The Overflow

It’s always about this time of year that I start to yearn for long summer days. Here in Aberdeen we have about 7.5 hours of daylight mid January – and that doesn’t take account of the dark cloudy days. If you were to offer me tickets a few days somewhere warm in the southern hemisphere, I’d take your arm off. So, what do I do to counter the effects of SAD?

I’ve been tinkering with micro.blog again, which feels like the right move. After bouncing between platforms over the years, there’s something refreshing about landing somewhere that just gets out of the way and lets you write. The technical migration was straightforward enough. Moving from Ghost to micro.blog with the Bayou theme, sorting out the feeds from Letterboxd and Bluesky, tweaking the dark mode styling. All the usual fiddling. But that’s the easy part.

A few years ago, I made a wee film with a friend that, to my surprise, Aberdeen Art Gallery selected to go on display. While I should have been pleased, I hated the whole thing. I felt like a fraud. I was taking up space that a ‘proper artist’ could have filled. What made it worse was that my face was on show for half of the damned run time. On the opening night, I didn’t even look in its direction.

This thing looks ridiculously fun. Pop on the goggles, squeeze the grip, and the sky’s literally the limit. Forget lining up perfect shots; you just fly, swoop and chase whatever catches your eye. The A1 will record everything in 360, so you can stay in the moment and worry about framing later. That freedom leaves you to be braver, more playful, more curious. Jesse Driftwood ends this (sponsored) video by nailing the benefits of 360 drone cameras.

I’ve just been listening to Louis Theroux’s interview with Little Simz and damn he’s such a gossipy bitch. Nudging for names, timelines, and tidy villains. Simz meets him with a wry grin, draws the line, then lets the silence breathe. Her resistance is perfect. I’m totally here for that push–pull. She turns hurt into work and keeps the music at the centre. She doesn’t feed grief to the gossip mill. That’s what the art is for.

One of the things I’ll share on this blog is the apps I love to use. I find a personal recommendation from a blog or newsletter way more useful than a traditional review, so I’m doing the same for you. Today I’m thinking about an app I use every single day of the year. As the person in my household who cooks most of our meals, this one is invaluable to me.

In the quest for the perfect digital toolset, I juggle multiple apps. We all do. Each is a piece of the puzzle of our online lives, yet for me at least, a complete solution remains elusive. This year, I’ve settled into a routine that, while not perfect, combines several iOS that collectively shape how I stay connected and informed. It’s far from perfect but it’s where I’m at right now.

2025 has sparked a mini social media audit for me. I’ve been reflecting on what it means to me, what I want from it, and what I want to avoid. This wasn’t something I planned to do — it’s just how my mind works sometimes. Earlier this week I finally shuttered my Facebook account, and today I’ve been thinking about my current favourite place to hang out online, Bluesky. Our digital experience can feel overwhelming, with a constant stream of updates on news, politics, and sports.

After nearly two decades of scrolling, I’ve finally decided to log out of Facebook for good. It’s not even the recent news about Mark Zuckerberg’s flirting with Trump that pushed me to this decision, it’s the overwhelming clutter. The platform that once connected me to friends and family has transformed into an endless hellstream of adverts and mind-numbing videos, all vying for my attention. I can’t remember when I last opened the app and saw an update from someone I know.