A quest for a bit of nosh takes a wrong turn… Image by Author, created in AI One from the archives… So, I innocently wander into the kitchen, wanting a little snack but not really sure what that might entail. I’m not dying of hunger, but I’m at that age when the simple things please me, like shoving food in my mouth when I don’t really need it. (It’s Friday night. 30 years ago I would be at the local disco, sucking down shots like a baby calf. Now? I just want munchies that are not fueled by…

8:25 - A long way to Basel. Apparently I've only slept 4 hours. Ahhhhh

I just got back from a lovely family holiday to Bali. The waters were blue and warm, the weather was beautiful, the skies were clear (a precious thing we don’t take for granted these days, in hazy Singapore). I always look forward to spending this time away every year with my parents, siblings and nephews, and I am the sort of idle layabout who particularly enjoys do-nothing beach resort holidays, so this was a very welcome break. This holiday, I deliberately went as analog as I could. I left…

Why does a lion brake in the middle of a chase? Not because it is tired. Speed makes every turn wider, and past about 5 metres a second a lion cannot push sideways against the ground any harder. So to follow a zebra that cuts away, it has to slow down. A research team filmed 67 lion chases from a drone, tracked every frame, and measured how lions steer and when they brake. They also found that lions aim partly like a guided missile, a rule known until now only in a hawk. Source: Duporge, I. &…

What a day yesterday, left the hotel at 8am and not back until 9pm after dinner - exhausted but so wonderful to meet such lovely people, talk about the layout and catch up with friends old and new…This is not a review, more a few choice photos from my meandering yesterday.A dreary Tuesday in the Dearne Valley…Port de CrozonCorrieshallochA dreary TuesdayPort de CrozonCorrieshallochThe queue before opening…More a dreary Tuesday…Coalbridge operated by good friend Steve whilst I chatted to the…

Today I am reviewing the next two releases in the series of Mr Men/Little Miss and Agatha Christie mashups. I have previously written about the other four titles in the series: Little Miss Marple: Muddle at the Vicarage (2025) Mr Poirot: Mischief on the Nile (2025) Little Miss Marple: Bump in the Library (2026) Mr Poirot: Mystery on the Opulent Express (2026) The Mr Men/Little Miss series was originally conceived by Roger Hargreaves, but these new stories which intertwine with the Agatha…

The Historian of the Heart Two Octobers ago, I missed celebrating the Feast of Saint Luke. It wasn’t intentional; life just got busy. Between teaching, family life, and parish commitments, October 18th slipped past. But ever since then, I’ve felt an unmistakable pull to know this Gospel writer more deeply, not just as the “beloved … Continue reading Why Saint Luke is Awesome: History + Theology The post Why Saint Luke is Awesome: History + Theology first appeared on The Simple Catholic. The…

Here I am again, another Sunday, another Meals of the Week post. On Sundays I like to share with you, my readers, all of the main meals and menus that my daughter and I have enjoyed over the past week. It is good for me to review what I have eaten and it helps me to plan for the week ahead so that I don't have any repeats.When I was growing up my mother cooked the same things every week, week in and week out. You knew what day of the week it was according to whatever we were having for supper!…

A while back I suggested none of my readers had ever been to Folkes Lane Woodland, a nature reserve beside the M25 in outer Havering. Alas three of you said you had, the most convincing of whom said it was on one of his occasional jogging routes. So I'm going to try again with another London location I don't think any of you have ever been to... unless you live there. Again it's peripheral, again it's a scrubby nature reserve but this time it's in Bexley, not far from Crayford station.…

This infernal illness ebbs, and it flows, and yesterday it ebbed. Or flowed. Whichever one equates to "got worse." I have to try to rest, in order to make sure I'll be able to do the weekday posts. I had already picked out the letters, so we'll have some during the regular week, and some of the remainder next weekend. - Z Click here for full story

For the first time, I'm stepping out from behind the microphone to say a few words. Watch the video on YouTube TranscriptMy name is Farha Guerrero, and I am about to reach 100 episodes of The Blue Hour, or what used to be Prof Talk. I thought it would be nice to do a little video to first say thank you to those of you who are listening, supporting me, and, of course, to the community of people who are curious like myself. It's really a beautiful privilege to do what I can do week after week:…

The World It feels like the situation in Ukraine is about to come to a head, with Trump and Musk almost openly siding with Russia, mainly by restricting Starlink access in Ukraine, but also by calling on Zelensky to resign. My Week Google Fit says I walked 67,494 steps from last Sunday to yesterday. 2.5k steps below target is me chilling out a bit. It was a good week. Managed to go wander around the malls for a couple of days. Found out there's a free QC bus from City Hall to Araneta! That was…

I hate scammers. And I hate spammers. I know, controversial opinion. But seriously, I do think I harbor an outsized rage towards them, at least for someone who's never been a victim of a serious scam (save that one time with Lego).My understanding is that many of the various scam phone and text operations operate out of organized criminal compounds in southeast Asia, making them relatively impervious to American law enforcement (germane to the aforementioned hatred, I'd mostly-earnestly support…

Anton Chekhov wrote nothing in the summer of 1888 but thought about writing a novel. He stayed at the villa of his editor and friend Aleksi Suvorin in Feodosia, in Crimea on the Black Sea. He was leading a “vile, lotus-eating life,” as he says in a letter to his family written July 23-24: “The days pass in an endlessly replete stream, the cup of life overflows . . . Lounging about on the beach, Chartreuse, punch, fireworks, bathing, good cheer at supper, trips, songs – all such pleasures make…

Starting line of the walk Sunday was the Breakthrough T1D Walk at Cleveland Zoo. James's mum created a team for donations and we all walked on that cold morning, raising $748 for research into Type 1 Diabetes.

And a few more photos of the rest….. Swillybegs (O-21) is an exhibition regular, but always worth another looks as a lovely model of a slice of County Donegal. Loughborough Midland (OO). Northleach (P4). Corsham (N). Brixcombe (P4).

I had the opportunity to read an advanced reader’s copy of a book this week that I was very excited about. It’s by an author I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t quite gotten around to yet. I really enjoyed this book. The premise was right up my alley, and I loved everything about the actual novel itself. But I’m not going to publish the name of the book, or the author. All I will say is the publisher, which was Bloomsbury USA. Here’s why: My review is based on what I received. While the…

Thoughts on the Indieverse, small web, cosy web or whatever else it's called. Although beautiful in principle, I'm finding a lot of instructions and design principles that are overly technical for the non-developer or not-tech-inclined person. I prefer simplicity and really want to create an online space that allows my words to breathe. Not every thought or idea has to end up as a full-blown essay. This is what attracted me to using Mataroa for my 'Rustic Thoughts'. I've added this as a…

My soul is exhausted at times while trying to present myself in a certain way online. The thing is all I want to do is write, share my thoughts, think out loud, and figure out my life through writing and working through ideas. I don't want to exist as a brand. I also believe one can have an online presence and even an online business without forcing themselves into a narrow brand. The notion of 'personal branding' makes my tummy churn somewhat. I mean, how did we all get to this? Corporations…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Untold Stories brings together images that, for me, seem to conceal a story. They may depict objects, people, or ordinary scenes, but somehow they trigger a sense of curiosity, unease, or anticipation — the feeling that there is something more to be discovered, something that remains just beyond what the image reveals. I find myself wondering why? or how? What happened here? What passions, frustrations, moments…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Suspected Relations explores the connections that can emerge between two objects simply because they happen to share the same space at a particular moment. A symmetry, an opposition, a contrast, or a shape that seems to continue from one object into another can suddenly establish a relationship that might otherwise go unnoticed. These relationships are rarely inherent to the objects themselves. They emerge from…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Solitude explores the relationship between empty space, isolation, and the individual. Through isolated objects, sparse compositions, and vast, seemingly empty environments, these images seek to convey a sense of loneliness and the smallness of the self in relation to the world. Yet solitude is not necessarily about absence or emptiness. The same space that makes us feel small can also reveal a sense of freedom…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Slow Motion explores the transformation of movement into abstraction through long exposures and techniques such as the use of neutral density (ND) filters. By allowing time to accumulate within a single exposure, moving elements become blurred forms, often set against still backgrounds or anchored by objects that retain their definition. The result is a different way of seeing reality. In waterscapes, movement…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Natural Born Beauty is perhaps the most traditional collection in my photography portfolio, exploring the beauty of the natural world through landscapes, textures, and natural scenes. I've never felt particularly successful at capturing the kind of dramatic, sweeping landscapes that traditionally define landscape photography. Instead, I've often found myself drawn to narrower scenes, more intimate compositions,…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Messages brings together images in which written or graphical elements take center stage. Sometimes the message is explicit; sometimes it's just a hint, a fragment, or an ambiguous sign. And sometimes, it may not have been intended as a message at all — yet, to me, it still seems to communicate something. Words and symbols can acquire new meanings through their surroundings. A message may be altered by the decay…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Lost Memories explores the beauty of fog and other forms of transparency that partially conceal the world around us. Through obscured landscapes and blurred objects, these photographs capture a reality that is present but no longer entirely accessible. I'm fascinated by the way fog transforms familiar scenes, softening their shapes and dissolving their boundaries. It reminds me of how memory works: experiences…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Looking for Meanings is a collection of images that resisted being placed anywhere else in my photographic portfolio. Each one caught my attention for a reason — perhaps its colors, textures, composition, or a certain mystery that I couldn't quite explain. Yet none seemed to fit within the concepts explored by the other collections. These are, in a way, orphan photographs. Images I like, that stayed with me, but…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Light and Shadow explores the ephemeral scenes created when light and darkness interact with the world around us. Shadows and beams of light become more than simple variations in illumination: they create shapes, objects, and patterns that seem to emerge from the scene itself. What fascinates me about this approach is its fleeting nature. These shapes and patterns may appear or disappear in the next second,…

(LLMs were used to help organize and translate this post) A photography collection Beauty in the Beast explores the aesthetics of decay in urban and industrial environments. Abandoned buildings, forgotten objects, and the gradual degradation of things are recurring subjects, offering a different perspective on places and objects that are often overlooked or considered ugly. There's something fascinating about the way entropy reshapes our surroundings. As things deteriorate, layers emerge,…

The Yorkshire Garden Railway show returned this year, to its spiritual home - Elsecar Heritage Centre. I like the site. While Barrow Hill, the location for a few years while the heritage centre was being refurbished, is great for us train enthusiasts, it's not somewhere to take the family. If you are setting up a layout or longish trade stand, the wobbly floor is a nightmare. A proper exhibition centre is much nicer, and there are craft and antique shops for non-enthusiasts. And for both, there…