The weather was shite all day and then, just before dusk, the sun burst through the horizon, coating the grey with a spooky gold. (Photo by my friend Fran)
Status:
Rest day, mostly pottering, bit of prep for the compost workshop tomorrow but it wasn’t too much effort. I know this stuff inside out so it’s no pressure on my brain.
I started writing something about Wesley Streeting’s latest bullshit but started to get lost in incoherent rage, and since this is supposed to be a rest day I’ll leave it for now. (In short, diagnosis is medical, disability status is legal, ones does not equal the other.)
One of my social media posts went a bit viral. In the old days I’d have worried about it escaping my context bubble and probably have deleted it, but thankfully Mastodon has no rage-bait algorithm so it’s all cool.
Overnight listening:
- In Our Time: The May Fourth Movement - slept through most of this, though what I heard was interesting. Notable that I’m sleeping better these days (though I have been waking at 4am with sore legs again). I probably need to find a new slot in the day to do my podcasts.
Music:
Reading:
- ‘A mini Battle of Cable Street’: the English neighbourhoods still grappling with the meaning of the flags - The Guardian visits my neighbourhood, might have interviewed my friends (names have been changed to avoid fascist doxing).
- Hammersmith Bridge - where did 25,000 vehicles go? - a deep dive into the bridge in London which has been closed to traffic for six years and is in limbo while the city around it adapts. Lots of interesting stuff about how infrastructure gets (or doesn’t get) built in the UK.
Watching:
- Science fiction’s most terrifying prediction - notes that Cuarón’s Children of Men is coming true on schedule, which it is in the UK, but it’s worth remembering Cuarón was transplanting the contemporary reality of the global south onto London. It wasn’t speculation, it was reportage. (One to watch at 1.5x speed)
- Permaculture High Tunnel Heating - I am thoroughly invested in this compost heated, solar powered fan assisted polytunnel setup.