Strange Times

I worked my first night shift in a couple of months last night, and consequently, when I woke up mid-afternoon after six hours of sleep I was tired and disorientated, and I had a dull migraine that was almost certainly caused by the spring sunshine attempting to burn it’s way through my bedroom’s blackout blinds.

A couple of paracetamol later and I’m sitting in front of my computer, finishing off my third cup of coffee whilst contemplating ordering myself a pink mohair cardigan in the mid-season sale. Keeping in mind that I actually bought a pair of flared jeans last week, these are strange times fashion-wise for an old man like me.

Anyway, the fashion strangeness continues:

Korea Herald » Dress like a poet, express inner identity and stay on trend
“A quiet, introspective mood is reshaping fashion. Dubbed “poetcore,” the trend channels the romantic sensibility of writers into understated silhouettes… extending literary influence beyond bookshelves and into wardrobes.“

Yes, ‘poetcore’ is apparently a thing.

And this:

FEMA Official Claims He Sometimes Spontaneously Teleports, Including Once Directly to a Waffle House 50 Miles Away
“I ended up at a Waffle House, like, 50 miles away from where I was.”

Strange times indeed.

Journeyman

I took this photo on the train into work this morning as I thought that the sunrise looked particularly spectacular.

Unfortunately, this is my last early morning shift for a while, and consequently, it’ll be a a couple of weeks before I get to see another sunrise (or a sunset for that matter) again.

Len Deighton is Dead

According to the BBC, British spy novelist Len Deighton has died. He was 97 years old.

Perhaps his most famous work, 1962's The Ipcress File was turned into a Bafta-winning film starring Michael Caine,

The story involved Cold War brainwashing and the development and testing of atomic weapons. Unlike James Bond, however, Deighton's secret agents were ordinary working-class people, often frustrated by the incompetence of their own side.

I particularly liked this quote of his:

“The best thing about writing books is being at a party and telling some pretty girl you write books. The worst thing about writing books is sitting at a typewriter and actually writing the book.”

Is the Herman Miller Embody Chair Worth It?

I’ve been wanting to replace my cheap and uncomfortable eight year-old IKEA computer chair for a while now, and did have it in mind to pick up a discounted or even a second-hand Herman Miller Aeron office chair in the Black Friday sales last year.

But instead of an Aeron I’m now thinking to go all in with the upgrade and treat myself to a super expensive HM Embody gaming chair instead. However, even if I could pick one up in the sales and as good as ithey are at supporting your back and your body, I’m wondering if the Embody is too much chair for me?

I realise that I’m not going to be able to answer that question until I actually get to sit in one for real, so I’m planning on stopping by the MillerKnowll flagship store to try one out for myself before I even start to think about spending the money and ordering one online.

Still, no matter how I try and justify it by telling myself it’ll be worth it given the amount of time I spend in front of my computer each day, £1715 is almost certainly too much money for a gaming chair, no?

Obligatory Food Photo

I don’t usually post pictures of my meals on social media, but here’s the obligatory photo of the bowl of ramen that I ate in Ippudo on Saturday afternoon:

Ippudo is a Japanese chain ramen restaurant. They have multiple branches located in various parts of central London, and if I feel like eating ramen when I’m in town I usually go to the restaurant in Central St. Giles near to Tottenham Court Road Tube station.

The ramen was a bit pricey but was tasty and filling.

Despatches: Thu 12.3.26

For the last seven days I’ve been on early shifts, which, for me, means having to wake up somewhere between 3:30am and 4am each morning. Due to a severe lack of sleep it’s been a pretty exhausting week, but now that I’ve got a few days off I’m going to attempt clear at least some of the sleep debt I’ve accrued by sleeping in as late as possible tomorrow morning. Very late indeed.

As I type this, it’s blowing a gale and bucketing it down with rain here in south west London, but, in typically British fashion the forecast for tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend doesn’t look too bad. So, if the weather holds up I just might pop into town on Saturday as there’s a few things I’d like to pick up – one of which is Yena’s new album and another is a pair of Levis flared jeans. No, really! They’re back in fashion, allegedly.

As for the rest of my three-day weekend off, I’m gonna try and catch up on some reading and take things easy in preparation for another bunch of early shifts, which start on Monday.

I just hope I’ll be able to get more sleep next week than I managed during the week just gone.

Liminal Spaces and Dead Malls

Although I couldn’t exactly tell you why, I’m absolutely fascinated with liminal spaces. So I was very happy to learn earlier this week that the final chapter of Dreamcore, which is my favourite liminal space video game by far, is now in development.

It goes without saying that I’m super excited about playing this ‘Dead Mall” level even though I’ll feel just a little bit sad that there’ll be no more new chapters of this incredible game to look forward to.

Welcome

Hi, Barry here. Welcome to the latest iteration of my personal website and blog where I will be writing about myself, my daily life and anything else that interests me.

I’ll be posting updates here as and when I feel like it, which means that on occasion there might be multiple posts in a single day and other times there may not be any new content for days or even weeks at a time.

Either way, it feels good to have a blog again.

So, let’s begin then, shall we?