✍️September reset | #163
✍️September reset | #163
I'm taking it slow. Plus this week's Reads & Recs.
Desk Notes
Last week: Sunday Thread: Summer scaries?
This week: September reset
It's everywhere, isn't it? Back to school messaging/marketing. Shops, papers, podcasts, post. This week, I had a letter from a charity with a 'Back to School' header. It's hard not to get caught up in it as I get nostalgic. I had a clear out. Bought a notebook, stapler and my fave BIC Crystal pens.
September is great for goal-setting as it's a shorter period till Christmas - just three months (eek!), which focuses the mind no end if you want to finish the year strong. You can tap into the ‘back to school’ vibes. Crack open a new notebook.
Work is a distraction, too, as I don't want to think about Christmas AT ALL.
It works better for me than New Year, which is the wrong time to think about goals for the year 🤯 It's too cold and dark. I feel SAD. I'm skint. I just want to hibernate and watch telly.
Autumn in the UK is beautiful and fleeting; you can see the leaves changing colour, smell the smoke, and enjoy all the silliness in the shops. Spooky Halloween decs piled high in TK Maxx, pumpkin spice lattes, goth cakes, carving pumpkins. I love all that.
My friend said it's her favourite time of year: "I just love a hot water bottle on my lap while I watch telly."
Seasons change, and my body is changing, too. I had a bad RA flare-up last month and haven’t been feeling well. Everything hurts. Maybe a viral/RA/perimenopause combo, which is doing my head in as I need to be getting on with stuff (no sick pay for the self-employed), but I don’t have the energy.
So, small steps in September. Sleep. Books. Little jobs. One day at a time. As the saying goes, "This too shall pass."
It's ok to have some thinking time over doing this month. A good time to ask yourself questions: What is working well and why? And what's not?
Reads & Recs
▶️I really enjoyed
’s new course: Substack for small business owners. I recommend it if you want to use Substack for marketing as well as an additional source of income for your biz. She doesn't tell you what to do but shows you examples of strategies that have worked for her and others. I love the anti-overwhelm and anti-FOMO vibe. She talks about balancing biz and creativity on Substack.▶️Checking out the agenda for Ideas Fest (Sept 12-13 in Tring). In Conversation with Andrew D'Souza: Creating a future where AI and humans can work together as peers. Earlier this year, he introduced Boardy.ai, the world's first 'autonomous social creature'. Boardy’s goal is to get to know you and intro you to someone he thinks you should know at an event. Here's what he sounds like. Could be a fun ice-breaker!
▶️Watched Sambre - Anatomy of a Crime - the powerful story of France's most notorious serial rapist - and a justice system blind to his crimes (none of the men come out well). It's sensitively done and entirely focused on the women and the long-term impact of sexual violence.
I've also been thinking about Rebecca Cheptegei and Gisèle Pélicot. Both shocking cases, and I've seen some offensive headlines about Gisèle e.g. 'Wife takes public revenge on men 'who raped her every night on husband's orders'. No. It's not revenge. WIFE SEEKS JUSTICE. The men weren’t acting on ‘orders’ either. They knew what they were doing and could’ve called the police. #languagematters.
My heart goes out to Gisèle; what a woman. It's so brave of her to take this to trial publicly (now everyone knows what he did), and she will help so many women by doing so.
▶️I’ve had some chats with Peter Houston, co-founder of Media Voices, on LI lately. Here for the little guy, celebrating print, and trying to keep training/education affordable for us soloists. They're hosting a virtual publishing masterclass with Dan Oshinksy on 'The Power in the Pivot: Transforming Your Newsletter' on 9 October. Should be good.
Have a fab week!
Nika 😘
PS Thanks to Anne Marie McQueen for christening my fundraising page for the Royal Parks Half Marathon. I'll be Jeffing it; don't care how long it takes haha. If you'd like to support me, I'd love that. Go here. No amount too small - or too large!
Coffee Crush ☕️ 🥐
Celebrating indy coffeehouses and barista founders (it tastes better, right?).
Partly inspired by Shanghai's love affair with coffee (8,000+ cafes) - and Georges Perec's quest for the infraordinary: An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris.
Enjoy the little things. The big things will sort themselves out.
Stir Coffee Brixton, 111 Brixton Hill, London SW2 1AA. www.stircoffee.co.uk.
Thanks to
:It was super friendly. I met another girl working there, and the Canadian guy working there was also very helpful. But most of all, I loved this quote on the wall.
Got a coffee crush in your little corner of the world? Submit it here.
Invitation - NUJ Talk / demo on how we can use AI.
🎙️NUJ TALK: How can we use AI? Can we use it to detect fake news? We have a preview of AI news analysis models trained on newsworthiness/value, censorship detection and credibility, and an interactive news forum. Presented by freelance journalist Owen Holdaway on Monday 9 Sept, 7 pm. Plus, an update on the union’s AI campaigns.
Zoom link beneath the fold.
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