My last blog was 30^th June, the day my daughter was born. Since then, my life has been full of cute baby noises, squidgy baby squirms and Moro reflex, and a whole litany of firsts – first nappy change at home, first bottle feed, first bath at home (in the kitchen sink), first trip out in the pram, first sleep all the way through the night. Nope, that last one was a lie!

While I have plunged head-first into exploring <0.5% abv “spacer beers”, I haven't spent as much time in the territory between them and the low 3% realm of Milds, Light Ales, Ordinary Bitters and Berliner Weisses. Wikipedia tells me that 0.5-2.8% beers are “Small” or “Table” beers. The excellent beer historian Ron Pattinson reveals in Beer Advocate and in his Shut Up About Barclay Perkins blog that these were in fact two different tax categories in 18th Century Britain. The terms are starting to pop up again, used a little interchangeably by modern craft brewers but if you see them on a beer give it a try!

I hardly ever drink it these days but tmo's recent posts^[1] about swapping to instant reminded me of when I used to, early on in my coffee journey. The peculiar pleasure of opening a new jar of instant. Twist the lid and beneath is a golden foil. Crack! A short, sharp blow pierces the foil and out wafts that heavenly smell. Breathe in, breathe deeply – don't let that first coffee scent escape unloved and unnoticed! The world pauses for a moment in silent appreciation. OK, that's enough – make the coffee now!

I read a blog post elsewhere on Write.as mentioning podcasts the other day and realised I had got out of the habit of listening to them. I started while I lived in the US. My commute to work was one and a quarter hours each way, a mix of walking, train (the BART – Bay Area Rapid Transit) and shuttle bus. This left me plenty of time to delve headlong into an immersive world of podcasts spanning serious to comedy, daily to weekly to bingeing on serials. It was a great way to transition to and from the working day.

All kinds of animals have one. Mine has been kicking-in in stages, with pulses of activity and sense of urgency. Instead of hunting for the best twigs to build the nest it's been purchases from IKEA, M&S, Amazon. I've been doing my version of clearing out the den – while we can't enlarge or dig a new chamber (not sure the landlord would approve of me taking the nesting analogy that far), we have moved around the living room, bedroom and kitchen.

Back in “My Linux journey” blogpost, I mentioned I'd bought a dedicated Linux machine to have fun on – the Star Labs Star Lite Mk II “labtop” is a bit of a curiosity but for a £350 deal seemed like a no-brainer. 11.6” screen but with a glass, premium feel. Small, sleek form factor but solid and heavier than expected! Low powered CPU to fit but 8GB RAM. These sort of modern netbooks usually pack a small amount of flash memory but this has a comparatively huge 240GB SSD, speedy enough but not as quick as top-end devices.

Not listened to this CD in years but sometimes an album just feels right. “Come away with me” on in the background, a glass of whisky near to hand (Lossit, a most welcome gift from a friend!), and typing away a few thoughts in Typora, the stresses of the day leaving as the last remnants of daylight fade to darkness.

Climate Emergency. Black Lives Matter. Brexit (yes, it's STILL happening!). We seem to be at a juncture of history where multiple inflection points are converging, spanning local to global issues, sometimes spreading the world like the COVID-19 pandemic societies are currently struggling with. Individuals and communities are declaring that enough is enough! on a wide range of issues. There is a sense that by pushing the right levers now, a new, more just, more equitable, more sustainable world might arise as we emerge from lock-down. Or we might miss the chance altogether.

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile and today seemed like the right time. Cutting through the noise of the world, which can sometimes seem overwhelming, to the heart of what matters to me now. Check out https://nownownow.com for more on the concept and a whole range of examples. It might work for you, it might not! It does for me – well for now anyway!