I’m currently in the middle of some annual leave, in the perhaps unwise situation of having a work meeting in the middle of my leave. It’s a familiar journey from being in the midst of work-mindset to being able to relax, but I find myself trying to score the level of relaxation that I’m achieving, …
Category Archives: short idea
BOOST feedback method
Just watched a video a friend posted about (among other things) how to give feedback using the BOOST method. Feedback should be Balanced, Objective, Observed, Specific and Timely. Balanced: not just an emphasis on the negative, but both negative and positive. Objective: not framed emotionally, but looking at the facts. Observed: based on something you …
Another year
I’m in the unusual situation of having some more time off at the start of the year than usual. It’s a season I’m spending investing in time with the kids, and preparing for the year. It’s my final year of study, and it’s going to be an intense one!
high school reloaded
One of the familiar science fiction (and even Harry Potter) tropes is for a scene to play out, and then the same scene plays through again from another character’s point of view. This week, it was starting high school, but this time I was the parent. What did I remember about my interactions with my …
former piano
Ex-piano A post shared by David Phillips (@cafedave) on Feb 27, 2017 at 10:07pm PST I spent years learning the piano. I can still remember my late piano teacher – a lady who devoted most of her life to teaching kids like me how to be better musicians – showing me how the sustain pedal …
Aussie Christmas
That feeling when you step outside for a last minute grocery run, and the tissue paper crowns too small for your head, slides off and lands on the back of your neck, giving the exact sensation of a hundred unseen spiders crawling at once.
Three Little Bops
Watching the video for “Istanbul (not Constantinople)” I noticed that there’s a building called the “dew drop inn” which prompted me to look for this old Warner Bros classic (in this Three Little Bops video, with live jazz accompaniment). Bad theology aside, it’s a glimpse into the past, and a way to share Warner Bros …
Side projects
I’ve had a chance to look through some of the projects I’ve been aiming to start over the last while. A video from Gary Vaynerchuck talked about the 7pm-2am window to work on other projects, starting something big. At the moment, I’m pouring that energy more into my main job: there will come a day …
A day (almost) without podcasts
A lift to the train station meant that it was too late, by the time I realised, to go back home for the earbuds I’d left in my jacket pocket. And so I faced to prospect of a whole day without audio entertainment, until I was finally – hopping In the car for an evening …
Reflections on running
Lately I’ve been trying to go for a run in the mornings. It’s worked pretty well when I haven’t been sick. I get up at or before the sunrise, walk a little, then run for a few km’s in a loop, walk a little bit home. I take my phone with me. While I’m running, …