Hey there, !

It feels like it's been a while since the last life update, but they're always on the multiple of 5 newsletter so it's always the same amount of time between them.

Life can feel long, hey?

1. I went to a gig last week by Parcels who are this great funky / electropop band that plays some really mellow lovely tracks. I didn't know they were from Australia, but it was nice to be out on a balmy night, stumble across the Asian Street Food Festival and hang out with mates. Chicken hearts, balut, lechon - some weird and wacky foods that were adventurous even to me! Always a reminder there's more to open your eyes to and try in the world.

   
   

2. I finally reactivated my deferred celebrancy course which now has a new end date of February 10th so I really need to get my shit together for it - that's my resolution for the next 2 months! I've actually prepared all the preliminary documentation for 3 out of the 4 weddings I need to film - I just need to do them. It takes time to fill in paperwork, arrange interviews, and write the speeches, and I've found that I only have so much writing motivation per week. This means that I might slow down on the newsletter while I crank out the final few wedding mock videos I need to do - but we'll see how organised I am. AND ALSO so that I declare things in advance that y'all can hold me to, I am tentatively planning Jan 26th for the final presentation / filming that requires 20+ people. Whether that's at home or at a venue I hire I'm not sure right now, but I'll work it out.

3. On the topic of resolutions, it's probably a bit early to work out the 2026 resolutions, but the other day I was trying to find something and instead came across all these boardgames that I had boxed up to sell. I've also had a slow trickle of Kickstarter boardgames that keep coming in so...I think in 2026 I'm going to try to play all the games I can, and if I don't play them, or don't feel like I want to play them at all, I'm going to sell or give them away. I only want the diamonds now, I'm trying not to be too much of a collector - games need to be played, not held on to!

4. The other thing I want to do is cook more recipes. I was going to buy Good Things - Samin Nosrat's new book (of Salt Fat Acid Head fame - still my favourite cookbook of all time!) - but realised I hadn't cooked through a whole bunch of cookbooks that I always said I would. So, let's do that too - cook recipes, or sell the books.

5. An auxiliary benefit to that is that I can spend on other things, like watches! This one is a really fun turtle watch which has no hands or numbers, and instead you have to use the head, the shell and the lilypads as second/minute/hour markers. It's very hard to read the time for, yes, but it's fun nonetheless!

   

6. My Spotify Wrapped was fun - unfortunately a significant drop from 120k minutes listened last year 75k minutes this year. Them's rookie numbers - gotta lock in for 2026!! The more minutes the more worth my membership is!!!

   
   

7. Christmas and New Years is around the corner - though I usually love my Boxing Day 3 movie marathon, I think I might skip it this year and go out into the sun. I'll still be doing my Love Actually/Die Hard double feature though...hehehe.

8. And who could forget GANDALFFFF. The boy has been a bit naughtier in the last few weeks - in trying to work out why, it's likely been the change of going into the office a bit more, which means he's alone at home a lot more. He broke into my FOGO bin to try and eat some chicken trimmings, he's broken a drinking glass, he keeps pushing over my alcohol bottles, but he's still the cutest li'l boy. I always gotta remember it would be hard for me to stay at home cooped up all the time, and to reward our boy with more treats when I'm around!!

   
   
   
   
   

Chat soon :)

P.S. based on a suggestion from last week's newsletter, I'm callin' my pizza oven Owen from now on - thank you Yen! Such a cute name :D

(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)

✔️Real Life Recommendations

1. Eternity - 4.5 stars - because it's a cosy li'l romcom from A24, has a high concept eternity / afterlife theme, and is really well executed. It's not for everyone and it can be a li'l cheesy, but it's littered with so many fun side character moments, attention to detail in production, and fun exploration of the theme. Highly recommended.

2. IDES - fancy as fuck, but also a beautiful set menu to celebrate a friend's 30th. One for a nice occasion!

🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. tales from a dosa shop - proving that how you write and how you reflect on a story can make it so much cooler than what the reality probably was.

2. I failed to recreate the 1996 Space Jam Website with Claude - looks like AI can't do everything yet...

3. Learn to love the moat of low status - just a new way to say 'it's okay to feel embarrassed because that leads to the most growth'! but it's a good way to articulate it.