Russell Davies

We couldn't find the language

"What’s the last thing you’re going to think about?

I think the last thing will be tears. Tears of just being fortunate enough to have lived the life I’ve lived. Tears that I’ve brought sadness to certain people. And not being able to convert that to joy.  Sadness that I’ve done some things and been part of some things — even with you, it took us years to get to where we are now. I have sadness over those lost years. But that’s what life is. We couldn’t find the language. What’s most important is that we’ve come together now. When I’m gone, you don’t have to worry about what we could have done. We did it. That’s the most important. Those tears will turn to joy."

From Nature Has Its Way of Ending Life. I’m Changing the Manner and the Time

Make things bigger Part One

I was asked to do a presentation the other day, based on m'book. This was my first attempt, I tried to make it a little more practical for everyday life than the book. 

Crowsflight

This is nice. It's an app called Crowsflight. It works on phones too. It shows you which way places are, as the crow flies, so when you're walking somewhere you can just head in that general direction. That makes it a bit more flaneur-y than the precise directions from most map apps.

Middling

It was newsletter day yesterday. No complaints received as yet. As ever, I banged on about a thought (sharing, blogging) and then instantly came across something that put it better:

“A lot of people we think of as exceptionally creative are essentially intellectual middleman”

Lovely argument for the power of taking ideas from one situation and applying them in completely different areas to solve problems

From Smarter, Faster, Better pic.twitter.com/T1oeWCFnqN

— richard shotton (@rshotton) October 1, 2022

Libraries!

I registered with the PLR and discovered that Egg Bacon Chips and Beans has been borrowed from a UK library 91 times. That is incredibly cheering.

That does seem to be declining somewhat but maybe the PPT book can take up the slack.

Jessie Reyez: Tiny Desk Concert

This is amazing. The strings add such a fantastic extra texture. And it looks brilliant to have them all crammed behind the desks.

"Don't call me when you got time / Call me when you're busy so I know I'm a priority"

Phil's fills

There was a bunch of Phil Collins on telly last night which led to this amazing mix finding its way into my stream. Good work algos.

Also

Phil's bill

Of course, it's an actual thing

Not what I do, really.

Anyone who has a friend

(A kind correspondent sent me this in an email. I'm hoping it's OK of me to reproduce it. Last time he sent something, and I asked him, he said it was OK. This time I'm trying not to bother him. But he'll probably get this via RSS and let me know if I've done wrong.)

 

The Sasha Frere-Jones quote about Godard reminded me of this, from The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula LeGuin:

 

(context: Selver, an alien who until recently didn't really have a conception of murder or violence, has started leading a guerilla movement that is fighting back against their human colonizers; in a recent action, the man Lyubov - Selver's only real human friend, who treated him like a person - has been killed):

 

“Lyubov’s too, you know. He’s dead—your ‘friend Lyubov’.” Selver did not understand the idiom. He had learned murder, but of guilt he knew little beyond the name. As his gaze locked for a moment with Gosse’s pale, resentful stare, he felt afraid. A sickness rose up in him, a mortal chill. He tried to put it away from him, shutting his eyes a moment. At last he said, “Lyubov is my friend, and so not dead.”

which is less profound than SFJ, but perhaps more accessible to anyone who has had a friend.

Three ingredients

@high_performance

How do you give good feedback? Head of Manchester United Academy Nick Cox with great advice 🙌🏻

♬ original sound - High Performance