Sawubona !

Today's greeting (hello) is from the Zulu people of Southern Africa! It's a rainy weekend in Melbourne but everyone is in a much better mood since we have finally come out of the longest lockdowns in the world! While I was asleep, at 11:59 on Thursday evening, Melbourne celebrated. How are things where you are? Let me know!

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In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative - randInt EP 018 - On a boat and everyday design
• Gadgets & Tech - Oura ring (~$350)
• Read - The Attention Diet (~25 mins)
• Watch - Why Elephants never forget (~5min)
• Quote - 'A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.'

Week in the life

Someone left feedback that the cat updates weren't happening on the newsletter enough. I've been trying to keep each section as short as possible so most of the cat updates have happened over on the blog...

Since they haven't been on here for a little while, here's both of them from earlier today, both on my lap without fighting!!! IT's become my favourite way to spend the afternoons.

Well, it would be, but now Melbourne is finally opening up! I'm a bit mixed with it all: I'm so happy that haircuts are back and the curfew is gone, but I'm not looking forward to the inevitable spike in cases. Even with it all, it's just nice to see Melbourne back and full of life.

It's been so empty in restaurants that seeing people seated down makes me stop and take a photo

A bit more of an update over on the blog...

Creative update

randInt EP 018 - On a boat and everyday design (~34mins)

https://anchor.fm/randint

IT's time for another episode of the randInt podcast, with Chandra being AWOL and having the slightest reception to get this podcast episode done...

Find out what adventure he's on while the rest of us were cooped up in Melbourne. We also discuss some everyday designs that I have never really thought about before, but can appreciate the thought that went into it...

Gadgets & Tech

Oura ring (~$350)

https://ouraring.com/product/heritage-silver/step1

I'm not a jewelry person but I did get the Oura ring at the beginning of the pandemic to monitor my basal body temperature to see if it picked up asymptomatic infections after reading a summary of a study.

I have lately found that I'm looking at the analytics quite closely. The graphs it generates, especially on heart rate variability have been super useful. It's been a long grind and I've found on occasions that I get super tired. But I'm also pretty lazy. It turns out, the HRV dampens when you're under prolonged stress and it's very clear on these graphs. So I've been using that to take breaks vs. realising I'm just being lazy! It's pretty expensive but I'm glad I got it. Just a note - they're meant to be announcing something in the next few days.

• Silver Birch Fountain pens- My everyday fountain pens to write with at work. It's amazing how no one tends to steal them just because they're fountain pens!
• ZeroCo - I've switched over to these refillable cleaning products for around the house. They ship in pouches with a return envelope so every part gets recycled.

Read

The Attention Diet (~25 mins)

https://markmanson.net/attention-diet

In the current age of over stimulation and constant notifications, it's hard to pay sustained attention to anything.

That's what this article is about from the guy who wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F%ck. Mark Manson's piece isn't anything you probably don't already know, but it is well researched and more funny (at least to me!).

What I'm reading

• Dune - After watching the trailers, I decided that I would read the book before watching the movie. It's looks like a cinematic masterpiece so I want to see what I can imagine before watching it in theatres in all its glory

Watch

Why Elephants never forget (~5min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXNqsOoURg

I thought the whole thing about elephants having good memories was just a myth. Turns out, I was very wrong.

This is a short TED talk that explores just who fascinating and sophisticated elephants and elephant culture (yes, you could technically call it that!) actually is!

Quote I'm pondering

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

– John A. Shedd

I can't remember where I saw this quote but it came up on a conversation with my mother of all people. She was telling me about a cousin who recently went on a hiking trip and being a typical Indian parent, she was worries about my female cousin travelling by herself and it being risky. Typical parent stuff. When I mentioned that quote, something changed: she seemed to finally get that everyone's growing up and taking their own risks.

And it also made me think about where we are right now with the whole Covid-19 situation. In Australia, we've been spared most of the huge waves other places have seen with the total death count still less than 1500 people in the nearly 2 years. We've vaccinated most of the population, but just like a ship in harbour, lockdowns have ended and the time to face those uncertainties and turbulence is nigh...

Well , you're up to date on all the interesting things I've seen this week! What did you think of this week's newsletter? Feedback is always welcome!

Toodles!

- Raffy

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