(21 April 2024)
Work has picked up, considerably, so my year note for 2023 no longer applies. So far, 2024 has lived up to the high hopes I had for it, and then some.
Next week I start a new piece of work with a new team - the first chance I’ve had for some years to get my teeth well and truly stuck into something chunky and meaningful. It’ll be hard work, I’ve no doubt, but I’m looking forward to getting started.
There will be a lot of information to absorb, collate and consider. Have been thinking about good tools for doing that. Maybe time to dust off DevonThink? I tend to resist all-in-one-databases, and rely on using Finder and my own files, and that works fine for small projects. But this won’t be a small project.
Went with a mate to see Jane Weaver play at the Trinity Centre in Bristol. A very lovely gig in a small venue, Jane W being honest about her nerves (it was the second gig of a new tour), the audience being warm and appreciative. Spent the weekend afterwards playing Jane’s albums non-stop, as is tradition.
Still thinking about my trip to Canada a week or so back. Travel feels like it’s a long time while you’re doing it, but feels so brief and so restricted once you get back. What if I’d done this, or that? Why didn’t I? Because I did other things, that’s why.
Kyle Lambert on digital clutter:
Now that we are locked in, it becomes increasingly challenging to migrate to a different provider or even declutter. I started paying for an iCloud subscription, and within a year, I maxed out my storage limit. I realized Messages was one of the biggest culprits of my digital storage costs. But there is no nuance to managing your Messages storage. You have to nuke it or keep paying. Working in the tech industry and having experience on Growth teams, it’s clear this is an intentional and designed decision. I have a choice. To keep my digital history and pay more to host those animated gifs and photos or pay the fee. I will pay the fee.
Dominick Schroer on doing small projects:
Now pick an aggressive timeline. How much time do you realistically have to work on this new endeavour? For me a realistic timeline is often an afternoon or if I am lucky a weekend. At this point you should be asking yourself “How can I possibly solve this big problem in so little time?”. You will want to extend the timeline into multiple days or weeks. Fight against this urge and limit yourself as much as possible.
Our Amish neighbors are riding by in their buggies with big black umbrellas like an opaque windshield, open in front of them. They don’t need to see, the horses know the way.
Annie Mueller on writing blog posts:
Because here’s the thing about a book: a book is a whole damn process. Most books involve a team. Not all of them. There are many self-published wonderful books, created start to finish by a team of one. But it’s still a process, with time and thought and deliberation and time and planning and did I mention time? Time. Time to think about what you’re saying. Time to modulate your tone. Time to connect the dots, or realize they’re not connecting and erase them. … But blogging? Blogging is the shit … We are the answer. The little gals and guys and gays and theybies.
Photos of the Faculty of Architecture building at METU Ankara by Fatih Arslan
Art by Elise Tomlinson
Photography from Switzerland by Lee A Johnson
giles (at) gilest.org