Dogs are annoying
Meet Forest. He is a 15 week old Labrador puppy who now lives in our house and chews our feet.
I'm done with social media. I may live to regret it, but I've deleted my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky (don't think I ever opened it once!). It's all such a manipulative time-sink, and I'm just done with it. Feels weird, but good.
Saturday
Tabitha had to go to school today for an open day. Charlotte and I went for breakfast, then we all went for a walk. Making the most of the beautiful weather.
I've been a moderate fan of Death Cab for Cutie for a long time; have always said that I could make one great record of tracks I select from each of their albums. I prefer The Postal Service.
This week, I'm not really sure why I say that. I've been going back through their discography because Summer Skin got stuck in my head and these records (Plans, Transatlanticism, Narrow Stairs, so far) are all total gems. Why have I spent so many years thinking these records only have four tracks? I'm annoyed with myself but there must be a reason.
It's true that there's some incredible standout tracks; Transatlanticism, in particular, has "We Looked Like Giants" which has a vocal melody that makes me want to do a little cry. It also has what sounds like a super smart rhyme - "we looked like giants / in the back of my grey sub-compact / fumbling to make contact" that reminds me of "even the sturgeon and the ray / get the urge and start to play" (which, I think, is my favourite rhyme ever). These are all brilliant records, though, and I feel remiss for having sold them short for so long.
Still I have some nice stuff to listen to so weirdly feels like I'm being rewarded for being stupid.
Also I know I'm terrible at writing about music. Once upon a time I thought I could be a music reviewer; wrote one review and gave up. I am bad at that but I still love music and talking about it and I have nowhere else to do that!
JLW Bruce the Keyboard
I know it's been ages since I built a new keyboard. I've been very excited about this one.
Halide Process Zero
I found this via Chris Glass (where I find an above-average amount of my good stuff), and was pretty skeptical but it's very nice.
A Wholesome Evening
We went for a walk as Charlotte wanted to go blackberry picking. Wholesome enough on its own, but it took a turn for the even-more-wholesome!
ArcTanGent 2024
This is probably going to be my last ArcTanGent, at least for a little while. It’s an expensive indulgence just for me, it comes right in a prime holiday timeslot, and I just fundamentally don’t enjoy the concept as much as I used to. I still had a great time this year and saw some amazing performances, but I think it’s time to quit whilst I’m ahead.
Le Weekend
Bit of an eclectic weekend. Norman castle, village fete (the kind you're not really welcome at if no-one recognises you), raft race, cheese on toast, pizza.
Friday
Haven't done one of these for a while. Mainly because she's not a very friendly cat. I don't really know what we do to cats to make them this way!
Two things that stress me out are dates and deadlines. So it makes sense for me to volunteer to coordinate all of the fixture dates for Sussex Junior Badminton, which has a deadline and I feel like results in a lot of people aiming grumpiness at me if I do a bad job.
Woodingdean Sunflower Field
It's a load of photos of sunflowers. Do you need this many photos of sunflowers? No, you do not, but it's not hurting anyone!
Spa GP, Belgium 2024
F1 Dads take a road trip to Belgium, to one of the best tracks of the season, to watch George Russell get robbed.
Tabitha's final day at primary school
There's nearly seven years between these pictures. So much has changed. Very happy to have such a great kid and I'm so excited for her to start secondary.
Charlotte is doing a sponsored abseil for charity. You can read about why she's doing it, and I would hugely appreciate if you could donate/sponsor her.
Fuji X100VI
I had an X100-series camera ages ago, but a can of Dr Pepper exploded in my bag and killed it.
Adam Hargreaves drew Mr Impossible for me
Charlotte got me a ticket for this event at Helm for my birthday. It was pretty cool.
We went to the sound mirrors
Wanted to go to these since we saw Tom Scott's video about them. They're not open to the public all the time but they do occasionally sell tickets.