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First post in what I hope will be a series of short weekly notes on my life, aka weeknotes. The idea is to a. attempt to get back in to writing, b. get better at writing, c. remember and appreciate a little more.
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I’m back at my parents in Emsworth right now. The photo at the top of this page is their dog, Lupo. My dad sits at the chair in this room and likes to look at the weather on the internet multiple times a day. The room is a bit of a mess right now, and he says some of the stuff on the floor has been there since him and my mum got back from visiting me in Vancouver in early September.
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I got back from Canada myself almost three weeks ago having lived there since March. Strangely, and a little sadly, it already feels much longer than that. Rather than me coming back, it feels like I left a version of myself there. London me is different, but more familiar. I’m still not sure which me is the real one and which i’d rather be.
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The last weeks have largely felt like an adjustment period and a countdown towards Christmas and the New Year, and new decade. I’ve done very little, but I think that’s been good for me. Living somewhere new it’s hard not to feel like you should be squeezing the life out of every minute. Back in London I don’t feel that pressure. In fact, I look forward to doing nothing.
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In fact I bought How To Do Nothing yesterday, after seeing the Olafur Eliasson exhibition at the Tate. I always look forward to the curated book selection you find in the gift area outside Tate exhibitions, and i’m a sucker for a self help book with a pretty cover. My hope is to read it over Christmas and kick off a year of reading books and note just buying them.
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I have 24 days of holiday, heading back to work on January 13th. Right now I have very little planned. My idea, when booking the holiday off shortly after last Christmas, was to spend the entire period away somewhere at the opposite end of the globe. For various reasons that hasn’t happened. Which is why i’m back in Emsworth right now. But i’m keeping an eye on SkyScanner for a quick getaway in the new year, possibly Budapest.
Ideally I would have liked to be on a bike trip somewhere, but comfortable options this time of year are rather limited. Still, i’ve been familiarising myself with the bikepacking.com route map with hopes and delusions of adventures to come in 2020.
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Some plans I do have: tying to complete a Festive 500 (500km cycled between Christmas and New Year), watching The Irishman once I get back to London, attempt to edit and sort out some photos from the past year which are living and dying on my external hard drive.
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It’s hard not get a little reflective at this point in the year, especially now with so many ‘Year in Review’ things. Our data comes back to us in a nice little bundle and we are left wondering what it all means and how good it was. It’s a little anxiety inducing. That said, here’s my Swarm (still the one app I live and die by) rundown. In total I checked in at 1,542 places, checked into coffee shops 234 times, and had 89 mayorships.
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Today I listened to The Daily’s Year in Sound, and i’m looking forward to Reply All’s year end show – last years was great. I’ve finished wrapping presents, i’m about to drink a 330ml bottle of Peroni, so, I guess this means it is Christmas now.
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