Hello !

It feels like we just chatted the other day! This is probably the closest set of emails sent! That said, I've managed to find some pretty interesting things that I think you'll like...

Before I go on, a shameless request! Could you forward this newsletter to just 3 people that you think would like one of the articles? It helps A LOT! If you're the friend reading this, click the link below to join! Glad to have you here!

In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Creative Update - randInt S02E10 - Love stricken & self-destructive chicken
• Gadgets/Tech - various
• Read - From Manly to Antarctica
• Watch - Jacinta Ardern on Gun Control & Democracy
• Quote - “Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”

Week in the life

This week has been a return to my regular work schedule. After having bits of time off here and there to take guests around, I'm slowly running out of favours to call in. They also will have left by the time the next newsletter is out so I was pretty keen to show them as much as possible til then.

This week also saw our return to the normal schedule of production for Instagram/emails/podcasts but more on that over on the blog...

Creative update

randInt S02E10 - Love stricken & self-destructive chicken

Episode 10 is out now and it's a relatively long catch-up sode. A lot has happened in the last little while and Chandra hasn't been around for most of it so we discuss how the sudden Nikah happened a few weeks ago and the trials and tribulations that came with trying to organise everything.

That along with other random questions led us to chatting for a bit too long! So we'd love to get some feedback and let us know what you think!

(And a subscribe on your podcast app or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify also greatly helps!)

Gadget/Tech

No specific new tech that I've found to recommend this week. It's only been a few days since I found the last one! Here's some of the cool things mentioned before...

• DJI Mini 3 Pro - best little drone and also probably the best value for money with their new fancy controller
• Nanopresso - Great coffee in a tiny brewer!
• Floately levitating plants - Mentioned this in a Medium article and it seems like other people are also big fans of floating plants!

Read

From Manly to Antarctica

This was just a cool article I read today. I love seeing other medical people do unusual thing since the hours and the lifestyle mean that work tends to take over all the spare time!

This is especially close to home since it's anaesthetist training to trek across continental Antarctica!

Watch

Jacinta Ardern on Gun Control & Democracy

I've been on a run going through the old speeches that I've found so darn good over the years to the point of writing a Medium article on it. Lo and behold, Jacinta Ardern did a speech at Harvard only a few days later.

Now, most people aren't a fan of politics (and I count myself in that crowd) especially given the calibre of what we see around the world. However, the world as it stands DOES function on a system that requires politics to sort through our differences. I found this speech as an antidote to the nihilism that comes from watching the news. While I have no idea if her own policies in NZ are sound, the attitude she brings to her work is commendable.

Quote I'm pondering

“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”

– Seneca

Rebalancing my time has been at the top of my mind for the last little while. I really enjoyed my little enforced Covid break and have taken to clearing up my calendar a bit more to put in more things from my bucket list into it.

This quote came up right on cue. While most big things/goals require time to get to, one also has to focus on making sure each day is also satisfying in it's own right. After all as per last week's book recommendation, we only have about 4000 weeks total and depending on how old you are right now a significant chunk might've already passed...

Thanks again for joining me in another newsletter of random! Stay safe out there!

- Raffy

PS - What was your favourite part of the email this week? Do you like/dislike the subtle changes this year? Let me know with 1 click! I read the survey every week (& keep tweaking things with your feedback!)

Sunday Surprise uses affiliate/referral links in the newsletter. This does not change the recommendation/verdict but may result in Photos by Raffy receiving a small commission and will be marked in orange. Non-affiliate links will appear as blue. Prices recorded may vary.