This is going to be short and sweet. I’m writing this poolside and I want to get back in. But I still wanted to share a weekly round up, much to your delight I’m sure. I am scheduling this from my phone however and it’s not going all that well. Apologising in advance for the fact it says ‘a prompt arrival’ twice. I’ve tried to delete it, I can’t. It is what it is and I’ll edit it when I’m home next week. Ciao for now.
I just finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and I was pretty underwhelmed. It started out pretty strong, with an incredible personal comeback story after a sports injury James had in his youth. But something was missing. It kind of followed a ‘you can have anything if you try hard enough!’ rhetoric. I don’t think there was real acknowledgement of how much personal circumstance and privilege still unavoidably plays a role in creating successful opportunities, no matter how focused you are *cough nepo babies cough*. I couldn’t fully grasp what the novel and innovative message of Atomic Habits was actually meant to be. It’s a shame, I hoping for more.
I want to go somewhere new for dinner. I feel like I haven’t eaten somewhere I’ve been excited by in a while. What’s happening around town? BAO is opening a new restaurant called Mary which is fun. Maybe they’ll give me a discount? They’ve got a Horlicks malted ice cream bao for dessert which sounds divine. Yeah okay, it’s on the list.
Oh how I have missed the gorgeous cheese and ham toasties from 7/11 in Thailand. Sitting fresh in their little packets in the fridge and toasted fresh just for you! Who’s genius idea was it to put a sandwich toaster behind the till? How much joy simplicity can bring. All for under £1 as well. Keep em coming.
The Idol is Sam Levinson’s latest stunt currently airing on HBO. I’ve only seen episode two but I can tell you it will be the only episode I see. General reception has been pretty poor and the show has a megre 26% rating on rotten tomatoes. His drole obsession with young women constantly being topless is tiring. But he somehow manages to stoop lower and glorify torture porn. Nice one, Sam.
I listened to an episode of Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast this week, the one with Shania Twain. When asked about her resilience and getting through hard times Shania said “Don’t look back and don’t look down”. Onwards, upwards, forwards and ahead, people.
