Konnichiwa, {{contact.first_name}}! Monday Moment incoming (4th Oct 21)
Oct 03, 2021 11:31 pm
Konnichiwa !
This is Japanese and one I've used in the newsletter before. Did you remember it from last time? It's a gorgeous spring day in Melbourne and we're now the city that has been in lockdown the longest in the world. How are things where you are? Let me know! Apologies for the slight delay in the email. I got a bit side tracked and realised I finished it after midnight, so delayed it til early Monday instead...
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In this week's email...
- Week in the Life - read on the blog
- Creative - various
- Gadgets & Tech - Surface Pro 8
- Read - The Boy, The Mole, The Fox & The Horse (~$18)
- Listen - Music for surgical operations 2022
- Watch - Selfie-lapse from age 12 til married (~3min)
- Quote - “Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”
Week in the life
This week saw Victoria head into the record books as the most locked down state in the world. With increasing Covid-19 cases, it means we're probably going to be in it for a while longer too. The silver lining is that our vaccination rates are increasing and the interval between the 2 doses is back to 3 weeks. Hopefully, that means only 3-4 more weeks until the state and the rest of the country can open up again...
Part of me is looking forward to that, the other part is dreading what will happen when the cases rise and hospitals fill to brim. So far, we've been spared that but it's almost worse knowing what's coming after seeing what's happened elsewhere. At the end of the day, either in the near future or a bit further out, the inevitable re-opening will lead to a moment like this.
On the plus side, I decided to take a few days off every month between now and January. Hopefully, it means a bit more coding and time to get the calendar ready to print! We had a mini picnic today and the gorgeous spring weather meant that the parks were full of people. I was lovely to see Melbourne buzzing again with most people doing the right thing...
The cats have been very entertaining, but more on that over on the blog...
Creative update
The last few months, I've gone out of my way to keep the creative habit ongoing, but this week, I'm taking a break. The Covid-19 situation here is likely to get a bit worse before it gets better and I'm taking a week off to prepare and rest! Instead, here's a few links to things from the recent past...
Gadgets & Tech
https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=Bx/pOmwu3ME&offerid=898160.825&type=3&subid=0
I used to be a Mac person and I switched to the Surface line for years. A few years ago, the line started to stagnate so I tried the Hp Spectre x360 and now the Lenovo Yoga 9i.
But now... the latest update is here! At it's what I was waiting for! I'm not allowed to buy for myself til I hit some fitness goals since I only jut upgraded my laptop a few months ago, but the moment I do, this is the one I'll be ordering!
- Luminar Neo - The newest image editor from Skylum! Looks to have some awesome features. Currently on early bird pricing.
- NuraTrue - I have tried the NuraPhones before and they're amazing at the bass end of the spectrum. These are the in-ear versions. I haven't personally tried them I wanted to share since I didn't even know they were out til recently.
Read
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox & The Horse (~$18)
I've mentioned this book in the past, when I bought it at the beginning of the year during a trip to Ballarat, in the countryside of Victoria.
Given our lockdowns are likely to continue for a while longer, I find flicking through and looking at the illustrations quite calming.
If you can, get the print copy. It's a really nice physical book in hardcover.
Listen
Music for surgical operations 2022
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yycXM4rOwJAgucSS5y8cw?si=d02add048e7247e6
It's that time of the year again where I start making the playlist for the next year. The hardest thing to decide is the starting track to begin the playlist for the year. I tend to take 30% of the favourites from the previous year, 30% new and then fill in the rest from previous playlists or years to complete it over a few months and add to it for most of the year. Do you have any suggestions? Email me!
Watch
Selfie from age 12 til married (~3min)
You all know I love a good timelapse, but I don't think I've ever since such a comprehensive selfie-laspe!
This person took a selfie everyday for years and it's compressed into less than 3 mins.
There's something mesmerising in watching time change someone's face in such a short period don't you think?
Quote I'm pondering
“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”
– Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī (Rumi)
I was actually looking for quotes to do with resilience and getting through adversity in my little list. Instead, this is the one that stuck out at me the most.
For whatever reason, it reminded me of a previous quote goes something like "so many bad things have happened, but mainly in my head..." As we get older, we get better at looking ahead and preparing or just simply worrying. I'm sure reading this email, that's been a pervasive theme.
Instead, I'm going to go and try and seek out some surprises. It's the best way I know to replace foreboding with delight...
Well , that's all for this week! Let me know what you thought as feedback is always welcome!
Have an amazing week ahead!
- Raffy
PS - What was your favourite part of this email? Let me know with 1 click! I read the survey every week and tweak things as requested!
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