Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 28/09/2026Japanese lesson was delightful today. Sat outside in my old rattan chairs that have travelled with me from Singapore to Tokyo and are now finally unwrapped again in Adelaide. Felt confident speaking and using recently learned grammar points. And loved the vibe of this setting. 190
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 27/09/2026Contacted the council who claimed the beach was open. I sent them photos of the beach closed sign. A few days later houses in our area got a letter box drop saying the beach was open, with a rough map of the works. But no explanation who put up the beach closed signs. 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 26/09/2026Long day of unpacking. Touching things I haven't seen since 2022. Or 2019. Unboxing, unwrapping, and shelving is tiring. But the emotional rollercoaster is even more exhausting. 150
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 25/09/2026Midnight Diner is coming back with a new season! Seven years after the last seasons. Lots of old characters returning. This is thrilling. 110
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 21/09/2026Went for a walk along the beach this morning. The beach was closed. Signage didn't mention a government department. Or provide contact info for more details. Nothing online about when the beach would open again. Just another example of the way Australia currently feels sub-democratic. 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 19/09/2026Roasted Oysters in the pizza oven tonight. The oysters are still closed when you cook them. So the sea water becomes a little oyster broth. Doesn’t need seasoning because it’s naturally salty. Anyway, I've become one of those "you can cook anything in a pizza oven" dudes. 142
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 19/09/2026K-pop superstar Won-young is the new Asia-Pacific brand ambassador for UGG. I'm constantly amazed by the way UGG has evolved as a brand. A working class product when I was young. Almost an insult. And now a global icon. www.koreajoongangdaily.com/entertainmen...koreajoongangdaily.comIVE’s Jang Won-young named Asia-Pacific face of UGGThe IVE member begins her role as UGG’s Asia-Pacific face with the brand’s 2026 Fall/Winter campaign. 030
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 19/09/2026I didn't have "dude who is famous for rants about architecture and design doesn't believe in the idea of consent" on my bingo card for 2026. But I guess this far into the game nothing should be surprising anymore 032
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 17/09/2026It’s been a long while since I saw a dolphin on my afternoon walk. The coast is healing. Or I’m healing. Or both. 150
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 16/09/2026RIP Annie Dillard. The stars are falling out of the sky this year. 051
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 15/09/2026Last action of the day was to unfollow and block on Instagram that dude who has hot takes about Australian architecture and interior design. He can take his arcane anti-consent ideas and smear them on the walls of his home for all I care. I have no room for men who want more violence against women. 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 15/09/2026Racism is irrational. We need to say it again and again. For the past 30 years so many writers have tried to prop up the "racism is a belief system" myth. As if being racist is like being Catholic or Liberal. Racism is a coping strategy. A power game. It's more like alcoholism, or narcissism. 020
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 13/09/2026I like the way wake up time naturally drifts in Spring as sun rises earlier. My body is making room for summer. Of course in Australia that will get messed up in a few weeks by Daylight Savings Time. But for now it's a joy to experience the body communing with nature. 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 12/09/2026Saw a raft of seals basking in the early morning sunshine a few hundred meters off shore. Love that that there are different collective terms for seals, a raft, a pod, a rookery, depending on their activity. 092
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 11/09/2026September 11 had a huge impact on my family. My whole life was lived in the shadow of this event. Everything that led up to it. Along with all that followed. 020
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 11/09/2026Rode The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin. Lots of amazing scenery. Some great sunrises and sunsets. Took a lot of photos and will post some Instagram next week. Also spent a couple of nights in Darwin. Had only visited the airport before. It's a cool city. A mix of frontier town and Asian port. 280
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 04/09/2026Dined at arkhé last night. It's one of the most talked about restaurants in Adelaide. Sure to feature in the upcoming Michelin Guide. Will be interesting to see how people here react to the way the guide ranks restaurants. 130
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 04/09/2026It’s been a rough week for losing the greats of the Silent Generation. But a good moment tp reflect on how different they were to the Boomers. 020
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 03/09/2026How big an issue is EV charging station vandalism? There are two fast charging stations in Port Adelaide and they have repeatedly vandalised over the past couple of years. 000
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 02/09/2026The data centres are weapons. The dramatic ramp up in how many are built isn't because that much capacity is needed to summarise your emails or create dumb AI art. The foreign policy world has been awash for a while with stories about AI's future role in military and cyber activity. 122
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 01/09/2026RIP Wendell Berry. There was a story in one of his essays, about a bucket that hung on a fence, and over time it filled with dirt. I was a young man when I read that story. And it changed my life. I saw nature, and aging, and wisdom in a new way. I will have to dig up that essay again. 060
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 01/09/2026I miss polls. Twitter polls were cool. Anwyay, I have a question. When did you first post online as yourself? Not using a nickname or anonymous handle. But using your real name? A. Before 1999 B. 2000-2007 C. 2008-2017 D. After 2018 or never 430
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 31/08/2026Bluesky could've become the new Twitter. But it became the new Mastodon. h/t to @damianm.com for the insight 140
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 31/08/2026I got a text message from the delivery company saying my parcel would arrive in the morning. I stood at the window watching the delivery van arrive, park for a minute, then drive off. I got a text message from the delivery company saying no one was home and my parcel could be picked up later. 845053
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 31/08/2026Folding and putting away laundry is my kryponite. All my productivity ideas fail me. I procrastinate like it's an Olympic sport. Maybe because, as a kid my mum would put my clothes away, even if I washed them. Now as an adult I'm obsessive about order. And yet I'm posting and not finishing the task. 240
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 31/08/2026Social media helped me make real life friends for more than a decade. Twitter and Instagram opened so many doors for me in Hong Kong. Then helped me quickly establish a network in Singapore. It was slower in Tokyo but I made lifelong friends there. And it was going OK in London before the Pandemic. 110
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 31/08/2026In the late 90s there was a huge exodus of ambitious young Australian business talent. Mostly poached by blue-chip multinational banks and companies a generation of the MBA-class left for successful careers in places like London, New York, and Hong Kong. 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 29/08/2026Now that I'm fully back into "turn emails into OmniFocus actions" I am left wondering why I ever walked away from this workflow. Of course the answer is "life." And "all this." But still, I was on a good thing once and it's great to be on a good thing again. 130
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 29/08/2026Be the kind of person who puts books in the hands of all kinds of children. Not the kind of person who shreds and destroys books or rips them out schools and public libraries. 081
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 28/08/2026Lovely sunset while flying into Adelaide this evening 090
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 27/08/2026I first saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a young kid from the backseat of my Parent's car at the Drive-In. They would sneak me in because it was their only chance to go to the movies. I was supposed to be asleep for the second feature. But I never was. 150
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 27/08/2026I had a dream last night that was like Train to Busan, but instead of outrunning zombies, the train was escaping property developers, tradies, and people who wanted to turn character-filled homes into white boxes. 030
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 26/08/2026Made a restaurant booking for next month and immedediately got a text message. This exactly one more message than I need and totally redundant since I already got a confirmation email. If I start getting more messages then I will be tempted to cancel the restaurant booking. 130
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 26/08/2026Dolly Parton meant a lot to many of us and she certainly meant a lot to me.fernandogros.comDolly Parton - Fernando GrosA source of joy and inspiration, Dolly Parton is no longer with us. 151
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 25/08/2026It's important to understand the role (or roles) you play in someone's life. Beyond the obvious labels like friend, parent, or whatever. Not just the role you think you have but also the role they need you to fulfil. 070
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 25/08/2026Since I came back to Australia in 2022 it’s felt like a relentless stream of arts and music festivals closing their doors, an ecological disaster unfolding in waterways and coastlines, and landslide victories for political parties that don’t respond to their electorate. 130
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 24/08/2026Thing I learned today is that if you have a tape measure in millimetres with a little diamond shape above some measurements that indicates a number that is divisble by 32. This is extremely useful in woodworking projects and something I wish I knew years ago. 040
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 24/08/2026Today's Japanese lesson was fun. Forgot some vocab but got the important things right. Reading long passages out loud has got a lot smoother in recent months. As has comprehension. I generally feel less rushed and anxious in lessons. 040
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 22/08/2026I've said for years that Apple should build a clock. Well, turns out the rumoured new HomePod controller will run on a version of WatchOS. So, it's a clock! Apple is making the clock. I love it. Run your smart home without the distractions of looking at your iPhone. 000
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 22/08/2026This experience has also been part of putting the HEAL (have, enrich, absorb, link) process to work in dealing with my social anxiety. Which is part of why I'm still contemplating it days later. 150
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 22/08/2026Fjord, this year's Palme d'Or winner, is a great film. Politically charged and ambitious. Unsettlingly so. This review goes into that and adds content to the events that inspired the film and the issues with Cristian Mungiu's directoral approach. www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...lemonde.fr'Fjord,' 2026 Palme d'Or: 'Cristian Mungiu lends cinematic prestige to the fight against political correctness'OP-ED. Romanian political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu argues that, by once again choosing a politically divisive subject while refusing to deliver a moral verdict, filmmaker Cristian Mungiu cultivat... 010
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 21/08/2026Spring has arrived here in Adelaide. I might be tempting fate but it feels like time to put away the warm baselayers. 110