Omar

LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching - YouTube

I liked this comment about this documentary about birdwatching because it is about birdwatching but also made me think about lots of other things too.

“I want my brother to watch this because this film is about brothers; I want people who play outside to watch this because this is what it’s like to play outside; I want folks from all over the world to watch this because I feel like there is so much great American culture in here; I want artists, adventurers, and dreamers to watch this because this is all of those things. This is remarkable, and it really has made a great impact on me. Thank you for making this and sharing it with us.”

→ 12:18 PM, Oct 13

This makes changing teaching while teaching extremely difficult. The lesson already absorbs the teacher: change diverts their attention, causing mistakes elsewhere. Teachers are swept along by existing habits, even when they mean to change. Lessons rarely allow space and time to teach effectively and to change teaching at the same time.

I like to joke, without students I’d have the time to plan such amazing learning, to maintain a tidy desk and classroom, to further my own education. The potential!

Effective training simplifies reality – Improving Teaching

→ 6:56 PM, Oct 11

The Cutoff follows the runners at the back of the pack during Cocodona 250. While most race documentaries focus on the winners, this film tells a different story. A film for the rest of us.

I enjoyed this.

YouTube

→ 6:16 PM, Oct 11

This week
- 3 gym sessions
- 2 climbing sessions - I’ve been writing a few things down that maybe I’ll share later about some of the things I’ve been thinking about when climbing recently. I think I’ve nearly attempted all the new routes.
- 1 Long Term Service award - This is my 15th year within the foundation. Again, something I should write about - even if I don’t feel comfortable sharing it.
- This post called Small Moves That Help When Things Get Challenging is good, particularly number 2 about trying to balance the good and the bad and how it makes you feel. Though checking a message mid-lesson made me chuckle, something I’m guilty of.
- Sort of linking was this video that popped about Fatherhood about how he had a life and how having a child completely messed that up. Yup. This video and the conversation I had with a colleague is why I’m getting up at 5 tomorrow to go to the gym. You can’t have it - I think about this poem a lot.
- My weight continues to be about the same but I’m definitely leaner! Getting better at not needing to eat my feelings and eat sweet things.
- We, finally, finished Ted Lasso and while I completely agree with lot of the comments here on Fanfare, I still loved it so much.
- Maybe now we can finish Lanterns, Sugar and Shrinking.
- New Scrubs is fine.
- Slow Horses is… Fine. I don’t know, I’m not loving it, I think. I should go back and read one of the books.
- Orange Shoes
→ 4:45 PM, Oct 11

Also from Kottke, Things That Are Good to Do — Quarter Mile

→ 10:43 AM, Oct 10

The ability to pause or take a break before reacting isn’t just good parenting advice. It’s something all great leaders practice. They don’t fly off the handle. They pause. They reflect. They choose their response.

You Are Just Tired - The Daily Dad

→ 10:39 AM, Oct 10

118 Things to Do Instead of Doomscrolling | Reviews by Wirecutter

from Kottke

→ 10:35 AM, Oct 10

The annoying thing about climbing is that Touch ID doesn’t work for a couple of days after I’ve been.

→ 8:08 PM, Oct 2

A Little More Heart - Lynsey White

How easy it is to move through a busy day thinking about what needs doing, where we need to be next and what hasn’t been finished yet. But these moments matter too. The tiny moments where someone needs you to stop, listen and be there. Just to be present.

I try to think about this, to not like the wave of all that I need to do rise up and over my head. I feel it when my patience is tested, that I’m worried that not everything will be done. But what is it that’s important?

→ 12:42 PM, Sep 29

Recently
- CamelPhat & Kölsch - Colossus
- Still umming and ahhing about a new keyboard AND a Magic Trackpad? I bought a monitor but not using the trackpad to control my computer, a mouse doesn’t cut it.
- And a charger for my Airpods and iPhone - Do I need Magsafe? Would a cheap Chinese one suffice?
- Pierce Brown - Golden Son again
- Because I’m taking a break from Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff and it’s 787 pages. (See also - cutting up books)
- 4 day week, 3 day week, 4 day week (1 inset). Maybe just combine those, yeah?
- Lanterns is interesting but because I’m watching it with L, we have to find time together.
- Finally, getting over being sick. Probably should have taken time off but with my co-teacher also sick, it was easier to go in…
- BUT Excited to get back to exercising.
- But reports still need doing
- This video about GLP-1s and why people take them and that that’s ok.
→ 10:58 AM, Sep 27

My daughter’s alarm when off at 5:50am on. Sunday. She didn’t stir but I couldn’t get back to sleep. Kids.

→ 7:18 AM, Sep 20

Dj Gummy Bear - You make me feel loved

A friend sent me this laid back track. Love it.

Baby, you make me feel loved.

→ 10:04 PM, Sep 19

A couple of photos from a trip downtown today. Some computer faffing, fried noodles, coffee, more coffee, a walk, some sights. A nice day.

They don’t need perfection. They don’t need some grand gesture. They need effort. They need attention. They need to know that the family you say matters most to you actually gets the best of you, too. They just want you to try.

Daily Dad

→ 10:01 PM, Sep 19

Safety first.

→ 11:47 AM, Sep 19

New Slow Horses! 📺

→ 7:22 PM, Sep 16

Left my computer at home. Second time this term. Makes me realise how much I “sit” at it. Just wish there was a middle ground

→ 11:23 AM, Sep 16

When Upward Feedback Becomes Futile - Lynsey White

People do not simply speak to leaders, they calibrate around them. They edit their thinking before it is fully formed. They remove uncertainty, soften edges, and present only what feels safe enough to survive the interaction. Over time, you stop receiving the rough draft of reality. You receive a carefully edited version of what people believe you are willing to hear.

Feels obvious really. Definitely something people talk about when talking about leaders.

And though I’m not a leader, I am a parent and a teacher and it does make me think about my own children and the children I work with.

→ 11:09 AM, Sep 16

KFC flavoured Oreos. Weirder than the Oreo burger than I had recently. The filling definitely tastes a little like chicken but also a bit like a ginger biscuits. The biscuits taste overpowered it unfortunately. Kids liked them.

→ 8:23 PM, Sep 13

Breakfast noodles.

→ 4:19 PM, Sep 13

Head in a book.

→ 1:42 PM, Sep 13

Coffee, homework, eggy bread, Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago, The National - High Violet, sorting the washing, washing up, more coffee, Halo - Combat Evolved on the PS5 (still annoyed coop requires two Playstation accounts and two Microsoft accounts).

→ 8:32 AM, Sep 12

Who we are

I’ve been consciously trying to write more and was getting in the habit recently writing a page a day in my notebook but as with all things it kind of fell by the wayside. But when I did do it, I think, maybe that I definitely felt better for it. So, I am starting again and trying to put some ink down on the page the last few days.

I was aware today as well that I want to not get caught up in always feeling like there’s a thousand things to do and that if I don’t do them right now then catastrophe is inevitable. Especially in my job as a classroom teacher, there’s always that feeling of there being things I could be doing, in addition to the things I should be doing. That these joint pressures mean that I never stop. And that this is not necessarily for the best. That it would be better to talk to people, or to spend some time writing instead of being busy. As always, some things are easier said than done.

→ 8:40 PM, Sep 8

Exercising scratching the itch.

I like doing CrossFit as a means to being fit. Just this week I sat on the Assault Bike for 45 minutes, did 45 strict pull ups alongside some skipping and box jumps and did some heavy squat cleans. I like the variety and believe it’s important to growing old healthily.
But… in some ways it doesn’t scratch the itch. It’s just going to the gym really. Which is why I’m happy to that I’ve been bouldering regularly recently. This definitely scratches the itch. I like the challenge of it, the high of completing a route and it’s exercising still even if it doesn’t feel like it.

→ 1:46 PM, Sep 6

I think I give up. Trying to buy Minecraft for my daughter’s MacBook but my card keeps getting declined. Struggling to understand the alternatives honestly. :(

→ 12:56 PM, Sep 4