That's Gneiss! #53 ~ Year two begins...
Hello and welcome to year two of That’s Gneiss! Thank you for being here. For the new folks (and a refresher for those of you that have been around longer) - the purpose of this newsletter is for you to have a respite from the day-to-day online crud from the news and social media. Each Sunday I share a little bit about what I’ve been up to during the week, and links to interesting things I’ve found. There may be art, science, books, music, and maybe something a bit weird. The newsletter will arrive in your inbox at a seemingly random time each Sunday. Just hit reply to answer the weekly question or say hello - I love hearing from you too!
Speaking of social media, I decided to take a break from Facebook and Twitter. The hysteria of the run-up to the election and the really awful algorithms were doing my head in. I deleted the apps from my phone and signed out on the computer on the Thursday evening, and I must say I’m not missing it at all. I do miss many of the people, but fighting through the crap to see anything good was getting tiresome. I’ve been keeping myself plenty busy with other things like reading and later today I’m going to sit down for a good session of postcard writing (if you’d like one send me a message with your address). I’m still uploading photos to my Instagram, and I’ve revived my languishing Flickr account. This week Flickr announced some changes to the way the free and Pro accounts work which has a lot of people up in arms. I’ve been on Flickr since 2005 and have almost 50,000 photos there! I’ve maintained my Pro account so I suppose I’d bloody well make use of it! I do miss the fun community that was going there in the early years and I know it won’t ever be the same. I frequently go back to find old photos, and occasionally I get asked permission for use of a photo. Just recently I sold the use of a photo of some mushrooms, and it’s going to be on the cover of a book! The money I got pays for several years worth of the Pro account - it’s worth it to me.
Here’s one of my older photos on Flickr (taken in 2004)… what a smile.
We have been without heat since last Monday. The heater FINALLY crapped out, but we’ve had to wait until tomorrow for the repair people to come. Fortunately the weather has been mild the last few days, and the space heater has kept us warm enough I suppose. Other than the warm temperatures (60 degrees!), the weather has been typical for this time of year - rainy and windy. No rain today though - enjoy these photos from my walk with the dog this morning!
Time to get back to it! Until next week…
And don’t forget to vote!
Tidbits
Is the English language in decline - or is this author being overly-pedantic? (You may opinionate differentially)
Convert an address to latitude and longitude - or vice versa!
Recently eaten: one of my favorites, Lancashire Hotpot. One of the best ways to eat lamb!
Making: plans to head to Yakima next weekend!
Reading: I am racing through Witchmark, and enjoying it very much. In the car I’m listening to The Witch Elm, a new stand-alone novel by Tana French. It’s good, but I’m finding the protagonist to be rather unlikeable. I don’t think I’m supposed to like him. French is very good at writing characters with unpleasant qualities. I’ve only got one more of her books left to listen to, and I’m sure I’ll do that before the end of the year!
Videos of the Week
We are excited for our friends Algiers, who’s music is being used in the new season of True Detective - you can hear it in the trailer:
Here’s the entire song for you. So much going on in this video.
Question of the Week
Just hit reply to send your answer, and I’ll share it next week. Always anonymous!
The holidays are imminent - do you have any special traditions at your house?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week I asked you about what you’d like to accomplish during the last two months of the year.
My goal for November is do some fall cleaning and making some sense of the basement and the garage. I like the idea of being stuck indoors for November but keeping active and working inside, making things better, and then spending December in a state of hygge on the sofa!
That one's easy: to cut a hole into the side of my house so I can vent my kiln. Related: https://xkcd.com/905/
To survive with my sanity intact! This time of year is always a surge in the field of Education. I feel like I'm on a treadmill that is going a tad too fast and if I trip up, I'll get sent backward with great force.
That aside, I'd like to complete my current sewing challenge, constructing a pair of pants! And, if I can squeeze it in during my Winter break, I'd like to sew a coat. Reading, reading, reading, is always up there on the list of things too.
Cheers to another year of encouraging young minds and staying creative!
I want to get some cleaning and purging done around the house - so much can go to the thrift store! I also really need to get new glasses.
Current Temperature: 58 F (14 C)
Current Humidity: 80%
Wind Gust: 18.3 mph (that’s strangely specific)
Precipitation: 0.20 in
Number of Subscribers: 87 (invite your friends!)