Technical

The year of everything grinding suddenly to a halt has ended, and the great mystery of 2021 is very gradually starting to find its stride and have excitement appear on the horizon. There has been a marked shift in tone in how the ongoing situations are progressing, with, I daresay, a small amount of optimism. It’s an unrealistic expectation that anything might happen soon. I’m actually quite nervous about what’s going to happen later in the year. Can I go back to being as busy as I was before? Can I deal with being in regular social contact again? As much as working from home has been difficult, it does give me a huge level of flexibility I simply wouldn’t have in the office. I don’t notice now when I’m pacing around my desk, or working on my laptop lying on the floor, and even when I’ve been in the office on my own lately I’ve ended up barely working at my own desk.

So in life, so on here. I genuinely forgot that this existed for a while. Lack of inspiration turned to distraction to indifference. I’ve considered rebooting it as something more work related, then remembered nobody would read it. I also considered writing one of my lengthier essays on the subject of Scottish Independence, how clearly holding referendums to end conversations about divisive topics never ends well and how it makes me really uncomfortable that somehow holding a national vote on something is now being framed as undemocratic. I’m not going to though, because that basically covers it. The world does not need more petty tribalism, and I am quite bad for being petty and tribalistic when I can’t comprehend another side of an argument. Nobody is perfect: politicians, journalists, celebrities, co-workers, nor me.

It’s a whole different ballgame when the other side’s position just seems morally reprehensible. I still don’t like the language around it, but the whole debate about whether trans rights are human rights (they are) is getting ugly. Every day this is in the news represented as a debate, or in several recent incidents with the BBC only represented from the against perspective, is another day that people are suffering and others are being unnecessarily radicalised against. I care about the diversity of opinions, but this isn’t opinion, it’s a biological and sociological fact that empirically has no effect on the day to day lives of most people in this country. I try to help in my small way, but this is not the platform.

Instead, here’s a crazy Dutch-language song about sitting on a train; something I’ve not done since my trip to Germany in September. It’s somehow my second favourite Dutch-language song about trains. This says more about me than anything else.

What the heck is Hummus?
Is it a smoothie?
Or is it bean paste with a dream?

‘13 micro-songs to boost your mood’ by Daniel Thrasher

Asking the right question is somehow the key to life. When someone finds out what the right question is, please do let me know…

Stay safe, stay sane, and be the best that you can be