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Merry Meowpheus Christmas everyone!!!! 🎄

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Imagine that your blorbo were 3-4 inches tall and placed in a jar.

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sorry what

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Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), male, family Cervidae, Svalbard, Norway

Also known as Caribou in North America.

photograph by Alex Molnar

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Celestial Ceilings

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Happy Present Laughter Day to all who celebrate! Now streaming on National Theatre at Home.

FYI, if you're considering an annual subscription, there's currently a 20% off coupon, valid until December 8th, if you use the code BIRTHDAY4 at checkout.

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punish your followers by posting on the blog they chose to folllow

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What is your current notebook system?

If you don't mind expanding on that. I'm always very curious about people's notebooks and what works for them. Mostly in hope that someone somewhere will unlock the system that works for me.

I am also always nosey about other people's notebooks so I'm happy to share mine. You will have to excuse my handwriting 😅

The central component is a series of weekly spreads:

Which I draw up for the next month at the end of every month. "Why not just use a planner then, Cecil?" well:

doing it myself makes me more aware of the shape and passage of time

the rest of the notes, which come after the pages set out for one month at a time—laying it out myself means I can take as many or few notes as necessary in the one notebook and just move to the next when it fills, vs. being stuck with one-a-year

I fill out each day with stuff I mean to do & notes about things I think I ought to record about it. Often I'll put a task on a future day if either the current day is v. busy or I won't be able to do it until the future. Simple enough, fairly standard planner.

Then there are the miscellaneous notes pages. Normally they'd be after the weekly spreads but this one happens to be before because there was a blank page (since this month started on a Friday and I always put the days of the week in the same spot)

I also make "project" spreads (or pages, or even parts of pages, depending on project size). This is a huge one because it's for my entire academic year (there's another spread after this), but they're all basically the same idea in principle.

I also do a monthly cover page w/health tracker, reading list, and a brain dump space for stuff that isn't a well-defined task or temporally-sensitive note but is something I want to come back to.

Elements of this are borrowed from all over the place & this system is supplemented by Todoist for recurring tasks, Notion (my beloved) for information that needs to be updated or I am likely to need to revisit at a later date, and my phone calendar as a belt-and-braces approach for remembering stuff that happens at a specific time.

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✨💖Positivity chain! List 5 to 10 things that make you smile and explain why! Then send this to others to let them know they make you smile✨💖

Thank you @softest-punk for sending me this ask. It made me feel warm and fuzzy. Let's see:

Dogs. Do I really need to explain why? They're dogs. They're the best. Especially the ones that let you pet them. I went to church yesterday after loooong absence. There was a dog (with his owner) sitting in a row behind me. He was a French Bulldog by the name Bear. I got to pet him. Never before had I received such a clear welcome back sign.

Libraries and bookshops. They are spaces full of books. Books I can pick up and look at and take with me if I so wish. I do love the fact that I can discover completely new things just picking a shelf at random and seeing what's there. The last time I wandered into a secondhand bookshop I found Shakespeare's Hamlet First Quarto 1603 Facsimiles. The bookseller sold it to me for 7 quid!

My friends. Both irl and online. Those people are in my life because they are awesome one way or another. Just thinking about them makes me smile. They're smart, creative, passionate, inquisitive, sometimes annoying, more often than not up for a laugh and always, always inspiring.

The moment before the performance starts. When the lights go down and the audience quietens in preparation to be transported. There's an ancient magic in that moment of stillness where we are waiting for the story to begin and anything, anything can happen.

Perfect seasonal days. It doesn't matter which season it is. I will take a snowy -20C winter's day and will enjoy it just as much as a sunny blue skied seemingly never-ending hot August afternoon.

Receiving old fashioned handwritten letters. Admittedly it has been a while. But is there anything better? Particularly in these times of instant digital communication. It's knowing that someone values you enough to go into all the effort of buying envelopes, sitting down to write and then actually going to the post office to post it. Can there be a bigger joy?

Lit candles in the evening. They make everything look more cozy, more mysterious, sort of hazy and with a hint of danger. I love the various smells they have. I love the memories they bring of childhood games where we would tell ghosts stories by candlelight or try to summon spirits.

Different colour pens. Especially if they have glitter in them. I bought a set of those on a whim and now my journal has random words in glittery purple and glittery orange. A little callback to a simple childish joy.

Making risotto. I love the whole process of standing over the pot and stirring for half an hour. I know most people find it boring. I find it meditative. Especially if there's a glass of wine and a good album playing in the background. I found Arctic Monkey's Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino works particularly well in this scenario.

Andrew Scott. Look, the man radiates joy. He's playful and ready to laugh at any moment. His acting talent is astonishing. He's not afraid to bring fashion to red carpets. He's thoughtful and sweet. He has the most gorgeous smile. What can I say, he makes me smile every time I see a photo of him.

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I watched Gladiator II yesterday and now I need to read Vergil. All I wanted was to enjoy pretty men in skirts.

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andrew scott & paul mescal at the london premiere of gladiator ii 💕

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Post officially approved by Hob Gadling

Took this photo yesterday while possessed by the spirit of one of my 18thC ancestors who viewed the possibility of purchasing THREE nutmegs for loose change with breathless awe

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not to quote rent at you like the millennial queer i am, but the opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation.

make art. make music. make literature. make poetry. make clothing. make a birdhouse. make a meal. make a little guy. make a journey. make friendships. make community. make connections. make someone smile. make someone laugh. make someone burn bright with the assurance that they are loved. make a home.

your job on this earth is to care for yourself and be a blessing to those around you. we create a better world right here, where we stand, starting with us.

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when your art program’s closing message hits you straight in the heart and makes you stop and contemplate the state of it all