There are lots of passages in Man’s Search For Meaning that have made an impact on me so far. This is a particular favourite:

One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.

I’ve got bored of cycling up and down hills in North London*. For my ride this weekend I headed east looking for something a bit flatter. I got as far as the Lea Valley from Finsbury Park and then got distracted when I saw the Olympic observation tower in the distance.

(* OK, I’m not fit enough yet)

View the route on MapMyRide

There are some great pathways for walking or cycling around Hackney marshes and down the canals, all the way to the south of the Olympic Park area.

If you haven’t been down there then go soon, it’s already looking great.

Since replacing my modern hybrid with a vintage steel frame bike, I’ve fallen for cycling in a big way. Things like old fashioned gears made me think twice initially but in the end, you end up feeling very connected to how the bike works. It’s pretty addictive.

Setting out on my last Sunday morning bike ride I had a lot of reasons to curse the decision: I’d bought a leather saddle that’s painfully hard; I’d checked the forecast and knew that the rain was to continue all day; it was early and I’d barely eaten; and I’d chosen a new route around hilly north London that meant I may well be coughing up what slight breakfast I’d managed.

With all that in mind, my lasting memory of that ride will be the quiet joy of a nod from a fellow Sunday rider that confirmed I’m not the only crazy one.

I just bought a Brooks Swift leather saddle and fitted it to my old french road bike to take it for its first ride (18k around Hampstead with a couple of mean climbs).

The Brooks saddles have a reputation for needing a lot of miles to break the hard leather in and become comfortable. A 15 mile up and around Hampstead on the hill confirms that they’re all telling the truth. It’s not painfully uncomfortable – better than the plastic seat fitted to the bike when I bought it second hand – but I can tell it’s going to take a fair few more rides to get it genuinely comfortable.

Thankfully it looks the part so fingers crossed it’s worthwhile in the long run.

Lighthouse at sunrise, originally uploaded by Phil Sheard.

Via Flickr:
A favourite shot from my recent summer break to Gran Canaria.

I made an early start one morning to try and catch a sunrise. The skies were quite cloudy so I never got the actual sun rising, but I still like the contrast still here – daylight is breaking but hasn’t reached the ground yet which is still in darkness.

It’s not the greatest photo ever, but because of the effort (early start, lots of test shots, paranoia of being attacked by werewolves) it is one of my favourites.

Here’s the full set of the trip.

Home brew, originally uploaded by Phil Sheard.

Via Flickr:
The Nespresso machine is one of the best presents I’ve ever received, and now Lou’s mum bought her the milk frother as a housewarming gift – love it.

Great hipster sketch (via Mixtape Monster blog)

 

Rented lenses – 35mm f2 & 28mm f2.8, originally uploaded by Phil Sheard.

The first thing I did when I bought my Canon 450D was to get the ‘thrifty fifty’ 50mm 1.8, Canon’s cheapest prime lens. It’s fantastic quality in the right situation but not great for walking around with on a crop-sensor DSLR.

The two pictured above (35mm f2 and the 28mm f2.8) are two more of Canon’s relatively inexpensive prime lenses and I’m looking to buy one over the next month or so. When I walked past Calumet and saw they hire out lenses, this seemed like a perfect weekend to test them side by side around London to see which works best.

The wider angle of the 28mm would be great, but at 2.8 it’s not much faster than the kit lens. On the other hand, 35mm on the crop 450D is a touch over 50mm so might not be wide enough. Hopefully this weekend will solve that quandry.

If you’ve got any tips for testing lenses – destinations, settings, that kind of thing then leave a comment. Cheers

UPDATE Jan 2012: Thomas requested an update on what I thought of the two lenses.

In the end, neither lens met my needs. The 35mm was too narrow on my crop-sensor 450D, and the aperture of the 28mm wasn’t wide enough for my indoor shots. I went on to test the Canon 28mm f1.8 and the Sigma 30mm f1.4, and of the two of those I preferred the Sigma for its combination of sharpness and I liked the really narrow depth of field the 1.4 allows. There are a couple of samples on my Flickr page that illustrate with test shots.