As a big fan of field watches, the 02SERIES Field from Studio Underd0g is a real looker and extremely unique. My only complaint would be the 18mm strap and maybe the overall size being a tad small.

New microbrand Erebus has launched their first watch, the Origin. Still wondering if this is for me (likely not), but it’s nice to see a YouTuber make a leap from reviewing to creating something more into the world.

For me, I’m eyeing something a little more than the $300 mark in the Baltic Hermetique Tourer in blue, the Astor and Banks Fortitude Lite Navy Blue or the Nodus in ‘Frost’. There are plenty of great options around the $600 mark, that would work for an everyday alternative to my workhorse Vaer Field watch (which I love).

Vision Pro. Super interesting technologies and ideas. Totally unmoved at even considering it or anything like it. For me, it’s akin to the Apple Watch, it solves a problem I don’t have, nor want to have.

I am really loving the 3D analysis videos of lap comparisons in an F1 race. They offer a view of racing we have not seen before. The latest one from Monaco putting Verstappen’s lap against Alonso’s is easily one of the best I’ve seen.

JPL’s New Snake Robot is such an innovative approach to terrain exploration. Just couldn’t help smiling watching this video.

There’s now going to be a Gran Turismo Movie? First the Mario movie, then Tetris, now this. What next? Shinobi?

Last week I noticed my relatively new Apple keyboard had a sticky ‘0’ button. I yanked it out like an animal and damaged it. I think proceeded to watch some videos to see what was going on and ordered a replacement. Fast forward a week and the replacement didn’t work properly….and then cmd+c stopped working. So I’ve gone and ordered myself a Satechi Slim X2 keyboard, that not only is backlit, comes in space grey, but is also cheaper than the current Apple offering - which I really don’t like.

Jack Black sings Peaches. Easily one of the highlights of the Mario movie and I’m glad it also has it’s own video.

The last time I went to the cinema was probably seven years ago (I watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in Dubai with my cousin). As I write that I realise that my life has in fact completely changed since I had kids. I remember hearing that life would change, but I just didn’t understand how much.

I think it was seriously fitting to finally see the Super Mario Bros Movie with the kids. This was the perfect introduction to what a cinema experience is about (the large screen, the popcorn) but then we stumbled on Imagine Cinemas in Toronto, which added a very cozy setup and some of the best (reclining) seats I have ever experienced. The staff was amazing, the bathrooms were clean and overall it was exactly what I wanted.

One of the things that has been a serious improvement on our lives in Denmark is the very fact that we are allowing ourselves to live a little more. Maybe the fact that our kids are a little older. Maybe the fact that there isn’t a global pandemic raging at the moment. I know it’s just the bloody cinema, something that I would typically do multiple times a month, but it’s a start to building out life and enjoying the simple things as well.

Good day off. Didn’t achieve very much, but that’s ok sometimes. Made some calls. Cooked some food. Played with the kids. Tried out a new bakery. Watched a few videos. Did a little journalling. Some days you need a bit of general pottering.

How to use the Global MinoSharp Ceramic Water Sharpener. Not going to lie, these ‘vintage’ videos on how to sharpen my Global knife are amazing. My brother got me the knife back in Dubai, two lifetimes ago, first time I sharpen the knife (way, way overdue).

How was it made? Donatello’s marble carving technique. I love watching videos that showcase craftspeople doing things I could only dream about doing. Carving marble is certainly one of those skills.

That was unexpected. My 2021 watch purchase (and my everyday beater watch) is my Vaer field watch. I really love this little watch even though it has had some random time splits over the years.

At the time I bought this watch with two straps. A black rubber strap and a metal strap. Until this week I had never swapped the straps out because I didn’t have the $10 toolkit (sounds insane just writing that down).

With that omission sorted, what I’ve found is that actually I’m not a huge fan of metal straps. Keeps pinching the hairs on my arm. It’s much heavier than the rubber straps, and as my arm contracts and expands throughout the day, it also feels less comfortable.

The issue is that leather straps are water sensitive (and I really have no time for mothering a watch). This means that any future watches will have to get onto a rubber strap. No need for those metal straps I’ve had my eye on for the 2023 purchase.

David Guetta & Bebe Rexha - I’m Good (Blue). Somehow this song broke through my Spotify fortress of progressive rock and 1990s Grunge. I’m instantly transported back 20 years. Much better lyrics than the original. Truly terrible music video - they basically did whatever they wanted as long as it had bikini clad women (strangely also takes me back 20 years). Also, Guetta, at 55, is shredded. Is he related to Springsteen?

Incredible wood carving on a scale I have never imagined possible, Hulk vs Wolverine. Definitely watch the making of video.

If I was 15 years old with $1,000 to burn this would have been an insta-purchase.

Watched Downton Abbey: A New Era. This movie is purely for the fans. Get to spend a little bit more time with them all and tying everyone’s story in a nice bow. Highlight, by far, was Mr.Mosley finally coming into his own.

Watched the Banshees of Inisherin on the flight over to Florida - great movie although I guess I wanted more maybe from the ending?

Since the kids were born I’ve found it increasingly difficult to sit down and watch a movie the entire way through. In some ways it’s similar to reading a whole novel at the moment. I have several great books on the go and yet haven’t been able to finish any of them.

Maybe this little holiday will recharge some of those muscles and let me actually fill my brain with ideas and creativity that will help my own along the way.

⚽️ Really enjoyable game. All big to small teams should have a player advantage. Makes the game so much more fun to watch.

Our Time. This Ford commercial announcing its back in F1 is amazingly well done.

Watching Eric Ten Hag take on a struggling team and mould them into winners has been a real inspiration of team management. Any team leader should take note as there a lessons to be learnt. From confidence, to bad characters, to changing your mind, to having a plan.

EVERY Mac McClung Dunk in the 2023 NBA Dunk Contest. Been a while since I was super impressed with a dunk competition.

I love comeback stories. A sportsball team rebuilding and improving an existing crop of players. Since the summer I started watching the rebuilding story of the Manchester United team. I honestly thought that it would be something I would follow for a month and then it would fizzle away. Maybe because it was a World Cup year but the story has kept building.

The inspirational part for me is the story of a manager, taking a group of players that had raw talent and making them achieve far more collectively than they could achieve individually. Watching the story unfold every week has been pretty addictive as well, as you get your fix on a regular basis.

How fucking good is the Tetris movie trailer? So, sooo fucking good. Music is also on point.

Every year in February I watch Groundhog Day. And every year Yasmine asks me why.

🦫 Think I’m going to watch Groundhog Day a little earlier this year.

😬 That was tight but Manchester United got it over the line. I’m actually enjoying watching them (I really disliked the arrogance in the ‘00s and ‘10s), but liking the EtH era.

📷 I stumbled on this video that was talking about trying to come up with a cheaper version of an every day camera. I’ve been on the hunt for something like this for a while. My original thinking has been that it should be a brand new camera body…but actually I was thinking about this in the wrong way. See my issue was a question of form factor.

While my Sony NEX-6 camera is ok (no Wi-Fi and a decade old sensor), I had some decent lenses but they are big. That bulk ultimately meant that I haven’t used the camera as much as I would have liked. So I decided to buy a cheap-ish pancake lens and see if this develops into a habit

I’ve never watch a game of ‘football’ in my life, but this acapella NFL theme has certainly piqued my interest - with a song like that, what follows is bound to be epic right.

Fantastic trailer of the new Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy movie, You People. Loved the music, love the comedic tones. What the hell does Eddie Murphy do to continue to look that young? Someone please, please tell me.

Whenever you’re feeling a little blue…then you should definitely spend 2 minutes watching Mufasa getting pumped. A happier video you would be hard pressed to find.

The ADPT Series 1 is a really well executed, colourful addition to the field-watch-inspired-style on the market.

I remember reading The Man in the High Castle while in London over 15 years ago. I loved the alternative reality, but watching The Handmaid’s Tale has really cemented this as my favourite alternative US reality story. Only downside is you can’t binge too hard as it is a tough watch at times.

This Vox video capturing 2022, in 7 minutes is very well done. Didn’t cover nuclear fusion, which could mark a major turning point in humanity’s survival.

It’s not supposed to be this way Apple. I’m supposed to pay a premium for your products. They should not make me waste hours trying to sort out the audio, just to watch a movie - and literally no solution in sight. In my frustration I’ve gone an ordered a Chromecast.

Around the time that Zane was born Google released an ad for Gmail called ‘Dear Sophie’. It was fun and sweet and seemingly celebrated the internet. At the time I felt this was a great idea but didn’t want to use Gmail for this.

Fast forward a few years and I’m using my site to capture my thoughts. I began posting some stuff about the kids online but it felt like I was doing something wrong. They had no say in the matter.

Fast forward a few more years beyond that and I’ve finally worked out a way to create my own version of ‘Dear Sophie’. I’ve created separate journals for each of the boys and have begun writing small text messages and adding photos to each of them.

My site is written for my future online reading self. These journals are written for my boys after they’ve grown up and can understand what it took to raise them and what my hopes and thoughts for them were. I can’t wait to fill each journal.

Tricking My Brain

The final piece of all of this was using muscle memory of writing to my site, I use Drafts. Add this action, and modify the url with the following:

dayone://post?entry=[[draft]]&journal=Name_of_Journal

I’ve also gone and tweaked the appearance so that it is distinct from my Micro.blog action list.

My favourite Spider-Man (easily) movie gets a sequel. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Nuclear scientist Marv Adams explains what happened in the successful fusion experiment. A pretty important day really. I really, really hope we do the human thing and science/engineer our way out of environmental disaster (because relying on us to be better is a terrible idea). The big bonus is the delivery of the news. So great.

Big fan of Wendover. This latest video on How Florida Got So Weird is truly incredible. Great writing and editing.

I have been using Hoffman’s (or more accurately a smaller version) v60 technique since it originally came out. Can’t wait to try out his new better 1 Cup V60 Technique.

Version 2 of Affinity is out. Thats all three apps on three platforms for $100. I mean, you’d be foolish not to.

Euro News has a ‘No Comment’ series of clips. This video of twenty years of Putin playing the west is like that, only better, mainly because of the music. Great edit.

It’s been a while since I heard an Obama speech. Nothing this man does has a direct impact on my life (maybe tangentially now that I live in Canada?). And yet I continue to listen to him. To be inspired by his words. Not because I believe in ‘America’. America does its own thing and doesn’t care for me.

Rather Obama occupies a group of politicians that I look up to from around the world. People trying to make things better. There are many. Jacinda Arden. Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mario Draghi. Nelson Mandela. Rafik El Hariri. Mikhail Gorbachev.

We should remember them and celebrate them. They don’t last forever.

🍿 Watched 1917 which I thought was excellent. While there are some plot holes, I do enjoy this genre of one-take movies (Apocalypto and Gravity are the other examples that come to mind).

Rory Stewart is easily my favourite politician (even though I really like Obama). This video is an excellent introduction on an articulate politician, who’s politics I don’t subscribe to but, who’s tone, manner and thoughtfulness I fully admire.

It started off with Jamal’s death. Our holiday to Greece was cancelled. As a result I have not seen my parents since the summer of 2019, when we left Dubai and moved to Denmark. A week later we were in Tampa. A city neither myself or Yasmine had ever heard of. In fact, the only reason I had even heard of Tampa was because of Crossgen comics. There was a period of mourning and sadness and uncertainty in the house. I tried to keep it hidden from the boys and let them enjoy the summer. 2 weeks in, my mother-in-law’s appendix burst - caused by the pain from loosing her son.

IRCC Fiasco

There is no better way to say this other than the IRCC shat the bed over the summer. Our waiting times went from 1 week to 23 days, to 35 to 45 to 55 to 66 and we finally got the ok at day 73! To not fall foul of any visa issues, I flew out to the US and brought the kids over without their mother. That was a tough decision predicated on a complete leap of faith. The kids would only be separated from their mother for a few weeks maximum.

We were ready for Canada. Sadly, Canada was not ready for us.

The biggest irony in all of this? Of everyone in our family, morally Yasmine has the biggest claim to entering and staying in Canada. Turns out her grandfather was Canadian. Two generations later his granddaughter has to jump through hoops to re-enter. The world we have created has so many fucked up rules.

Hurricane Ian

I am reminded of the final scene from Argo (spoiler alert if you’ve not watched it, you really should). My wife left Tampa 4 hours before they shut down the airport. She was in Tampa for over 3 months and escaped a 1 in 100 year hurricane by 4 hours.

A New Start

It is completely surreal experience for my entire family to be here in Canada with me. We have a lot of living to get done.

It’s not every day that the boys and I spend the evening watching Spider-man Into the Spider-verse. All three of us were glued to this movie. Could this finally be the start of sharing the canonical art list? Could be.

Based on the trailer, the new George Miller movie, Three Thousand Years Of Longing looks amazing.

There are many great commencement speeches, this one for the University of Texas by Admiral William H. McRaven, really nails it. There’s even a book that expands on the ten lessons.

Saying goodbye to the family today as I head up to Canada on my own. Zane quickly came to terms with this. Ryan however has been getting progressively irate throughout the day.

When he saw his antics were not going to change the inevitable he slumped on the floor watching the only show that gives him comfort at the moment. I don’t normally tear up but talking to him was mega rough. The world must seem unnecessarily complicated to a 4 year old, and he’s probably right.

I typically don’t swoon over luxury watches but OMG does this TUDOR Ranger watch tick all my sensory boxes. From the dark green dial to that pop of red on the tip of the second hand.

Clerks III trailer - going back to the well. Dunno how to feel about this, but likely will watch it.

Turns out I like creating my own yearly traditions. Every year, for the last 6, I have changed the colours of my site (this is the first year that the design was also changed, more on that in a future post).

Every year, for the last 3 years I buy a new watch. These are not crazy priced watches, by any stretch of the imagination, but modestly priced watches with a function . The collection grows steadily and I get to spend a good amount of time enjoying what I purchased.

For a great part of the year I was sure my yearly purchase was going to be a red dialed Orient Kamasu. Then I was convinced that it was going to be a blue faced automatic watch of some description. I was seesawing between a Christopher Ward Sealander and a Seiko Baby Alpinist. Honestly I can think of any number of others things I can spend $1000 on - maybe in the far and distant future.

Alas, like last year (when I opted for a Vaer Field watch), I went for a brand I was aware of but the cost and function won me over. In this case a Mondaine Helvetica GMT. Moving to Canada means that my parents are in a completely different timezone. Sometimes I do the mental arithmetic needed, sometimes I pull out my phone and check out World Clock (one of my favourite apps that has an excellent use case of haptic feedback). I wasn’t looking for a GMT, but when I saw it, I thought this might actually come in a little handy, glance down, what time is it in Europe/Middle East? Got it.

I’d never seen this particular model before - although I do not pay a great deal of attention to what Mondaine have been up to. Obviously I loved the Erik Spiekermann designed watch faces but this one hit all the right notes for me, except of course it’s not an automatic. I think this is another functional watch for me to enjoy.

Its not every day that two of my favourite interests are combined, watches and coffee. This Brew Watches Metric Retro has so many awesome details (beyond the coffee bean logo on the dial and case back). Only bad thing is the fact you can’t buy one right now.

Insane vision. Watched Dune on the plane. It’s been so long since I’ve seen something as magically put together. Building worlds, while also ensuring you actually cared about the characters shows incredible craftsmanship. Really looking forward to future instalment(s 🤞🏼).

Been watching Workin’ Moms, mainly to get a feel for Toronto as a city. Turns out this is a really funny show - certainly within my sensibilities (and probably infinitely more relatable as our timeline with kids matches the shows pretty closely).

We’ve been watching Love Is Blind Japan and OMG what a window into Japanese mannerisms, fashion, culture (not the pop kind). The biggest difference from the US one is the amount of alcohol they keep knocking back, probably to get them to talk.

Also while we are on the subject of YouTube videos, my brother made his video debut (I think) and gives some pretty nice insight on financial crime deterrents and how they’re faring - spoiler, not so well it turns out.

My presentation for Micro Camp 2022 is now live. Had a lot of fun doing this and actually I intend to play around with this format on future Stet projects.

🍿 Just finished watching Turning Red. We’ve not had a family movie in a good long while. This was excellent in that it was completely different to just about every Pixar movie before it, in the best possible way.

Really appreciate this Vox video analysing Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 8 moments. The crescendo being the speech to the European Parliament at the very end.

🇺🇦 Watching war unfold in front of your eyes in slow motion and at scale is something I (everyone?) wish was not real. 45 million people have woken up to the worst possible future for themselves and their families. For what? Differences of ideologies and greed.

Knowing her current story, you can’t help but cry with Kamila Valieva and her latest performance. The people around her should have protected her. So sad that she wasn’t allowed to compete using her incredible abilities alone.

This video on London basements is really eye opening - considering I worked on one of these projects 10 years ago, clearly contributing to the problem…

This video for the restoration of a burnt Omega watch is nothing short of jaw dropping. This skill and finesse that this lady has is just amazing.

First day back in the ‘office’. Played a ton of Lego. Played a ton of chess. Cooked a ton of good food (and consumed it). Drank. Wrote. Designed. Drew. Read. Watched. Slept. Time to get back to work.

Where have all these young chefs been hiding all this time. Following on from Chef Jack, I have found Brian Lagerstrom to be a great watch. Funny (but in a different way), his food uses the same basic tools - although his portions seem massive.

Some baking just before Christmas. This thing turned out perfectly. Hats off to Chef Jack - the man has excellent taste in food.

I don’t typically do this, but I thought it would be useful to consider the major items I bought this year. Since moving to Denmark I am increasingly more aware of the purchases we make, because frankly they are limited compared to our materialistic lifestyle in Dubai.

Røde microphone

This was the first piece of electronics I bought this year. Excellent build quality. Great size. I never used it beyond a couple of test files. This isn’t to say that I won’t, just that I didn’t incorporate this into my life in 2022. In 2022 I would like to release a single episode at least once a month.

Vaer Watch

While not electronics, this was the first major purchase of the year. I have decided that I want to generally pace my watch buying to a single timepiece a year. This is a marathon not a sprint. The intention is to slowly build up my collection with purpose. While this watch does not have the heritage of many other watch brands, what I liked about it is that it fit into my yearly sub-theme, which is trying to get sensible defaults in place.

AOC screen

For the start of the pandemic I was using my little laptop screen as my primary device. There was a beauty to basically closing my laptop screen at the end of the week, leaving my desk clean for anything I wanted to do. When it became clear that we are in this for a while longer, I bought myself the largest screen that I thought would be compatible in our tiny little apartment. Its a 4K job. While nowhere near the density of my iPad Pro, it offers a huge step forward from everything work provides, while also setting me up nicely for one of my primarily purchases for next year.

Kindle Paperwhite

This was a replacement after 8 years with the previous model. A real upgrade. Glad that I waited as long as I did for this upgrade. At this rate I will get the next one at the end of 2029.

Soundcore Q30 earphones

This is a downgrade from my Sony WX1000, except they are not really. They function excellently, they just don’t feel premium, because they are not. I bought these because I also got the next item as a replacement. These lasted me a hair under 4 years. The issue was a bit of plastic. Tried to fix it but alas it had to be replaced. At 1/3 the price of the WX1000s, my thinking is that as long as these current ones last over 1.5 years then I am winning.

Jabra Elite 75T

Last year I lost one earbud. After many months of looking at the alternative, I decide to bite the bullet and re-order these. What I realised is that the case is super important. The overall design and how this thing fits into your ear is super important. The noise cancelling is super important. Jabra hits all of these at a reasonable price (when compared to the alternatives).

Ikea Modular Couch

We tried to keep using the makeshift Ikea day bed we brought with us from Dubai. It lasted a little under 2 years. It has been a wonderful addition to our living space and adding the lounge section was essential.

Babboe Cargo Curve

We went native with this one and got ourselves a cargo bike. When in Denmark and all that. This is probably Ryan’s favourite thing in the world. He loves vehicles and I can’t wait to use it in the spring and summer to take them all over the city.

Looking at the coming year, the three items I am looking at buying is a Mac Mini, the next watch (looking closely at the Seiko SPB157) and possibly an ivory Pro Gear. Of course I imagine there will be some unscheduled items I will be forced to replace…

Free trail for Music meant an education in mid 90s alternative for the boys. It was loud and it was full of energy. I love that I am now able to introduce them to the stuff that I love…instead of watching mindless toy review videos on YouTube.

Sylvane was right. It is pretty easy to make good Asian food. You just need a great teacher (Chef Jack is the man to follow).

🍳 Chef Jack Ovens has become an staple in my house. I love his videos because they are incredibly instructional. This creamy Thai soup transported me to my happy place. I replaced a couple of ingredients (no bean sprouts in the supermarket). Asian comfort food on a Sunday evening.

Harvest festival at Zane’s school today. Been doing a lot more thoughtful cooking this last few weeks, so my instant inclination was to see what is the best way to cook the best corn on the cob. Surprisingly easier than you think.

Watched the Apple event foolishly hoping for M2 news. Maybe I am getting desensitised by the yearly refresh cycle, but apart from the different activities tracking on the watch I found it hard to get excited about these upgrades. Maybe because I am not in the market for anything?

Tried to watch Bird Box. Can’t finish it. Too intense for me. Maybe it’s because I’m a father and my kids are either same age or slightly older than these kids? Just keep pausing.

📺 Recommended by my brother, watching ‘The Untold History of the United States’ by Oliver Stone. Just finished WW2 which gives a fascinating portrait of a period I have not given time to understand. It is overwhelming but essential watching to understand the world as it is.

📺 Totally binge watched Narcos: Mexico. Such a great show. Probably one of the best shows I’ve seen on Netflix. Although stylistically not the same as something like Breaking Bad, it has that same level of polish, in the twists and turns and in the character development.

💉=🖕🦠

I know, very childish, but I feel in that mood following my first shot! Can’t get this song out of my head.

⌚ Today is definitely a watch related day. Got a 60th Anniversary catalogue from Sinn and then this article that goes inside all four Rolex manufacturing facilities is an excellent way to dive deeper into the world of watches.

And like that war on the email pixel has been declared. I’m not going to say I will miss it. The only useful aspect of this technology for me is to see who has or hasn’t opened an email in a while. Truth is even then I haven’t used this feature to cull addresses.

I imagine that this then becomes an issue only as a newsletter grows. There will have to be new solutions adopted to address this. This could be as simple as a yearly poll that asks you to confirm you still want to receive the email, otherwise you will be removed. This might get annoying if everyone adopts the same technique (think that GDPR shitfest from a few years ago).

What people click on is even of less interest. I’m just just happy they found it engaging. I guess in the new world of newsletters, the only thing that matters is if someone signed up or removed themselves. If they sent you a response. Nobody ever seems to forward on an email so no need to worry about that.

As I dip my toes into the world of watches, I have decided to play around in the micro brand side of things and slowly move into more expensive options as I build my collection. There are two brands that seemingly have cornered this market as far as I’m concerned with their offerings are Vaer and Sternglas. What’s great about both is that they are not targeting the same styles, however they are approaching things in a very similar manner. One is based in the U.S and the other in Germany and both released a watch this week.

The interesting things relating to watch materials and colours are happening in the micro brand space. These new manufacturers do not have heritage to rely upon and so they have to provide a compelling reason to buy them over more established brands (that are likely to be here, 10, 20 years from now). These two brands don’t skimp on the specifications and have stayed true to their chosen design aesthetic.

Modesto

Sternglas has just released the Modesto, a very enticing watch with the option of a very simple black or white dial design. This naturally appeals to me on several levels, however if I think their very first idea, the Naos a better distillation of what they are good at.

D4

I am definitely not on the market for another Vaer watch (considering I just got one a month ago), but this is a real beauty. The D4 is their entry model dive watch. What I love about these dive watches is how the naming directly relates to their faces. I would have loved a Tropic version of the D4, however if I was to go for one of these D4s it would be the Atlantic version.

So finally got an upgrade to my Swatch. While I do love that little thing, this watch from Vaer encapsulates what I have been looking for in an everyday watch. Have a longer thing to write (or maybe even talk about) soon. The tldr: its an excellent upgrade to a Timex Expedition.

He finally went ahead and did one, James Hoffmann on The AeroPress - episode 1 of course.

In the spring of 2020, the world was going through unprecedented upheaval. Many across the world descended and depended heavily on the digital realm. It took a hold of our lives; our mental space was covered by a warm glowing digital blanket. Many of us embraced this new reality as we all tried to get away from the reality happening around us. We looked for escape. Years of conditioning took over, it could never have happened otherwise.

I was certainly not immune to this way of life. My attention was completely hijacked. Enough was enough. I confronted this new numbing reality. I consider how I wanted technology in my life. Rather than letting technology entertain me endlessly, through unlimited steams of content I would control how the digital realm would be allowed into my life. It was a difficult transition. A digital addict needs to step away from the things that have a hold over him.

At first I would leave my phone at home when I went out. I would take a notebook and a pen to try and make sense of the world around me. I looked to reading physical books again. I was transported back a decade, where these computers in our pockets did not exist. This was a slow, steady transition back to a more analogue world. The final piece of the analogue puzzle came when I looked down on my wrist. Empty and bare. I looked again and decided that it was time to finally get back to wearing a watch. That was when I fell face down into the rabbit hole.

I get it now. Yesterday after having discovered the recently added broadcast feature for Goodnotes, I stumbled across a video about the Craft app. I really wasn’t looking for another note taking app (I promise) — yet I quickly realised where this could fit in perfectly. Research.

The main reason I think this works, is because Craft isn’t a pure text editor. It will happily collect pdfs and images and format links with thumbnails, in a manner that is less bloated than something like Evernote. For years I have tried using Pinboard as a way to collect all my research, but it doesn’t fully fit into my workflow. Having one document which I use to dump things into during a month of writing is a pretty powerful way to collect all these thoughts. Exceptional polish for such a young application and I can certainly see why it has gotten the attention it has. It is different to Obsidian, Roam and that is ok, you cannot have one text editor to rule them all.

The biggest ding against it however is the pricing. At $45/year, the question is whether I feel strongly enough about keeping everything within the app itself. The app makes it easy to export an .md file along with all the attachments. Honestly this limitation might actually be a blessing considering it forces me to keep everything pruned - although I will probably only need to do this around the 10-15 document limit.

Affinity 1.9. Arguably one of the best videos for a point release of an indie app. Love the music. The versatility of the functions on offer is incredibly impressive.

Been looking for some easy wins for the morning. These five overnight oats recipes have been a real winner for me. The trick to overnight oats it seems is making sure that you put the same amount of oats to liquid and then add half as much yogurt. The end result has been awesomely smooth and creamy. I have previously been eyeballing it. Big mistake. Getting the measurements right is actually super important.

On a personal level, nothing that happens in American politics has any direct effect on my life. Not really. It’s no different than what happens in Australian or Russian politics. In fact what happens in Belgium or Germany is likely more important to my life and I certainly don’t pay them any attention.

I have a bipolar relationship with America. I consume a lot of culture that is produced there (from books, to shows, to music, to software, to electronics). I mean the ultimate endorsement is that my wife is half American. Yet I certainly don’t believe in the rhetoric and I can see many of the social issues that the country has to manage (systemic racism, rampant gun control, undemocratic electoral system, etc).

One of the best books I’ve read about America’s future is called Fall of the Empire. Its not talking about the British one, that fell long ago. No this was published over a decade ago by the same guy how predicted the fall of the USSR, then at the peak of its power and the reasons why, back in the 70s. In this book he described the reasons for the fall of the American Empire. Many of the topics he covers were played out yesterday.

So why am I glued to watching what is happening? Part of it might be that its a well documented car crash. This week has shown just how much of a sham the whole system is. Sure you might argue that the system will get rid of the bad players eventually, proof that there are some checks and balances. The thing is I want to try and remember when an angry mob stormed another parliament building in a first world country? Seriously. The fact that it got this far shows how poor the system in place is. Hell, even countries like Lebanon, with governments soo incompetent they kept a nuclear bomb in the center of the city for over 10 years, is able to control it’s population from entering the parliament building.

More broadly however I think from an early age I realised that the American machine touched many of our lives but in an indirect way. Democracy is in decline. I am someone raised in a democracy and enjoy the freedoms that comes with that. I certainly don’t want to swear allegiance to any ‘dear leader’ nor do I want to operate under the watchful eye of a ‘party’, communist or otherwise. I believe in democracy.

Having released a number of projects in 2019 (it was after all the year of release), the focus of 2020 was the year of consolidation. The intent was to focus my mind on these projects and make them better - implicit was the fact that I was not to add any new projects.

What I didn’t expect was that in 2020, I would also start my personal learning journey.

1. I learnt how to draw trees, which really laid the foundation for my artwork to take a step forward.
2. I had never made sweet potato buns, now these have become a regular staple in the house and have seriously elevated my burger-fu. I have become ever better at making eggs in a number of ways (omelettes were conquered early on, but now boiled and Korean-style egg sandwiches are normal for us).
3. I finally understood how to make a better cup of coffee (I was 80% of the way there, that last 20% really makes all the difference).
4. I dove deeper than I care to admitt into the world of watches, which I hope to expand upon one a year until I have my collection where I want it to be.
5. I spent hours working out my clothing style (and working out where to buy what), which I hope will come together more in 2021.
6. I discovered digital minimalism and time block planning. I still suck at both, but at least I know what I need to do.
7. I finally consolidated my notes into a Zettelkasten built around Obsidian and 1Writer.
8. I was able to loose about 10kg using the No-S diet. I fell off the wagon a little bit in the last few months (mainly due to work pressures and just being a little bit mentally exhausted).

For 2021, the year of learning I want more of the above. I’m not sure what exactly I want to learn specifically, but I know that I really have enjoyed the process of getting better personally at certain things and understanding the reasons why.

2021 is already looking better than this bitch of a year. Then you have season 3 of Cobra Kai as the cherry on top.

Currently listening to Simple Song by The Shins. Song of the autumn for me.

Just finished watching David Attenborough’s A Life On Our Planet. As always the man is a treasure and I hope we heed the advice in the years and decades to come.

First scratch on the swatch. Totally forgot that this was a thing for watch wearers. Quick search online reveals that Polywatch might be the perfect solution for this type of thing. Imagine I will be using the hell out of this thing.

🎬 Finally finished Roma. I barely watch any television these days, so when I do I want to make sure that there will be some connection. This movie was super powerful but in a magical way. Transported me to a time and place I have never lived, which oddly was familiar. Beautifully shot.

It took me weeks. It got to the point that Yasmine was sick and tired of me looking at watch websites. Endlessly navigating between different styles, then checking them out on YouTube in the hope that I would be convinced. It didn’t all finally fall into place until this morning. A watch I may have looked at before in passing.

For weeks now I have been trending towards the Certina DS-8, a more beautiful and understated timepiece you probably are unlikely to find. My problem with it wasn’t the price, it was the very fact of its appeal. It was steel (and there had heft) it was large enough to make it presence felt. I went for utility instead.

The Swatch Skinera offers me the function over form that I was desperately seeking.

For the last few weeks I have been spending a stupid amount of time trying to choose a practical daily watch. With my iPhone relegated as a tool I use on occasion and for very specific things, I find myself wondering what time it is more regularly with no instant way of knowing this most basic of information.

Truth is I am struggling with the incredible sea of choice that is available. Getting into the watch game is very similar to getting into anything with a rich history. The options and things you need to get your head around is legion. That is the problem. You cannot find that one watch that satisfies all situations. You likely need a small collection. So the hunt begins.

Jake Parker Plagiarized My Book. This is heartbreaking. I have participated in Inktober several times now and think Parker has created something many of us aspire to. However I owe so much knowledge to Alphonso Dunn, probably one of the best art instructors or teachers anyone could have. He is also exceptionally composed even on the end of pure theft. I’m not surprised that someone would steal from him, but I honestly did not think it would be Parker.

I barely watch any movies anymore (the thing has to be pretty spectacular to get onto my radar these days), but I am a total sucker for all things Batman. Surprisingly ‘The Batman’ teaser trailer is actually very, very good. Using the Nirvana song is inspired.

📚 Just finished reading Fortunately, The Milk (the Scottie Young edition). This interview is a great ‘directors commentary’ and the reason for writing it.

First days of school and my heart is in my mouth. In a country he knows little about, with a language he does not understand he’s been thrown into the deep end. He will swim very soon I am sure (at least everyone tells me that, and I have grown to believe this), but it doesn’t make the act any less difficult to watch.

Having the mental space to do other things than wasting it on the internet introduces previously difficult tasks. Tasks that you may have needed a lot of energy to accomplish become somewhat more plausible and achievable.

This week I spent four and a half hours on my phone. It wasn’t scrolling Twitter or in Safari or watching Youtube. Rather I was in the Finances app, easily the best of it’s kind and there are many, sorting out our budgets for the rest of the entire year. I’m using the ‘envelope’ method that is achievable within the app (a feature I only recently found out about). Previously I was using a spreadsheet, which while did the job, wasn’t as easy to maintain, and didn’t give you the same insights.

Putting the effort in now reaps multiple benefits moving forwards. For a start the mental overhead is vastly reduced - a subject I intend to write a lot more about in the coming year. You make decisions and you can either stick to them, or knowningly go in a different direction. While life is typically unpredicable we can however put some plans together and manage through things as best as we can.

For over a year now I have watched Seth Godin publish to his blog every single day. What struck me the most about these posts was the endless well that he was pulling ideas from and giving them form and pressing publish. What’s even more impressive is that he has been on this train for years. I always wondered what his secret was. He attributed to not having a television. I barely watch television, except specific shows that I watch with general intention. So why couldn’t I focus? Why couldn’t I do the same?

What was missing from the conversation was my phone. My phone offered the biggest distraction. It had hijacked my brain. This was then further augmented by how I used my computer. I let it happen to me again and again, even though I thought I was being mindful. While I was able to create and write a decent amount during this time, I did so inspite of being overwhelmingly distracted. It was very hard to focus. I’m now looking forward to seeing what I am able to produce and read and draw and create with this new found attention.

We’re taught a lot of things sadly we are also ignorant of a lot more. While the digital technology can be powerful and liberating, it can also have the ability to hijack our attentions without remorse.

YouTube algorithm worked this time. Why people believe they can’t draw - and how to prove they can.

Some people bake bread. Others collect watches. Some watch birds. I collect iOS text editors. Scratch that, I spend an incredible amount of time considering, testing and playing with text editors on iOS. It all started out looking for a text based nirvana. Ultimately my quest for that perfect editor has come up short as it has now dawned on me that the perfect text editor doesn’t exist. Rather what I have come to realise is that there are several amazing editors that have a number of strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to find the collection that best compliment each other in your quest for capturing and further developing your thoughts.

My collection of apps that I love on iOS are:

1. iA Writer
2. Editorial
3. 1Writer

To that collection I have recently added Drafts as it has become my replacement The Archive on the Mac. My long held belief that the modal design established by Notational Velocity¹ was/is the ultimate method for capturing and searching for text. Drafts introduces another way that is equally as powerful, only different.

Getting Over the Omnibar

In The Archive, once you open the app, the cursor is in the omnibar which lets you create or search for a note. In creating a note, you type in some words, which then become the name of the file and the first line of the new file. It’s an incredibly powerful concept that has not been replicated successfully on iOS yet (although there have been some flawed attempts).

Drafts does away with the search. For Drafts, by default, the first thing that you are allowed to is start writing in a blank file. That is where you start. If you want to search, there are three ways, press the search icon in the bottom right hand corner (prime location), press shift+command+f or pull down to reveal the search. The reason this is better for iOS is the fact that this entire app is replicated on the iPhone, with a single exception (that I can find), which is pinning the sidebar (this seems to only be available on the iPad).

Getting Over the Clutter

One of the things that drove me away from using Drafts was that I thought it was too cluttered. I had bought into the minimal aesthetics provided by iA Writer and I liked it that way.

Except Drafts is more function over form. In many ways, this app is the total antithesis of iA Writer. The icon isn’t great (although you can change it). Both the overall graphic direction of the app and the iconography for the groups sidebar leave a lot to be desired. I’ve quickly learnt not to care.

Being able to write whatever I want and then call up a function and publish to my website in microseconds makes the function trump any ugly iconography found within the app itself. That is where I started seeing that there is more to this app than meets the eye. I published exclusively from it for 2 months before realising that all of my thoughts should live in here. Thoughts that need to be expanded upon can get moved over to iA Writer for a more refined experience.

Workspaces

The Archive has a similar feature to this, except it wasn’t graphically implemented as elegantly as this. This feature is available, but it is mostly hidden.

What I love about this particular feature is the fact that I can flip between different frames of mind. I want to write some thoughts about engineering? There’s a workspace for that. Something for this site? There’s a workspace for that. General reference texts? Yup, there’s a space for that.

Deep

Rearranging the text within a file, as per blocks, sentences or lines is an excellent idea that I’ve not encounter anywhere else. The fact that it has a shortcut for just about everything shows that the developer understands what is important. Version history for all your text is there and readily available within the app. And on the list goes. @cm called this app deep which is such an excellent description of what this app has to offer.

Subscription Model

I don’t agree with the subscription model used and would have preferred if the subscription model established by Sketch was used instead. You pay once and continue to use the app that you paid for at that point in time for as long as you want. For 1 year you get all monthly updates. If you want future updates after that year, you have to pay again. Not sure what happens to all my Workspaces when the year is over tbh.

Having said that, there is plenty of room for the app to improve. The aforementioned graphical shortcomings. The selection of themes could be better, maybe something similar to those provided in iWriter Pro. The fact that there isn’t a baked in path to exporting the text as a series of files, which goes against some of what I want (but there might be a pretty easy workaround for that).

These are quibbles in what is otherwise one of the most pro writing app on any platform.

This report by The Economist on why America’s COVID-19 death toll so high? highlights a number of issues with how things are set up. I have been tracking the numbers on a daily basis and it seems that overall things are settling down in America’s death rates, which is a positive sign at least.

As sensational as Michael Moore can be, his movies bring the mic to topics people either don’t know enough about or purposely ignore. This one is no different. Except this one has been released on YouTube.

Ok finally gave in and started watching Tiger King. It’s like an accident on the side of the road. You just can’t help yourself, you have to take a look and once you have you feel bad you did.

Everyone is going through a number of changes in their lives and trying to adapt. It’s now been 4 weeks since this lockdown began for us. At first it was about getting over the shock. Now it’s about settling in and doing things purposefully. As an absolute minimum in Denmark this is going to go on here for another month - although that is on the optimistic side of things. To make the transition even more disorienting, the changing of hours only added to my routine upheaval. Something I’ve not had to deal with for 8 years, I forgot that it messes your brain for at least 2 weeks, until you get your circadian rhythms back.

• The first month I experimented with a beard. While it was pretty cool not to have to shave every day, it’s not for me. Maybe when I’m in my 50s and really, really don’t give a shit. Now I give half a shit.
• Working from home has shown me what it would actually be like. With young kids. I have found that there are plenty of hours where I am super focused on what I am doing and the time genuinely flies. However it has come at a price. The price of my own time. Where previously I had very distinct lines that I managed, these lines have now been blurred.

For the next month, I’m going to try and be more purposeful with our new reality.

• While some exercise has made it’s way into my day, I want to be a little more purposeful with this. There is a time of the day this happens, just need to extend
• I’d like to write more regularly, both in my journal and online. To do something you have to set an actual time of the day that you do this. Journalling happens when I first wake up and when I go to be. Online writing can happen at any point in the day.
• I want to get through some more books. Rather than checking the same damn websites again and again. Then open my emails. Then back to my RSS reading. Then lets check Micro.blog…hmmm I wonder what is happening on MySpace these days…RSS is awesome….oh time for bed. I honestly have a ton of books that I really want to get into but the amount of easier distractions has overcome me.
• There are some awesome shows I’d also like to get into, with Better Call Saul coming to an end (for this penultimate season). Maybe watch See or Stranger Things or The Mandalorian. There are a few Pixar movies I’ve not watched including Coco, Toy Story 4 and Outbound.
• I want to make sure I do my Danish lessons while doing the dishes every single day. This was going well for a few days, before it stopped. Need to get back on that wagon.

This season of Better Call Saul is finally hitting it’s stride and showing us what makes Saul Goodman such a good character to watch. It’s also interesting to see how they are filling in some backstory of how Mike breaks bad as well (can I even use it that way?).

‘This malignant shit funnel.’

COVID-19 Real Time Counter

Great video by Vox explaining why new diseases keep appearing in China and why these may continue to appear. Unlike America’s lack of gun control (which is terrible) affects Americans within their borders. The Chinese government’s policies to not only allow but actively encourage wildlife farming practices (which is awful, even without the addition of disease to the mix), have a significant affect across the entire world. Hopefully world governments can put enough pressure on China to finally put an end to this.

Finally, Better Call Saul Season 5.

One of the clearest data points in our transition to Denmark is the nearly complete shift from eating out on a regular basis to eating exclusively from home. Slowly we have been adding different types of foods to our cooking repetoire. Yasmine’s been getting into baked muffins in a big way, as she continues to experiments with all kinds of ingredients.

From my side, I finally attempted and mostly landed the ever ellusive potato bun for a hamburger. If like me you are a burger connosieur, you understand that the bun makes the burger. You’re very liable to forgive a lot more of what goes inside the burger, but if the bun isn’t right, then the whole thing falls apart.

The receipe I would totally recommend is the this one by Food Wishes. When I first heard Chef John, I thought this is a joke right? His tone grows on you and then the humour comes in, which is a nice touch. The only part I will be tweaking is the amount of yeast. I’ll be using 1½ teaspoons rather than the recommended 2½ as it smelt too yeasty for our liking. The other part is that I think the buns could be a little larger, so maybe use halves rather than quarters.

The other video I would recommend is the one about making a Shake Shack burger. It’s a classic burger where less is more.

Isssue 019 of my newsletter In Abeyance is out, The Circular Economy. This one has a lot of noise and material being generated for it. Definitely a topic to watch for how it moves in the future.

We needed something light and uplifting, so we decided to watch The Durrells. Still making our way through season one. Love Spiros (because he reminds me of many Greeks) and the youngest boy reminds us of Zane, because of his obsession with animals.

TENET trailer, you had me at Syncopy. This looks like a mix between The Matrix and Memento. Can’t wait.

If you publish on the internet you should watch Sacha Baron Cohen’s keynote address at ADL’s 2019 summit.

I lambasted Google for tracking and advertising…turns out the culprit was likely Apple. iOS 13 Settings To Turn Off Now video is a real eye opener. So much is buried in the menu and should be off by default. @gruber you should really write about this shit.

How to Read a Book a Day. I’m definitely going to be giving this a go for my next book.

Just finished watching the first episode of Our Planet. David Attenborough could read his shopping list and I’d be attentive to his every word. I’ve missed these epic nature programmes (still haven’t seen Blue Planet II).

I’ve now been in Copenhagen for a week and have had a tiny bit of time to get a feel for the city. The closest city I can compare this to is London. However I keep reminding myself that this is not the UK, things are decidedly different here. The best example I can think of was when I was walking, I take a turn off the main high street, onto what looked like a simple residential area, and there at the end of the road I could see the wind turbines¹. It was just another reminder, things are different here. However, the biggest difference that I can gather is the city’s approach to transport.

Transport

The truth is though the city’s layout is different, the streets are wider. They have very distinct lanes for the different modes of transport. The lack of total dependence on the car is absolutely evident here. Every form of transport has been catered to in one form or another. Walking, cycling, scooters, boats, metro, train, buses and even the ‘humble’ car. The first few days I spent walking. That’s because this simple act of taking a long walk and watching what’s going on in the world has been an exercise that I have not been able to do over these last decade(?!). The Gulf is many things, but a haven and promoter for walkers it is not.

Most telling for me is that I’m about to have walked more in the month of October, than any other month over the last year (according to my iPhone, which is missing a great deal of steps I know, but I’m using it as a loose indicator).

I’m now also looking very closely at buying a Segway Ninebot Kickscooter as a fun and simple way to get around town. While there are scooters everywhere for hire, the cost adds up really quickly (by my calculation use the scooter for 140 trips and you’ve paid off the scooter). That’s the other thing about micromobility, it’s generally really affordable, even if you have to replace the scooter relatively regularly - it’s a utility cost more than anything.

Local Not Global Country

The other element that is clear here is the fact that this is not a Global city. There are no Amazon Prime trucks running around. There isn’t a MacDonalds or Starbucks on every corner (although these two staples do exist here). There is no Apple store. Vodaphone doesn’t operate here (at least I haven’t seen the Vodaphone logo anywhere). And so it goes. In this regard, it feels like a place caught in time…with it’s own home brands, made by and catering it’s own people. Some companies I’ve never heard of before, others have actually made the leap outside these borders.

Over the last 8 years, the word ‘local’ was seen as a bit of a derogative term. Somehow, local here is celebrated, as it’s the main part of your every day life. It’s another part that I will need to recalibrate my thinking.

Food

Since arriving in Copenhagen, I’ve eaten at one restaurant and it was a magnificent. The one thing that I do have to say is that the produce here is exceptional. I knew that strawberries here have a good reputation, but I didn’t expect that. Bringing the shopping into my apartment, I could smell them straight away. I haven’t smelt a strawberry in so long.

Buying local chicken, local tomatoes, berries, have all really elevated my meals considerably. I’ve been getting more and more into Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube channel as well and have been really loving it.

Language Barrier

I knew that this would be a thing. I’ve not gotten into a habit yet for listening and doing my Danish lessons but I do intend to do incorporate into my life very very soon.

Yup, I’ll be getting a copy of this book I think before I head of to Denmark. We’ve been meaning to get into more vegetables as the centre of our meals, just need that extra push.

Yesterday my youngest and I turned off the lights and looked up into the sky at the moon. Ryan is completely fascinated by this changing object in the sky. I’m even considering buying a telescope just for him to experience it in a whole new way.  Not sure how ambitious it is for a 1½ year old to grasp what he’d be looking at.

With only 1 week to go before it’s been 50 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon, I’ve been slowly immersing myself in all things moon related. Really looking forward to the Todd Douglas documentary,  here’s the trailer. The 13 Minutes to the Moon podcast has been an incredible audio journey. Meanwhile the amazing Lego sets that have been released for the Saturn V and Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) are top of my wishlist at the moment.

Finally, here’s a really old (and pretty rough) cartoon I drew 6 years ago now, when Neil Armstrong died.

Just watched the first episode of Justified. I’d give it a solid 6/10. I’ll give it a few more episodes because I’m an Elmore Leonard fan.

I dare you to watch the second video for the Black Fly and not smile.

After watching the ending of Game of Thrones, go read The New Yorker interview with Emilia Clarke.

Ramadan hours means I can spend a little more time with the kids. I honestly never take this for granted. Even if I’m not directly involved, watching them play is a joy.

Cobra Kai is back! Easily one of my favourite fun shows of last year. If you were a product of the 80s and the Karate Kid, this is so well done.

I’m totally onboard the new Joker trailer. My only comment is the color of the suit. I understand it’s incredibly hard to top the cannonical Heath Ledger version of that purple suit, but something feels off about this one. Maybe in the movie it’ll be better?

I’ve missed Tarantino. The latest trailer for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood instantly gave me a Jackie Brown meets Kill Bill vibe. The music as always is completely on point. How he does that is like magic to me.

The world continues to go to shit. I’ve heard prime ministers and presidents all over the world deliver speeches after these types of attacks (sadly they’re not rarities), they often come across somewhat hollow. Jacinda Ardern’s response was anything but.

Oh yes. Today is Groundhog Day. Bonus: If you don’t feel like watching that film, then you can always ‘celebrate’ by watching Russian doll instead…

🖖🏼Time to settle in and start watching Star Trek Discovery Season 2. It’s been a while.

Like many Brits, I’m glued to my screen watching the circus that is Brexit. My hope is that this proposal is buried and that somehow means no Brexit. I just want it all to be over and everyone can agree that it was a colossal waste of time & effort.

🍿 Finally got around to watching The Incredibles 2. Maybe the fact that I am now a father with 2 kids, this movie means even more to me now? Maybe the fact that every time I saw Jack-Jack I was reminded of Ryan? I was over the superhero parts, but everything else rocked my world.

I found out about Food Tube when I was looking how to make eggs. After Jamie blew my mind I’ve jumped into making hot sauce, chicken and salads.

🍿 I hardly ever get the chance to watch movies but on the latest Recomendo issue, I was gifted a couple of hours today and decided to watch Icarus, one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time complete with engaging protagonists, story and music.

The John Lewis Christmas adverts are an institution. The latest one is by far one of my absolute favourites.

Great trailer for Toy Story 4. I only found out that this was happening earlier this morning. Had the same feeling as Duckie there, alas they’ve won me over.

Netflix has seriously changed how I consume some of my entertainment. Thankfully Better Call Saul isn’t on that network which means I have to wait for a new episode every week. Somehow gives my week a little bit of relief as it’s the only show I’m watching these days.

🎥 So the wife and I finally watched a movie together. We settled on Tully. Great movie. It will hit different people in different ways. It hit my wife the hardest being a mother of a 4 year old and 8 month old. Diablo Codi is one of my favourite writers in Hollywood.

I genuinely thought I’d watched all of Chef’s Table. Somehow I’d missed the one for Alex Atala. If you’ve not had a chance to watch it, I put this up there with the one about Francis Mallmann (that crazy chef from Patagonia). Maybe I just really love South American chefs.

What really happens to the plastic you throw away is both depressing and the necessary jolt many of us need to take action for ourselves and our children.

I haven’t laughed this hard at something in a long, long while. John Oliver’s take on Facebook is an absolute classic and makes me want to eject from Instagram as well. C’mon @manton release Sunlit already!

🎥 Just watched Logan. It’s obviously not as a great as the comic Old Man Logan, which for licensing reasons obviously couldn’t bring all the characters together, it definitely stands as one of the best X-men movies made.

Watching Obama’s speech for the Nelson Mandela annual lecture. I truly miss the eloquence of a man with a story to tell, such a great orator. Probably the best.

🎥 Finally watched Thor: Ragnarok. It’s everything you can expect and so much more (characters, story, visuals, humour, imagination). Haven’t had this much fun with a movie in a really long time. Big thumbs up 👍.

For me the unmistakable sound of Beirut is the car horn which begins to propagate throughout the city early. The horn is used for everything:

Watch out!
Come down, I’m here.
Outta the way buddy, I wanna park.
Come take my order please, I’m waiting.
Want a taxi somewhere?

⚽ Notes on the Iceland vs Nigeria game:

• Hoping Iceland pull an equaliser against Nigeria, along with Mexico they’re my two favourite underdog teams.
• How the hell did Nigeria just score twice in 20 minutes? Where Argentina had no way in?
• VAR comes to their rescue…and he hoofs the penalty. What is going on with the penalties this World Cup?
• Argentina can actually make it through to the next round now, after their abysmal performance yesterday to Croatia.
• Both goals by Musa are some of the best individual performance goals I’ve seen in the world cup. Didn’t think they had it in them to be honest.
• A great second half in this game, makes this group qualifying a fascinating one to watch.

⌚ The latest iteration of Mondaine’s smart watch concept is a solid design iteration on the previous model (the dial at the bottom always looked cramped). Definitely goes onto the same wantlist as the Erik Spiekermann editions I have coveted for a while.

⚽ This match is turning out to be a complete classico. This is what the world cup is all about. I’ve watched more football in the last 2 days than I’ve watched over the last 4 years combined. Totally worth it.

This is the first time that I get to watch WWDC on my Apple TV.

Yes I am watching the new Cobra Kai series; and yes, it is actually pretty good so far…

I’ve been struggling with thoughts and issues on how to keep going (for a number of aspects in my life). This talk by Austin Kleon tackles this topic head first. His answer is found across 10 points ; you should watch the video to get a proper explanation on each:

1. Every day is Groundhog Day
2. Build a bliss station
3. Forget the noun, do the verb
4. Make gifts
5. The ordinary + extra attention = the extraordinary
6. Art is for life (not the other way around)
7. You are allowed to change your mind
8. When in doubt, tidy up
9. The demons hate fresh air
10. Spend time on something that will outlast them

Lost in Space - Amazing what Netflix is doing these days with their series. It makes the reboot from 20 years ago look like amature hour. Golden age of ‘television’ continues.

Top tip to all you kids out there. If you’ve got a young family, make sure to invest in some decent noise cancelling headphones to watch anything in the limited downtime without disturbing their sleep. Game changer!

Last night was the first moment shared by myself and my two boys. And a glorious moment it was.

Since Ryan’s been born, the activities shared by the boys has been somewhat limited. One is a 3 1/2 year old, while the other is 3 months old. Ryan though clearly has his father’s taste in music. To calm him down I’ve taken to singing to him alternative music from the 90s. We’ve just finished our Smashing Pumpkins phase and I started singing Fell on black days.

Having not heard the song in 10 years I thought it would be great to blast it out. I mean that’s why I have music subscription right? I’m holding Ryan and we’re dad-shuffling to the music. A which point Zane decides he wants in on the action as well, so he grabs his massive Ikea shark and starts moshing (I put the link in because I have no idea if this is what it’s refered to these days, wait…they’re calling it slamdancing? I’ll stick with moshing thank you very much) with it. And it all escalated from there.

Although different in an infinitely number of ways, the whole scene did remind me of that time Stathi and I were 18-19 and went to this club in Athens who either had an alternative night on, or the DJ is hoping to get kicked out. Anyway he was playing our music, which by this stage had fallen out of favour in place of some other pop shit. Towards the end/middle of the night there we were literally the only 2 people on the floor slamdancing.

I think my 18-19 year old self would be super proud of these two.

Ralph Breaks the Internet trailer - although this move is from Disney, it’s always felt like a thoroughbread Pixar movie.

Finally. Does this mean I might actually start watching F1 again. It’s been years since I did.

Really enjoyed the latest episode of the Unmade podcast. Favourite part was learning about this - ok the link is here

My earliest memory of my grandmother must have been when I was a little older than Zane (my eldest), I couldn’t have been more than 4 years old. It was just the two of us, my parents where elsewhere. She offered me a cheese ‘ashkawan’ sandwich, which I hesitated but accepted. What she produced was a mature cheddar cheese sandwich of such epic flavour, I can still taste it 34 years on. After demolishing the first one, she could see I wasn’t done and so she asked me if I wanted another. I remember how happy she looked at being able to offer such a simple thing that could elisit such a reaction — like she’d discovered my route to happiness and was going to use it. She was a master at giving genuine happiness from the simplest of things at her disposal. She would offer this happiness throughout her life and to everyone she came into contact with. And lemonade. Lots of lemonade.

The way I see it, my grandmother’s job was to spoil me (and to a lesser extent my brother). To that end she did an outstanding job. When she found out that I liked the peanut M&Ms, she made sure she had a complete box for me. I ate so many peanut M&Ms that summer, I still can’t bring myself to eat them any more.

She would hand us an endless stream of toys with alarming regularity, and would take great pains to get something different and special. Sometimes I think she worked on these present ‘projects’ all year, in anticipation of when we came to visit.

She was into shisha before it became fashionable — and did it the right way, in the comfort of her own home, after a meal to pass a few hours while looking out onto the sea and watching the world go by.

Fiercely independent (she learnt the very hard way and very early on that she had to fend for herself) and with twice as much energy in her as other ladies her age (as experienced by the fact that she walked everywhere). Her favourite holiday destination was Syria (back before it was completely ravaged by war).

Even though I’ve not had a two way conversation in over a decade with her, she was available to me during some tough times when I was in Lebanon. She helped me through them by being a willing ear.

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of my wedding (there were many that day), was seeing my grandmother attend — she was bedridden for several years by that stage, so her attendance never even crossed my mind as a possibility. It took a lot for her to be there, and thankfully her nurse made it a reality.

My grandmother at my wedding

A patient wife, a great neighbour, a dedicated aunt and a loyal sister — my grandmother was all these things and so much more.

After 9 hard years (being bedridden and paralysed), she finally laid her head to rest and left this world behind her. I loved my grandmother. She died today.

Nohad Abou Alfa, 1930–23rd December 2017

I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but somewhere along the way, I just gave up creating and giving a shit about creating for the internet. I gave up following comic books in a semi-religious manner. I gave up playing basketball every single week. I gave up watching movies regularly. I gave up writing to my various website.

My aim has always been to create a small library of stories that I’ve written and drawn that are available in a multitude of formats (from digital to paperbacks and hardcovers). It’s a reasonably modest aim, but with the option of becoming greater depending on scale.

Do I think that this library of stories will provide me with a living? Probably not, unless I have some serious success somewhere and hit on the zeitgeist in a way that I can neither predict nor anticipate. So I’ll be content to having a series of books with my name on the spine and that finally put to paper the ideas in my head.

Little strokes fell great oaks

I’m clear that for the time being I will not have hours and hours to my name. I can however carve 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening and effectively do 2 pomodoros. High burst sets of 30 minutes pieces of work. That’s 7 hours a week. That’s 364 hours a year. If I spend 10 hours per page that equates to 36.4 pages of story and art. If I manage to do a page of art a week, then I’ll be able to do around 50 pages a year. The size of a European album.

The numbers don’t lie. It all starts with 2 pomodoros every single day. The issue however is life getting in the way. Sometimes you’re extremely tired. Sometimes the boy doesn’t sleep. Sometimes I have a business trip or I’m not feeling up for it. This is only natural. The difficulty is finding a way to get back into the routine. Routines are hard won and easily lost.

Deadlines

The last piece of the puzzle. I have about 8 projects that are not really linked with each other floating at different stages of development. I need to stop the braincrack from spreading and destroying my flow.

So I’ll be dedicating 1 year to any of these projects. That gives them enough time to mature. Of course if I’m close to finishing any of the projects then I’ll continue till I finish, but if I’m completely off, then that one gets parked and I move onto the next one.

So as a way to keep track, 2015 was mainly Moon Racket! and will extend to the end of 2016. After 2016, I will stop work on this series (unless it’s exploded) and then move onto the next project.

This all begins tomorrow morning - I’ll be back regularly to discuss progress.

Recently I’ve started listening to the podcast Hello Internet - if you’ve not had a chance i recommend you listen and actually try and stick through it as its a pretty good conversation between two interesting hosts.

Just finished episode 3 (although I’ve also listened to a few of the later episodes, and then jumped back) but the concept of 4 dials or light bulbs in ones life was discussed. The concept stuck with me however what I realised is that actually my dials are different due to my physical location. So to recap the original four dials:

• Family
• Work
• Health
• Friends

What I’ve realised is that while the first 3 items remain relevant in my life, the last one however has dropped effectively to 0%. In its place my comic book work has taken its place.

When we moved over to Doha the idea of starting fresh with no support network to start from was a daunting one. The truth is, we’ve not actually really developed this support network in any way since we moved here 3 years ago. Apart from the guys in the office, I’ve really not ventured very far in this realm. I try and maintain my connections with my friends, but seeing as they are far away, this was one aspect that I knew was going to take a hit. The concious decision was that we didn’t expand that circle at all.

By the Numbers

This is effectively what my percentages look like at the moment:

• Family: 30%
• Work: 50%
• Health: 5%
• Comics: 10%
• Downtime: 5%

Will I ever become a professional cartoonist? Not when I only am dedicating 10% of my energy to the task, it’s really at best, a hobby, a simple side project. My job as an engineer isn’t going away any time soon and my family time and health time are as low as I’m going to go at the moment.

The only part that I could take away is the downtime (watching movies, television, surfing the internet, reading a book or magazine). Those things however are important to keep you sane.

The problem I have with this breakdown is that the reality of the situation is such that I am actually using that 10% and doing wonders with it. I’ve been able to create multiple websites that I run quasi-regularly. I’ve been able to create a web comic that I’ve invested an incredible amount of time to write, draw and now publish. I do acknowledge however that this has been at the expense of other things, and that’s fine for the moment, but it’s not going to stay like that for very long.

I got a bunch of Shinhan Art pens last week. I was so excited to use them that this little image popped out in a matter of minutes. One of the most encouraging things about sticking with a bunch of characters is watching their evolution happen before your eyes. There is a confidence that I’m aware of and actually really enjoying experiencing at the moment. I just wish I could do this more regularly.

You know what I miss? I miss daily blogging.

5 years ago, the last time I was blogging on any regular basis, there was a rhythm to my publishing madness. Every morning would bring with it the promise of writing something new; sometimes it would be trivial, other times it would be ‘important’. The trick was to show up every day.

The last year has honestly stripped me of very little personal time as I juggle being a husband, a father and an engineer. What little spare time I do have, I try and relax by drawing, inking, reading or watching a little bit of television as time permits.

In that respect my online worlds are effectively extensions of a life diary that I’m creating piece by piece. I might own the content, but it’s hosted by someone else.

When I sit and consider what I’ve created over the last several years, my online endeavours are not high on that priority list. I’ve created countless websites, written at this stage thousands of posts (large and small) and while it did provide me with an outlet, none of it will last very long. Maybe none of it will matter except as a marker from a different time in my life.

My online space has now become somewhat diluted across multiple platforms (an Instagram, several Tumblrs, a couple of Twitters, a Dribbble, a Flickr, a Tinyletter). What happens is that I end up not generating as much content for each platform but what I’ve realised is that this might not actually matter. What matters is work that I find meaningful that will last.

Which then leads to be to start questioning my general output. What work can I look back on objectively and be proud of? Over the last 4 ½ years my output has been limited to all things Moon Racket. This was a pretty concious decision on my part. Focus on a single project allows it to grow it’s potential. This is the work that I have devoted my free time for, and this is the work that I hope will blossom over the coming year.

Was inspired after the binge watching. By far my favourite comic book character. Show lives up to my high expectations, casting is sublime. #daredevil #ink #hobonichi #netflix

How often do you read a comment to a review on Amazon and can’t stop laugh? This comment for the Zojirushi SM-SA48-BA Stainless Steel Mug is one of those.

I bought the 20-ounce Zojirushi SM-SA60-BA the week after I got married so that I could keep my coffee warm on the commute to and from my new job downtown. It is literally the world’s best travel mug. I could put steaming hot coffee in it in the morning, and if I forgot it in my truck I would still have steaming hot coffee for the drive home. No kidding! It’s incredible. This was an exciting time for me. My time with Jennifer was limited but boundless in its glory. When I wasn’t working, Jennifer and I would go hiking at the park, take road trips, sit up late and watch the stars. And, of course, have long nights of passionate love making. And through it all, my 20-ounce Zojirushi SM-SA60-BA provided me with hot, fresh coffee and a sleek, ergonomic feel. It’s amazingly well designed and made to last.That was seven years ago.

He then follows it up with this:

These days, Jennifer is as cold and emotionally distant as an uncharted asteroid. Now the most passionate conversations we have involve either our fiberoptic internet bandwidth or Your Damn Mother. At work, I am merely a shadow defined by once-authentic ambition. Original thought at my office is as pointless as a Libertarian vote, and my commute is like a scene from Walking Dead. I’m writing this on my iPhone as I sit behind a third-world chicken truck on I-35. I’m numbing myself to waste another eight hours at The Bad Place and fantasizing about replacing the painful vacuum of affection from She Who Cannot Read Oil Change Reminder Stickers with that new girl from logistics.

And ends strongly:

But now that I think about it, the one constant source of warmth and comfort in my life is still the 20-ounce Zojirushi SM-SA60-BA. Buy one. Buy one now, or feel only the chill yearning for an early grave that poor life decisions and emotional complacency can reap.

Also bonus, read the followup comments which give the actual truth, which is a lot more heartwarming.

It’s not every day that you get a lesson handed down to you via the internet, while you’re still drinking your morning coffee.

Yesterday was a reasonably tough day for me. We finally took Zane out of the house and into the big bad world. We got all the gear, took the nursing cover with us in case he needed to eat while we were out and off we went to the mall (yeah it’s August in Qatar, there’s precious little else you can do at 2pm in the afternoon).

Everything was fine, until we went into Mamas & Papas. After being nursed in the changing rooms for 20min I was tasked with burping and holding him, and he went MENTAL. Usually pretty good at sorting the boy out, yesterday was not meant to be. After having walked back to the car TWICE, I had to go back a third time to return something. Baby continued crying and I was just tired at this stage.

Come home and my arm was seriously aching because I’ve been holding him looking outwards and my arm is his seat. Mentally, I was tired of this for today. I needed a bit of break, thankfully sleep came easily to both of us.

This morning I saw the trailer of the Theory of Everything and it just completely smacked me in the face that I should be genuinely thankful for every single moment I have with the boy and never take it for granted. Ever.

To be clear, I have many examples in my life where fathers cannot be there for their children in one capacity or reason or another - this trailer just gave another example, but reminded me clearly of this fact.

1 week ago today that’s Thursday 29th of May, I arrived home and Yasmine is faffing around telling me that we’ve got to sort out my bag for the hospital and that she’s got several errands that she wants to run over the weekend (cut her hair, pop into Mothercare for some last minute items). I nod my head, not registering everything after an excessively long week at work.

A few hours later, while sitting (and trying to decompress) on the couch, watching something completely irrelevant, Yasmine calls me from the bathroom. I drag myself to the bathroom to see what she wants.

Honey, I think my water has broken.

In a moment of Hollywood weakness I tried to show that I wasn’t worried.

We’re about to have a baby!

I knew that labour was going to be tough but my god I was NOT expecting the drama that would unfold over the next 20 hours. Obviously I now have a much deeper appreciation pregnant women and what they have to go through. For the course of 9 months they endure morning sickness (stupid and incorrect name, it should be called all day, at any time sickness but maybe morning was more catchy?), pains, aches, heartburn, funny bowl movements, general discomfort when you’re hauling around an extra 16kg of weight.

You’d think that was enough right? Wrong. After they’ve endured all of that, they’re treated to MANY hours of torture. After that is done, then you get the discomforts associated with healing and a messy hormonal system. In my engineering mind I kept thinking, there must be a better more efficient way right (that didn’t involve cutting a woman open for a c-section)?

The 20 hours of labour tested my resolve completely. Seeing your wife in excruciating pain for HOURS is hard when all you can do is wait, pace, loose some sleep and worry. The last 30 minutes before Zane was born was easily one of the most difficult times in our lives together or apart.

However…

I can’t even begin to describe the elation one feels when you see your first born child. It’s a feeling unlike one I’ve ever and will probably ever feel again - for those that have experienced it you know what I’m talking about, for those that are considering it I highly recommend it. I stayed at the top of the bed and when the doctor raised Zane he was blue and red and yet instantly my eyes just became completely overwhelmed with tears. Those tears didn’t leave for several hours. In fact nearly a week later I still can feel the tears starting to come back to me as I write this.

So I sit here 1 week to the day and I marvel at our son and the long journey to bring him here. How did 1 week go by already?

A few months after publishing the last episode of Moon Racket Season One, I’ve now finished writing the second season. If the first season was all about seeing a project through to completion, the second season is taking the idea and adding some polish.

One of the things I’ve always enjoy watching is the natural maturing process a body of work sometimes goes through while the creative minds behind the work hone their skills. Although I can only dream of reaching the lofty heights reached by a series like The Simpsons, an apt comparison in one regard would be how the first season looked compared to what we recognise as the characters now. There was a maturing process and this is something that I aim to achieve for Season Two, both for the writing and the art.

I’ve already spoken about the proposed increase in paper size (and therefore Panel Size) of the coming season. One thing I realised very quickly was just how important the initial scripts were. The first season had a bit of looseness in the scripts. I would often times rewrite the thing as I was drawing it - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

For this season I decided to really pour into the details of every script. I would not go on to the next one until I actually had completed the one I was working on. If I got stuck on any one strip, I would remove it from the document I was working on and paste it into a second document that acted as my ‘graveyard’. This allowed me to focus on one strip at a time. What I realised was that some ideas took days, weeks to mature or develop in my head and other ideas effectively wrote themselves. What I also realised was the last 5 episodes were extremely difficult to complete, which might have been a mental block on my side, or the fact that I had a lot going on in my life at the time.

Super excited about watching this documentary which follows 5 star architects through the process of an architectural competition for the National Art gallery in Andorra.

According to the official website it’s meant to be released in late 2013. Some more interesting details at the Icon Magazine website.

Possibly one of the most enchanting ‘movie’ adverts you’ll likely see. The song is perfectly chosen, while the work that’s clearly gone into this 70 seconds is nothing short of amazing.

Always start with a name. A good name.

We have planes, trains, automobiles and boats. What if there was a fifth mode. I have a name for it, called the Hyperloop.
— Elon Musk

Hyperloop.

Imagine a world where travelling from San Francisco to Los Angeles takes less than 30 minutes. A method of transportation which is meant to be 4 times as fast as a train, and 2 times as fast as a plane. Now imagine this method of transport is available to you as soon as you arrive — no waiting for everyone else to get there. That’s the future that Elon Musk is proposing with his hypothetical high-speed transportation system. Details for this system are extremely thin on the ground. In fact, apart from the name and a few choice quotes (by Musk himself) nothing substantial has been published or released about the concept;

Although Musk was meant to publish a paper on it back in December 2012. That has now been pushed back to the 12th of August 2013, according to this tweet by Musk. The Verge has an interesting article on how they believe the system could potentially work.

However until Musk releases his Alpha design documents, there is no real engineering to review.

The first time Hyperloop was discussed was in this interview on Pandodaily, with Sarah Lacy. Based on the little that has been shared, one might think that Musk’s idea will be akin to something like the ‘tube’ transportation system in Futurama or The Jetsons. Many of the ideas (commercial space travel, commercial electric cars) that Musk discusses could have been taken straight out of science fiction novels. The reason you should take these ideas seriously, is because he makes those ideas a reality.

Musk’s idea doesn’t appear to be completely unique (as opposed to the science fictious world). Joelle Renstrom, (who teachs at Boston University) has a good breakdown of the realities of this technology. One such reality is the Aeromovel. The other is the Evacuated Tube Transport a system that has been proposed by the ET3 consortium. The main question is therefore how does his proposed system differ.

As if the potential of this idea wasn’t intriguing enough; the way that Musk’s idea could become a reality is equally as intriguing.

I’m considering just open-sourcing. Describing the idea, saying this is what would be done, if someone wants to do it then they could do it. Maybe I should patent it and open-source the patent to anyone who can make a credible case that they can do it.
— Elon Musk

I think it’s safe to acknowledge that Elon Musk sees the world in a different way to most people. Probably one of the best articles I’ve read about him, is unsurprisingly on Bloomberg. Between commercial space travel, electric cars and pneumatic transportation, he is building the future that we were expecting. The future we dreamed we would be living in, when we got older.

Several years ago when I went to Japan, Gordon would spend a great deal of any free time we had reading Poker books and watching Youtube videos of Poker tournaments. At the time I had no idea why he was so obsessed with it all…I think it was a couple of years after Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series Poker tournament.

Fantastically collected article on Grantland, the Youtube videos really drive the story home and the illustrations and side notes are both essential and excellent compliments.