I bought a watch. A normal, not-in-any-way-smart watch, for less than £30. That feels like better value than a smart watch which I use mainly to tell me what the time is and for an occasional timer. Its all part of a vague plot I have to downsize my presence on big platforms, something that I'm sure I will write more about in the not too distance future.
On Wednesday we had an afternoon trip to the cinema -- another benefit of not working -- and saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which was much better than I was expecting. It may even be my second-favourite Indiana Jones movie (I have them ranked, don't you?) after, of course, Last Crusade. De-ageing effects have now got so good that after a couple of minutes I forgot all about it, and of course Phoebe Waller-Bridge was great.
I have timed this whole "not working" malarkey quite well: we have the Women's World Cup this month, and the rugby world cup next. If I find myself an job and start a the end of September, I will have timed everything perfectly. Which is a long-winded way of saying that this week has involved a lot of watching the world cup.
On the "I've left my job so I need a treat" list was a new pair of headphones. While the Apple AirPods Pro Max Whatever are great, they don't exactly work well with anything that's not Apple, so got a pair of Fairphone Fairbuds XL, which not only work with anything via Bluetooth, they will also work as wired phones (with no battery left) using USB-C. So far I'm very happy with them.
We are dog sitting, which means we have a pair of Bedlington terriers lazy around the house with it. They haven't yet worked out that they're not getting snacks any time I go in the kitchen, which means a lot of being followed around. They do, though, know that they need to run up and beg at the patio windows to be let out, and that barking at me will probably mean a walk, sooner or later.
I have also been sneezing like a bastard this week, which feels odd as it's very definitely not been the kind of weather which encourages hay-fever -- with this level of damp, there should be nothing in the air which is likely to irritate my nose. I wonder if I'm just not spending enough time out of doors at the moment.
And Foundation series two is out on Apple TV+. I wasn't that impressed with the first series which had some interesting ideas but was a little bit too ponderous. This series, though, is much better with a slew of new characters who are actually interesting, along with better use of all the main ones. I watched the first four episodes in a row, which is rare for me.
Also watched: Spontaneous, which was a really charming movie on Film4 the other night. Charming in only the way that a film about teenagers randomly exploding at a high school can be. Definitely recommended.
The three things which most caught my attention
- I know I link to Cory's work a lot but he keeps writing real humdingers and so I will keep linking to them. This week we got a post on the cloud and its pernicious influence. And he's right: cloud-first is a return to the old mainframe timeshare model of computing where you rent software on other people's computers.
- Trolls and grifters on Twitter are getting desperate, because the only people who get reach now on Twitter are other trolls and grifters. And as the sane, non-conspiracy world moves on from the world's worst social media platform, they're going to more extremes to get attention.
- Grace Lavery's review of books by Julie Bindell, Kathleen Stock and Helen Joyce should be required reading for anyone who is interested in the way that the right is using the issue of trans rights to subvert feminism.
Things I have been writing
I finished a short story about a doctor who has lived for 2000 years and grown to not like people very much (and no, it's not a sodding Doctor Who story). Not totally happy with the ending though, so I might need to revisit it.
Things I have been reading
I haven't been doing enough reading. I'm plodding along with China Mieville's A Specter, Haunting but I'm finding it hard going as China is in full-on academic mode and it really needs to be just a little bit more playful. I might do that rarest thing and abandon it.
It's not like I haven't got plenty of other stuff to read. This week to the ever-growing book pile I added Claire Keegan's Antarctica and Margaret Atwood's Wilderness Tips, two collections of short stories which I'm going to get into next.
