I’ve been back on the chalk again. Went down late on Wednesday night. Spent most of the day waiting around for my new Pixel 3 to arrive (spoiler alert it is now Sunday morning and it still hasn’t arrived). When I arrived back home the extended family where there, My Aunty Heather, her boyfriend and my uncle Michael (who you may remember previously from the trip to the grave in Belgium).

The reason for the visit home was for the dentist. It might be a bit crazy that I travel over 100 miles to visit my dentist, but for a long long time the visit would always sync up with my visit to my gastroenterology consultant to check in on my crohn’s disease. Unfortunately due to (i think) being dropped from the list in margate this is no longer the case and to be honest hasn’t been so for the last couple of years. Anyway, the nice South African man has been looking in my mouth since I was about 10 and still continues to just nod and “say well done” about having no cavities. Despite the varying amounts of effort and diligence i’ve put in to the simple act of brushing my teeth during different sections of my life.

A part from the dentist I didn’t really have a lot on. I spent one evening replying to half the emails that I have backed up and will spend some point tomorrow doing the same. Mainly the last few days I’ve jumped in the car whenever mum and dad were going out somewhere and walked around the out of town shopping centre with them. The other day they got a dashcam installed on their car, which is quite cyberpunk if you ask me.

Whilst at home, I spent some time in front of the old nemesis the television. An odd experience i’ve always associated with going home since I was at university. It is however (in my opinion) far easier to Negotiate space with that little black box of banality in the corner than the black slab of glass that i keep in my pocket. Whilst watching Pointless and the One Show over dinner one night that television is far less vicious, threatening and stressful than anything available on the super small screen and there is something to be said for that. Different kinds of demons behind the glass.

It makes me feel yet again that a renegotiation needs to take place, not owning a television has always been one of the things in my life that i’ve enjoyed. But now i’m one of those people who can put their phones away – tho i think that I am a lot better this year than I have been in previous ones.

Permanently Moved

Nope no podcast this week either. I did sling my mic in my backpack but it didn’t occur to me to make it. I’ve really been enjoying making it this year, but after the episode 2 weeks ago, which was/felt like a long rant pouring out of me i’ve taken the last two weeks to reconsider what i want the podcast to be. I have favourite episodes etc ones that im pleased with how they sound, and others how i made them and i’m wondering how to make the show more like that in the long run.

I’ve been going back though the HowSound back catalogue and feel quite confident that i’ll be able to tighten things up and move towards something that i’m going to be even more happy with.

Dipping the stacks

• Cryptoforestry
• Phylogenetic analyses suggests fairy tales are much older than thought
• Under Watchful Eyes (The medieval origins of mass surveillance.)
• How Japan is working towards creating a true sharing economy
• On Paganism, Fakelore, and Tired Conversations about Authenticity

I know i usually post links here without commentary, but this last one – On Paganism – is an important addition to/follow up on the ongoing conversation sparked by Sarah Anne Lawless in her Neopaganism for sale piece i linked to last week. There is a lot in this ongoing conversation that i think needs separating and teasing out but I’m glad that it is happening.

The Ministry

Yeah, life’s good work wise. As you know if you have been following along. I did a bunch of stuff last week that I’m still following up on.

Biggest news i suppose is I have a big event booked in for 2021 already which is a nice surprise. My dad was like ‘how do you know what you’ll be doing in May 2021 and I pointed at the email and said “This”. Hahaha. Well it made me laugh anyway. I also have a big conference to speak up next year already so i only really need to book something in stone for 2020 and i’ll begin to suspect that i may be getting somewhere with all this.

I’m looking forward to going away for 6 weeks in January, to reflect plan and build on ideas about what I want to do long term.

Reading

I’ve finally started listening to the new Odyssey translation by Emily Wilson on Audible. The narration is fantastic and i think i’m enjoying it more because i’m listening to the audio version than just reading it from a page. It IS meant to be be a performance after all.

I started picking at For a Left Populism by Chantal Mouffe over breakfast but i haven’t yet sunk my teeth into it yet.

Music

Last FM tells me that the i haven’t really listened to much this week, but i will say that i listened to Working Class Woman by French Canadian producer Marie Davidson. It’s her fourth album and i wouldn’t say that it is my favourite. But its certainly still her style. If you ever need to be reminded what it’s like to be in a claustrophobic techno club full of strangers at 3am in a foreign city. This is the album for you.

Remember kids: