A living collection of notes, ideas, and reflections from Doug Belshaw.
It's a bit of a coincidence that the main protagonist in both the last book I read and the current book I'm reading are both the same age as me. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene was absolutely fantastic, and I'm enjoying the modern James Bond novel Solo by William Boyd so far.
…One of the advantages and drawbacks of having studied Philosophy, History, Education, and Systems Thinking while having a background in technology is that you realise that everything... is just made up. Not just in a Steve Jobs "everything around you around was made by someone no smarter than you" kind of way, but in a William James "blooming, buzzing confusion" kind of way.
…On the one hand, it feels quite momentous. On the other, it doesn't feel like that much of a big deal. I've archived my writing from 2006-2026 at archive.dougbelshaw.com and redirected all links from Open Thinkering, Thought Shrapnel, and Ambiguiti.es.
…One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
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I woke up early this morning and an idea for a second zine just popped fully-formed into my head. It's weird how the subconscious works.
After a little bit of back-and-forth with my Little Robot Friend, I'm thinking of framing it as a "field guide for designing around the mind we actually have". That's in contrast to the ultra-rational one that we'll never achieve, nor would we actually want anyway.
…Although I still have to be careful, I'm definitely coming out the other side of my Stage 3 ('parasympathetic') Overtraining Syndrome.
The photo at the top of this note shows my Garmin Venu 3 smartwatch with the built in recovery time feature, as well as one I added last week called Training Status showing overall training load.
…About a decade ago, I was flying back from LA and I realised I hadn't bought a gift for my wife. As I was into matcha before it was cool, I happened to be in Starbucks, where I saw they had a mug saying 'California' on it.
…There are many signs that middle age is creeping, or has crept, up on you. One is that you start putting your foot up on a chair or something else to put your socks on. Another is that you start showing an interest in birds.
…I've decided that I want to go to more in-person events, so I got my Little Robot Friend to come up with some options.
English-language, European (or noted otherwise), aligned with digital sovereignty, decentralised and federated systems, open education, digital credentials, systems thinking, co-ops and the commons. Wildcards and strong fits are labelled.
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