🪦 An obituary to my dead Kindle
It finally happened. I killed my Kindle ☹️
I’m not 100% sure how one moment it was in my hands, and the next moment it was lying face-down on the tarmac, but there it was. When I picked it up everything looked ok, another couple of superficial scuffs… or so I thought. But when I tried to turn the page, nothing happened… a few pixels changed… and then, nothing.
So there I was. Stood in a cold Melbourne laneway on a Saturday morning in July, I was suddenly Kindle-less for the first time in almost ten years.
My Kindle entered my life Christmas 2012, primarily to keep me company whilst I was commuting between Southampton and London 3-4 times a week (which is 2.5 hours each way… particularly fun in British winters). When I click allll the way back to the first books I downloaded for those long train journeys it was a mostly holiday-reads type material; easy novels and mystery/crime fiction (this was peak Gone Girl era). But it was having my Kindle during this period of time that got me back into reading after a long hiatus.
In December 2014 I downloaded Russ Harris’ The Happiness Trap, followed shortly after by Gary Keller’s The One Thing. These marked the start of my exploration into non-fiction. My Kindle allowed me to keep reading wherever I went. Over the ten years we travelled around the UK, made multiple hops to the Netherlands and Germany for work, a few snowboarding jaunts to France and Canada, multiple US visits, and trips for both work and pleasure to Croatia, Hungary, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Bosnia, Montenegro, Japan, Thailand, China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and of course, all around Australia and New Zealand.
It’s been there through (multiple) airport delays (including the time I read a whole book whilst stuck in Hobart airport for eight hours), kept me entertained in queues in post offices and doctor’s surgeries, helped me kill time when I turned up somewhere offensively early and whilst I was in hospital with appendicitis. I’ve planned whole holidays around it; downloading the books that I wanted for that particular reading week or long flight.
My Kindle never distracted me with notifications (ok, apart from the low battery notification, which I was starting to see more and more), or tried to get me to subscribe to read more, or click-baited me into a doomscroll vortex. The lack of backlight meant it didn’t keep me awake, and more often than not helped me go to sleep.
I feels a little melodramatic (which isn’t my usual vibe) but on Saturday it felt like I’d lost a friend… or a little piece of me. I even felt a bit guilty logging onto Amazon to order a new Kindle on Sunday. Like considering a new pet when an old one dies. But as my wise friend Lorissa told me, I was allowed to feel a bit sad and should mark the occasion with a ritual before I just move onto my new device later this week.
So here we go, an obituary to a friend who’s always been there. Thanks for the good times (sorry it ended the way it did).
Sentimental vibes,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon (and everyone else who borrows this from Austin Kleon), this newsletter and the podcast are 'free but not cheap'. You can support their ongoing creation by buying me a coffee as a one off 'thank you', or leaving giving the podcast a (five 😉) star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Thanks!
Other things
Here’s some other things I’ve enjoyed since we last spoke:
App - Duolingo: I used Duolingo a few years ago, but I recently signed up again to brush up on my French before my 2023 Canada trip. As a learning nerd, I am b-l-o-w-n away by how slick it is now and how much they’ve amped up the gamification and tricks to get you to keep learning and learning.
Article - this long-form piece from The Guardian digs into how TikTok has sparked a book revolution, and how people are not only reading, but sharing and dissecting what they’re reading using the rapid style of TikTok content. I love a good example of where analogue and digital come together to create something unique, and this is a good one.
Podcast - The Imposter Syndrome Club: Naarm-based artists (aka “creative dorks”) Jessamy Gee and Alice Edy have launched their new pod where they talk about… stuff. A mix of relatable life insights and work chats, I laughed aloud in the sauna whilst listening to this episode where compare life pre/post lockdowns like going to Aldi… listen to head the full analogy.
Wholesome stuff - phone screen backgrounds: these wholesome phone backgrounds from Frankie magazine feature illustrations of classic sweets and will brighten up your day.
Treats - Sacred Cacao hot chocolate: this is currently a daily essential, not too sweet and very delicious, we’ve gone through 5kg of it between two of us since we discovered it last year. You can get $5 off your first order with this link^.
(A few of you made the most of this discount in the last newsletter, so in case you missed out - here it is again).
What have you been reading/listening/watching/enjoying recently? Pop a comment to this post, hit reply, or just tap the little heart button if you liked something you read.