This might be the first font I buy in years. Something about it feels really nice. Although I also like this one.

Spent some time reworking my books page to become my shelf and only display what I’ve read. I’ve also built a new design as part of process, I’d love to be able to add some other data to the books but as far as I can tell there’s no way to customise the template micro.blog uses for books. This is all CSS and a fun experiment working with Claude Code.

MacBook Neo looks fun! I kind of want one to replace my 11 year old MacBook Pro.

The times it actually worked for me were the times I stopped caring about what went into it. My notebook is full of rubbish. Meeting notes, food orders, half-thoughts that trail off mid-sentence. It’s a mess, and that mess is exactly what makes it mine.

This. I’ve been through many notebooks and journaling phases over the years, but the last year or so have been the most consistent journaling I’ve done. It’s for the very same reason Greg says here. I stopped caring what went in it. My notebook became my everything place. No delineation between work and not work, they’re both life. Everything goes in it, my notebook is messy for the simple reason that life is messy. It’s not organised neatly into boxes, it’s not a performance, it’s the every day written down.

Finished reading: Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure by Andy Wilman 📚

Another book I got for Christmas and a fun read with a peek behind the scenes of one of my favourite TV programmes. I watched Top Gear from the first episode when I was in my early twenties until the final Grand Tour episode.

Susan Sontag’s Playground of Ideas:

Throw-out note-taking categories: Sontag’s notebooks resist categorization. They include quotations, like a commonplace book; they include confessions, like a diary; they include travel schedules; they include clippings like a scrapbook. Often, with notes, we can get caught up in labels (is this a diary or a journal?) but the truth is that once a notebook gets into an individual’s hands, those categories cease to hold as much sway.

This is where I find myself landing in my own notebooks. They are a mix of stuff, meeting notes, journal entries, book quotes, doodles, ideas for work, problems I’m working through. I used to have a journal and then a notebook, but over the last couple of years they’ve become one and the same. I think that makes the most sense and makes the notebook my most effective tool.

Fastmail and Kagi have a new deal so I’ve signed up for three months of Kagi to give it a real test and see how I like it.

Thanks to the Super Bowl I came across the Blue Square Alliance standing up to Jewish hate. I hope they begin work in the UK as well. 🟦

Got this for Christmas and slowly getting myself ready to read it, I’ve a feeling it will be a hard one to read.

Hostage by Eli Sharabi 📚

I found out there’s a whole world of jailbreaking Kindle’s and this is very intriguing.

Came across this rather wonderfully designed website called Making Software a couple of days ago. Haven’t been able to bring myself to close the tab. Exceptional.

Finished reading: Raven Black by Ann Cleeves 📚

Really enjoyed this, I’ve no doubt I shall be reading the rest of the series this year.

fifth session at the gym this morning. Wasn’t feeling great this morning, sore throat, tired, but decided not to text my PT cry off. Went anyway and feel better after it. It felt hard today, but glad I went.

Well that’s a fast way to make me not want to use your service. The only thing I can think it’s detecting is iCloud Private Relay, but yeh, not signing up.

I have set myself one goal this year: read one page of a book per day.

I love reading. It relaxes me in a way that nothing else does, and yet I don’t read as often as I would like. Reviewing Book Tracker the other day I noticed there were 3 months when I only read a book two or three times (June, September, and November), those were months which I could’ve benefited from reading more in as they were particularly busy or stressful at work. So I’m resolving to set up a simple habit to make sure when those kinds of months arrive I do not forget to do something which will help me.

One page seems a bit low, you might be asking why not say one chapter instead? I know myself. One page is doable. One page doesn’t feel hard when the whole day is jam packed. One page is also unlikely to be where I will stop. Once I’ve read one page I will want to at least finish the chapter and I will probably end up reading more. That’s not the aim though. One page per day. That’s doable. That’s enough to build a habit of picking up a book every day.

Finished reading: The Daughter by T.M. Logan 📚

Finished reading: Diddly Squat: The Farmer’s Dog by Jeremy Clarkson 📚

I got three books for Christmas, already finished one.

I wish I could share this post with a few people, it baffles me how people get away with such excuses and show no desire to close their skill gaps.

Alan Jacobs documents a similar thought process I am going through after the recents stories of being locked out of an Apple account through no fault of your own. I already rely on .txt or .md files most things but I will be following Alan’s lead to get my photos backed up locally.

There is little contention that writing is a useful tool when working, whether the purpose of that work is recalling, assimilating, collating, constructing or critiquing. This is an essay examining not whether notes should be taken, but how.

A wonderful read about note-making and finding the right approach for how you work. I think it made me realise why I struggle to keep a habit going with apps like Obsidian. They imply a pressure to make notes which I don’t need, and which takes away the fun.

Edit: I also love the design of this personal site! Delightful.

This whole episode is making me rethink my move from 1Password to Apple Passwords and my whole backup system. Such a scary situation, I hope he is able to regain access to his Apple account soon.

There is a blog I have been reading for many years, on the whole the posts are interesting and enjoyable, but they have developed this tendency to constantly refer to “the genocide Israel is committing” and it tars an otherwise good blog. They are entitled to say what they want, but that particular statement is baseless and an outright lie. I find myself now questioning why I keep the feed in my RSS.

First ever session with a personal trainer this morning. Enjoyed it. I will be healthier next year.

Currently reading: Death in the Arctic by Tom Hindle 📚

Your taste is what makes you interesting. Not the things everyone else likes too. Not the consensus opinion. Not whatever TikTok has decided you should see today. The messy, personal, sometimes inexplicable preferences that develop when you actually have to seek things out rather than having them delivered to you. That's taste, and it's worth protecting.

Yes. This.

Lately I’ve been finding myself wondering why I stopped buying vinyl when I went to university and wishing I hadn’t stopped. The hours spent on a Saturday in record shops in Nottingham picking up records, giving them a listen, and then deciding if it was worth my hard earned cash. It was time well spent. I had a curated record collection. Now I have an Apple Music account with a library over flowing with music I’ve saved over the last 2 decades. I’ve no idea what’s in there and most of it hasn’t been listened to in years. I rely on the suggestions to find new stuff. Is there a wonder I sometimes open the app and have no clue what to listen to?

When people ask me what I’m listening to these days I have boring answers, or no answer at all. 20 years ago I had a list of interesting records I’d discovered, white label remixes, EP’s by some random artist that I’ve never come across since but which were a real joy to listen to.

When I think about how the money I spent then compares to the money I’ve spent on music in the last 15 years, there’s a stark contrast. I have something to show for the time and energy in those record shops (all be it in my parents garage), but I have nothing for the money spent on streaming services since. One has tangible results with a defined taste, the other has disappeared in to the ether and I can’t remember the amazing EP I found 10 years ago because it’s too hard to find.

Technology has made music easier to listen to, but it’s also made it less valuable. The type of music I listen to now has broadened and my taste has become less tangible as a result. That’s kind of sad.