IN ISSUE 13: How to have a great 2024, The Last Dinner Party, Poor Things, Starting a hobby, Mr Bates, Who we spend our lives with, 3 Body Problem, Spirograph & the biggest culture of 2024.
A 7 minute read, with the added serendipity that might just change your life
Editor’s letter
Welcome to issue 13, our first issue of 2024.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a great New Years Eve and have positive hopes and plans for 2024. I received a DJ mixing desk for Christmas and restarted my hobby of DJ’ing DISCO classics :) I DJ’ed on New Year’s Eve and had a great time - hopefully, the partygoers did too! All well-known DJs started it as a hobby as have the well-known people in most art and culture professions. Maybe this year is the year to take up a new hobby or start afresh with something you love. See below, where reader Stuart Hillston writes about his year, when he decided to learn a new craft every month.
Time to enjoy 2024!
Chris.
This week’s cuttings
We scan all relevant media to find anything valuable for living some good midlife
We’ve been using Too Good To Go over Christmas and it works really well. It makes it easy to have a positive impact on the planet while saving money on food. As the #1 app for reducing food waste, you can eat well while doing good by saving unsold surplus food such as snacks, takeaway meals, and ingredients from being thrown away at the end of the day. Used by many shops, cafes, grocery stores, and restaurants in every area.
Who do we mostly spend our lives with?
In adolescence we spend the most time with our parents, siblings, and friends; as we enter adulthood we spend more time with our co-workers, partners, and children; and in our later years, we spend an increasing amount of time alone. Be forewarned and make the changes to avoid spending too much time alone.
What is your version of wealth?
I have always been a big fan of Nassim Taleb. If you haven’t read any of his books, consider reading them. This is his idea of TRUE WEALTH. Here is the list of things that Nassim defines as true wealth. What is on your list for 2024?
If proof is needed of how critical art and culture are, this drama was it. There have been actual documentaries years ago on the same subject that didn’t create the change that this drama is. So we must bow down to the genius of the writer/director and actors who brought the story to life in such a way as to create real life positive change. This is their story of creating ‘Mr Bates v The Post Office’
If you’re in your 50s, you’re entering your happy years!
According to the UK Office of National Statistics.
6 Reasons It’s Awesome to Be a Midlifer
Author and well-known positive aging guru Chip Conley bills midlife as a time for growth, not crisis.
Packed with evidence-based strategies, ‘Atomic Habits’ shows you how to make small changes that will transform your habits and deliver amazing results. A supposedly life-changing million-copy best seller. James Clear’s book was actually published and went to No. 1 in 2018 but it’s at No.1 in the book charts again now - which would suggest the people that have read it, have made positive changes and are recommending it. Worth checking out.
How to start something new?
A new hobby: From reader Stuart Hillston A year of crafts: that is the goal I set myself for 2023. I didn’t set out to do 12 courses in a year, yet somehow, I did. Nor did I set out to do twelve crafts – I wanted to explore and see what “stuck” Now that I have completed my final course of the year, I am sharing my reflections of a year of experiences and learning. If you just want to know what I did and avoid reading the details…
Jan – linocut prints, pottery basics
Feb – March willow pig, pottery intermediate
May – willow bee, ceramic glazing
June – letter carving in stone, Raku firing ceramics
Sept – green man stone carving, leather-bound books
Nov – welding
Dec – copper ornaments
A cultural week
Ian McKellen on why you should see your heroes live.
Hopefully, you can see this as it was only issued by the National Theatre on Facebook. Always go and see the people and culture you want to see before it’s too late.
The person I regret not seeing above anyone else live is genius comedian Sean Lock. This brought me to tears of laughter….
So, the three most hotly tipped culture experiences to see in 2024 - the band, the movie and the TV series…
The most hotly tipped band for 2024. an all-girl indie band from London. Already selling out gigs everywhere.
Out this week, the most hotly-tipped movie of the whole of 2024. By Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite & The Lobster), the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by a brilliant and unorthodox scientist.
Netflix’s big series for 2024 - created by the duo behind ‘Game of Thrones. It’s a sci-fi series based on the novel of the same name by Chinese author Liu Cixin
Have a great midlife 2014!
One last thing…
It’s 1977 and the Spirograph inventor is at work on his new creation
The BBC Archive released some classic short films over Christmas. Denys Fisher came up with the idea for the legendary pattern-drawing toy, Spirograph. It won the Toy of the Year in 1967 and had sold over 30 million by the time Tomorrow’s World caught up with him in rural Scotland, hard at work on his next creation.
Finally, if you want to spend your evenings by the fire, doing Sodoku, read this week’s Saga newsletter.
Have a great week & a great year!!
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