Only 346 to go before I reach enlightenment.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

E.E. Cummings

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49493/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in

A video by Catherine Prowse for #FamiliesTogether. 

1. Meditate daily.
2. Learn Spanish.
3. Code.
4. Yoga weekly.
5. Gym weekly.
6. Budget to save.
7. Do more offline.
8. Read more.
9. Write more.
10. Travel more.
11. Think more.

These are my recommended PWAs. Hit install.

Twitter

Duo

Messages

Headspace

A letter from Leonard to Marianne, 11 February 1963 

Challenge accepted.

https://listed.standardnotes.org/@Listed/5202/100-day-writing-challenge

As a lawyer, people expect me to be many things. A natural talker, a competent writer and to know every law ever drafted ever.

People who know me will confirm that I possess none of these skills. Thankfully, my clients are patient and tolerant.

By accepting this challenge, I hope to discover whether I have a voice beyond legal writing. There's no pressure on me to complete this. No prizes will be offered on the 100th day. It is very much a personal assignment. I will be judge, jury and executioner.

I don't expect anybody to read what I write. Many years ago I realised that I am nothing special. There's a reason why I opted for an encrypted note app over something like Simplenote or Evernote. I didn't want people to discover precisely how dull my thoughts really are. But this challenge is your opportunity to do just that.

Regardless of your reasons for finding yourself in front of my writings, thank you for reading this far and enjoy the monotony of the next #100Days of writing.

I gave up writing about music when I realised that I couldn't write about music. It is a difficult task to interpret the vulnerability of another, and ultimately, with each review I wrote I was actually disclosing more about myself than the singer or the song.

Live music is especially difficult to cover because there are so many elements that contribute to a performance - the venue, the crowd, the alcohol, the music, and the musician.

I realised that I don't read music reviews. I couldn't tell you the last review I read because music is an experience. I can map out my life with the songs that I have played on repeat, with the YouTube playlists I've crafted and deleted, with the CDs I've hidden or given away. I have a library of over 5000 LPs, EPs and singles. All in digital format, backed up across various drives. Come the apocalypse and the digital meltdown, will I lose all this music? Probably. But the important songs, the albums that mean the world to me, those singers on the stage before me,I carry them with me always.

Two things I like to do at live shows when I am not watching the stage, I will watch the audience. Attempting to see the music through the faces of others. The lights reflecting off their faces, but the chords striking their hearts. Are they holding someone special, or just a pint? Smiles, or tears?

And, if I am not looking at faces, I am closing my eyes. I'm letting the music create something vivid, decorate my mindscape like a Goddess creating a world.

So I was and am unwilling to present this vulnerable side to the world. I cannot give an explanation for the works of the creative and I am not myself a creative. I am just a passenger, sitting in the corner of a room, drinking coffee and learning more about myself through the words of others than I am comfortable with.

The musical hangover that follows is enormous. And then, there's Leonard Cohen's tear.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on identity and travelling with a Nigerian passport. If you don't know her books, change that ASAP.

So far the following Greater Manchester MPs have pledged to be MPs and not border guards:

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Labour)
Sir David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East (Labour)
Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East (Labour)
James Frith, MP for Bury North (Labour)
Joanna Platt, MP for Leigh (Labour)
Yvonne Fovargue, MP for Makerfield (Labour)


Not pledged:

Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West (Conservative)
Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne (Labour)
Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton (Labour)
Chris Green, MP for Bolton West (Conservative)
Ivan Lewis, MP for Bury South (Labour)
Mary Robinson, MP for Cheadle (Conservative)
Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish (Labour)
William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove (Conservative)
Liz McInnes, MP for Heywood and Middleton (Labour)
Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central (Labour)
Afzal Khan, MP for Manchester Gorton (Labour)
Jeff Smith, MP for Manchester Withington (Labour)
Jim McMahon, MP for Oldham West and Royton (Labour)
Tony Lloyd, MP for Rochdale (Labour)
Rebecca Long Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles (Labour)
Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde (Labour)
Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston (Labour)
Ann Coffey MP for Stockport (Labour)
Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan (Labour)
Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles (Labour)
Mike Kane, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Labour)

The MPs are taken from this list: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/general-election-2017-27-mps-13160942

The Global Justice Now "MPs not border guards" pledge list is here: https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/mps-not-border-guards-pledge-signatories

“Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/07/so-long-marianne-leonard-cohen-writes-to-muse-just-before-her-death

I like to reset my Chrome Sync and powerwash my Chromebook every so often and set it up fresh. It is more of a habit than for security reasons. It allows me to time to consider whether my current setup is working for me. I use all these extensions. Can I be more focused? This setup guide is for my own personal reference.

1. Encrypt all synced data with own sync passphrase.
2. Set DNS as follows:
   For IPv4: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
   For IPv6: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
3. Set DuckDuckGo as search engine.
4. Require a pin to wake from sleep.
5. Restrict User Sign In.
6. Block third-party cookies and site data.
7. Keep local data only until you quit your browser.
8. Allow the appropriate cookies.
9. Do not allow any site to track physical location.
10. Block protected content.
11. Add additional languages - Portuguese (Brasil), Spanish (Latin America)
12. Set startup to “Open New Tab Page”

With the settings tightened, I move on to the extensions directly from the Chrome Web Store. And, yes, I used all of them - I wish I didn't. I haven't included the games here because I don't want to encourage fun.

Flags

I like to enable flags. You can find the flags here: chrome://flags. 

I install the following Apps and Extensions

Extensions:

• Bitwarden
• HTTPS Everywhere
• New Tab Clock
• Privacy Badger
• Save To Pocket
• SmallPDF
• Supersorter
• uBlock Origin
  

Apps:

• Feedly
  
• Polarr Photo Editor

Themes:

I like to tweak the theme with Dark Theme v3.

Google Play Store Apps (Android)