Cycling
Four rides this week. Resting on Monday. Felt a bit off on Tuesday. Regular ride on Wednesday. Short ride to and from a pub on Thursday to meet a friend. Out with a another friend on Friday so no ride. A 70k and 90K ride on Saturday and Sunday respectively to make up for missing miles 1 during the week. Finished with just under 244k done. That’ll do for me.
Work
Monday and Tuesday was a bit on/off as feedback on a document I worked on last week slowly rolled in. Got a lot done with that on Wednesday. Presentation on Thursday. This went better than I had anticipated. I got full endorsement of the two items I presented. I was deliberate in how I managed the process. Good preparation, intentional language, robust replies to questions, and talking to the audience (senior management team) as my peers. Turned out that worked well. The rest of Thursday and Friday was bitty. Got a few things done but lacking focus. Pick up the pace again on Monday.
Music
Nothing special this week. Aural wallpaper. No live events. No purchases. No rips.
Family
Worked in a visit to my younger sister and her husband during Sundays ride. Spouse has been away for the weekend to see her mum in the west country. Boy’s are doing okay. Football training on Saturday. The youngest gets his GCSE results next week. It’s not really a big deal in our family. They are what they are. Life goes on whatever the outcome. Doors open and close all the time. There is opportunity in both states.
Photography
Spent some time processing pictures from a bike tour I completed last year to Cape Wrath. Taken a few shots. Nothing that stands out. It’s all good practice.
Computer & Internet
I’ve been reading people’s blogs. Mostly those of people taking part in Blaugust. A good few posts have chimed for me.
People have been sharing what’s its been like for them keeping up with whatever schedule they have aimed for. There are many who have chosen to publish a post everyday. Managing the time and effort to do so can be challenging. I’ve been noticing self defeating thoughts and feelings about the endeavour pop up, letting them be for as long as they are there, and just doing it anyway. Meaning and purpose is of our own making.
Jedda’s post On Making Friends as Adults cropped up in a conversation with a friend on Friday. We agreed meeting up at least once a month helped maintain and grow our friendship.
Opportunities to make friends can seem fewer as an adult. Rarity commonly adds value. It’s pretty normal to take good care of things with value. Friendships deserve that.
I’ve read a handful of posts about comments on blogs. Much more nuanced opinions shared than I have about them. I have a means for people to respond by email. I may make my Mastodon link more apparent. I don’t expect any responses. While I welcome contact I consider the lack of it more the norm. As to whether a blog without comments fits with Blaugust. Opinions are what they are. They’re just that. I find it best not to put too much value on one over another.
Added to the custom.css for this site to have the option of a grid layout for image thumbnails.
Any Other Business
During the week I read The Darkness You Choose, The Darkness that Chooses You Prickly Oxheart writes about scarcity.
I tried it as an experiment over the weekend. I did not eat anything from around 9pm on Friday until an early breakfast on Sunday.
My thinking on Saturday felt a bit sharper. I focussed on what I was doing. I felt in control. Less prone to distractions. I noticed my thoughts. I think my sense of smell became more acute, perhaps unsurprisingly, to the smell of food. I appreciated eating on Sunday. I’m going to give it another go on Tuesday and Thursday next week.
I listened to The Practice of Life while out on my bike on Sunday. It’s a short course by Charlotte Joko Beck on seeing everyday experiences and emotions as moments for awareness and insight. In one of the sessions (“What is Sitting?”) Charlotte says…
“We’re always looking for something, waiting for something—for the time which will be perfect, peaceful, better, different, happy,” she says. “But we’re not suddenly going to find some mysterious place where all our troubles disappear. Our great life truly is just what we are at this very second.”
It’s a question that remains with me. What am I looking for, waiting for? Answering the question is not important. Noticing the moments I am doing this will be the practice.
And in other news Itauma stuns Whyte with first-round knockout. Moses is a Chatham lad. Went to school just round the corner from where we live. Is this guy gonna’ all the way! We’re all cheering for Moses in our house.
Unlike my metaphors I mix distance units. Colloquially I use miles. Reference to actual distances planned or completed and it’s k or km. ↩︎