An invitation to grow [398]

Greetings from the shed...

Welcome to the Documentally dispatch. I’m Christian Payne, photographer, trainer, writer, generalist. In my weekly email I seek out novelty, explore how we share, what we share and consume, plus where we might be going. Thanks for being here.

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#TheAction

Spent a few days in the Netherlands in a little cabin.

The problem with getting away from it all for a few days is that it all catches up with you when you get back. But wow what a break.

The Netherlands is far more densely populated than the UK, with over 17 million people living in an area of just 13,000 square miles. But it didn’t feel it. It felt clean and spacious.

Famous for its windmills, we saw a load of them. Working, lived in and just sitting there looking pretty. Saw far more bikes though. Countless. I wasn’t surprised to hear that there are more bicycles than people in the country. And no matter where you are the bike has right of way.

All the roads that were not main arterial routs were more bike lane than car lane. It was not an issue at all. Although it did have me pining to be on my bike.

Everywhere you went you saw sprawling bike parks, many looking unlocked but had a small rear wheel lock to stop them being wheeled away.

On a few occasions the kids said “wow they’re tall” prompting me to look up Dutch tallness and yes, they are winning there as well. On average, they are the tallest people in the world.

We also popped into Amsterdam the "Venice of the North"It was the easiest major city to get in and out of and the park and ride plus the tram only cost a few Euro each.

Not only did we partake in the amazing cheese on offer, we overbought some fine mini wheels of deliciousness.

It’s been a long time since I was in the Netherlands and the Dutch people left an impression on me. As did the amazing Efteling World of Wonders. The largest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest theme parks in the world. The Dutch certainly know how to have fun. Perhaps that’s why they were also the first in the world to decriminalise marijuana and legalise same-sex marriage.

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#ThePictures

Instead of dropping a selfie at the top of all my emails, I thought I’d share some of my iPad art. Some of the images will be straight Apple Pencil doodles, others photo montages or part rendered digital collages. Happy to know your thoughts.

Speaking of selfies. Here is the work of graphic artist Jyo John Mulloor and some rendered selfies featuring some historic, iconic people.

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#TheWords

I wrote long thread I posted on Twitter. About Twitter. I posted a version into Mastodon. And the same but shorter into LinkedIn.

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#TheSound

I recorded more on the trip to the Netherlands in a recent podcast.

The kingdom of things [048]

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Many thanks to @OliverQuinlan for sharing ‘2600 Drones for my Baby’. I can safely say it’s not just for babies.

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Also thanks to Adrian Storey for dropping off some interesting mix tapes from the 90’s. I’m currently listening to Mogwai - Year 2000 non-compliant cardia

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#TheConsumed

These cherries are the real deal. With an interesting history.

I plan to use thse in multiple Black Manhattans. That’s: Rye Whiskey /Amaro Averna / Angostura bitters / Orange cocktail bitters / Maraschino cherries for garnish.

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A montage of some of the ingestibles from the recent trip.

Yes I lived on a diet of cheese, chips, ale, mystery sausage and cake. The coconut cheese was weirdly good. The green pesto cheese was also a winner.

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#TheThings

While on the way to the airport we stopped off in Nijmegen and stumbled upon the Velorama. A three story bicycle museum with an amazing collection spanning 200 years of history. I was amazed to see examples of 100 year old bicycle gearboxes, and in-wheel suspension systems that I thought I had only been invented relatively recently.

Here are a few of the ceramic tiles that you could find in the pristine toilets. My son said were the cleanest public toilets he’d ever been in. :-)

They also had some folding bicycles dating back to the 1800’s. No Brompton’s though.

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This is also not a Brompton.

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#TheThanks

As social creatures, we have a natural desire to connect and communicate with others. And here my favourite way of doing that is to share my own ideas and/or curate the ideas of others.

Ideally during this process we get to express ourselves, gain new insights and expand our understanding of the world.

Sharing ideas is an essential part of human interaction. But this is not all one way. You can also share. This post elsewhere, your thoughts in the comments, or share the love with hitting that little heart symbol.

And thank you to those that go even further and pay $5 a month to get the podcast and other content.

Also last week someone chose the PayAsYouGo via PayPal option. You can as well. I then convert the amount into same value or more in full membership.

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#TheWeb

• For half a century, Hally War has been growing a bridge across a local river.

• There were a few Dutch pins on the Documentally community map but no handles or contact details.

• Substack’s new product Notes is annoying Twitter so much it’s limiting reshapes from Substack domains.

• Self driving Buses on the way to Edinburgh.

• Search Documentally@octodon.social to find me on Mastodon.

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#TheEnd

Thanks for reading. This Friday has indeed been good. I seem to have ran out of space quickly though. I might have a look at the format. I hope you are enjoying the sun (if you have any). I’m off out into the last of it right now.

Happy Easter and all that. Have a great week.

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“The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and Shakespeare...neither knew chocolate.” ~ Sandra Boynton

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Be good.

See you out there.

Over…