2026-08-31 04:03:12
The combination of a giant honey-coloured moon and distant light pollution reflecting off the sparse cloud cover means, even without streetlights, it's just about light enough to walk at night without a torch.
An electrical storm fakes midday in half second bursts while divine chariots rumble across the firmament. I'm working late, punching broken code and thinking of off-grid spoon whittling, and get a front row seat from my desk.
By morning the rain has come. Everything is quiet and calm and cold, just the wet slap of rain on the leaves. There's an angry or distressed squirrel in a tree making a noise like a human newborn — quite disturbing.
The local artisan market has had the worst luck with the weather this year; unprecedented heatwave after unprecedented heatwave but rain every last Sunday of the month.
I bought a grey cotton jacket from a charity shop that my wife says I'll never wear. It's really comfortable so, partly out of stubborn spite, I wear it indoors. We open the patio doors when the thunder rolls over again, torrential rain drumming on the decking and soaking the kitchen floor. It's heavenly.
Restless spirits like goat – this is what her Grandmother would say. They enjoy the blood-letting of the meat. And, when someone has died too early, it’s best to cook a curry to show your respect, the spirits may have a difficult journey.
Imani Thompson, "Honey"
2026-08-30 15:27:56
Air France Flight 006 lands in America in March. The exact same plane lands again in June — same pilot, same crew, same passengers. The military calls in a bunch of scientists to try and figure out what is going on. Given the time difference, all the passengers have doubles, all the crew have doubles. The March landers have three months of unique experiences.
It questions the very nature of what it means to be an individual — deeply philosophical, very heavy. Content warnings for death, suicide, child abuse, and religiously motivated murders.
It's an extremely literary book, by a well-read author and/or talented researcher. But as wild as the story gets, as fanciful the prose, it always felt believable. A big shout out to the translator for keeping some je ne sais quoi that meant, despite being in English, it read very French.
The delivery — the narration — feels unusual to me. It's like an observer describing scenes to the reader, not a traditional third-person point of view. It came across a little bit like “meet Stan” from the Eminem video, and might be a clue to the solution. But, then again, I am not too proud to admit: I did not understand the ending.
Heavy, deep, inconclusive. Really well written but a more challenging read than I'm used to.
2026-08-24 05:10:27
Back home visiting family and stopped in for a pub lunch at a random pub that turned out to be the one I'd go drinking in at college about 30 years ago. Which was a bit odd!
Spent the rest of the time eating chips and ice cream on the beach lamenting the broken optical zoom on my Coolpix because it got sand in it. Still, it's an excuse to buy the Kodak C1 from my wishlist 😂
Sorry to all my colleagues and clients but I have not missed work in the slightest. Barely thought about it, in all honesty. I know I'm going back in to a busy week of data analysis and external staff training which is going to be hard going but, for now, I can sip this pint of San Miguel while I read in the last of the sunshine and dream this will be all my tomorrows…
2026-08-17 16:11:15
Thanks to Ruben for surfacing this lovely post, and for his own thoughtful addition.
Sylvia's journey from church upbringing to "nature as spirituality" mirrors my own path somewhat.
I think I've always been an atheist; I never really believed in the teachings of the Catholic Church, even as a young child. Too inquisitive and stubborn and faced with too little evidence meant "blind faith" was off the table. Apologies to God, if you're real, for the lies I told during my confirmation.
Anyway, without the threat of Hell or the promise of Heaven, I am free to pursue a good life in my own image; with, arguably, more "Christian" values than a lot of Christians.
I believe everyone and everything should be treated equally and humans aren't top of any pyramid entitled to exploit the world because of our special relationship with the Almighty.
It's reductionist to look at all the great wonders of our world, nod, and go "yep, beardy white guy made this in a week" with utter conviction.
I write about nature a lot in my Weeknotes because it genuinely moves me.
I grew up by the sea and adore water; swimming, paddling, walking in rain, boating. I'm in awe of the usual malarkey: sunsets, birdsong, rainbows.
But, like Sylvia, the majesty of huge trees touches me. I love hearing hedgerows teeming with life, feeling bats flit past my face in the twilight, and finding beautiful beetles in flowerpots.
I don't really consider myself a "spiritual" person; the word conjures images of crystals and yoga and incense. I'm not knocking that, it's just not me.
I think gratitude is very important and write 3 Good Things that happen every day. I also believe we are never finished and constant self improvement should be a perennial state of being.
While I don't meditate or pray to a higher power, I do take time to be in nature as it's both grounding and uplifting.
2026-08-17 01:56:17
Along with basically everyone, I watched the eclipse using the traditional "colander and a sheet of paper" method. I took a few horrific snaps with one of my cameras but, without a solar filter, they were rubbish.
It was strange because it didn't feel like a sunset despite being basically at sunset. Instead of the usual smooth gradient of light loss, it felt "stepped" — like the amount of light clicked down as if multiple light-switches were flicked off one after the other.
The silence of the birds was eerie.
We brought in a new member of the team this week. Having picked up a project to build an interactive patient simulation tool for an upcoming Congress, we find ourselves in need of someone to do the actual development.
I'm a little sad I don't get to do it but a new dev frees me up to work on a large-scale data analysis piece alongside the technical architecture of a medical education platform.
In the big political news this week, Toad of Toad Hall went toe-to-toe with an actual bin. Sadly for the dwindling institution that is British politics, the joke candidate won.
Typing has a way of speeding me up to the speed of my anxiety
Kobus de Wit on handwritten journalling
2026-08-15 13:31:30
Usually, historically, The Five is never ranked: it's just five things in the order I think of them. But this one definitely is ranked. Maybe I need a new posty type…
Here are my top 5 Irish teas and I will not be taking questions.
Hard agree? Violently disagree? Feel the urge to tell me about a brand I've forgotten? Get in touch by email, hit me up on the Socials™, or elsewhere online. I shared this on my Fedia feed for you to comment on or you could write a tea ranking/rebuttal/reply on your own blog and send me the link — I would love to read it!