jonathanis.online

Increasingly disappointed, rarely surprised

Weeknotes 2022.19: Back to Normality(?)

I’ve been ‘out out’ four times this week. Campaigning event and then dinner with some friends on Wednesday. A colleague’s leaving drinks on Friday. A walk around Richmond Park yesterday. I forgot how exhausting social interaction was and I genuinely don’t know how I used to do

A view to the west from Richmond Park of trees, grass, buildings. An air traffic control tower is on the horizon.

Richmond Park photodump

My only previous visit to Richmond Park was that Christmas Eve (2019) I decided to cycle to my parents' place to avoid crossing a picket line on the trains. Rushing through at the golden hour in winter, in head-to-toe lycra and trying to avoid getting wiped out by oncoming cars,

An arched aisle in Winchester Cathedral made of light-coloured stone, with a flag hanging partway along.

Impressions of Winchester

We took advantage of the Rail Sale (not to be confused with RailSail) and visited Winchester on Monday, a city I'd only ever visited once before. Here's a photo dump from the day—cathedrals, churches, and courtyards. Enjoy. Beams from St. Lawrence's Church.Floor detailing from Winchester CathedralWinchester City Mill

Sigrid, a white cat, rides away from camera in the basket of a Lime bike, being ridden by Travis, who wears a coat and a cap.

Weeknotes 2022.18: A Rest

I’ve had the week off work, and have mostly failed to clear my to-do list, because of various dramas, but oh well. The election happened. I’m going to reserve judgment about what happened in other boroughs, but suffice it to say that there have been a fair few

Weeknotes 2022.17: Escaping to the provinces

To start a much-needed bank holiday weekend, we visited my parents in the arse-end of Surrey. The weather was nice enough to enjoy the garden, we went to a restaurant that was startlingly good, and were pleasantly surprised to see a number of new independent shops springing up. Said town’

From above, red tulips and white albums in a vase on a dinner table, with coasters scattered around it.

Weeknotes 2022.16: Life treads upon life

An early Bulb Watch for this week: against all my expectations, the tulips have flowered (along with a few alliums, enough for us to fill a vase for a dinner party.) Rather entertainingly, though, they’ve actually ejected the cyclamen that I’d put in the pot so it wasn’

An apple tree in startling pink blossom with a clear blue sky, with a bird and two jets flying overhead.

Weeknotes 2022.15: Spring will spring, no matter what

The world feels as if it is spinning apart, and it’s not doing wonders for my mental state. It is at least a comfort to know that spring is here. The world keeps turning and the trees keep blooming. I’ve visited the bluebells at Wanstead Park twice in

Panoramic view of a deciduous woodland with a carpet of bluebells below it on a cool day.

Bluebells in Wanstead Park

I cycled over to Wanstead Park yesterday to record a cycle route for our Newham Cyclists YouTube channel to the bluebells at Chalet Wood, and it was so stunning that I went over again today with my partner (before it inevitably gets trampled by people lying down amongst them to

Weeknotes 2022.14: four seasons in a week

The weather has run the gamut. We’ve had rain. We’ve had thunder. We’ve had sun. The world seems like it may be spinning apart, but spring is here… at least for now. Halo Infinite remains delightful. Some of the dialogue towards the end is genuinely heartbreaking. Maybe

A silhouetted projection of a pale sphere against a shaded pink and purple background representing sunrise/sunset.

Weeknotes 2022.13: As Steve Jobs Intended

Having not got my Xbox out of its box for the past 5+ years (at least since I moved away from Forest Gate, possibly longer) I discovered that Xbox Cloud gaming exists, and works pretty well. As a result, I’ve been able to play Halo on my iMac with

Weeknotes 2022.12: The existential horror of not being listened to

Just a short one today at the end of an emotionally exhausting week. I grow tired of catastrophising, saying something is a bad idea/going to cause problems, being ignored, and then being right. I spent five hours of my own time (after having worked 7 hours of that day

The band CHVRCHES, with frontwoman Lauren covered in fake blood, performs on a turquoise-lit stage with Robert Smith

Weeknotes 2022.11: Watch as they pull me down

It was only a cold I picked up last week, thankfully. I’d forgotten how annoying colds were. I was off sick from work on Monday, felt mostly fine on Wednesday, but by Friday was waking up with a sore throat—although maybe that was me sticking a lateral flow

A bright yellow flower with thin petals and black-and-yellow seed heads.

Weeknotes 2022.10: outside and in

I’ve made a point of taking a walk over my lunch break. Stepping away from the computer and getting out of the house during daylight hours has improved my mood a fair bit, and allowed me to pay more attention to things around me. I saw some voluptuous-looking muscari

An ornate blue and gold staircase in a stone building with a glass jar chandelier, with candle-style lights inside.

Paris, post-pandemic

It has been two years since we've been outside the UK, and we have had a delightful 4 nights in Paris by Eurostar (our first time back there since 2019.) We had mostly good (if a little chilly) weather, and walked until our ankles hurt. Please enjoy these photos. Coffee

A bar graph of daily walking distance showing a peak on Weds to Sat (19.1km on Fri 4 Mar.)

Weeknotes 2022.9: Stepping back from Hell, just for now

We’ve just come back from our first post-pandemic foreign trip, 4 nights in Paris. It was chilly, the air quality wasn’t great, one of us got a cold, the hotel breakfast was a bit lacking, and we walked far enough to make our ankles ache (19.1km on

The Olympic Rings standing in the distance behind some barren tree branches.

Wandering around the Olympic Park on a sunny Saturday

We went for a nice walk in the sun yesterday. Spring is on its way, and that led to some nice photo opportunities around the Olympic Park and Hackney Marshes. We walked through the London Blossom Garden, and witnessed some blossom there for the first time since its opening (as

An extreme close-up on a purple crocus with orange-brown stamen in a rough terracotta pot.

Weeknotes 2022.8: The £114 pizza

I accidentally paid £114 for a pizza on Friday. The cashier’s finger slipped when she was entering £14.93 on the terminal, I activated Apple Pay and paid before checking the amount on the screen, and that was that. It almost feels too easy. Thankfully the money was refunded

Weeknotes 2022.7: in Eunice’s wake

I’ve caught up on Star Trek: Discovery. I’ve spoken about the pacing, and this doesn’t seem to have improved a great deal. In the most recent episode, there’s an urgent decision that must be made. It should feel like watching Kenneth Branagh’s Iago swoop in

The sun sets as we look down from a hill over a green area and a large dual carriageway.

Canterbury impressions

For the first time in a long while, we took a day trip to somewhere outside London this week. We're fortunate to live a short walk from Stratford International station, making the train to Canterbury super convenient (if still painfully expensive—£71.00 for the two of us sans Railcard,

Weeknotes 2022.6: Catching up and posting up

I’ve started catching up on Star Trek: Discovery, a show with which I have a peculiar relationship. After the complete farce of the series being pulled from Netflix days before launch, I’m enjoying catching up on season 4. There’s something that feels a little off, though. All

The numbers 6 to 9 with some segments lit up in red, others lit up in green.

Weeknotes 2022.5: missing pieces

I’ve been in the process of editing a video with a running count of something in the corner. For this, I wanted to use a seven-segment display style typeface. Unfortunately, I’m very particular about what I like in seven-segment displays. For instance: do you draw a 6 with

Weeknotes 2022.4

Our spring bulbs continue to rise, and the first crocuses I planted are getting ready to bloom. They appear to have some kind of insect’s eggs on them, and I’m not sure if I want to do anything about them. I guess we can’t see what they

Weeknotes 2022.3

I went for my first swim of 2022, and managed to get a puncture on the way there. True, my fault for not having a puncture repair kit, tyre levers, pump etc. to hand. But I did feel annoyed that there was nowhere to even pump the tyres at 8pm

A neon sign on a tiled wall reads "Will you stand Bánh Mì?"

Weeknotes 2022.2

Somehow—I’m not sure how—I have managed to avoid getting COVID. I did get worried after a coughing bout on Friday (when air pollution in London was appalling) but my PCR came back negative. I’ve reduced the amount of time my computer(s) allow me to use

Weeknotes 2022.1

The amaryllis started to fall over. The first stem (let’s call it Stem A) to rise bloomed very happily, but in an effort to make the second bloom (Stem B) as successful as the first, I was probably a bit zealous in watering and feeding it. (Floppiness is supposedly