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Mashing the last 2.5 weeks together as I ran out of steam and it’s been hard to know hard to articulate thoughts lately. Life, personally, has also been quite quiet – i’ve just been focusing a lot of my new role, trying to develop a better relationship with sleep, and cautiously spending a little more time in the outside world now lockdown has been eased.
two
I finished reading The Laws of Simplicity. What a great little book. So many thoughtful little turns of phrase – the kind that you hope you’ll be able to weave flawlessly into conversations in the future. But life – as the book recognises – is not that simple. Anyway, this is a favourite few lines from Chapter 6 (Law 6 – Differences) which seem important especially now:
Crunch, crunch, crunch. I recall walking through the snow in the middle of night through my quiet neighbourhood only to hear my own breathing and footsteps. I reflected upon the fact that the snow of winter would eventually cease and give way to the green of spring.
The combination of a silent night and my eventual advancement to middle age forced the rhetorical question, “How many more years might I experience a peaceful winter evening like this?” I am now more careful to feel the precious rhythm of each year of life. I hear the beat of simplicity and complexity quite clearly in everything that I experience. Can you hear it too?
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I saw friends for the first time since we entered the void. I biked to Hackney Marsh with Chris and we sat in a field near the River Lea and drank two beers. It was the most normal i’d felt in some time. The Monday after I met Finn and we walked a big loop around East London until my feet started hurting.
four
New Khruangbin which I must have listened to at least three times a day over the last two weeks. The video, shot in Japan, is beautiful and sad:
Much like another their Cómo Te Quiero video”
Their music has a way of saying so much – like some of the best things – by saying so little.
five
I’ve been rebuilding my road bike in the spare room. It started with simply adding new brakes. Then I realised the existing cables were too short so bought new ones. It made sense to replace the gear cables at the same time. But replacing the cassette and chain also looked worn. A number of these things require special tools too. Then I bought a stand to hold the bike since I’d got so deep. It’s basically like this (frequently referenced) scene from Malcom in The Middle:
I’m seeing it as an investment – both in the tools and parts – but also in acquiring the mechanical knowledge to properly install all these things – particularly gears, which i’ve always relied on shops to fix. The Park Tool Youtube channel will hopefully provide all the education I need.
six
I received a shipment of nice things from Justin and Lee in Vancouver. Including bags that Lee has started making, a replacement 33 Acres glass for the one I smashed a few weeks ago (which remarkably arrived in one piece), and some incredibly good coffee from Matchstick. Lots of things to make me miss Vancouver.
seven
Over the weekend I rebuilt Nice Portfolio – a portfolio inspiration site I made in 2014, and had quite a bit of interest in at the time, but something i’ve completed neglected in the last three years. In an effort to simplify it and make it something I can commit to keeping updated the new design is basically one button which launches a random portfolio. Portfolios can also be viewed in a list. It was inspired by this website which randomly generates a link to a Simpsons episode from season 1-12 (the shows golden age). It’s one of my most frequently visited sites.
My feeling is people just want to look at the work. So embedding images etc. is arguably pointless. The randomness adds a level of intrigue / which is balanced with the list view which prominently features the name of the designer. It’s just a bit of fun, an exercise in simplicity, but it felt good to make something again – and something that will hopefully be useful to others.
The icon I drew was inspired by Susan Kare’s early work at Apple.
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Four years ago this summer I was cycling across America. It’s something i’m incredibly proud of, and, if not life-altering, definitely life-defining – but it’s also something i’m conscious to not spend too much time reminiscing against. But right now, this time of year, that’s hard. The days are long and it feels like there’s quite literally more of the world waiting to be seen, at least during a normal year.
Anyway, four years ago today – June 4th – it was a Saturday and I rode my bike 111.1 miles from Indiana into Illinois, where I stopped for a few days in Chicago. I stayed with friends and remember thinking the city looked like New York if you power-washed it clean. The buildings shone in a different way – perhaps it was the light from the lake. I was approximately one quarter of the way into my trip, and it was a landmark city – both by name – but also as a marker for me and how far i’d already come from New York, 19 days before. I could keep going, but i’ll just link to the original post instead – here.
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Photo: Hackney Marshes, Friday evening, 7.06pm
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