16sep24

Smacked awake by the cat, twice. Had to use the phone to check the time and it was blowing up with news notifications. None of which were of any interest or use to me. I didn’t even bother opening the news apps when I went outside with my coffee. Which I think of as reading the papers, although the experience no longer feels that rich. There was a time when my phone was full when I woke up, and I was thirty thousand seconds behind where I needed to be. It makes me shudder now. I sometimes miss the “social telephones” aspect of life, and I used to hear a lot of interesting stuff through them, but my god it ate so much time that I could spend farting around outside with the cat or walking around the block saying hello to the neighbours or thinking about new things.

Too many deliveries already today. Late breakfast of nuts and berries.

OPERATIONS: Completed a project last night, a two-week sprint to generate 120 pages of material. Taking a breath today – I have some plants to get in the ground — but I do need to finish breaking down a story in the notebook so it’s ready to start typing up tomorrow. A brief newsletter went out yesterday. That was a difficult one to write.
STATUS: Inbox 74. I’ll pick up email after 5pm BST.
READING: THE ORIGIN OF EMPIRE: ROME FROM THE REPUBLIC TO HADRIAN, David Potter (link)
LISTENING:

LAST WATCHED: THE TWO POPES, beautifully shot, nice touches in the sound design, but generally too thin and conventional for my tastes

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter. Now: THE DEPARTMENT OF MIDNIGHT audio drama podcast. Forthcoming 2024: DESOLATION JONES: THE BIOHZARD EDITION, FELL: FERAL CITY new printing. 2025: THE STORMWATCH COMPENDIUM, THE AUTHORITY Compact Edition