One of my first Japanese beers that isn’t a Sapporo Super Dry.

Been listening to Mariah Carey’s Someone’s Ugly Daughter album (not officially released, but 3 seconds of internet search and you can easily download it). Completely of it’s time. Would easily sit next to a Hole album or 4 Non Blondes. Love it.

Every single country in blue should hang their heads in shame.

Inktober 02.

Inktober 01

I’ve been collecting watches for 7 years now (I buy one watch a year). My latest purchase fits my current lifestyle a lot. It’s a JPM Seiko with a solar movement, aligned to the atomic clock. Don’t really have the energy (inclination) to constantly tweak the time or date. This thing just stays correct on its own. My favourite is if I’ve put it away for a weekend (because it’s a more dressy watch) it all magically realigns itself, date and all.

Feeling a little restless at the moment. Lots going on in life.

The internet and social media is hopefully meant to enrich you in ways you might have been completely oblivious to. @manton’s sent me down the Richard Williams rabbit hole. Interestingly his book The Animator’s Survival Kit is available on the Internet Archive. Not sure if that’s a legit thing.

America At Its Breaking Point. I love Trevor Noah, but much more from this podcast than when he was on The Daily Show. The episode with Ezra Klein was fascinating and the perfect thing for a Sunday afternoon.

One of my favourite international beers has a new ‘livery’.

It’s not every day you see a bat flying around in the park. I’ve drawn these things countless time in my childhood but never seen one before - at least not that I can remember. Previously I would have been in awe, now I’m thinking get away from me diseased thing :).

Finances are a dirty business to get into. I will make sure I give the boys sound financial advice that they understand and can implement easily because it’s a massive mental overhead when you make the wrong decision.

The trains exits the tunnel and rides the bridge crossing the Don Valley. Out in the distance, like a painting I see rows of trees, layered behind each other slowly fading away, thick from the morning rain. It feels like autumn.

Is America About to Win the Nuclear Fusion Race? Loved this video because anytime I hear about new ways to generate electricity I am reminded that it truly is our best way out of our climate change hole.

I’m putting this in here to remind Yasmine that the summer (or hot and sunny weather) does extends well into September. It’s not guaranteed but it happens. Still in shorts and t-shirts.

New book. New pocket notebook. Been a while since I used a Moleskine. Love the fact I customise the cover to whatever I want.

New park in Toronto. Chilling with other parents (Carl, Amar and Christine) in glorious sunshine - not many more of these days left before Winter starts to kick in.

Finally capturing some movement in the lines.

Signboard is a kanban app that writes Markdown files by Colin Devroe. I can confirm that this thing loads up quickly. For a good while I did use the Obsidian plugin (and loved it). Maybe I’m just not into this style of productivity any more?

Charlie Kirk in His Own Words.

I have been slowly building my drawing muscle again. Drawing a character from every angle for a few months until I can draw them with my eyes closed.

Shutter Declutter. I need to save some space on my machine, clearly 250GB is no longer what it used to be (which is nuts to me). Photos are an easy target and this looks like a small strokes fell big oaks kinda app.

I’ve not been keeping track (15 years ago I linked to Dominic ’s Biolab Disaster) but a few years ago it seems that some of the original source code for WipeOut was leaked and he’s rewritten it into a web based game….and it is faithful to the original. Easily one of my favourite racing games ever.

reMarkable Paper Pro Move. Great overview/infomercial for the new remarkable tablet. But at $800 (Canadian) for the exact same setup as the video, that is a very pricey device. You can shave a little with a simpler stylus, but a case is essential.

This is a rationalisation about people and their personalities. It is about how their personalities are tied to seasons of their lives. First, an explanation of Seasons as it relates to a person.

When a person is born they are in the Spring of their lives. They have youthful energy. Everything that surrounds them is burns brightly. They have an explosive energy that is infectious. They grow quickly and without much care of consequences.

As they enter the Summer of their lives they have grown to full bloom. They will never be as strong physically. They are at their peak beauty.

As they enter into the Autumn of their lives there is a clear understanding of who they are as a person. While they still have energy, it is not the same vibrant energy that they had perviously. Typically there is a bright and sadly final flash of energy demonstrating everything that they can be .

Finally when they enter the Winter of their lives, things begin to slow down. The world and their horizon become infinitely shorter. They must make way for the next generation after them.

Oftentimes however, more often than you think, people tend to skip or stay in one of their seasons indefinitely. This tends to explain why some people are forever youthful even in their old age and why some kids might seem to be wiser beyond their years.

The Unlikely Way. Absolutely love this ad. Love it so much. It’s got that same quirky energy of a 90s Levis add that we would honestly wait to watch again and again.

Spain’s PM Sanchez announces sanctions to pressure Israel to end war in Gaza. Super proud of the Spanish government for making a clear stance against the Israeli criminals. We need as many governments to join.

Finally got around to watching Superman with the family. Great 70s vibe to it. Great portrait of Israel as the evil government (along with IDF style troopers). Krypto was amazing. Jimmy Olsen was a standout character.

An E-bike for the Mind. I really loved Makoism’s summary (where I got the original link from):

AI should be really viewed as ‘Augmented Intelligence’ instead of artificial intelligence.

I haven’t taken a tumble in a really long time. Decades. But tripped while rushing to get the kids back to school today over some pavement works, scraped myself in four different locations. I’m getting too old for this shit.

I don’t tend to link back to my own stuff, but this post from 20 years ago made a real impression. I don’t know who Housy is. I don’t have any recollection of this trip in any way whatsoever.

The magic of having your own site which all your thoughts across a lifetime is unearthing gems like this. Best thing I’ve read today.

Big cooking morning! Bolognaise. Pizza dough. Coconut chickpea curry. And made a quick salad for myself for lunch. Family meals done for 6 days in one morning. I want to make it into a habit to cook for the week on a Sunday and get it all ready to go whenever.

Damn, you loose it so quickly. 1 month of doing my 5 Tibetans every day allowed me to get to 21 reps easy. 10 days on holiday and I’m struggling to get to 17 reps.

Last day of August. Just getting the house in order before the start of the new school year for the kids. Bit nervous for them as it’s a new school. Hopefully it will be a good one for them.

🐝 Yellowjacket season in Ontario is soo annoying. These things are out in force and really aggressive. Sitting outside is a roulette for getting stung

Spent the last few days unsubscribing from a million newsletters (mostly from companies I bought something of once). Now my inbox is much quieter.

While I do lament the end of summer, we’re coming up to my absolute favourite month of the year, September. Where it’s not too hot and not too cold, it’s the goldilocks of weather and the start of a ‘new school year’ brings opportunity in a way the fabricated New Year’s eve does not.

Just got my first Starbucks in Canada (ran out of coffee beans). Totally not worth $8 for a cappuccino. I won’t be partaking ever again

Trying something a little different.

My main site is all about my life and what I am up to. A cross between a journal and a record.

I do like the act of posting about cool stuff and my general interests in the world. A distillation I guess of my tastes in website form.

Enter Collections (working title for now). Plan is simple. A sentence (or two), a link and an image. Will be messing around with the design at some point (if it sticks).

Last pool day of the summer.

This year, it’s all been about the yellow. Started off with my Kobo cover, but extended to my iPhone cover and the site.

Last real sunny day of our holiday. It’s been a little hit and miss these last 10 days which has been pretty annoying. When it’s been sunny it’s been amazing. Tomorrow bring another rainy day and then annoyingly 1 week of bright sunshine, after we’ve bloody left. I guess you can’t control the weather (ever). If we come back here it will be earlier in the season.

In line for at least one hour to get some Shake Shack. It’s been 7 years since I’ve had one which is the only reason I’m doing this to myself - and because Ryan is super excited as well.

Summer has become my opportunity to reflect on the year that passed and where I am in life in general. Looking back, 2024 was a tough year on many different levels. This continued into early 2025 and I’m only recently coming out of this fog and am in a better place in many different areas which is encouraging.

1. Health

This is one of those areas that is incredibly significant for my overall wellbeing and life in general. 1 month ago, a switch turned off in my head. It wasn’t subtle it was instant and my hope is that I will be able to maintain it indefinitely.

Since then I have taken control of what I consume and when. In this limited time period I have been able to loose 5kg, which is the easy ones I feel. Having said that I am not in a rush. My body has been dealing with having an overabundance of calories for seemingly at least a couple of decades.

Truth is I have never had the body that I always wished for. I am essentially looking for healthy insides and outsides to make doing things with my family a pleasant affair, both now and into the future.

I have been doing my Five Tibetans and have enjoyed the process immensely. It’s a small lift and honestly I can tell that it is better than not doing anything.

I read my post from 5 years ago and it’s a little disheartening because I know what happened next after I had then lost 10kg. I completely fell off my No-S diet because of work stress and never came back until 1 month ago.

2. Finances

Last year I took complete control of 90% of my finances. It was one of the most liberating actions I’ve taken. My only regret is not acting earlier and it’s something I certainly had some control over, but I decided to outsource. A lesson for sure, and one I can certainly pass over to my kids. Read A Simple Guide to Wealth and don’t rely on a financial advisor from Dubai.

I can take control of a further 5% (the rest is in pension schemes I have no real control over), which I absolutely plan on doing even though I am going to be loosing some further money.

3. Creativity

This took a beating. Apart from writing to my website and the occasional small piece of art, this year was one of my lowest creative output years in over a decade. I fell off the wagon and it took me reading We Need Your Creativity (at least the start) to kick start this again.

I’m in a good place on all thing Stet. I’m 6 posts into the new season which I hope I will start publishing at the start of 2026. More importantly however I have the right setup that I can see myself continuing through this process as long as it remains fun for me.

4. Drawing

One area that I do want to add to my general activities is drawing. I have the projects, the art tutors (aka books) that can make me a better artist. I have all the gear. I just need to dedicate 10-15min a day to build that muscle.

5. Work

This has gotten much better. More satisfying as I have learnt to let go of certain things and embrace others. I feel like I have a lot more to give but the environment around me is one that allows me to give more.

One area that has not been in a good place has been my emails, notes and timeblock planning. They have been in complete chaos this last year and I want to get back to a place where I control these again.

6. Family & Friendships

This dial has been on life support for the last few years. It has slowly increased a little bit in the last year but I can certainly do more in this area. Hopefully seeing my family this December.

7. Hobbies

My hobbies can be listed as follows:

1. Coffee
2. Beer
3. Stationary
4. Technology
5. Watches
6. Reading
7. Journalling
8. Walking

These are all being fed a different times and in different capacities. I’m happy with how these are generally going and I look to add a couple of experiences or pieces to my collection.

Morning light.

🏖️ Tomorrow marks the last dog day of summer. Love the term but never realised which days it signified.

Canadian geese just be chillin’.

We had a visitor this evening on our patch of grass.

It’s becoming a family tradition. Have a meal at the Beach Club.

Mine!

Seeing CDs being sold just takes me back to when music was a physical object that somehow enhanced the listening experience.

I’ve been on a little upgrade kick these last few months. Back in Dubai I bought this tiny Mi speaker that was better than it had any right to be for the price. It last a decent amount of time (and still works). Upgraded to a Roam 2 speaker and this thing honestly is tiny but fills the room with crisp tunes.

The last embers of summer. In Southern Ontario the seasons are totally distinct. The summer will be winding down next week where it is no longer this blistering heat. Still outside weather for sure but the heat and bite is gone by Sunday.

I don’t usually complain about the weather but I felt it was much shorter this year than I would have wanted in general.

Just finished watching Kpop Demon Hunters and actually enjoyed it…even though it was a musical (I notoriously dislike musicals).

Field Notes 50 Anniversary Desk Ledger. This was really a fantastic piece of design. I loved it and would have kept it in its plastic if I had this pdf to see all the goodies inside.

The kids finally saw a real live Capybara. They’ve been talking about these things all winter (and singing about them).

Sadly we had to take Cookie back. Our eldest developed an allergy to her (puffy eyes, sneezing and a cough). As much as it broke our hearts giving her back it was the only call. Great dog, with an awesome temperament and just pleasant to be around.

I really enjoy what I do, but there can be too much of a good thing. Summer holiday begins today. Just turn off and recharge.

First pic.

Important day for our family. We got the latest member, a three month old Havanese doggy. She’s an incredibly chill dog. Incredibly well natured. Expect a ton of photos.

I couldn’t bring myself to read Tigana in printed form. It’s set in Times New Roman, and the ink was bleeding into the page just annoyed me. So instead got myself a Kindle version. Quick search and I found that it was also available on the Kobo (for the same reduced price). Might look into getting a bigger Kobo because you can tell the difference between two.