Copenhagen We spent a few days in Copenhagen last week. CPH was an inspirational, even aspirational place to be: excellent bike infrastructure, impressively shiny public transport, clean water all around where people could (and did) swim, a generally relaxed vibe. Remarkable numbers of almost off-puttingly wholesome teenagers walking around town. Good food as well, not to mention an active and flourishing coffee scene, with obligatory cardamom buns. I now want to dig into what made the city the place it is now. Wealth (colonial and others), for sure, but also a different emphasis in how it should be spent. Amsterdam got its great bike infrastructure through activism in the 60-70s, what made it happen in Copenhagen?

It was an excellent break, spent wandering from museum to park to seaside and taking it easy.

School year little person is back to school. There was some interpersonal drama at the end of last school year, so I was wondering how she’d feel about it. This morning she put her game face on, and she says she has a new group of friends now. It’s hard to judge from a distance. I didn’t have great teenage years, so I hope she has a better time and some company along the way. There’s not much I can do beyond hoping and providing a safe and attentive environment for her. And trying not to project my own experience on it all.

Return to Office My employer has mandated 3 days a week return to office. There is no clear data that it would make us more productive/creative, so speculations about the real reason abound. Office real estate value? Tax deals with US cities? Cowing of labour movements?

I realized sitting back in the office that it might be all of that, and something else: during the pandemic and after we all lost our work personas. Sitting at home in comfortable surroundings, we shedded the brittle carapace we’d developed over years of neutral, airconditioned office spaces, bad coffee and charmless rituals. It’s harder to be harsh when your partner and/or children are in the next room. Harder to be formal when you’re in your own space. And maybe the board prefer us on edge, off kilter and hungry, rather than too comfortable, with extra time to contemplate whether it’s all worth it. Coming back to the office I feel dysphoria, but also an attachment to that softer, kinder home person, and I’m going to try and hold on to her.