The Now Page was invented by Derek Sivers in 2021. It’s a page on your website that tells people what you’re doing right now — what you’re working on, what you’re working towards, what you’re looking forward to, and what you’re enjoying.

If you want to know more about who I am and what I do generally, take a look at my About page.

Now

Last updated on Friday, 3 January 2025.

It’s the start of a new year, and it’s been summer holidays for just under a month, so I’m definitely feelin’ fine. Let’s see where things stand.

Life

The big news is that my Term III long service leave has been finalised. Starting at the end of August, I will have spend four weeks in Athens and the Greek islands, followed by two weeks in the UK catching up with everyone. That term off in the middle of the year is going to make 2025 much more chill. I can’t wait.

School

The focus this year will be on Year 10 Latin, who will be making the difficult transition from textbook Latin to authentic Latin, which is Year 10 does every year. However, this year they’ll be doing it with the help of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. I’m really looking forward to seeing how that works out. I’m confident that this year’s Year 10 have read more Latin and have a better sense of the language than any previous year I’ve taught. Should be good.

There are also two new people joining the Classics Department, which isn’t a thing that happens all that often, and so that should make for an interesting year as well.

Podcasting

Flight Through Entirety has finished its Series 10 coverage, which means it’s having a few years’ rest to allow Doctor Who to get a bit more history under its belt. Our last episode for the time being, Well, That’s All the Time We Have for Now, was a ninety-minute retrospective which saw all seven of the hosts together on the couch for the first time.

In a month or so, we’ll make a start on Season 2 of our new Doctor Who podcast 500 Year Diary, which is called The Second Coming, and which focuses on the stories where an iconic monster or enemy appears on the show for the second time.

Maximum Power’s Series D coverage continues on its weekly release schedule. I edited the first two episodes, so I don’t have to worry about it any more for a few weeks. It’s going well, I think. Worth a listen if you remember Blakes 7.

And of course, there’s Untitled Star Trek Project. It’s been over three years since Joe and I released that first episode, and last week released Episode 138. It’s fun to prepare for, really fun to record, and fun to edit. And it’s fun to listen to too, I think. So we’re back for another year, and in September we’ll have the chance to record some episodes together in person, of course.

Websites

And I’ve nearly released my Eleventy plugin eleventy-plugin-podcaster (or Podcaster for short). It’s still in pre-release, but it’s already running four of the podcasting websites — 500 Year Diary, The Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, Startling Barbara Bain and Maximum Power.

There’s still work to do. Writing more tests, re-reading and checking everything and writing detailed documentation. In fact, I’m creating a documentation website for it right now. More news next time.

What I’m enjoying

For me, the biggest pop culture thing in the last couple of months has been the film of Wicked, which was funny and beautiful and heartbreaking, with two superb central performances from Cynthia Erivo and Arianna Grande. I can’t wait to see it again, and I’m looking forward to the release of Part II, Wicked: For Good this November.

I’m not watching as much TV as I had hoped to these holidays, but there’s still time, I guess. Lower Decks finished a couple of weeks ago, and Cousin Michelle’s Section 31 film will be out in a few weeks. And I’m re-reading Decline and Fall.