atomicules

Mostly walking the dogs

The Snow Did Not Look Like A Killing Blanket

"And, today, the snow did not look like a killing blanket but like a tender coverlet designed to keep the cold away from germinating seeds."

— Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Sarah Walters says in the forward “it’s also the most engaging and accessible of her fictions” and I was going to say “but I can’t remember The Magic Toyshop being this bonkers”, and yet it turns out I did say just that.

Why A Woman Should Want To Murder Her Husband

"There are many reasons, most of them good ones, why a woman should want to murder her husband."

— Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

I mean, in the grand scheme of things, she’s not wrong.

From Water That Holds Within It The Entire Sky

"Outside the window, there slides past that unimaginable and deserted vastness where night is coming on, the sun declining in ghastly blood-streaked splendour like a public execution across, it would seem, half a continent, where live only beads and shooting stars and the wolves who lap congealing ice from water that holds within it the entire sky."

— Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Beautiful.

And From The Coffin Of Your Madness There Is No Escape

"Farewell, old man. And from the coffin of your madness there is no escape."

— Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

First book of the Christmas book haul done. Since then I’ve got another two. Due to the rest of life getting in the way I could see it taking me until near the end of the year to get through all these.

LINK: Drinkaware

I’m not doing dry January (why make an already hard month more miserable than necessary?) so this post is just coincidentally in January - I actually started using Drinkaware last year, but only got around to writing about it now.

These are my uncollected thoughts on it:

  • As far as doing what it says on the tin I can’t fault it: It does make you very aware.
  • It would be nice if it worked offline / without an account.
  • It would also be nice if it didn’t nag every time about enabling notifications.
  • And further, if you could edit existing entries (names, percentages, volumes, etc) rather than having to delete and replace.
  • The unit goals can only go down which I find a bit silly. Ok, yes, I am trying to stick to 14 units a week, but if I only have 10 units one week I can’t then set a goal of 14 for the next week.
  • Related: It’s not the most positively re-enforcing app. It tends to want to tell you you’ve “significantly increased your drinking” if you’ve gone from a week with 0 units to a week with 10 whereas I feel it should be saying “well done, you are under 14 units”.
  • 14 units a week is not a lot at all.
  • What’s more, 8 units in a session (any more is technically binge drinking and a session is a whole 24 hours) is really not much at all. That’s less than four pints at 4.5%. If you had two pints at lunch on a Saturday and then two in the evening you’d be a binge drinker (technically).
  • It’s really made me aware how strong drinks are. It’s hard to find craft beers under 4%. It’s easy to find beers over 5%. Similarly it’s so much easier to find wines at 13% than 10.5% (and it makes a lot of difference: You can do a whole bottle of wine at 10.5% and stay under 8 units).
  • I’ve found a new found appreciation for “bests”: Bellhaven Best and Caledonia Best are only 3.2%
  • Of course there are lots of great alcohol free beers nowadays, but I also wish there were more around 3%. Similarly with lower alcohol wines (alcohol free wines are… not good).
  • I could probably give up drinking for myself, but, like everything else in my life, I’m trying to stick to these guidelines as a compromise.
  • But I’m also doing “everything in moderation, including moderation” - I.e. I didn’t bother over Christmas (I did have a very light New Year though just by accident).

The Jazz Bar Edinburgh

The Jazz Bar Edinburgh

We’ve done quite a few visits to the Blue Lamp since, but yesterday we managed a brief stop off at Edinburgh’s The Jazz Bar. It is more like a movie jazz club and a very cool place indeed.

Christmas Book Haul

Christmas Book Haul

Genuinely so happy when I’d already unwrapped a load of books and then unwrapped Addie LaRue. Also really looking forward to Butter - that wasn’t on my list but looks great. Will take me awhile to get through these though. Quotes incoming.

LINK: My Music Picks Of The Year

Highlights of the highlights? Could I pick a top ten? I doubt it. Right now that Divorce track is stuck in my head, plus I’m loving the Honeyglaze Ghost song (which I overlooked when I first listened to the album as I was so distracted by the brilliance of Pretty Girls), but this playlist sways from Ariana Grande to Architects so it really depends on my mood. There is some great stuff on here.

The craziest thing though is, that despite there being almost six hours of tracks here, I know there will have been songs that I will love that have completely passed me by.

Looking forward to next year.

Spotify Wrapped

Spotify Wrapped

No surprise about the top artist and top three songs and as it should be considering I called it as my album of the year in March. I listed to it again (twice in a row) recently and wondered if I was still right, but it just cemented my opinion - it’s so beautifully layered. I love it.

Genuinely surprised by Real Estate’s Water Underground being at number four. I obviously like it and it is in my “Picks of 2024” playlist, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve played it that much. I do wonder if my top songs are actually pretty close? I started building that “Picks of 2024” list in January and Real Estate’s album was out in February so it has had a lot of opportunity to be played when I listen to that playlist on shuffle, but then there were tracks I added in Janurary - Bullion and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Rare at number 5 for instance. Anyway, I’ll be publishing that list at the end of the month.

November Noise

But a lot from October.

  • OneDa: Formula OneDa. I was hoping for an album full of Set It Off, but didn’t quite get it. That track remains my favourite.
  • Charli XCX: Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. Mean Girls, which I over-looked on Brat, is heads and shoulders above everything else on here. It’s fantastic.
  • Confidence Man: 3AM (LA LA LA). I’d somehow missed the release of Control as a single, but that is great. It would be fantastic live or in a club.
  • Martha Hill: Football Heid. Not quite reaching the heights of Grilled Cheese for me. Lizard boy and Football are the ones I like best.
  • SPINN: Oh My God… I’m so alone. SPINN remain ridiculously underrated. I Would Call You (But I Never Know What To Say) and Shakshuka are indie bangers.
  • Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness. Chewing Gum is the one I like best. Big dreams is chilled but really good. It’s Mine is pure moshpit madness. U Should Not Be Doing That is probably second to Chewing Gum.
  • Laura Marling: Patterns in Repeat. Patterns is my clear favourite.
  • Two Shell: Two Shell. Gimme it is my favourite which was out earlier in the year.
  • Hinds: Viva Hinds. I listened to this when I wasn’t really in the mood for it, but I ended up enjoying it. Boom Boom Back is the obvious standout. And then maybe Stranger next.
  • Swim School: Seeing It Now. Another underrated band. Give Me A Reason Why remains awesome since it was released right at the start of the year and should be way more popular than it is.
  • Man/Women/Chainsaw: Easy Peasy. One of my favourite band names ever. A bunch of too-cool-for-school youngsters. The Boss could quite easily end up being iconic.
  • Housewife: Divorce. An EP, but superb. I Lied had already made it to my Picks of 2024, but I’m probably going to add Life Of The Party too. And maybe the whole EP? There is nothing rubbish on here.
  • Fcukers: Baggy $$. Another EP. I’d heard the Confidence Man remix of Bon Bon, but the original is actually really good. That, Homie Don’t Shake and UMPA are the best.

These are the ten most recent posts, for older posts see the Archive.