14 October 2024
What I was reading, watching & listening to in October
Fiction 1: Reading Henry Fieldings’ Joseph Andrews, Volume I. Mildly entertaining. But not sure I’ll read Volume II any time soon.
Fiction-ish: My friend Kristy Hanson‘s autobiographical book, Karma: A Love Story.
Nonfiction: I’ve pretty much finished Kapitalismus Entlieben by Lann Hornscheidt. It’s about the political dimension of loving – fascinating stuff. Just a few writing exercises left to help me find my own take on things.
Poetry: The most recent collection I read was Tony Hoagland’s Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God. He’s one of my favourite poets of all time – highly recommended.
TV:
Re-watching all of the X-Files. Currently in Season 11 and almost done, yay! Spoiler alert: Seasons 10 and 11 are almost unbearable.
SUITS. I watched a few episodes out of boredom when Holger was on a UK trip in June, then fell for the series when I had COVID in September.
Music: Still rebuilding my music library on Plex after losing access to my iTunes library when I cancelled Apple Music and got a new Mac. Listened to the new Snow Patrol and London Grammar albums a lot. Not a fan of the lyrics on either and positively dislike the lyrics on the London Grammar album. But will see them live in November, finally – and Kae Tempest just 2 days later.
Current favourite artists: Kae Tempest, Sohn, Elbow, Lazerhawk, Jean Michel Jarre
What I was learning in October
How I was looking after my body
20 years ago, I vowed that I’d never do anything just because it’s healthy. Today, I think that’s the kind of thing only a 22-year-old would say.
Last year, I took up running. If you had told me at the start of 2023 that I’d come to love running, I’d have laughed in your face. But it’s true. I love running. Currently getting back into shape after travelling and then having COVID. Almost back at 5k, and then I’ll go for the 10k.
I still dance, though. If I don’t do Nia at least twice a week, I feel it.
On top of all this, I’m experimenting with food and stress management to get my hormones in balance. I kinda fell off the bandwagon over the summer, but here’s what I want to get back into doing:
Eating 500 g of veg a day
Limiting carbs, sugar and alcohol
Un-limiting healthy fats
Adding seafood back into my diet
Moving every day
Learning to prevent stress and prioritising relaxation
Even the few things I’ve been consistent about, such as limiting alcohol and reintroducing seafood, have made a huge difference.
Other things I was doing
Travelling to London in November. Meeting clients I’ve worked with for years, strengthening budding and older business relationships … and hanging out with friends in the evenings.
Exploring my masculine side, and how I relate to gender. I’ve just had all my hair cut off – buzz cut time! Loving this new life in which “I no longer do hair”.
Prioritising the queer communities and making time for local friends.
Planning End-of-Year parties with friends new and old.
Looking forward to my friend Miriam and family visiting over New Year’s.
What I was doing at work
In April, The Ethical Move (TEM) transformed from a Canadian business into a Swedish non-profit association. Maria Arango Kure and I have both been volunteering at TEM for years. Now we’re co-chairing it, with Marcel Garz and Holger Schueler as board members. We’re establishing Open House and Board Meetings, and offering (free) memberships. If you’re interested in ethical marketing and sales, check out the TEM website.
Continuing to publish our German guide to ethical marketing, Ethisches Marketing Jetzt. Chapter 2 (about Respect) has just come out.
Re-launching our Accessibility Action Plan now that we’ve got a writer for German Easy Read (Leichte Sprache) on the team. Looking to add an English-language Easy Read writer next.
Various client projects such as a long-term transcreation retainer, a digital audit for an NGO and documenting a scale-up’s company culture (complete with recommendations for developing it further).
18 July 2024
What I was reading, watching & listening to in July
Fiction: Henry James’ The Aspern Papers. Wish I had read this 10 years ago while in Venice!
Nonfiction: A German book with an interesting 2-in-1 design: Zu Lieben // Kapitalismus Entlieben by Lann Hornscheidt. It’s about the political dimension of loving – fascinating stuff. Plenty of writing exercises help embed the message in everyday life.
Poetry: The most recent collection I read was Safia Khan’s Too Much Mirch. Highly recommended – I can’t stop thinking about these poems. (She’s also a very nice person!)
TV: Re-watching all of the X-Files. Currently in Season 7.
Music: I took a break from buying albums in June and am now getting back into it. Favourite artists: Kae Tempest, London Grammar, Sohn, Elbow, Christine & the Queens
What I was learning in July
Improving my financial literacy with Elfin (a Dutch community and collection of online courses)
How I was looking after my body in July
Training for 10k & doing Nia at least twice a week.
On top of all this, I’m experimenting with food and stress management to get my hormones in balance. In essence, here’s what I’m doing:
Eating 500 g of veg a day
Limiting carbs, sugar and alcohol
Un-limiting healthy fats
Adding seafood back into my diet
Moving every day
Learning to prevent stress and prioritising relaxation
So far, it seems to be working. Fingers crossed.
Other things I was doing
Travelling to Sweden. Previously I had only been to Stockholm – and we were visiting our friend and colleague Maria!
Moving my logins and newsletter subscriptions from gmail to my new hoster, HEY.
Getting back into writing poetry. I did a wonderful weekend workshop in June, and now I’m hooked again.
Looking forward to my old friend Miriam visiting in August.
Planning several trips: southwest Germany in September, London and Berlin in November.
What I was doing at work
Taking a much-needed break.
29 May 2024
What I was reading, watching & listening to at the end of May
Fiction: I just finished reading The Complete Poetry and Plays of T.S. Eliot.
Now I’m reading a German crime novel I got for free when I set up my new PocketBook e-reader: Das Gesetz der Wölfe by Veronika Rusch.Nonfiction: A German book about financial literacy for women: Madame Moneypenny: Wie Frauen ihre Finanzen selbst in die Hand nehmen können by Natascha Wegelin
TV: Re-watching all of the X-Files. Currently in Season 5.
Music: I’m rebuilding my music library on Plex after losing access to my iTunes library when I cancelled Apple Music and got a new Mac. Fortunately, we had a backup stored on a server! Right now, I’m busy buying albums I’ve been streaming a lot. I’ve also decided to invest in my vinyl collection, so I’m using Discogs more.
Current favourite artists: Kae Tempest, London Grammar, Sohn, Elbow, Christine & the Queens
What I was learning at the end of May
Improving my financial literacy with Elfin (a Dutch community and collection of online courses)
Looking after my body
20 years ago, I vowed that I’d never do anything just because it’s healthy. Today, I think that’s the kind of thing only a 22-year-old would say.
Last year, I took up running. If you had told me at the start of 2023 that I’d come to love running, I’d have laughed in your face. But it’s true. I love running. Currently training for 10k.
I still dance, though. If I don’t do Nia at least twice a week, I feel it.
Other things I was doing at the end of May
Planning a summer holiday to Sweden. I’ve only been to Stockholm – and we’re going to visit our friend and colleague Maria! This will be fun.
Redecorating the house.
De-Googling and de-Amazoning my tech. I’ve already moved from Kindle to PocketBook.
Next stop: moving my email to a new hoster.
What I was doing at work at the end of May
In April, The Ethical Move (TEM) transformed from a Canadian business into a Swedish non-profit association. Maria Arango Kure and I have both been volunteering at TEM for years. Now we’re co-chairing it, with Marcel Garz and Holger Schueler as board members. We’re slowly getting ready to promote (free) memberships. If you’re interested in ethical marketing and sales, check out the TEM website.
Continuing to publish our German guide to ethical marketing, Ethisches Marketing Jetzt.
Re-launching my Conversion Rate Optimisation Coaching and working my way through our Accessibility Action Plan.
Planning to attend 2 conferences next month: Women in Experimentation and the Accessibility Club Summit.