This Week: Emotional whiplash • The free dumbphone living inside your iPhone for focus and calm • Standing against penny-pinching businesses • My Favourite Finds • The Darkroom
Eclipse of the Heart
When the next wave hit, I thought in earnest: am I going to drown?
None of the waves were especially big, but the first one caught me off guard, knocking me off my feet and under.
The barrage was relentless. For all my thrashing, I couldn't find footing that would stand against the forces pulling me down.
I survived it, the water eventually pushing me into the shallows. But misfortune has continued to batter me with bad news this past week.
The solar eclipse was a welcome reprieve. I'd been in Germany and offline, so news of the upcoming cosmic dance had passed me by. I arrived in London unprepared – which is to say, I didn't have any special, solar-eslipse-certified sunglasses in my pocket.
I decided I could still enjoy watching the London cityscape dim under the Moon's shadow, so I took to the roof of my block of flats.
I missed none of the magic. It was the first eclipse of any kind I had ever seen, and it was all thanks to the woman who gifted me an extra pair of eclipse glasses.
‘You’re here for the eclipse?’ she bubbled. ‘Amazing. I’ve been following them around Europe. Go on, have a drink. Say hello everyone – this is Jamie.’
The entire spectacle left me awestruck. I’ve always loved space. Cradled in the moment, I forgot about my earlier panic attack, and everything that had happened in Germany.
Germany itself wasn't entirely bad. I got to visit the best theme park in the world, and the neighbouring water park – where I kind-of-almost drowned.
I got to gawk at Neuschwanstein Castle, the one that inspired the Disney castle; explore Stuttgart, the home of Mercedes and Porsche; swim in the vastness of Lake Constance, and experience the rushing terror of racing down the autobahn at 101 mph (163 km/h).
The company beside me, however, was heart-wrenching and turbulent. I don’t want to unpack it all now, but when I landed back in London and retreated to the safety of my bed, I sobbed over all the ways the holiday had shredded me.
Eclipses have inspired their share of bad omens. In some traditions, uncovered food turns poisonous. In others, people turn into mice.
Other stories are more matter of fact. In China, they believe the Sun is being eaten by a dragon, while in Norse mythology it’s a wolf. Vietnam says it’s a giant frog.
The Italians are more fun. They believe flowers planted during an eclipse will grow richer in colour and sparkle.
With the string of misfortune still fresh, I’m holding onto the Italian story. A lot of things I thought were steady pillars are falling down, but I’m hoping the seeds I’ve been planting come through in the spring, and that this will one day become a chapter I laugh about.
Feel free to reply to this message or share your questions, requests, and favourite finds here.
Jamie | @JamoeMills
☀️ From an arid London
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P.S. I’m temporarily moving the newsletter schedule to monthly. With all the forecast changes and upheaval, I need to focus getting the word out about Oxford Notes, publish the course edition, and reset some of my life’s foundations. I’ll write again on September 13th, 2026. In the meantime, don't be a stranger.
Articles & Guides
Escaping Your Phone’s Gravity: Part 3
There's a free dumbphone hiding inside every iPhone. Here's how to find it, and why it beats every app promising to do the same thing.
At a glance
Based on the reader question: Is there a way to turn my smartphone into a simpler, distraction-free device, without buying new hardware or paying for another app?
- Apple's Assistive Access doubles as the best free dumbphone on the market and it's sitting inside your existing iPhone.
- Unlike a standard screen-time limit, leaving browsers off your allowed-apps list doesn't just restrict the internet, but removes it entirely, closing the workarounds that make most self-imposed limits easy to ignore.
- A five-minute setup, built around a handful of core apps and a passcode only you know, gets you (or a teenager easing into phone ownership) a device that's reachable but never endlessly available.
I love this trick. Inside every iPhone is a dumbphone you can activate to give you, or a loved one, like a teenager easing their way into phone ownership, an ultra-simple, minimalist, and hyper-focused device.
Stories & Reflections
Down The Drain
A fight over tap water in Tallinn, and the small, absurd battle against a city’s growing devotion to Big Bottle.
‘Why did you leave us a two-star review?’ It was the bar I’d visited the previous night in Tallinn, Estonia.
They can reply? I thought this was a one-way street for me to fight back and vent, but now my microphone-dropping moment to reverse the tide had lost its teeth.
I rolled my eyes. Call me petty, but I hate penny-pinching businesses.
I also hate fighting with internet strangers, especially while I’m on holiday. So, despite how much they deserved it, I deleted my review.
I rarely visit bars in London, so I thought I’d have fun exploring Tallinn’s nightlife.
After buying two drinks at the establishment in question, a Devil’s Margarita and a Sex On The Beach, I thought I’d get a third before the music and dancing really popped off. Maybe a Skinny Bitch or a Sloppy Kiss – it was nearly midnight after all. Before that though, I needed some water.
‘Still or sparkling?’
‘Just tap water is good. Thank you.’
The bartender turned around, grabbed a plastic cup, and spun back to face me.
‘You can go downstairs and get water from there.’
Downstairs? I spied the faucet behind him, puzzled.
‘What? Where do I have to go?’
‘Downstairs. On the left.’
Now dear reader, it just clicked for me what was waiting for me downstairs and on the left...
My Favourite Finds
Things worth passing along.
Do you have a favourite find (ideas, books, quotes, purchases, etc.)? Share it here.
Sombr – Back to friends (song)
One of sombr's greatest songs. A gut-punch that explores how you go back to being friends after you've fallen in deep with someone.
Europa-Park Resort (theme park)
I'd never heard of Europa-Park until eight weeks ago. It's an enormous German theme park built around the stories, folklore and architecture of different European countries, so you can wander from Icelandic gods to an Alpine village before being thrown through the air by a roller coaster.
It has been named the world’s best theme park by the Golden Ticket Awards ten times, and, having now experienced it, I can see why. The neighbouring water park, Rulantica, is also excellent: it was ranked fourth among water parks worldwide in 2025, so my near-drowning was at least taking place somewhere highly decorated.
SocialLite – Use social media without distractions (app)
This app makes your favourite social media apps intentional. You choose to remove the algorithmic recommendation feeds, short-form shorts, ads, shopping tabs, Explore pages, and more. The free version is also plenty powerful.
Lactase tablets (health)
It took me years after realising I was lactose intolerant to learn that you can take a tablet containing the enzyme before eating and go back to how things were before. Effective lactase dosing can be fiddly, but I’ve found the small-but-mighty tablets from Bulk to be the best.
I divide the bottles into tiny medicine pots and spread them across my bags and a few coats. That way, I always have some with me if I need them.
The Darkroom
Things I've seen.
