Week 16/2023: The central cookery book
Week of 17 April 2023 The Central Cookery Book I recently discovered an Instagram account called @vintagestasrecipes, which posts photos of old cookbooks and related ephemera. It made me think of Tasmania’s best-known old cookbook, The Central Cookery Book, which was probably found in the homes of most Tasmanians,...
Stolen Focus
Stolen Focus I’d heard a lot about Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. A couple of people I know had read it, and it kept popping up in book lists and newsletters from bookstores. There was a long wait for it at the library so I only got it right...
Week 52/2022: It’s not the end
Week 52/2022: Week of 26 December 2022 It’s not the end I’m one of those lucky people for whom the end of the year is an enforced shutdown. My favourite thing to do during this week is to not do anything and not go anywhere. And that is precisely...
Four thousand weeks
Embracing my finitude and living my life I wrote about the book Four Thousand Weeks several times earlier this year and I felt like I had to write a post about it because it has the potential to change my life. But I kept putting it off and wondering...
Giving myself a bedtime
Giving myself a bedtime A lesson from Tranquility by Tuesday Late last week I read about Laura Vanderkam’s new book Tranquility by Tuesday, which is subtitled 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. I took one look at what the book was about and...
Week 17/2022: Hi-ho
Week of 25 April Hi-ho This was the last week of my extended Easter holiday. I’d decided not to go back to work on the day after Anzac Day, which was Tuesday, because Tuesday is my half day. I had a medical appointment in the middle of the day...
Deep work
Deep Work: what I learned Cal Newport has a massive following in the productivity world. A computer science professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Cal started writing study advice for students in the mid 2000s and started blogging on the subject on 2007. Since then, he has written...
Week 44/2021: i’m not listening
Week 44/2021: Week of 1 November 2021 I’m not listening I felt better this week than I did last week and finally went to see my physio needle massage therapist (I’m not sure that this is his official job, but it works for me.) He had been in the...
Week 41/2021: lockdowngetdown
Week 41/2021: Week of 11 October 2021 Lockdowngetdown I can’t say that, when I got up on Friday morning, I’d thought that 12 hours later we’d be in a covid lockdown, but there we are. Some guy from NSW, who tested positive for covid (dubbed “covidiot” in the local...
Week 38/2021: a bird’s life
Week of 20 September 2021 What did I want to do better this week? Be more mindful and observant, and start to develop my capacity to explore. So, how did that go? I suppose like any new habit, paying more attention will take time to ingrain itself. But I...