At work, I have spent time trying to get on top of duplicate records. This has included diving deeper into SQL to come up with a clearer solution for identifying issues. At the same time, I have found myself revisiting old solutions and finding new more efficient means of achieving them, like I did with an attendance check I had originally created with Google Sheets. I fear though that I am still slave to âbusynessâ, even as the place I work tries to implement and improve its agile practices:
Busy is not your job. Busy doesnât get you what you seek. Busy isnât the point. Value creation is.
You only get today once. Your team does too. How will you spend it?
Source: Business/busyness by Seth Godin
On the home front, We got out and about this month, including going to Woodend, playing games at the library. I also spent time with my grandfather going through things after consolidating his life into one room. It was a reminder of the important of lifelong decluttering â Swedish Death Cleaning â and digital spring cleaning.
On the digital, I have been tinkering with Readwiseâs Reader app after Pocket announced it is closing down, as well as Micro.Blogâs Epilogue app for recording my books.
Our youngest daughter went on her first school camp, while the camp planned for our eldest was cancelled. Whether it be COVID or time-in-lieu, I feel that camps are a missed opportunity.
Jogging was put on pause. Something happened with my leg. Last time I pushed through it only for it to get much worse. I have however instead appreciated walking and returned to noticing different things, such as the different houses in Keilor or exploring Little Lonsdale St.
Here is a list of books that I read this month:
Unsettled by Kate Grenville â A memoir tracing Grenvilleâs family history, while also reflecting on her own experience of growing up and understanding of the land.Nine Inch Nailsâ Pretty Hate Machine (33 1/3) by Daphne Carr â A book balancing between context to the album, as well as various reflections on the impact and legacy of the album.Oh Miriam! by Mirian Margolyes â Something of a re-read of Margolyesâ first memoir, This Much is True, where she elaborates on particular stories started or provides a different perspective on others.Pandemic!: Covid-19 Shakes the World By Slavoj Ĺ˝iĹžek â A reflection on the COVID-19 written early on in the pandemic, wondering about the new possibilities in the process.Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the Worldâs Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham â a history of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that combines interviews with eyewitnesses and various documents from the disaster.Machines Like Us by Ian McEwan â An exploration of what it actually means to be human through an examination of machines.Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams â A sadly humorous book that pulled back the curtain on the Facebook façade.An Immense World by Ed Yong â A dive into the world of animal senses and their associated unwelt.Our Shadows by Gail Jones â A multi-generational family saga that explores grief, loss, memory, and the impact of the past.
â King Solomonâs Mine by H. Rider Haggard â A lost world novel into the unexplored Africa in search of a missing traveler and hidden treasures.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce â A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel that documents development of Stephen Dedalus.The Hitler Myth by Ian Kershaw â A map of the myth of Hitler and charismatic leadership separate to the historical person.Dubliners by James Joyce â A collection of fifteen vignettes exploring moments in peopleâs lives.In support of Bandcamp Friday and revolt against streaming, I purchased the following (digital) albums:
The Future Sound Of Nostalgia by The DC3Surface Paradise by ROOT!Root Supposed He Was Out Of The Question by ROOT!May Contain Traces Of Nut by The DC3Vicuna Coat by Vicuna CoatLive May â24 by Mentat (see video here)Live June â24 by MentatLive July â24 by Mentat (see video here)Beginnings (Live) by Mentat (see video here)With regards to my writing, I wrote the following long pieces:
REVIEW: Unsettled (Kate Grenville)REVIEW: Careless People (Sarah Wynn-Williams)REVIEW: An Immense World (Ed Yong)Podcasts that stood out this month:
Take 5: Antony Greenâs song preferences (mp3) â A different insight into Antony Green beyond the election.Late Night Live â Separate stories podcast: Late Night Live farewells Laura Tingle (mp3) â Celebration of Laura Tingleâs life covering politics and how she got to where she didThe Minefield: Australian voters have spoken â do we know what they said? (mp3)The Minefield: Is it only âjoyâ when itâs shared? (mp3)Darknet Diaries: 158: MalwareTech (mp3) â A discussion with Marcus Hutchins about his life in engineering and hackingStrong Songs: âTotal Eclipse of the Heartâ by Jim Steinman and Bonnie Tyler (mp3) â A song about vampires?Song Exploder: Tears for Fears â Everybody Wants to Rule the World (mp3) â An intriguing insight into the incidental choices.Tape Notes: TN:156 Air (mp3) â Breakdown of Airâs classic home recording Moon SafariAll Songs Considered: 10 years later, Sufjan Stevens offers a startling reevaluation of âCarrie & Lowellâ (mp3) â Mourning, being present and truth as vacancy.The Audio Long Read: âI am not who you think I amâ: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son (mp3) â Fascinating insight to life of a spyThe Daily: âModern Loveâ: Why Boys and Men Are Floundering, According to Therapist Terry Real (mp3) â Key idea, relational joyBig Ideas: From vulture bone flutes to âorganised soundââ Andrew Fordâs short history of music (mp3) â Interesting discussion after reading Michel Faberâs Listen.The Gray Area with Sean Illing: Machiavelli on how democracies die (mp3) â On how we only see half the story when it comes to Machiavelli.The post đ May 2025 first appeared on Read Write Collect.