Micro-habits for chill mornings, breaking bizarre records, and outlandish outfit inspo

The giveaway is ‘Between Husbands and Wives’ by Susannah Glenn

Aug 13, 2024

It’s that lull in proceedings between the closing ceremony of the Olympics over the weekend and the Paralympics starting on 28 August. I am eagerly waiting because, can I respectfully say: I enjoy the Paralympics more.

In decades past, I remember the Paralympics not being broadcast and barely rating a few-second mention on the nightly news. This year, I was pleased to see how far we’ve come – not only does it receive extensive coverage, but there’s much more integration in the Paralympians and the Olympians being featured together in TV ads, plus Paralympians in hosting roles and commentating the Olympics.

Why do I love watching the Paralympics more, though? Some of the sports relatively new to me or the para element means different tactics and rules reinvigorate a sport I’ve seen many times before. From previous viewings, I’m looking forward to watching some of the Aussie athletes with fab personalities, such as Grant Paterson and Ahmed Kelly. Plus, the level of cooperation, camaraderie, and merrymaking seems to be on another level. It’s just a very. good. time.

Have you been watching the Olympics? What have been your favourite moments?

News

1. Yeah, I’m not wading into the media storm created by a certain Aussie female breakdancer’s performance at the Paris Olympics. As a polite and positive alternative, let’s talk about the couple helping ordinary Aussies break bizarre records. Sometimes, their efforts are in aid of raising money for charities, but sometimes it’s just about making people feel special for their strange talents. If I found their tent at a festival, I would 100% swerve into it and be fascinated hearing about other people’s record attempts. Let’s be real, I’d probably also be keen to try my hand at setting my own record, although I’m really not sure what my bizarre talent would be, other than reciting that McDonald’s ‘two all-beef patties’ refrain at record speed. I worked there as a teenager, so I reckon I could give that a decent crack. Anyway, how fun!

2. It turns out one important part of self-care might be other-care, according to this Guardian article. Researchers are not sure exactly why this is the case. It could simply be that helping other people tends to involve healthy movement that improves our overall wellbeing, or that individuals who are already fit and coping well with life tend to be the ones in a place to volunteer for the benefit of others. Something the article doesn’t mention, but I suspect is key, is choosing to be a helper rather than being roped into it. At any rate, it’s something to think about.

3. This ABC article is a pithy summary of the issues surrounding Cosmos magazine using a Walkley Foundation (an organisation that safeguards standards in journalism) grant to experiment with AI to produce science-based website articles. It’s certainly a bad look. I agree with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance representative, Lilia Anderson, who said that AI can be a useful tool, if used ethically:

“What that means for us is that staff are consulted on any use of AI in the workplace, that they consent to that use, and that AI is being used in a way that doesn't replace journalist jobs but enhances or supports their role."

It appears the way Cosmos went about things didn’t exactly meet this definition. Even if, by a generous interpretation of events, they were purely using AI to improve the process of writing articles and not appropriating previous human writers’ work to feed into the algorithm and supplant their jobs, can anyone blame journalists these days for being jumpy about this? C’mon dudes.

Reviews

1. A list of ‘15 micro-habits for calmer, healthier mornings’ is entirely my type of thing. Improving your life in a way that’s totally non-threatening and achievable by making the tiniest of changes? I’d like some more of that, please. My favourite from this list? Reframing each day as an ‘adventure’. Perfect for recapturing that childlike mode of every day being about discovery, play, and exploration.

2. Please excuse how dodgy this sounds: I’ve never put on a mask that felt this wet before (see?). On tearing open the package, droplets leapt out. Saturday Skin’s Intense Hydration Mask ($11 for one sheet from Sephora) certainly is brimming with moisture, but does it actually get soaked into your skin? Sure seemed to. The mask itself is so drenched in moisture that it’s hard to separate it from the outer mesh. I wasn’t in love with the slightly chemical smell of this sheet mask, although it’s very faint. I’d prefer if it had a pleasant (though still light) scent, but I’m otherwise impressed.

3. An Insta account of a writer girl from New York who layers in-your-face brights over in-your-face brights? Yup, that’s my jam. If your feed is in dire need of a colour injection and outlandish outfit inspo, may I introduce you to Kristen Bateman? Like, just look at this.

kristenvbateman