I have to buy a garden shredder. I cannot actually afford a garden shredder – and I also have to buy a lopper and thorn-proof gloves and several other things – but I can’t get the garden waste out of the garden, and I both have heavy pruning to do and a lot of dead plants and small trees to dispose of, as the awful summer murdered a lot of stuff. One day I couldn’t water plants because the gales were blowing the water sideways out of the spout. And by “day” I mean “two weeks in a row,” really.
I found some discount codes and bought the shredder anyway.
Sunday’s newsletter had to go out without any links in it, because of the killing number of spam reports the previous week’s edition triggered. Turns out that was a less popular option.
Rehoming a rescued cat is not going marvellously. We persevere regardless.
Running late on everything, not enough sleep, too much going on in the house, the high winds are back to lay waste to what remains of the garden, and I need a reset.
So once I get far enough into this script in front of me, I hope to take a couple of days off when the gales drop, tear out everything in the garden that died during this weird summer, and set up for autumn.
And then clear the kitchen, buy some more food storage containers — why is it that they separate and vanish into other dimensions the way socks do? Is there a universe populated entirely by socks and lids? — and start batching meals and preparing for the dark months. Not that there’s been much light this summer either. Amazing. Europe burned. England got blown into the cold air and then drowned. I knew I shouldn’t have complained about the May drought.
So in Sunday’s newsletter I recommended my current hosting provider. I was immediately hit by so many spam reports that the viability of the newsletter will now be in question for a little while. Lesson learned.
Today we are taking in a friend’s cat to rehome. We already have two cats, older girls who are quite set in their ways. There’s a fair chance the next several days will be quite nightmarish.
My eyesight has come back a little bit, but not all the way. However, there’s work to do. So we’ll see if I can’t get five hours in at the big screen.
I just ate the best blackberry I’ve tasted in years.
The picture might be a bit blurry, but so am I. My eyes are shot, I’m empty, and I need some time away from the big screen.
ON DECK: I have a script I need to wrestle down to its end, but it’s not going to happen today. I still have to mark up the boards – turns out I haven’t even looked at the calendar since Aug 6 INBOX: 63. READING: That book on Beckett, which seems to have devoted a fifth of its length to a close reading of WORSTWARD HO that could probably have been condensed into three pages and not lost a jot of use. WORSTWARD HO, aside from its title being one of Beckett’s better small jokes, is a late minor piece in his “mathematical” phase, where he describes an operation and then iterates it down to conclusion. It’s where his quote “Try again. Fail again. Fail better” comes from, possibly the most widely misunderstood “inspirational” quote of our time. SLEEP: 8hrs 33mins and my restlessness score finally dropped below 10%. But my resting heart rate is up two points and my stress score is 72, so, yeah, time to get out of the office for a day. OUTSIDE: Charlie Kaufman: “the only thing that makes money is garbage.” Also this, found in an issue of SIGHT AND SOUND:
I cannot, at this juncture, imagine being so attached to the idea of using social media that this kind of shit is okay.
SHIPPING FORECAST: it’s nigh on impossible to post anything of note here via the phone except for photos: i can’t even log podcasts properly here from Downcast, which drives me batshit. “Digital notebooks” are still difficult, mostly because they are the nichest of edge cases in personal publishing. I need to poke at WordPress some more.
And that’s it for this notebook until Monday. The outline is filed, the newsletter is nearly there, but I want to finish two scripts over the next three days so I have a clean deck to start the week on. And I have some eyestrain, so I need to use my eyes where they’re needed most before they pack up.
ON DECK: right this second, I’m putting the last touches on Sunday’s newsletter, then settling in for the long haul. INBOX: 97. LISTENING: The label describes the style of the following as: “Folk horror post-rock ragas? Sigur Ros scoring Blood on Satan’s Claw? Popol Vuh for the end of the world? ”
READING:That book on Beckett LAST WATCHED: a bit of BABYLON. ALIVE: 8hrs 1min. 86% readiness. My resting heart rate has definitely crept up over the last couple of years: a steady 73 now, when it used to be in the 60s. So that’s a thing to start working on, too. OUTSIDE: “Toward A New Blockbuster? On Nolan’s “Oppenheimer””
I really, really need to clear out some books into storage. But probably none of these.
ON DECK: Outline, script, newsletter, design document. Probably not in that order. And probably not all of them, but we will see. The newsletter will probably be a weird kludge this week. INBOX: 121, I’ll get to it at the weekend I swear. Although I might also be over it and ready to turn the lights out until January. We’ll see. LISTENING:Mindful Mix Prom READING:I AM THE BROTHER OF XX, Fleur Jaeggy SLEEP: 8hrs 20mins. Home alone with the cats for the next four nights, so that’ll be the last time I sleep more than eight hours for a while. OUTSIDE:Ganzeer’s summer holiday doodles
SHIPPING FORECAST: I have a bunch of things in drafts here I want to get out today and tomorrow.
For the next five or six days I am basically Pressing All The Buttons. I am also faintly angry about everything and wish to Scheme, but I need to clear the backlog first.
ON DECK: Outline, newsletter, script, consult document, script. Also, something in this page’s theme has popped loose, and I have to chase that down at some point. INBOX: 112. Planning to clear the inbox out at the weekend. LISTENING: Night Tracks READING: finished THE STREET OF CROCODILES last night ALIVE: 7hrs 42 mins. My Fitbit insists I am at “100% readiness.” Also I am 66% stressed and have burned 1200 calories just by being alive. I am skeptical. OUTSIDE:Walking just 4000 steps a day can reduce the risk of dying, apparently.
SHIPPING FORECAST: I had a weird craving for Kendal Mint Cake last night, so that’s what’s being shipped today. Shackleton used to eat it while out on expeditions. It’s basically solid sugar, which I generally avoid. But sometimes you just want a bit of mint cake.
ON DECK: Everything I had to do yesterday plus final notes on DEPT MIDNIGHT 103-106. INBOX: 114. Gmail seems to be having issues this morning. LAST WATCHED: Started Ralph Fiennes’ CORIOLANUS over breakfast. ALIVE: 8hrs 4mins sleep. Forced myself to make breakfast before noon for the first time in ages, so now I have two fresh eggs, a minute steak and some smoked sea salt inside me. Experimenting with a vape pen to try and cut down on the cigarettes. Hoping to roast some coffee at the weekend. I have to start working on hydration again. So much gets forgotten or ignored when I’m in a time crunch. OUTSIDE: “Booklash“
Today I have to get the printer up and running again. Remember the days when, if you run out of coloured ink, you could still print with just the black ink? Those days are gone. If one of the four cartridges goes dry, the printer refuses to print anything – “print in black only” has been disabled.
Also, Chrome has changed the way it handles downloads, and not for the better. Old man yells at computer cloud
Computer also insists the temperature outside is at “near record lows,” but the humidity is rising regardless – 59% climbing to a probably 90. But, it looks like the rain has finished for at least a week.
ON DECK: I have three things on deck today. I would like to finish two of them, but I suspect I will only get one out, because I have a feeling it’s going to be That Kind Of Day. INBOX: 108. It’s hopeless. I am going to have to dedicate half a day to clearing it at some point. LISTENING:BLINDING VOID, Exit Rituals READING: TLS LAST WATCHED: I started AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL, which I may not have been paying full attention to – bar one electrifying staging choice (followed by a very unclear one), it wasn’t grabbing me. Will try again. OUTSIDE: today I have seen the term “yacht-desking” and I want to end the world
SHIPPING FORECAST: Same as last week. Bits and pieces.
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