The Folk Mind [524]

Greetings from The Borders...

I’m Christian Payne, autotelic, photographer and writer. Each week, I explore the connections between people, ideas, and the things we share or consume.

Thank you for joining in.

---

#TheAction

This last week has involved the continued exploration of our new environment. Since my last post, at time of writing, I’ve walked 68.9km. I’ve also ridden the motorbike and driven the van around some pretty narrow roads. As yet, I’ve not cycled anywhere. I’m really missing it.

The image at the top was captured when my daughter and I were exploring a wood a short walk away. The woodland floor was a carpet of wild garlic and we found the night time resting place of a family of roe deer. The only paths were animal tracks and the only sounds were the birds. It’s a beautiful spot we’ll visit again soon.

The rest of the week has seen me tending the land and roofline pruning. Although with some of the limbs that touch the house as big as small trees, pruning does not seem the right word.

Here’s a short video I recorded this morning.

The tops of the trees are around 50-60ft tall and although I really should have some training for what I am doing at the moment, I’ll certainly require some to do the job properly.

---

#ThePictures

The Black Panther Cubs.

May need a VPN via the US to watch this.

---

Understanding quantum mathematics in pictures.

---

#TheWords

Rude notes on writing.

---

Anyone else spotting more and more people sounding less like themselves and more like each other?

---

#TheSound

The title to this dispatch comes from part two of a Radio 4 documentary on DH Lawrence. It’s the only episode I’ve heard but I’m now tempted to listen to the other parts.

The folk mind isn’t a scientific concept, but a poetic one. A shared cultural consciousness formed through the slow accumulation of stories, customs, and lived experience.

---

I was asked by journalist and writer Phillip O’Connor if I’d contribute my thoughts on technology for a school textbook he’s currently working on. He sent me five questions.

1. What do you use technology for?

2. What is your favourite piece of tech/software and why?

3. Where do you see technology going in the next 10-15 years?

4. You’re someone who loves technology and connection, but you also appreciate solitude and the analogue world — how do you find a balance?

5. If the laws of physics weren’t an issue, what would you invent tomorrow to improve humanity?

As we build technologies with the power to shape society for better or worse, in the audio I discuss how I use technology as a tool to document fleeting moments and build meaningful connections. I also pin down my favourite piece of tech which might not be what you think it is.

Finally, looking ahead, I contemplate a fork in the road, where one path leads to ever more extractive systems that commodify our attention, and another more hopeful journey, towards decentralised, human-centred networks.

I cover a lot in an unedited 20 min brain dump into a microphone and the full recording is currently on the subscriber podcast feed.

---

I listened to this audio on Radio 4 today. It might be you will soon be paying even more for your coffee. Coffee Crisis: Why are Prices Breaking Records?

---

#TheConsumed

Not one person offered up any ideas on how I might be able to enjoy peas and beans together, so I simply heated them up in a pan. I then poured them over some lightly toasted freshly baked sour dough, and topped it all with a fried egg gifted from the neighbours chickens.

Me and my daughter really enjoyed the combination. Having the peas not only added some much needed colour to the dish, it also subtlety refined and reduced the strength of the tomato sauce. The result was that all the flavours had their own space and everything on the plate could be tasted.

The most joy though was found the following morning when from across the house I heard my daughter unleash three magnificently thunderous farts. Each one of them, if sampled for foley work, could rival the infamous Wilhelm scream in character and impact.

A little later in the day I found that I had also acquired this new new super power. Sadly I was so busy laughing at the dog tilt her head and rotate her ears at every parp, I also forgot to audio document the moment.

Sourdough + peas & beans + eggs …or put another way, wild yeasts + complex sugars + sulphur containing amino acids = comedy flatulence.

I give this simple dish 5/5.

---

Microplastics research around its presence in food, bottled water, and air has been around for well over 10 years but it’s only in the last few years that researchers have been detecting microplastics in human blood and lungs. This has obviously lead to increased concern about our continued exposure and the potential health effects.

There is a lot of speculation and sensationalism out there so browse carefully. I’ll link to the Non-Profit investigative journalism platform Mongabay.com and their coverage.

---

#TheBody

Farting is not everyone's cup of bubble tea [still working on a better phrase], but it’s a sign your gut is doing its job. Farts, aka a gaseous expulsion from the gut is a natural byproduct of digestion. Especially if you eat fibre-rich, plant-based foods.

While continued or painful wind can point to food intolerances or gut issues, regularly letting rip usually means your microbiome is doing well. So next time you let one slip, pass gas, break wind, bottom burp, trump, cut the cheese, (or my personal favourite) float an air biscuit… take it as a small, comical win for your digestive health.

Here is a NSFW montage.

---

#TheThings

While i’m waiting patiently for FujiFilm to bring out an update to the X-Pro3 they have dropped something called the X-half.

This looks beautifully made with some film like restrictions and features including an advance lever. But I fear it’s an overly skeuomorphic pretend analogue toy camera that will feel a bit too silly for most.

It’s laggy and slow with a tiny vertical half of four thirds sensor that only produces a jpeg. I could see it’s novelty being a lot of fun on a photo walk with friends, but at £700 it’s not something I’m drawn to.

…One quick mention of the also newly announced Ricoh GRIV. I mistyped it as GR1V and of course that’s their older compact film camera I love and never got rid of.

---

I recently stopped using my Aeropress in an attempt to minimise the amount of plastic that I cook or consume with. Mostly because of the various Microplastics related reports coming out at the moment. (See above in consumed.) So I’m using my trusty metal cone for my filters and just having drip coffee.

I then spotted the AeroPress Premium which looks like the company’s solution for those that don’t want to brew in plastic …but wow it’s expensive.

It was interesting to hear James Hoffmann’s take on it and also him play down the risk of microplastics.

---

We still can’t find my daughter’s Apple Pencil and rather than but a new one for £65, I saw some great reviews on one called the Variglas. [This is an amzn affiliate link]

She prefers paper and pens but is teaching herself Procreate and has missed being able to draw digitally. Excited to try it out, I told her not to get hopes up as it only cost £12 and we’d most likely have to send it back.

But that wasn’t the case at all.

A drawing of Casper. He’s half human half forest spirit.

Her iPad mini is over 6 years old but the Variglas had her drawing again in no time. It has hand rejection and tilt sensitivity, but does not appear to have pressure sensitivity. For the money this is certainly not a deal breaker and the battery appears to last for ages. My daughter says that for roughly two weeks pocket money it’s an easy 4.5 out of 5.

---

#TheThanks

Massive thanks to the paying subscribers who continue to support this dispatch and the adventures/experiments that make it. You know who you are. ♥️

Don’t forget that supporting subscribers get access (request an invite link) to the Discord server for bonus content, group subscriptions get 20% off each and founding members get a free night in The Borders at Documentally HQ.

So… If you value these words, ideas and curation, please consider an upgrade to paid…

Or if you prefer a random hat tip you can do that via PayPal

---

#TheWeb

• Courts back the right to wild camp in Dartmoor.

• Welcoming Robin Good currently on a Thai Island to the Documentally community map. Did you know that supporting subscribers can have proper shout out with a link and everything? ;-)

• Philips offer free downloadable plans for 3D printed replacement parts

• Some of my other places include these… Strava for documenting exercise and exploration, my audio RSS feed stores recordings, Swarm where I login to the occasional place, Mastodon for decentralised social and foto for random photos.

• Data centres might soon be heating new homes.

• Caesars last breath

---

#TheEnd

Thanks for reading. Spelling mistakes just add character.

I’m looking forward to having visitors next week.

Enjoy the long weekend.

---

"The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread." ― D. H. Lawrence

---

Find beauty.

See you out there.

Over…

A ❤️ is a high-five, a comment is a hug. A supporting subscription earns my undying love.