The Ragged Optimist 87
Have you got your 2026 diary yet? I use a pocket-sized page-a-day Moleskine which gives me enough space for multiple things in a day, for adding notes next to events I’ve booked in, and for adding reminders about travel plans, too. A physical diary lets me slow down, too, which means nobody can bounce events on me. If you feel overloaded sometimes, this is a top way out of the digital mess. Keep it Danalogue (thanks Connor for constant Dan~ puns). And if you do have your diary, here are some events to add, including exhibitions at The Pines Gardens in Dover for The Bay Trust, at Pie Factory in Margate, and that new literary festival thing I’m playing with in May.
Until then - take some time off over Christmas if you can and I’ll be back in early January. But this round-up of hope and optimism should keep you going until then -
Corgi diecast toys have been used in a care home to start conversations based on people’s memories.
Liberty and the Imperial War Museum have collaborated on a collection of fabric designs. Working with IWM collections and Liberty archives, the Liberty fabric design team have created three prints revealing some of the aspects of incarceration during conflict, with influence from lived experiences from powerful voices such as that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian former hostage detained in Iran for six years.
Taylor Swift has handed out bonuses to the cast and crew of her tour. On a previous tour, this included life-changing amounts for the tour’s truck drivers.
Another date for that 2026 diary - in October 2026, Dulwich Picture Gallery will bring one of the world’s most iconic print series to London. The full set of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (c. 1830–33) will be on show for the first time in the UK.
Woodland which includes a network of Second World War tunnels has been saved at Hargate Forest, following a £1.25million urgent public appeal by The Woodland Trust
Thanet District Council are buying houses to provide temporary accommodation, rather than relying on the private sector. Pretty much thanks to once councillor’s determination the council has been quietly adding new houses to its council stock, and has brought lots of people housed outside the district back home - hats off to Cllr Helen Whitehead.
Collaborative Housing, Ageing and Social Care – Lessons from Europe is a new book which explores how citizen-led housing and community-based care are reshaping ageing across Europe.
Meanwhile, Owen Jarvis, Chief Executive of the UK Cohousing Network, explains why cohousing is helping rebuild communities broken by the Conservatives’ austerity politics.
Worried about AI? Turns out, quite easy to turn them communist, and then they start giving things away.
A rare sighting of a wild beaver has been made in Suffolk. They’re appearing in the wild all over now, not just in enclosures.
Love this ❤️