A brief window of sun this afternoon on the rabbit run really brought out the damp greens.
Status:
A friend came over to talk about my chronic fatigue today. He had some kind of post-viral crash a while ago which hasn’t gotten better and wanted to talk to someone about it. Since I was in that position a couple of years ago and really could have done with having someone to talk to who wasn’t a shrugging doctor, it was the least I could do.
It’s also my specialist subject, the one things I think about all the bloody time, so I set the timer for 30 minutes and we dove in. Obviously everyone’s experience of this condition is unique and management is a very personal thing, but I was able to give a few bits of advice I wish I’d had closer to the beginning, such as recognising physical symptoms that indicate you’re on the cusp of a crash (in both our cases tinnitus and sinus pain) and then using breathing exercises to calm them down.
We also talked about the impossibility of knowing if you’re doing the right or wrong thing, especially when it comes to brain fog which impairs your ability to make those decisions. And the importance of not getting angry or annoyed with yourself for being a useless shit-sack. Self-care and self-forgiveness are probably the most important things.
I hope he doesn’t have my level of chronic fatigue and that whatever’s ailing him clears up soon, but if he does, hopefully he can now mitigate the worst of it.
Overnight listening:
Reading:
- Struggling to heat your home? How about 500 Raspberry Pi units? - In my digi-art days I’d often come across silly numbers of RPis powering some installation and they certainly produced a lot of heat, so this isn’t an insane idea. Kinda similar to rooftop solar - the infrastructure and need is in place. The downside in the UK would be overheating our brick-oven houses in the summer, but I could see this working for municipal hot water, or something. via
- Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa - I have questions about some of the conclusions and assumptions here, but the basic outline of what’s happening with solar in parts of Africa that aren’t on an electric grid is really interesting.
- Being your own label in 2025 (is confusing) - the music platforms are a nightmare and reaching audiences is hard. But it’s still feels worth it.
Watching:
- Why movies just don’t feel “real” anymore - A deep dive into the first principles of movie immersion: on perceptual realism, indexicality, haptic visuality, and cinematic qualia.
- Water Damage live at Supersonic Festival 2025
- Noah Kalina - Why I photograph fog
- Trailer: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
- Laura Kampf - The “Bent-MagLight” Lamp
Recently faved:
- Nobody cares about the longlist, Janet!
- The current Pope in 1982: obviously a Blues Brother
- Remember as days get colder animals are attracted to the warmth of cars
Jigsaws completed:
- Stacked slabs - taken this afternoon for today’s notes and it seemed like it might make a good jigsaw.