Author: Clicky Steve

Sabbatical Reflections from 2019

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As I prepare to head off on sabbatical later this year, I realise that while I posted my plans for my first sabatical, I didn’t actually share my reflections publicly on return. Instead, I posted on one of the many internal websites that we have at Automattic. Re-reading it recently, I thought that it was worth pulling this out onto my own blog for posterity. Below is what I wrote up back in June of 2019 for my colleagues, after going back to work (nb. that it has been slightly amended to remove references to a8c specifics).

Hello. I have returned from the sabbatical oasis. In many ways it feels pretty good to come back into fold, as no matter how great the sabbatical is, it still feels strange to be outside of the everyday Automattic community. That said, it is also a bit of a shock to the system; feeling akin to turning on a bright light in a room after you’ve been lying in the dark, so please bear with me over the next week or so while I catch up and readjust. It will take me a bit of time. 🙂

Before I went away, I was pretty disappointed that I would miss RightsCon in particular, as it is always a fairly motivational time. In retrospect I am glad I didn’t go, as it would almost definitely have limited what I got out of the block of time away.

As is customary, here is a recap with some details of what I got up to, as well as some general reflections, and thoughts about what coming back means. I had wondered about whether I should hold off on this until I had been back for a bit, but changed my mind. It is also a bit longer than I anticipated, so you have been warned!

Sabbatical observations

  • The first week I slept a lot, and felt guilty about it because I wasn’t doing very much, and didn’t want to waste the time. I realised though that my body was clearly just catching up on rest, and winding down to actually shut off properly. It doesn’t just happen instantly.
  • My life is usually so packed and rushed all the time that being able to just take the space to breathe and not rush things was great.
  • As part of that, I realised how many commitments I have outside of work, and how much time and energy they take up.
  • This also helped me realise what exactly I was spending my time on, and reassess things accordingly. In other words, cut down on commitments that were taking up a disproportionate amount of energy and space – as well as to make room for other things that I had been neglecting. I offloaded some responsibilities to other people, and didn’t feel the need to always stay up to date or in control of things as I usually would.
  • The first week I spent in Tokyo (which was just the second week of the sabbatical itself) was especially good. I was on my own, which I had been a bit apprehensive about, as I don’t really enjoy totally solo travel all that much. As it turned out, it was the perfect way to really begin the sabbatical properly. I would literally spend full days just walking for hours and hours, speaking to nobody, taking in everything. I didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything or look after anybody or answer to anyone. It felt like I had gone on some kind of silent retreat, and it was brilliant. Genuinely relaxed and free.
  • After three weeks things began to feel weird, as it was about as long as a significant holiday – but I knew I wasn’t going back any time soon. That caused some cognitive dissonance, which wasn’t completely unpleasant.
  • I realised that it was okay to have days where you don’t do much. You don’t need to be doing things constantly to make the best use of the time. That said…
  • I found myself breaking into a routine a couple of times – where I would just go to the gym, go to band practice, etc – and I didn’t want that to happen. So… I took the opportunity to say yes to things that I wouldn’t normally ever have time to do, or would put off (see more below).

What I actually got up to

Before I went away, I outlined the things I wanted to do over the three months. It really boiled down to allowing more time for the things that are important to me in life that I never usually get to focus on. Making music, reading, writing, travelling, and seeing friends. I deliberately kept them fairly broad to avoid tying myself into specific things and feeling bad if I didn’t get round to them. As it panned out, there were some things I didn’t get round to as much as I would have liked, but there was always something else that took its place. For example, I didn’t really play much guitar – but I did end up starting a new band and learning bass. I didn’t make much electronic music either, but I did rediscover a love for film photography, and developed a whole bunch. So it is swings and roundabouts. Either way, I felt like I made the most of the time I had as best as I could, which is what’s important.

Some specifics of what I did:

  • Spent a full month in Tokyo, which was amazing.
  • Bought a bunch of really nice cameras I had wanted for a long time, and learned lots of things about them.
  • Shot lots of pictures, mostly on film.
  • Started developing again, learned a bunch of new things, and processed 50 rolls in total. Also got a new scanner to replace mine… which was over 10 years old!
  • Shot on motion picture 500T film for the first time successfully (a bit more of a complicated chemical process than regular film).
  • Flew in a private plane across Scotland. Yes, I got to have a go at piloting, and no, I would not do it again. https://allmyfriendsarejpegs.com/2019/05/23/an-evening-in-the-sky/
  • Discovered lots of new music, and went to a lot of gigs – including a great multi-venue festival in Tokyo.
  • As well as continuing with my old band, I started a new one called Hog Wild, and spent a fair bit of time practicing with them, and writing some new tracks. An example here: https://soundcloud.com/hogwildband/matchbreaking-not-a-love-song
  • Did a few DJ sets, with varying levels of success. Lessons learned include always having a backup audio source, and checking that your laptop charger is actually plugged in properly.
  • Visited my parents in Canada, and spent the time touring vineyards, drinking cider, and lying in the sun with a book.
  • Went to the Islay whisky festival. Camped in the rain, and got a very nice exclusive bottle of Laphroaig. https://allmyfriendsarejpegs.com/2019/06/22/islay-whisky-festival-2019/
  • Posted and worked on a whole load of blogs (13 or thereabouts published)
  • Made time for some old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, including a weekend down south. https://allmyfriendsarejpegs.com/2019/05/19/a-long-weekend-down-south/
  • Drove a friend’s band down to London to play a gig.
  • Read a whole pile of books (around 16), and enjoyed being able to just read for hours at a time because I enjoyed it again, as opposed to cramming it in for ten minutes before falling asleep at night.
  • Spent some time doing some legal academic work… including speaking on a panel in Edinburgh which was discussing defamation law reform in Scotland and meeting some friends from Twitter who were in town for a conference. I also finished off my second journal article, which I found out today has been accepted for publication by the European Intellectual Property Review.

In total I spent over half the time away from Glasgow, which I think is pretty good going. There are things I would like to keep up, and things I would like to start doing which I never did, and that’s actually okay. One of the points I had to keep reminding myself of was that the sabbatical isn’t the be all and end all – and not everything needs to be completed. There will be more time off in future!

Coming back

This is the trickiest part. Coming back from three months off is always going to be difficult, not least because of the catch up and changes to routine that are involved. Fears over how or where you will fit in are (apparently) normal, as are questions about whether you’ve fallen behind, and what the future will look like. I am personally very pleased and grateful that I’ve been able to take the time off at this point in my life; to spend it on existing, thinking, and creating. I am also glad to be able to come back to a community of people that I have a lot of respect for.

Over the next week or so I am going to take the time to gradually get back into the swing of things. Clearing out my e-mail inbox and pings will take a wee bit of time, but more importantly, I want to get a feeling for how things have moved on while I’ve been away, where the team is at, and where I can best contribute – including whether or not my role should shift to focus on different areas. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

My Second Sabbatical

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Every five years, Automattic encourages its employees to take a three month, paid sabbatical. Different people make use of this in different ways. Some undertake once-in-a-lifetime journeys; others indulge in the realisation of passion projects; while others still ‘just’ relax and unwind. The breadth and diversity of these choices reflect the attributes of the folks themselves, and it’s always really fascinating to hear their stories and experiences when they return. Irrespective of any individual preferences, there’s no doubt that the sabbatical provides an incredible opportunity to pause, reflect, and ultimately explore the value and meaning of a precious commodity: time.

Prior to heading off in 2019 for my first sabbatical, I wrote a post on this very blog, talking about what I hoped to do, or ‘achieve’ (if that is the right word) over that period. As I’ve now been part of the company for over a decade (gasp), I am therefore eligible for my second – and will be taking it later this year.

As I started to think about what I wanted to do this time around, it struck me just how similar the goals and desires I came up with were to those that I had back in 2019. In fact, pretty much every single one of the 10 things that I laid out in my prior list could easily equally apply again now – and probably will actually – to a greater or lesser extent. Some people might find that boring, or even concerning. After all, why on earth would you choose to do or focus on the same things, rather than try something entirely new?

I do understand that inclination – and want to ensure that I allow space to experience and explore novel situations. However, I also want to really deliberately make time for those parts of my life that either bring me comfort, or which I am passionate about. The types of thing which I love doing, but rarely get the chance to sink into in the manner which I would like.

In some ways I think about this like deciding on a restaurant to eat at. Going to a new place can be rewarding, but also potentially disappointing – and sometimes you just want to go to your favourites. The tried-and-tested. The familiar and dependable. Often, you might realise that you haven’t even been there for months anyway. I’m aiming for some balance, with that in mind.

While the sabbatical is still a few months away, I wanted to outline in advance some of the goals, aims, and expectations I have, as they will help shape and guide the decisions and plans that I make. So, here they are:

  1. Go places. Getting away from Glasgow to explore and experience different parts of the world might be a predictable entry, but one that is also really important. In practice this will mean returning to places I have been before and enjoy – such as spending a few weeks in Tokyo and Seoul – but also discovering others for the first time (such as Prague). I am hopeful that other opportunities will also present themselves along the way, and I’ll be in a position to grab them.
  2. Enjoy Scotland. Somewhat in contrast to the above, I would like to savour the place that I live. Scotland can be an incredible place in the summer, and I haven’t really been around to make the most of it in years gone by. I’d like to enjoy that – whether it’s taking the dog to the beach, sitting in the park with a book, or taking a trip up North to areas that I’ve never been before.
  3. See Friends. Rather than sit in the house staring at my laptop, I want to get out and spend time with people – particularly those that I may not have seen for some time, or who live far away. I would rather this be in more interesting or creative ways than just ‘getting drinks’.
  4. Create. This is an important one. I want to dedicate time, energy, and space to making things – primarily music. Hopefully, this will lead to something I can actually share, such as an album.
  5. Perform. This is related to the above, but I’ve deliberately split them out, as they are distinct. It’s been a wee while since I last performed live, and I’d like to do that again. However, it has to be the right opportunity. There’s no point in just doing it for the sake of it. Hopefully the universe will present some interesting possibilities.
  6. Say Yes. One of the memories that sticks out from my last sabbatical was a friend dropping me a message to ask if I’d like to go up in a tiny private plane that he was transporting across the country early the next day. The realisation that there was nothing preventing me from just saying yes!! was incredibly liberating, and it was an amazing experience, that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. In a similar vein, I want to create the space for the serendipitous to happen, and jump on the chances when they come along.
  7. Tend to the Garden. I am taking some artistic license here, because I don’t mean literally gardening. Instead, I mean reflecting, re-organising, and bringing more of a purpose to parts of my life that have perhaps been neglected. That might mean something like tidying out a cupboard that I’ve been putting off, but could also be more meta-physical.
  8. Do Something Totally New. This is probably self explanatory, but I’d like to break out of my comfort zone. In some ways it’s linked to ‘say yes’. However, this is more a deliberate reminder to seek out and commit to trying something completely novel. One thing I’ve been considering for a while is training to be a Legal Observer for protests and demonstrations. Perhaps now is the time to do that. Maybe I’ll take an improv class. Who knows.

Most of all, I just want to embrace the freedom of not being bound to a particular schedule, or structure. One of the biggest frustrations I have had over the past couple of years has been the feeling that it is all too easy to get stuck in routine, and I want to make sure that I resist that where possible over these months. That will of course be easier said than done, especially given that my wife will still be working, and I can’t just up and abandon her or the dog – but it is a principle that I am going to strive for.

A concept that I’ve been thinking about a fair bit recently is the idea of being intentional. Approaching situations deliberately, and not just letting them slip by without consideration. Questioning what you want from an interaction or day, and then acting with that in mind. Squeezing the lemon. Whatever I end up doing, I hope I’ll bring that mindset.

I’ll report back afterwards.

Books 2023

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One of my annual traditions is to compile a list of books that I have read throughout the year, excluding things like academic texts or instruction manuals and the like, because… well, I say so.

I track these using GoodReads – something that I was initially skeptical of – but which I have come to appreciate. It helps give me a gentle nudge to make sure that I am not slipping into the trap of thinking I am a big reader, when I’ve barely finished a book in months. It also highlights patterns across time, and helps me reflect a bit, which can be a good thing.

Last year (well, in 2022), I read 32 books. That was a marked improvement on the 13 I managed in 2021 – but not quite up to the 40 I got through in 2020. Interestingly enough, it was the same figure as 2019. Okay, I’ll stop now.

The total for 2023 is (drum roll, please)… 29. According to GoodReads, that comprised of 7,207 pages (down from 8,110 in 2022).

The full list is as follows:

  1. Controller – Jesse Kellerman (2018)
  2. The Way the World Ends – Jess Walter (2018)
  3. Boca Raton – Lauren Groff (2018)
  4. There’s No Place Like Home – Edan Lepucki (2018)
  5. Famous – Blake Crouch (2010)
  6. Retired Teenagers – John D. McGonagle (2022)
  7. Good Behavior – Blake Crouch (2013)
  8. Bedroom Beats and B-Sides: Instrumental Hip Hop & Electronic Music at the Turn of the Century – Lauren Fintoni (2020)
  9. The Creative Act – Rick Rubin (2023)
  10. Steal Like an Artist – Austin Kleon (2012)
  11. The War of Art – Steven Pressfield (2002)
  12. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin (2022)
  13. Elsewhere – Gabrielle Zevin (2016)
  14. Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo (2019)
  15. Hell Bent – Leigh Bardugo (2023)
  16. Shampoo Planet – Douglas Coupland (1992)
  17. Why I Killed My Best Friend – Amanda Michalopoulou (2003)
  18. The Art of Noticing – Rob Walker (2019)
  19. When Strangers Meet – Kio Stark (2016)
  20. The Culture Code – Daniel Coyle (2018)
  21. The Four Tendencies – Gretchen Rubin (2017)
  22. The Art of Witty Banter – Patrick King (2020)
  23. Creative Quest – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (2018)
  24. Dilla Time – Dan Charnas (2023)
  25. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys – J. Fadiman (2011)
  26. The Culture Playbook – Daniel Coyle (2022)
  27. Entangled Life – Merlin Sheldrake (2020)
  28. The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene (1998)
  29. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy – D. Michael Abrashoff (2002)

Looking back over it now, it’s interesting how many non-fiction books there are in this list. There’s a marked increase in the number of work-related entries compared to previous years, which hopefully isn’t a marker of my increasing age. It’s kind of ironic, because these are the types of entries that often take me much longer to get through. Perhaps in 2024 I will make more of a conscious effort to return to non-fiction.

The full list of books with my comments on each are after the jump.

Continue reading “Books 2023” →

Planting a Digital Garden

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One of the cool things about working at a place like Automattic is that you are part of this global network of inspiring people that often think deeply, creatively, and publicly about expression. Unfortunately, it is incredibly easy to become blind to the verdure, as a result of the daily obligations that our busy roles require.

Over the past couple of days I decided that the thicket of ‘low priority’ e-mail notifications I had allowed to build up was becoming unreasonable – even by my standards – and that I urgently needed to wrest some kind of control back. As I hacked through the undergrwoth, I came across some posts on my colleague Cheri’s blog talking about the idea of a ‘digital garden’ – which immediately sparked some kind of mental wildfire.

What is a digital garden?

So what the heck is a digital garden anyway? I am well aware that it may sound dangerously twee, but bear with me, as I think there’s something to it. There isn’t a specific definition that I am aware of, but if I had to boil my understanding of it down to a simple summary, it would be:

An open, personal collection of perpetually evolving notes and other media, which eschews attributes commonly associated with blogs or other platforms such as presentation via chronological order based on publication date.

That’s quite a mouthful, but effectively what this describes is an approach to a website that has an assortment of different snippets on various topics, loosely organised. Kind of like a personal Wikipedia, or a public notebook.

The concept isn’t really new, even if the nomenclature is – and it actually strongly reminds me of the way that personal websites used to be, before the web became more structured, and often siloed through the use of social media timelines. An important element of such a thing is the reliance on contextual hyperlinks, to tie pages together in a much more organic and idiosyncratic way, as opposed to rigid categorical linearity.

Reimagining blogs

One of the things that we know people struggle with when it comes to blogging is how to keep their site active. Commitments to a regular posting schedule quickly fall by the wayside in the face of internalised pressure to have something ‘worthwhile’ to say, particularly when the output has to be the finished article. Even with the best of intentions, disillusionment can often follow, with the process becoming more of a chore than a liberation.

Despite my love for – and involvement with – blogs, I too feel this sense of inadequacy keenly. That should be self-evident purely based on the date of the last post I made here, which was over 9 months ago. However, I also currently have 71 drafts in progress over on my main photo blog allmyfriendsarejpegs. While I am constantly writing and updating, the nature of these and my own perfectionism means that I am often stuck in a constant state of false progress, working on articles that will potentially never see the light of day.

Preservation, not Presentation

I find fascinated by the possible reconception of blogging that the idea of a digital garden brings. Removing the finality of publication, as well as the perceived need for time based updates means that you can focus purely on the act of writing and collation – as opposed to chasing what effectively amounts to a kind of news update or dated diary.

Over the past couple of years I have struggled with a declining interest in photography – something that used to be central to my identity. As part of an ongoing period of reflection on that, I’ve come to realise that part of the reason may come down to a gradual change in why I take pictures. I think that I have probably become so concerned with getting the right shots for an eventual, theoretical blog post, that I no longer enjoy or engage with the process itself. In other words: my preoccupation with the final presentation of the work has supplanted the reason for participating in its creation in the first place.

As I’ve begun to explore this revelation, I’ve consciously shifted my approach away from a concern with the eventual presentation of content, to one of preservation, where I take pictures or shoot video to capture moments purely for the sake of doing so itself – not thinking about what I will necessarily do with them later. That simple adjustment has completely transformed my way of thinking, and reinvigorated a lot of the passion that I once had in these kinds of expressive actions.

The notion of planting and growing a digital garden which is more concerned with the ongoing as opposed to the culmination strikes a chord with me partly because of this understanding, and is one that I find incredibly exciting.

The Plan

Going forward, I am going to experiment with the idea on this site. As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any specific themes or established methodologies for doing so with WordPress, but it seems like fertile ground on which to explore.

My plan is to:

  1. Move the date-specific blog portion of this site to its own dedicated area.
  2. Create pages for specific ideas, notes, and musings that come to mind, as and when they do.
  3. Replace the home page with a splash which will help people navigate this brave new world.

There are some challenges of course, including the fact that page updates won’t necessarily produce any kind of notification to readers, and it will be difficult for folks to track what is new. However, I am keen to embrace the chaos, and kind of like the idea of things sprouting up naturally in what may end up as a tangled, inter-connected suffusion. For that reason, I am not going to implement any specific automated systems of categorisation and sorting, as that would spoil some of the magic.

Irrespective of how this turns out, I am looking forward to breathing new life into this site, and perhaps feeling a bit less terrible about paying the annual domain renewal fees for something I rarely update.

Books 2022

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Since 2019, I have compiled an annual list of books that I have read throughout that year – excluding any academic or reference texts. Documenting things in this way has been both motivational and useful, but also humbling.

As somebody that has long considered myself an avid reader, it can be a bit of a shock to realise the number of books that you can or do actually ‘consume’ in reality. Reading is a commitment, and working your way through a book takes a significant amount of time and focus, both things which I feel I increasingly lack.

What I’ve discovered is that reading even what I would consider to be a relatively small number of books can be a challenge, particularly with the myriad of ways in which we can now fritter away our time, and I’ve come to appreciate the value of what we turn our attention towards. How many books can one person realistically enjoy over the course of a lifetime, and given that knowledge, how should we approach our selections? That perspective can be extrapolated and applied to other elements of our lives as well… and though I am not sure I want to meander too far down that particular path, reflecting upon what we wish to spend our limited time is perhaps something we should do more than we do.

This year, I was determined to read more than I did in 2021, where I completed what felt like an embarrassing total of just 13 books. 2022 started out slowly, but I found a rhythm while on holiday, sinking one after another. I must confess that a number of those at the end are short books, but they still count. If we get too far into the weeds of how long a book needs to be to be a book, then we’re probably over thinking things.

According to GoodReads, the total page count for 2022 was 8,110.

  1. Frank – Jon Ronson (2014)
  2. Dune Messiah (Dune #2) – Frank Herbert (1969)
  3. Blindness – Jose Saramango (1995)
  4. Seeing – Jose Saramango (2004)
  5. Binge: 60 stories to make your brain feel different – Douglas Coupland (2021)
  6. Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars – Nick Duerden (2022)
  7. The Every – Dave Eggers (2021)
  8. Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood (2003)
  9. The Year of the Flood – Margaret Atwood (2009)
  10. Sex with Lepers – Chris Dire (2022)
  11. Leading from Anywhere – David Burkus (2021)
  12. Meantime – Frankie Boyle (2022)
  13. The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds – John Higgs (2013)
  14. How to Write One Song – Jeff Tweedy (2020)
  15. Sid Meier’s Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games (2020)
  16. What I do – Jon Ronson (2007)
  17. The Ultimate Introduction to NLP – Richard Bandler (2013)
  18. Let’s Go So We Can Get Back – Jeff Tweedy (2018)
  19. Bodies: Life and Death in Music – Ian Winwood (2022)
  20. NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories – Jeff Alulis (2016)
  21. Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami (1987)
  22. Fake Law – the Secret Barrister (2020)
  23. Nothing But The Truth: A Memoir – The Secret Barrister (2022)
  24. Songs in the Key of Z – Irwin Chusid (2000)
  25. Upgrade – Blake Crouch (2022)
  26. Run – Blake Crouch (2011)
  27. Summer Frost – Blake Crouch (2019)
  28. You Have Arrived at Your Destination – Amor Towles (2019)
  29. The Last Conversation – Paul Tremblay (2019)
  30. Emergency Skin – NK Jemisin (2019)
  31. Randomize – Andy Weir (2019)
  32. Ark – Veronica Roth (2019)

The full list with commentary that I wrote immediately after completing each book can be found after the jump, but on reflection, some of my highlights were:

  • Blindness – Jose Saramango (1995) – A particularly dark tale centred around a pandemic of blindness which felt chillingly prescient, particularly as I read it while we were still enduring COVID-19 restrictions here at the time. It speaks of humanity and hopelessness in a way that I would recommend anybody read, but which you should probably approach with caution. It can be graphic.
  • Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami (1987) – I had tried to read Murakami books in the past and never quite managed to complete them. This particular novel came recommended by a colleague, and it found me at a particularly emotional time. Its themes spoke to me in a way that – while I’m not sure I would say that I enjoyed it – it definitely made me think, acting like a mirror to much of what I felt at the time.
  • Upgrade – Blake Crouch (2022) – Crouch is steadily becoming one of my favourite authors. His dystopian novels are compelling, and I find myself flying through the pages. This is his latest, and worth a read for anybody who is a fan of that genre.

For 2023 I’m aiming for 50 books. We’ll see if I manage to get that far… You can find me over on Goodreads, if that’s a thing you do.

Continue reading “Books 2022” →

Why are ScotRail Services to Glasgow’s South Side so bad? My FOIA Request.

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Ahh ScotRail. Scotland’s national train operator. Previously, I felt like it was unfairly maligned. It can’t be easy running a rail network after all. I like the train. It’s far more civilised than getting the bus with all of the ruffians. I’m middle class don’t you know. However, over the past few years, ScotRail’s services have been woefully, terribly bad. This has especially been the case for those of us ‘fortunate’ enough to live in what is apparently ‘one of the best places to live in Scotland‘, as the frequency of our train services has been reduced to just one an hour.

Now I could go on about all of the reasons that this is particularly galling, such as the sheer hypocrisy of hosting COP26 in Glasgow while local train services had been reduced to a smouldering heap – or the fact that towns outside of the city enjoy much more frequent services to the centre than us – but I won’t. Instead, I’ll give you a brief history of the situation, and then get on to the real meaty part of this blog: the Freedom of Information Act Request

COVID + Nationalisation

Yes, the C word. When we realised that apparently the COVID thing was actually a problem we would have to contend with seriously, ScotRail cut services drastically. This made sense. People couldn’t travel unless it was for essential purposes, so there was absolutely no need to continue as before. No problem.

However. When restrictions eased, and people were moving around as before (going to restaurants, pubs, and even clubs of all things), ScotRail didn’t seem to be in a hurry to help those folks get to where they needed to be (one would have thought more frequent services would have resulted in less crowding and so more possibility to socially distance, but still) – staggering the timetable revisions for months after each round of change. Most importantly for my purposes though – the provision of trains through my local stations never recovered.

Now we come onto the N word. Nationalisation. For in all of this we also have to understand that the rail service was being brought into public ownership as of the 1st of April 2022 – and no – that isn’t a joke (or at least, it wasn’t intended to be). One might suggest that perhaps the previous operator was more interested in squeezing all they could out of the network by using the pandemic as cover to reduce services prior to this taking place, but I am sure that wasn’t the case.

Back in August of 2021 I emailed my SNP MSP James Dornan to raise my concerns that any service restrictions that took place prior to nationalisation under the guise of being a direct result of the pandemic would carry over to the new ownership, and never be restored. I didn’t receive any response to that. Reassuring.

Fast forward to the 15th of July 2022, and ScotRail announce that timetables were returning to ‘normal’, after they had been further cut due to a union dispute. Huzzah! I thought. Finally, the Cathcart Circle will return to its former glory. Alas, it wasn’t to be the case.

Ah yes. What a shock. I pressed them on this, only to receive a rather condescending reply:

They didn’t reply to my query about the Freedom of Information Act request (naughty naughty), but since they are now nationalised, then they have an obligation to respond to them, so I hunted down the information (available here for those who want to do similar), and submitted a request.

Freedom of Information Act Request + Response

Just after midnight on the 20th of July, I submitted my FOIA request. This was the contents:

I am submitting a request for information relating to the provision of service to Pollokshaws East Train Station. 

Specifically I am seeking information on:

* The reasoning for the reduction of service to/from Pollokshaws East in 2020.

* The reasoning and for any subsequent decisions or discussions relating to service provision to Pollokshaws East, namely why the service has not been reinstated since that time.

* Information on timetable reviews relating to Pollokshaws East over the past two years, including any conclusions drawn on the basis of balancing ‘demand’ and ‘value for the taxpayer’. 

* Any data supporting those determinations.

This request is based on the following confirmation from ScotRail that there are no plans to reinstate this service – https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1549527532701159426 

I received a response on Wednesday the 10th of August. The full thing is available here as a PDF for those of you want to get all of the specifics, but I’m going to call out a few note-worthy pieces below.

The reasoning for the decision

The two main reasons for not restoring what ScotRail call the ‘South Electrics’ routes are listed as follows: Firstly, COVID meant that ScotRail were unable to train new drivers.

Secondly, well. Err, see if you can work out what this means.

If you grope around in amongst the cryptic language of ‘pre-pandemic transport mode share’, and travel further down the FOIA response, it seems like what they are really saying is that the routes are too expensive. Specifically, that the operating costs are circa ÂŁ26 million, whereas revenue from those routes is only circa ÂŁ10 million.

Now I’m no mathematician, but there’s a few weird numbers in there. For example, I’m not sure that the difference between 13.4 passengers and 16.2 passengers is big enough to justify cutting provision to a community in half. Although apparently that’s how ScotRail treat passengers in terms of raw numbers. I wish I knew what constituted the 0.2 passenger. I guess I have seen some folks on the line at night that weren’t all there, but still.

Secondly, it is a bit cheeky of ScotRail to say that each journey only brings in an average of ÂŁ1.31 per journey, without giving any kind of recognition that many people will buy a return ticket at ÂŁ2.60 for a single journey, because it is cheaper to do that than buy two singles. I am sure that isn’t relevant to these calculations. Not at all.

Public Transport is so good that we don’t need trains

Okay, so maybe they have a point. Maybe the service is too expensive to run. Maybe the people just don’t want to use the train. Maybe, just maybe, COVID actually did pose logistical challenges outside of asset stripping from previous operators, and that less utilised routes needed to be paused until they could be addressed. Hey, that all makes perfect sense. The reason I submitted the FOIA request was to get a better understanding of the rationale and logic behind the decision, rather than clap along jubilantly with the press releases suggesting that we are back to business as normal, when I still can’t get a bloody train into town more than once an hour.

The weirdest justification for the decision to leave those of us on the ‘South Electrics’ routes bereft of an adequate service though came in the next paragraph. It is so absurd that I’ve had to highlight it.

That’s right. Apparently the reason that public transport services in the South Side of Glasgow were not restored to their pre-pandemic levels was because the public transport services are just so damn good. People don’t need to get the train; they can get the bus instead! And what’s more, about 30-40% of them won’t even pay for the bus! Interestingly enough, there was no breakdown of the age of the users of the services on ScotRail versus the bus, but I am sure that’s not relevant.

ScotRail can’t spell the names of their own stations

By far the funniest part of this whole thing though is that ScotRail consistently spelled the names of Pollokshaws and Pollokshields incorrectly. I get it. We’ve all been confused about whether or not there’s a ‘c’ in there before, but come onnnnn. In response to a FOIA request, specifically about those stations… that you operate? Yeesh.

Weird.

Dear oh dear.

My thoughts

Look, I know that COVID has thrown up a huge number of challenges for all parts of society (as well as Brexit, but apparently that never gets mentioned). I am keenly aware of the problems that organisations face as a result. However, at a time where we are being told that improving public services is essential to reduce the number of car journeys being taken so that we can save the planet (this isn’t me as some kind of green activist speaking btw – it’s the rhetoric that we were faced with from the Scottish Government during the obscene spectacle of COP26) – then we have to actually improve those services – and the decisions around provision have to be as open and transparent as possible.

In their response to the Freedom of Information Act Request, ScotRail frequently mention their public consultations. However, they specifically note that they received only 393 responses from passengers.

The irony here is that not only did they not propose making any real changes to the provision, but also that of the 393 responses, 83% of them brought up the frequency of the trains – presumably not in a complimentary fashion. Thus lieth one of the main reasons that so few people actually respond to these things. Firstly, they are buried deep in corporate websites, laden with pages of text and overly grand, visionary language (‘Fit for the Future’? Are they having an actual laugh? A more accurate title would be: ‘Stemming the tide of shit’) – and secondly – it doesn’t appear that ScotRail will change their planned course of action, irrespective of what people say in response to a consultation.

Retaining a reduced timetable in major parts of the city for an elongated period based on ‘uncertainty over how demand will recover’ is really derisory.

Unfortunately, this was entirely predictable. The pandemic was used as cover for essential services to be reduced, and justifications made for that to be permanent after the fact. It’s pathetic.

—

Obiter

I’ve asked ScotRail a few follow up questions:

  1. When the timetable review is actually planned for. They told me December on Twitter. The FOIA response is much more vague.
  2. What on earth ‘most mature rail market’ and ‘our pre-pandemic transport mode share was greater than in other reasons’ means.
  3. What the ‘historical demand’ they speak about used to make the decision was.
  4. Finally, whether they realise the stations are not spelled PolloCkshields and PolloCkshaws.

I am not holding my breath for their response, but if they do reply, I’ll share anything interesting here. In the meantime, I’ve bought a bike.

Books 2021

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For the past few years I have posted with a list of the books I’ve read over the past twelve months, but this year I almost didn’t bother, because my total has been so pitiful. In stark contrast to 2020 (where I read a total of forty books), 2021 only saw me complete thirteen. Ouch. Anyway, in the interests of transparency, I wanted to share anyway, as there’s no point in only publishing when things are going well – and it’s probably worth reflecting on a bit deeper.

Why did I read less in 2021?

I suspect there’s a variety of reasons why I didn’t read quite as many books in 2021 as I have in some time. Ultimately what it probably boils down to though is that the pandemic changed a lot of things – more so by entering its second year than anything else. Things were constantly reopening and closing, and general stress levels were much higher than usual. I had far less time and patience to sit and read anything, never mind a lot of the kind of political, business, or legal books I would have before. Instead, I devoted a lot of time and creative energy into making music, as well as building up a very wittily named YouTube channel around that. In many ways that was my escape, and so everything else took a bit of a back seat.

I did try to find books that were relevant to my all consuming interest in music, and when I did (such as with ‘How Music Works’ by David Byrne, I tore through them like a fire. However, I was unable to source many which really hit home properly, and some of them were so unnecessarily long (like ‘Mars by 1980’), that it put me off reading for a good while afterwards.

Why does it matter anyway?

Who cares if I’ve read 13 books instead of 40 anyway? I’m not convinced that there is necessarily really anything inherently better about reading greater numbers of novels than say – creating something. The figure is subject to so many variables that it is fairly meaningless as a strict comparator. Perhaps pages read would be more accurate. There is probably an unhealthy obsession with stats and numbers generally, but then again… I do think that an annual review can help give the chance to look back, reflect, and identify patterns – whatever they may be… which I guess is what I’ve done here, so maybe the exercise has proved its usefulness, irrespective of the total.

Let’s see how 2022 goes.

  1. Show Your Work! – Austin Kleon (2014)
  2. Atomic Habits – James Clear (2018)
  3. Anything you want – Derek Sivers (2011)
  4. Mars by 1980: The Story of Electronic Music – David Stubbs (2018)
  5. Surrounded by Idiots – Thomas Erikson (2019)
  6. How Music Works – David Byrne (2012)
  7. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (1998)
  8. Get Shit Done: How To Stop F*cking Around And Make Things Happen – Mark Maven (2014)
  9. Them: Adventures with Extremists – Jon Ronson (2003)
  10. Lost at Sea – Jon Ronson (2012)
  11. The Elephant in the Room – Jon Ronson (2016)
  12. Commodore: A Company on the Edge – Brian Bagnall (2012)
  13. Dune – Frank Herbert (2021)

—

  1. Show Your Work! – Austin Kleon (2014). This is a quick, easy read which talks about the benefits of not being afraid to put your creative work out there. Don’t get stuck in the trap of waiting until something is perfect. I read this a few years ago and thought it was okay, but this time around it resonated much more strongly. I think Austin is onto something. Finished January 2021.
  2. Atomic Habits – James Clear (2018). A book which challenges you to shift perspective away from goals and towards gradual, incremental improvements in the form of habits. Full of useful and practical suggestions. I wrote about this at a bit more length here – https://iamsteve.in/2021/01/28/book-review-atomic-habits/ Finished January 2021.
  3. Anything you want – Derek Sivers (2011). An interesting short read talking about a novel approach to business, and wider life. Finished February 2021.
  4. Mars by 1980: The Story of Electronic Music – David Stubbs (2018). I picked this up as something to read while feeling musically inspired, but unfortunately didn’t enjoy it. While the book has some interesting stories, and the descriptions of the music it talks about are creative and original, it ultimately felt like it didn’t quite know what it was. In some ways it feels more like an academic textbook in how it approaches the history, as opposed to providing a narrative… but at the same time it lacks the demonstration of sources one would expect from that kind of text. I appreciate the knowledge and experience of the author, but ultimately I found this a struggle to read. If the book had spent more time telling the story of electronic music, and less meandering from one artist to another by way of seemingly random anecdotes, it would have been far more compelling. Finished February 2021.
  5. Surrounded by Idiots – Thomas Erikson (2019). I admit that I was suckered into this book by the title, and then I realised why. Probably because I’m a red, and most likely to think I am surrounded by idiots. I don’t really buy personality typing, as I think it’s a reductivist view of the world and the complexity of interpersonal relationships. I also think it’s a bit of a cheat to say that there are four main personality types, but that there can be mixes of them. I mean…. yeah. Despite that, I found this book to resonate more than others. I was surprised at just how much some of the descriptions sounded familiar. Even if personality typing is nonsense, it helped me remember and understand that other folks see the world differently, and it’s important to recognise that when dealing with others that you can’t understand. Finished May 27th 2021.
  6. How Music Works – David Byrne (2012). This is a rare book in that it is by a musician (David Byrne of the Talking Heads), and talks about many different areas of music and our relationship to it… from the history of music and general philosophy of sound to different approaches to music round the world, to specific industry financials. There isn’t really anything else that covers such a wide breadth of content relating to music in such an accessible way. David’s writing style is very interesting and easy to digest, and I enjoyed this book a lot. My only criticism is that perhaps it tried to take on a bit too many different areas, and it could feel a tad fragmented in places. I would read a full series of books on the included topics from the author. Finished July 30th.
  7. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (1998). I am a big dystopian fan, but only got around to reading this classic in 2021. It builds around the idea of enforced ‘happiness’ and social cohesion through a kind of genetic caste system. I enjoyed it, though wasn’t as gripped by the concept as I have been with other similar novels. Maybe I need to read it again. Finished August 2021.
  8. Get Shit Done: How To Stop F*cking Around And Make Things Happen – Mark Maven (2014) – This read like a LADS LADS LADS book of pumping yourself up. There were a few useful tips in there which could help you think about life differently, but that was about it. At one point the author says that using their system they’re now able to do what they want, when they want, in any way they want… yet then goes on to explain that the system prevents them from doing just that. It’s a bit of a strange way to approach things. Not my cup of tea. Finished August 2021.
  9. Them: Adventures with Extremists – Jon Ronson (2003). This is a collection of short ‘stories’ detailing experiences that Jon Ronson had with various different extremist groups of the time. It was interesting and fairly easy to read, thanks to Ronson’s individual style. From neo-nazis to Islamic fundamentalists, it was a book I found myself wanting to stay up late reading, which I haven’t found in a while. Finished August 2021.
  10. Lost at Sea – Jon Ronson (2012). I enjoyed the previous Jon Ronson books I’d read so much that I had to dig out some others. This is a collection of tales about strange and unusual situations and people, from the ICP and their bizarre conversion to Christianity to people who mysteriously disappear on cruise lines. As usual I enjoyed the writing, but I found myself wishing there was some kind of longer intro or connecting thread explicitly outlined. Finished August 2021.
  11. The Elephant in the Room – Jon Ronson (2016). This is less a book, and more of a long article. Ronson writes at the time where Trump is building up speed in advance of the American elections. The particular slant here is that years previous, Ronson spent time with Alex Jones, which gave him a potentially interesting perspective into things given Jones’ increased popularity and proximity to Trump. It ends with the prediction that Trump won’t get into office, as otherwise it would be terrible – and I’m glad I didn’t read this back in 2018. It was interesting to see an alternative view on events such as Eric Andre jumping on stage with Jones… but with that said, it felt incomplete – and I wish that there was more. Finished August 2021.
  12. Commodore: A Company on the Edge – Brian Bagnall (2012). This is a detailed, comprehensive history of Commodore’s first era, from the beginnings with MOS technology and the PET, up to just after the C64. As a big Commodore fan, I hadn’t heard the vast majority of this, and it was incredibly interesting. There’s lots of primary source material here, from interviews and quotes with folks who were part of things, and it forms the untold story of a company that essentially created mass micro-computing, but gets very little recognition for doing so. It is a bit repetitive in a couple of places, but that isn’t surprising given the length and in depth nature of it. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Finished November 2021.
  13. Dune – Frank Herbert (1965). I’ve never felt compelled to read a book after watching a movie, but once I saw Dune I sought out the original. I wasn’t disappointed – though I am glad I had seen the film first, as it helped expand on the world, rather than feeling like the world was constricted by the movie. They did a decent job of the film too I thought. I plan to read the rest, and I am curious to see how they evolve the world in the films. I definitely recommend it if you are into sci-fi and mythology. Finished December 2021.

Restoring Classic iPods, Part II. (plus scrobbling to Last.FM with LastPod!)

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Last year I finally pulled together a post for a project that I had begun years ago, but never written up: Restoring a 3rd Generation iPod Classic. In that, I outlined my various mis-adventures upgrading the battery, hard drive, replacing the clickwheel electronics, the case, and… well. Everything.

ipod 3rd gen restore

Seeing this, a friend shared an article with me about someone who had taken things a step further, and basically rebuilt his entire 4th Gen iPod to stream from Spotify. While looking into how they had managed it, I fell down the rabbit hole of what has apparently become a fairly active iPod modification/restoration community. There’s even someone called DankPods who has racked up 600k subscribers in only a year. Damn. Maybe I should have made more of an effort to document things back in 2016 when I started working on these old iPods. I could have found YouTube fame.

Nah, probably not.

Anyway, what I did find was that there were now a whole host of resources for modifying and restoring these old iPods which weren’t necessarily available, or as clear as they were when I first started looking into them – and it’s piqued my intrigue for how I could expand on, or revisit this project.

Scrobbling to Last.FM

It might sound ridiculous, but one of the things I really missed when using my beloved 3rd Gen iPod was the ability to log all of the music I listen to using Last.FM, as I use that data to help discover new artists, and a bunch of other things. There were some tools available, but none of them really worked… and come on, I even scrobble my LPs with Vinyl Scrobbler, so it seemed ridiculous that I couldn’t do that with the iPod.

As luck would have it, I came across a little Java application called LastPod which solves this problem. I’m not sure how I never found this before, but I thought I would share as it’s the only solution that I’ve found which does the job. Essentially, you listen to tracks on your iPod (making sure the date and time are set correctly), plug it in to your computer, open up LastPod, make sure it knows where your iPod database is (a quick config that persists after the first time), and then… you can scrobble your tracks! There are a couple of caveats, including the limitation of only being able to scrobble each song once (so it can’t track multiple listens), and that you need to synch your iPod with iTunes or whatever after you Scrobble to reset the counters… but! It works, and I am unreasonably happy about this.

Don’t judge.
Last.FM.

Flash Modification

Back when I was looking at options for increased storage in the iPod, there was talk of being able to use Compact Flash cards to store the songs, instead of the bulky hard drives they were designed to work with. However, this was reportedly flakey, and so it’s not a route I went down in the end. However… now, there are a bunch of different options for using the much cheaper and higher capacity SD/MicroSD cards in old iPods. As well as kind of cheap standard CF to IDE adaptors, there’s a brand called iFlash which makes specific adaptors to allow you to use up to 4 SD cards in one iPod. Wild!

USB Charging

As I mentioned in my last post, despite being arguably the most beautiful of all the iPods, the big issue with the 3rd Gen Classic is that it only charges over Firewire. This means that you need a specific cable and plug to charge the bloody thing, or a dock. These are bulky, getting harder to come buy, and increasingly pricey. If you’re travelling, that means no USB power bank to juice up the thing easily.

It appears that some enterprising folks have found a way to address this problem though, using a MICRO USB 1A Battery Charging Module TP4056. This is essentially just a small PCB which lets you charge up batteries over USB. In theory, if you have already modified your iPod to use a flash drive, then there is space inside the case to install the board, and you can then avoid the firewire problem completely.

This is probably the most tricky of all the modifications though. I’m not 100% on the best way to wire this together, and lithium ion batteries are a bit of a fire risk if you cock things up. You also need to find a place to put the USB port (or pull the power from the usual 40 pin connector), and that means making a new hole in the case. Definitely not for the faint hearted… or if you are crap at DIY like myself.

Rockbox

After reading my last post, someone helpfully left a comment pointing me towards the existence of Rockbox – a free, open source bit of software that replaces the OEM music management functions on a whole variety of different portable players, including the iPod.

This allows you to bypass iTunes completely, and just load music up in disk mode, which could be pretttty useful. In theory it could also make Last.FM scrobbling a bit easier, though now I’ve found LastPod I’m less concerned about that.

Customised Shells

Such is the growing popularity of restoring these classic devices that you can now pick up drop-in replacement shells to customise the look, with some really cool colour combinations available. Here’s a look at some options from Aliexpress.

This reminds me of what happened with Game Boy modifications. Early on it was pretty difficult and hacky to do… and then people started getting better at it, and putting out better tutorials and kits. Now, there are full shops dedicated to selling brand new parts with an almost mind boggling variety of customisation options.

The caveat here is that most of the shells are for the 4th Gen iPod and up. The plucky 3rd gen is still a bit of a weirdo, and so there aren’t really any drop-in options if you want what I maintain is the best iPod design ever.

Built in OSX Support

One thing that surprised me when I plugged my 3rd Gen iPod into my newest Mac (running Catalina) was that it appeared to be picked up and detected better than in previous OSX versions. It turns out that when Apple started phasing out iTunes, they actually integrated the iPod directly into MacOS, so you can access and synch it from Finder itself. The feature set is limited, but it’s pretty cool to see an ‘obsolete’ piece of hardware still being supported by a major developer. Respect where it’s due!

My Restoration Plans

So… now that the modding community has caught up, and there’s all these new options available, I feel like I’m going to have to at least attempt to experiment with a few of them. I’m a bit torn at the moment between further modifying my current 3rd gen, and leaving it be… getting a separate 4th or 5th gen iPod to work on. So here’s my thoughts/plans:

  1. FlashMod. If I restore any other iPods, I’ll definitely be using a FlashMod. There are cheap CF to IDE alternatives, but they can be a bit buggy, so I’ll need to decide whether to use them or just go straight for the iFlash devices which are the creme de la creme. In particular, I like the ability to use multiple SD cards internally.
  2. USB charging mod for 3rd gen. This out of all of the modifications is the one I would love to be able to implement, as it would free up my iPod from the shackles of Firewire. However, I don’t want to risk mucking up the case, and I suspect that I would never fully trust the safety of the Lithium battery with my modification. Probably not smart to take it on a plane and charge… so perhaps this will need to remain a pipe dream.
  3. USB charging alternative. I dug out a pile of dongles and various adaptors that I have (I knew keeping that box of random connectors was a good idea!!), and tried going from the Apple split Firewire/USB Y-cable through a Firewire converter, to Thunderbolt, to USB… plugging into my Mac. Miraculously, the iPod appeared to be charging (!). However… it wouldn’t initialise on OSX. I wouldn’t want to leave it like that, as the disk kept clicking to try spin up, but it does suggest that I could plug directly into a USB port and just draw power with the right adaptor. Potentially it might also work better with a flash mod. I’ve ordered some different adaptors to test out, and I’m hoping I can find a solution…
  4. Rockbox. I am really curious about Rockbox, and if I have trouble updating the iPod again in future with iTunes I’ll seriously consider it. However, part of the reason I like the 3rd gen iPod is for its UI, and I think that replacing the OS would kind of ruin that experience. There are apparently themes available to get you close to the original, but I’m not entirely sure how legit that would be. If I got a different gen iPod I would definitely try it out though.
  5. Customisation. This is where I could get in trouble, as I’d want ALL the colour combinations. If I’m not careful I could end up with 15 iPods.

Unsurprisingly the Classic iPods have been going up in price gradually as folks realise what you can do with them, so finding a bargain is getting tougher – again similar to Game Boys. Ultimately I suspect that if I do modify any other iPods I’ll look at something like the 5th Gen, as they can charge over USB. Currently though, the combined cost of the various parts would be around ÂŁ120 all in, and I’m not quite prepared to spend that on another iPod project just yet. Watch this space.

Book Review: Atomic Habits

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As a fellow productivity geek, my pal Pazy recommended I check out ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. You can read his write-up on his blog here. The book takes a look at different ways you can improve different elements of your life by shifting your perspective from solely looking at outcomes or goals, to change at a smaller scale. To do that, Clear provides a variety of practical tips that help you to adopt and cement new habits which over time lead to larger benefits.

Looking at tracking habits is something that I only really started thinking about in the past few months, after I began to use Notion, and started thinking about my repeating tasks as habits rather than to do list items. This turned out to be transformative, as there is something far more satisfying about maintaining a streak than there is checking off a task, only to immediately re-add it to your To Do list for the next day.

There were lots of compelling ideas in the book that merit further exploration, and I suspect I will have to go back over them a few times to make the most of it. A few in particular stuck out for me though:

Habit Stacking

One of the ideas that I liked in particular was the concept of ‘habit stacking’, which involves taking something that you do on a recurring basis, and connecting it to another habit (or series of habits) that you want to adopt. In other words, if you are struggling to remember to do a particular task regularly, tie that in with a specific recurring task that you know you’ll do whatever happens. For example: If you have a cup of coffee every day, but want to get better at listening to a podcast, conjoin the two. If you find that your desk is constantly getting cluttered, resolve to tidy up one piece every time you get up to go to the bathroom, or grab a drink.

Similarly, you can chain or cascade different habits together, so if you are chucking some bit of rubbish from your desk every time you get up, and are already in the kitchen, tie that action to another habit – like washing one plate or cup. This is something that we already do in many ways, such as brushing our teeth after we take a shower in the morning, so it’s a matter of adapting these chains to include the habits that we want to improve upon.

Gradual Improvement

The whole idea of habit stacking is rooted in the idea that by adopting habits which make changes – irrespective of how small they might be – that incrementally they lead to much larger change over time. Even just improving something by 1% each day will eventually lead to significant development. In some ways, the argument is that the act of repetition alone is more important than the quality of the action – at least in the start. Once a habit is formed, you can then increase or adapt the quality or intensity of the action. In other words – if you are trying to learn a new language, simply sticking with it and doing five minutes of practice a day over a long period of time will ultimately provide a greater basis than erratic periods of concentrated effort. This will sound familiar to anybody who has seen DuoLingo’s sales pitch.

This idea is something I’ve come across before – particularly in relation to learning guitar – where authors recommend starting out by just strumming the guitar for 30 seconds a day at first, then building that time up once the habit is formed.

As someone who goes through periods of fixation on particular past-times, such as becoming very intensely interested and inspired to make music, write, or take photographs, I find the idea of using habits to balance out those waves somewhat; and as a means to maintain some level of interest even through periods of relative lack of inspiration quite compelling. However, I do also think that on its own, dedicating very small amounts of time to a particular task will not – in the long term – lead to the kind of growth that I am interested in. For example, you could do 5 minutes of Japanese on DuoLingo for years and probably pick up a decent amount, but if you are serious about fluency, at some point you need to make sure you develop your habits. I need to reflect a bit more on how to do that in a sustainable way with multiple competing interests which could ostensibly take up a significant amount of time.

Improvement isn’t linear

Another thing that stuck out for me from the book was that improvement follows an exponential curve, rather than a linear one. By that, I mean that often it can seem like you are getting absolutely nowhere, until you reach a certain point – and then lots of things click into place at once. This is something that I have definitely experienced – both with playing guitar, and with learning another language, and I am sure lots of other people will have as well. The book’s contention is that we expect improvement to be gradual, obvious, consistent, and visible, but that that isn’t how it happens in reality. If we recognise and accept that, then it helps maintain momentum.

Summary

Because every blog needs a conclusion. If you want to take up something new, get better at tidying up, or just gain a new perspective on how we manage daily tasks, I’d say this is worth a read. If nothing else, gradual small bits of work feel like much less of an obstacle than letting things build up into one single large task – and the strategies here help with that.

You can buy a copy of the book here.

NB: If you click through on Amazon via the link above and purchase something, I may get a (miniscule) referral fee. Thanks in advance!

Books 2020

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Growing up, I loved to read, and would gladly spend hours demolishing stacks of books of all kinds from the library. As the years went by and the afflictions of adulthood responsibility mounted, I found that I was giving over less and less time to reading, and that twenty minutes before I fell asleep just wasn’t cutting it.

Last year I decided to make a concerted effort to dedicate a good chunk of time to recapture some of what I used to love, and in 2019 managed to get through a respectable total of 23 books. I wasn’t sure if I would top that this year. However, after discovering that my colleague Andrew Spittle had read 72 (!), I doubled down, even upgrading my old Kindle to a fancy new one with a warm backlight that has been much easier on my ageing eyeballs.

Below is a list of all the books that I’ve finished in the year gone by. Not included are those that I started but discarded through lack of interest, or any kind of academic-only reading, as that falls into something of a different category. The last time I did this, some folks asked for more specifics on what books I liked best, so for this year I’ve added some notes at the end, which might be rough as I jotted them down as I went. Click through for those.

I was aiming to read 50 books this year, but only managed to complete 40 in the end. While that is 8 more than last year (you can find the 2019 list here), I’m pretty sure I could have managed 50 if I had pushed for it. That said, I did take up learning Japanese, and re-discovered both music and film photography in force during lockdown, which probably accounts for the gradual slowdown over the year. If you’re on Goodreads, you’ll find me as clickysteve.

  1. Severance – Ling Ma (2018)
  2. Golden State – Ben H. Winters (2019)
  3. The Paper Menagerie – Ken Liu (2016)
  4. Welcome to the Heady Heights – David F. Ross (2019)
  5. Skin – Liam Brown (2019)
  6. OddJobs – Heide Goody (2016)
  7. Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries – Tim Anderson (2010)
  8. For Fukui’s Sake: Two Years in Rural Japan – Sam Baldwin (2011)
  9. Range: The Key to Success, Performance and Education – David Epstein (2019)
  10. A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy – Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum (2019)
  11. Photographing People – A Guide for Shy Photographers – Kevin Landwer-Johan (2020)
  12. Dark Matter – Blake Crouch (2016)
  13. Recursion – Blake Crouch (2019)
  14. Mohammed Maguire – Colin Bateman (2002)
  15. The Wall – John Lanchester (2019)
  16. The Photographer’s Playbook – J. Fulford (2014)
  17. PRACTICE LESS, PLAY MORE: The simple, three-step system to play songs you love on your guitar from day 1 –  Steve Mastroianni (2019)
  18. Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers – Dennis DeSantis (2015)
  19. Recording Unhinged – Sylvia Massy (2016)
  20. Unlocking Japanese – Cure Dolly (2016)
  21. Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel (2014)
  22. Revenge – Yoko Ogawa (2013)
  23. One Plus One Equals Three: A Masterclass in Creative Thinking – D Trott (2015)
  24. Three Japanese Short Stories (Penguin Modern) – K. Uno et al (2018)
  25. Striptease – Carl Hiaasen (1993)
  26. The Guest List – Lucy Foley (2020)
  27. The Parade – Dave Eggers (2019)
  28. Not the end of the World – Christopher Brookmyre (1998)
  29. Hardcore Self Help: Fk Anxiety – Robert Duff (2014)**
  30. Photographers on Photography: How the Masters See, Think & Shoot – Gerry Carroll (2018)
  31. Double Whammy – Carl Hiaasen (2005)
  32. The Alcohol Experiment: A 30-Day, Alcohol-Free Challenge to Interrupt Your Habits and Help You Take Control – Annie Grace (2018)
  33. Native Tongue – Carl Hiaasen (2005)
  34. In Your Defence – Sarah Langford (2020)
  35. Exit – Laura Waddell (2020)
  36. The Courage to be Disliked – Ichiro Kishimi (2019)
  37. Cult of the Dead Cow – Joseph Menn (2019)
  38. How to Ikigai – Tim Tamashiro (2019)
  39. Lockdown – Peter May (2020)
  40. Love Means Love: Same-sex Relationships and the Bible – David Runcorn (2020)
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