Week Note(26 May - 1 June)
A short one this week. It started with the village fete. In true British style the weather decided after the sunniest spring on record to provide some rain and cloud. True to form, we powered through the rain and made the best of it. British resilience in action.
It was also half term, which meant pressing pause on work and spending time with family. Lots of indoor activities due to the weather but it was lovely to have a change of scene and reconnect, especially with my daughter.
One of the things I’m valuing about freelance life is the ability to strike a balance. I carved out a few quiet pockets of time to keep a project ticking over while we were away but mostly I switched off. It felt good.
Not much to report this week but things are brewing. I’ll be sharing some news later this week.
Watching / Listening / Reading
Cultural consumption was definitely down this week as I was away.
📺 Sirens on Netflix. Great cast, definitely a feel of The Perfect Couple about it, both in style aesthetic and filming approach. Yet again another Netflix limited series which has a really unsatisfying ending. It’s unclear whether it’s because they’re trying to leave things open enough for Season 2 or whether they can’t commit to a strong ending but it’s definitely a pattern on Netflix limited series.
📺 Gossip Girl on Netflix. Missed it first time round so playing catch up and pretending I’m still a teenager.
🎧 Legacy podcast. Really enjoyed this and listened to the series on Picasso (never knew he was such a troubled character. Interesting observation that it’s not about cancel culture and judging by today’s standards but about re-framing the context in which his paintings are viewed and ensuring a rounded assessment is made of them, including the way he treated the subjects of his work.
I’ve also listened to Alan Turing, Cleopatra and now onto Winston Churchill.
🎧 Music for Writing, study, flow and focus. I find listening to music helps me focus and achieve more so loving this recommendation from fellow substacker The Portfolio Careerist.
Back again next week with a little more to report!