A living collection of notes, ideas, and reflections from Doug Belshaw.
I've long been an advocate of 'islands of productivity'. It's a fancy way of saying that it's a good idea, for me at least, to do different kinds of things in different spaces.
So, for example, I go to coffee shops and to the library. But I also sit in what we affectionately call our 'spare lounge' (because we're not posh enough to need/want a dining room) and do things on my laptop.
…Earlier this week, I read Mike Caulfield's announcement that he's started a new film podcast with Jim Groom(!) Since then, I haven't been able to get this section of his post out of my head:
I tried to talk to a number of people I used to talk with about films, like 10 years ago, all the time. They turned out to not be able to talk about films anymore. They would get two beats into talking about the plot of a movie then veer off and start talking about how this film either shows how their political position is right, or — if it shows them to be wrong –how this is evidence of a vast Hollywood conspiracy.
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Source: Are.na
This is interesting. I experimented with bitchat when it first came out but now it looks like it's a bit more mature.
It's the kind of app we should all encourage friends and family to install, just in case. More on the Wikipedia page, including a bit of a genealogy of similar apps and how they have been used.
…Sigh. It's only recently that I've realised that living on a tense knife edge between routine (autism) and novelty/excitement (ADHD) is not how most people experience their inner lives.
I'm still coming to terms with it, but even though I don't have a diagnosis, reading about AuDHD is quite liberating. For example, just accepting that I have an "interest-based neurology" allows me to cut myself some slack. Because, at the end of the day, I'm my own harshest critic.
…Civilisation is a thin film across an ocean of chaos.
— Werner Herzog
I'm on holiday and so reading more, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as actually watching films (I subscribed to Mubi).
I've just finished reading A Philosophy of Shame: A Revolutionary Emotion by Frédéric Gros. I really enjoyed other books by him, and so was looking forward to getting into this one after receiving it as a member of the Verso Book Club.
…I love the idea behind this website, which depending on the weather at your location, shows one of Mark Rothko's abstract expressionist paintings.
We've got a couple of Samsung 'The Frame' TVs which I love because they show art when they on standby. Not only that, but they adapt to the lighting conditions and have built in Apple Airplay.
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