Letting go

Holding onto anger and resentment is like scuba diving with an anchor. As long as you're clinging to it, you're bound to the seabed, limited in movement, unable to appreciate the coral reefs and the colorful fish that dart in and out of view.

Forgiveness is letting go of the anchor. It isn't about declaring what was done to you is okay, but about unburdening yourself so you can swim freely. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. It's the gift of letting go of the anchors you've been carrying.

James Clear

Senses working overtime #462

1 Feeling this week on the daily grind

2 Watching: Brené Brown TED talk on vulnerability.

3 Listening: Bob Dylan/ The Band - Before The Flood

A great double live album. If I had to choose one track from each, I'd go for Ballad Of A Thin Man and Up On Cripple Creek.

4 Watching: Damsel

We enjoyed this 2024 release on Netflix. Some genuinely exciting sequences and a good script/acting combo (Robin Wright is great as the wicked Queen in a reverse of her Princess Bride role from all those years ago). 

Worthy of your time!

5 Listening: WTWMC True Colours

Greg, Kev and I have covered songs with pink in the title, and last week it was orange. This week - green.

Overtime: Seth Godin

Holding on for dear life

That’s a cliche from the movies. Dangling from a railroad bridge, only determination and firm grip can save the hero.

In our modern world, we often end up holding on to ideas, to grievances or to our view of the world.

Ironically, the harder we hold on to the things we’re hiding from, the less dear our life becomes.

Perhaps we could let go for dear life instead.

Senses working overtime #457

1 Feeling this week (with a seven day virus)

2 Reading: Anne Tyler's Ladder Of Years

Thanks to some time off work dealing to that virus, I have moved on to this after finally finishing Killing Commendatore (681 pages!!). 

I'm about halfway through Roderick Random as well. Ladder of Years has been in the to-be-read pile for over a year - it's time is now!

3 Listening: Donovan's For Little Ones

I've been after this second half of his superb 1967 double album A Gift From A Flower To A Garden for ages. Finally found one in Real Groovy.

If you want just one song - try The Mandolin Man and His Secret.

4 Watching: Yellowstone

Having finished Netflix' three seasons of The Good Doctor, we've moved on to this one, also on Netflix.

5 Listening: Robert Scott - The Green House

The week saw the welcome return of the Wander To Wozza's Music Club (WTWMC) - wherein three intrepid amigos trade album recommendations. 

This is our fourth year of this enterprise. Our 2023 playlist is here. 

Overtime: On love

Teacher and author Bruce Coville:

"Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can't hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they've touched you, if they're inside you, then they're still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart."

(Courtesy of James Clear)

Senses working overtime #349

1 Macca and Joko

2 WTWMC Body Parts!

The Three Amigos (Kev, Greg and me) have finished our latest Spotify playlist - 45 songs with a body part in the title from 1951 to 2021, which you can enjoy (and even like) here.

3 Janet Jackson (remember her?)

4 Songs as shelters in time - Austin Kleon

5  In praise of Ginger Baker

Enjoying playing this double LP compilation LOUDLY today!

Overtime: RIP Ronnie Spector - a unique voice; RIP Michael Lang