vivdunstan

As I say on my profile page I mainly use this blog to keep track of dosage changes and symptom patterns/progression in my neurological disease. Those entries are restricted to family only.

I do post more widely though. Many early entries are friends-locked. If you know me, either in person or online, feel free to friend me.

But some entries will be on more open access, especially those I link to from Twitter.

Following up my post on Monday, my Hobonichi stationery orders are all in hand now. They were ordered by me very early on Monday morning, and posted from Harrogate to me in Dundee the same day. They would have been delivered yesterday, Tuesday, but it wasn't a good day for delivery for us. So I rescheduled with the posties to deliver today, Wednesday. And they arrived while I slept. Martin was here to accept delivery. Delighted with my stuff. And really looking forward to using them all next year. Meanwhile UK people who ordered direct from Hobonichi in Japan have more days to wait yet. And two other UK stockists haven't even sent their things out yet - they took the orders on Monday, but were then still waiting for the goods, or were still checking things into their warehouse. I'm so glad I ordered from Art From The Heart.

September 2025 is Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month. This is a devastating diagnosis for anybody and their family to cope with. It's what my Dad died from, after a very sudden diagnosis, when the disease was already well advanced. An extremely cruel and under appreciated disease. For more information, see the Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis website.

I use Hobonichi paper planners, both an A5 page-per-day larger model, and a smaller slim diary. And today sales open for the 2026 season, so it's a bit of a buying frenzy time for Hobonichi users. Some things do sell out quickly.

This year again I went with Art From The Heart in Harrogate, who get in most of the range. And start selling at 3AM UK time on 1st September to match sales opening in Japan. It was a tenser purchasing experience with AFTH than last year, when I managed to check out in just a couple of minutes. This time it took me 10 minutes just to add 3 items from my wishlist to my basket, then another 10 minutes to go through formal check out. The site was extremely busy with UK customers this year in the minutes after 3AM, and very much not coping well. But it did work albeit slowly (and after an hour was back to speed). And I think I've got all my items. One of my items sold out at AFTH not long after I bought it, but I think I have it. Quite a lot of other things have since sold out there too.

The main Hobonichi shopping website in Japan was also as usual struggling at 3AM (11AM Japanese time) today. With many fraught people placing their direct orders. But I was glad to avoid that this year. I also worry too much with my generalised anxiety disorder about the round the world courier delivery after, and am much happier getting something coming in the post (tracked service) from Yorkshire to me in Scotland.

Sales of Hobonichi to US customers are problematic this year. Tariffs are causing restrictions on the combinations that Hobonichi offer, and increasing the cost. As is the stopping of the generous de minimis duty exemption. Which as someone in another country that very happily charges import duties I have boggled at. For US people looking to buy Hobonichi items from US stockists many deliveries to retailers are held up in customs, extra complicated by the tariff situation.

I'm just relieved to have hopefully got my items. Even if it was extra fraught compared to 2024.

There’s a digitally remastered version of the BBC Narnia various TV series coming out in November. Complete with new documentary. Instant preorder for me!

A bumper crop of more books finished in the last month. Helped again by some library books.

( earlier books )
1. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo book 1) by D.V. Bishop
3. Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown
4. Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
5. The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird by Weird Walk
6. Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes volume 1 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Crystal S. Chan and Julien Choy
7. Glenshee: Glen of the Fairies by Antony Mackenzie Smith
8. Insomniacs After School volume 7 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
9. Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures by Luke Sherlock
10. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

Of the newly finished ones, I enjoyed Arthur Conan Doyle's Memoirs collection of Sherlock Holmes stories yet again. The David Bishop book was a Renaissance Italy thriller, the first in an ongoing series, and very enjoyable. The George Mackay Brown novel (Saltire award winning and Booker shortlisted) was still magical, on a reread. I found the Sandman Little Endless graphic novel on a book clearout/rummage, so read it again quickly before passing it on to charity. The rambling "Tales of the Weird" book was interesting, but not a great run of stories for me. Enjoyed the manga Sherlock Holmes. Still really enjoying the Insomniacs After School manga series. Loved the church history book, and enjoyed with provisos the V.E. Schwab vampire book, newly published in June. That last one was read for my book club. I wouldn't have got to it so quickly otherwise.

I read this book recently, borrowed from Monifieth Library. It was published earlier this year, and is a manga version of the first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet.

Generally I enjoyed it. The art is clear and distinctive, and full colour, with the characters well delineated. It's a fair retelling of a story which isn't one of my favourite Sherlock stories by a long way, though I really like the opening portion where Holmes and Watson meet and then move in together. But in many respects I find this a rather muddled Conan Doyle story, and the manga version reflects that. It was a very good idea for BBC's Sherlock to rework things quite a bit. I was a bit surprised to see the Mormon section included in the manga, which is good for faithfulness even if I'd personally rather see it excised as the BBC did! But, yes, a good read, and well done in manga form. The paper stock is also high quality. The book is noted as "volume 1" in the Sherlock Holmes stories, so hopefully they have more stories in development.

Clearing more books - many academic - that I no longer have need for, and can't read properly now due to my neuro illness. Helped by them lurking in a bookcase unseen for decades! Some survived the cut eg histories of Dundee and Cupar and John Kay's caricatures. But most are off to charity.

We have many more books still to clear out. There are still too many piles of things to dismantle in the study. But it's progress. And it is refreshing how easily I'm finding it to pass these on. It helps that I know that our local Oxfam's will sell them well. And they will also find homes for the Scottish history journal issues.

Getting beyond exasperated with the number of people on forums and groups I'm on, who reply to questions, needing specialist and reliable knowledge to answer, and post a response from ChatGPT. Usually & consistently wrong. Those folk may learn it's not a good source but others later will use it too.

I'm also beyond exasperated by the misuse of generative AI in creative fields, including art, interactive fiction and writing. I'm also an academic whose own academic writings have been used without my permission to train AI, including for Meta. And then there are the environmental costs. Just stop!

My 88-year-old Mum who's never used a computer or smartphone in her life, and never will, also rants about AI. I'm quite impressed that she knows about it and has enough knowledge to have opinions :)

Incidentally I've been using and involved with some forms of AI since the 1980s. But I really really dislike the modern version and where things are going with it.

Just finishing the book Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures by Luke Sherlock. A quite magical book, a mix of architecture, travel and history. Also exploration of place. With evocative illustrations throughout from Ioana Pioaru. Thoroughly recommended.

I mainly read it on my Kindle for disability reasons, but also had the hardback book, which is better for appreciating the gorgeous illustrations. It's a quite compact hardback book, not too large, but just right. I was just tormenting Martin over tea with questions about "Do you know X?" re X places in Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset! But also had fun showing him some of the fantastic pictures I enjoyed in the later sections of the book. He's a lapsed bellringer, and in his younger days rang bells in many churches in southwest England.