Read Why we Die by Mick Herron
Author Archives: john
Read: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo ★★★★☆ 📚
I exist as either a small canid with thick fur, pointed ears, and neat to black feet, or a young woman. Neither are safe forms in a world run by men
Had me believing in a main character that was a fox god. Told from 2 engaging points of view, the fox & an aging detective in 1908 Manchuria. In part mystery story but a lot more fun.
I had a walk around Glen Douglas hills yesterday. Quite warm for the time of year, mostly clouds, with some bright shafts of sunlight. The ground soaking all the wee burns flowing. I don’t think I ever didn’t hear it running.
Red deer stags roaring most of the day. I saw a few small groups here and there. A small tussle between two younger stags on the slopes of Beinn Bhreac. Another chains a rival off between Ben Reoch & Tullich hill.
Not much other wildlife, a stonechat or two, a couple of meadow pipets, the odd raven and a large group of crows. Lots of wee craneflies. Flowers mostly gone, the mood milkwort, bog heather and scabious.
The clouds and sunlight changed constantly. The colours in the early morning especially lovely.
The bottom of Tullich hill was rough going. New trees planted and fenced. Grass long and hides the holes the soil for the tree planting was lifted for, invisible ditches.
Didn’t see anyone all day.
Visit to the V&A Dundee. Amazing building. These photos taken on Monday Evening. Went to the Kimono exhibition the next day.
We got great weather yesterday at the Japanese Garden, Cowden. A few more photos Japanese Garden, Cowden | Flickr.
Large Dragonfly at the Japanese Garden. I wasnot sure what it was so uploaded to iNaturalist: Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) from Clackmannanshire, UK on 14 October, 2024 at 01:41 PM by John Johnston · iNaturalist. Surly the last I see this year?
Read Orbital By Samantha Harvey ★★★★☆ 📚
Six astronauts and cosmonauts watch the earth roll 16 times in 24 hours. Plotless, thoughts ,observations & meditations.
yet hard to believe in anything but that blackness, which is alive, and breathing and beckoning. If Nell had ever been afraid of nothingness, once she was in it she was consoled by it inexplicably and yearned
Bookmarked 📻 Turning radio into podcasts by .
As more and more BBC programmes vanish from open podcast platforms and into Sounds, the app feels increasingly like an attempt to build a content silo that is utterly unbecoming of a national broadcaster.
I listen to a few BBC radio programs in Castro while commuting. Quite a few radio programmes are only available in the Sounds app. I don’t like switching apps and do like the ability to queue things in Castro. I am wondering if this might help along with Castro’s side-loading feature which uses iCloud?
Read: Overland by Yasmin Cordery Khan ★★★★☆ 📚
Unlikely, slightly unlikeable & possibly unreliable narrator Joyce tags along with two posh boys on the hippy trail. It feels like disaster is on the way.
Likes Pseudo code and kitchen-table conversations by .
I read a lot of negative stuff about chatGPT. Dave Winer seems upbeat. Even though he mentions that a lot of programmers will lose work, he is positive about chatGPT. There are a couple of laugh out loud moments and lots of ideas to chew on, even if you are not a programmer. An enjoyable listen.