Nay kaune lar ?

Continuing the Burmese theme since someone responded to the last email with it. Means "how are you?" or so I'm told. The festive season is in full swing and with Victoria opening up I can definitely say I've noticed...traffic. Anyway, more on that below.

A small ask (as always!). If you have a friend who you think would enjoy the this email, maybe forward it on? It helps A LOT! You can even use your own referral link:

Week in the life

The city area feels livelier than ever at the moment. I think the mix of warm weather and mandated outdoor seating means that what used to appear as quiet restuarants now seem like institutions spilling into the streets. It's definitely a welcome change from before.

With the increase in people, there has been an increase in traffic. And also my day job as an anaesthetist. It's been a loooong week with multiple 12hr+ days so I have discovered the art of turning on Netflix and then passing out next to my cat.

One of the medical Instagram profiles, @doctorsofaustralia asked to see what a day in the life of an anaesthetist was like, so I made some short Instagram story videos. It's been one of the very few creative things I achieved this week!

PxR & Kickstarter update

PxR Store

https://www.photosbyraffy.com/shop

Ok... now it's 3 weeks since I sent the final files to the jigsaw printers. I've emailed multiple times and even called several times last week to get...nothing! I know it's a local small business so I have given them the benefit of the doubt, but it's also not far away from Xmas and I know several people were going to be giving the puzzle as a gift.

I've given them til Monday to respond, otherwise, I'll be going back to the overseas printer as they should have capacity to print these off quickly. I'm not sure if it'll be quick enough to get it before the holidays, but I'll give it a red hot go!

Gadgets & tech

Since it's Black Friday sales, I thought I'd do a list of a few things I saw around the place that was good, both hardware and software. Will be going back to just 1 cool thing next week.

Sendfox

https://sendfox.com/invite/3ez7np

If you've been reading this newsletter and have been thinking of starting your own, try Sendfox. It's what I use to make this! It's essentially free until you get to a large enough audience (though I've paid for the slightly upgraded version personally). It does the basics really well and it has just enough customisability to be useful without being overwhelming. Definitely worth a try since its FREE!

DJI sale

https://click.dji.com/AJM8DLvBcLmEOKfKdBgUzQ?as=0001&ch=In%20post&pm=custom

Drones are one of my favourite mainstream gadgets of the last decade and havind tried a few brands in my time, DJI is still currently the best and easiest to use. They're having a sale on their official store, so if you've been eyeing one off, there are a few bargains out there!

Peak Design

https://bit.ly/3mjbWfk

Surprisingly, one of the things I get asked about a bit is...bags. I'm genuinely puzzled since I'm not the most fashion forward person! Anyway, for the last decade or so, most of the time I've been using some sort of Peak Design bag (the Messenger 13 is my usual go to!) until recently where I switched to a Bally one for work. Once I get it set up, the next giveaway will be one of the v1 Messenger bags...

Ok.. that's enough consumerism for 1 email!

Watch

Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions

https://www.ted.com/talks/john_koenig_beautiful_new_words_to_describe_obscure_emotions

I came across this TED talk years ago after learning of the word "Sonder" which means "the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own".

Then I heard this word was totally made up by the guy giving this TED talk. In this 7 minute talk, he discusses some of the other words he coined but on a larger note, it made me realise the symbols I'm typing right now were all just made up at some point that everyone in the English speaking world happened to ascribe the same meaning to...

SEE ALSO

• The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows - John Koenig's compendium of made up words to express things that we don't have words for yet...
• 25 words that don't exist in English but really should - One of those listicles, but it does have "gigil" as a word which refers to a situation of such extreme cuteness it's overwhelming, or the irresistible urge to hug something cute.

Listen

2021 - Music for post-COVID surgery

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6FrxUhopb9W8AhkZVo2Ief?si=6BWdgeOdSL-j0kGo2T1znQ

Every year, I make a new playlist for the operating theatre that includes about 30% of the best tracks from the year, at least 10% from something 90's or before and the rest in a 3:1 ratio of chilled out:dancey.

Seems like this ensures enough of peoples favourites to keep them engaged, mostly pleasant and the occasional hit of dance beat to keep things humming along. The playlist isn't finished yet, but follow along if you want to see how it evolves. I always pick a dramatic-ish starting song and this year it happens to be from the Black Widow trailer which is was giving me the "bleak but enduring and resilient" vibes. Appropriate to start 2021, no?

Quote I'm pondering

lachesism

n. the desire to be struck by disaster—to survive a plane crash, to lose everything in a fire, to plunge over a waterfall—which would put a kink in the smooth arc of your life, and forge it into something hardened and flexible and sharp, not just a stiff prefabricated beam that barely covers the gap between one end of your life and the other.

– The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Not a quote this week, but rather an example of the words in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. There's plenty of gems in there to read through and many should really be real words!

That's all for another week in a journey into randomness. What was your favourite bit? Email me and let me know!

Have fun and stay random!

- Raffy

PS - I'm going to make a list of the coolest accomodation in Australia and try to visit some of them. I've visited the Pole House so far. Where have yo u been that's very very different? Let me know!

Sunday Surprise uses affiliate/referral links in the newsletter. While this does not influence the product recommendations or verdict, if there are any that are likely to lead to Photos by Raffy receiving any sort of compensation from, they will be marked in orange. Non affiliate links will appear as blue.