Finished reading: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older continues a fun series: solving mysteries on a gas giant planet. 📚

Finished reading: Tapper’s Day Off by Dan Moren is a fun short story. I’m glad to read more in this universe 📚

Finished reading: Despite having watched and really enjoyed Slow Horses on Apple TV, reading the first book by Mick Herron was still great fun. 📚

🏊‍♂️ Nice to be back in a lake

A serene open water swim is taking place in a picturesque lake surrounded by lush trees, with performance metrics displayed at the bottom.

Finished reading: An Immense World by Ed Yong is a remarkable book. A fascinating exploration of the senses and what we can learn by trying to understand the perceptions of other animals📚

🏃‍♂️ Hazy out there from the forest fires on today’s run

A misty outdoor landscape features a marshy area and trees in the background, with overlaid text detailing a running activity summary.

Vacation starts now!

A tall glass of beer is placed on a wooden railing overlooking a lake with a sunset reflecting on the water.

After three weeks with a Readiness to Train score around two, I’m glad to be back in the green. Time to get active again!

A smart watch display shows a fitness progress chart with a motivational message and a highlighted peak on Thursday.

Finished reading: A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel J. Levitin is a clear and thorough summary of all the ways we need to be on guard for misinformation. Targeted to beginners though, so not a lot of new information for us veterans of the internet 📚

Finished reading: The Longbow, the Schooner, and the Violin by Marq de Villiers is an interesting exploration of wood via those three objects. A bit clunky in sections, though pretty good overall 📚

🇨🇦🥃 Enjoying the Bearface Triple Oak whisky

A bottle of Bearface Canadian Whisky stands next to a glass filled with whisky and a large ice cube.

Finished reading: The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison continues the great Cemeteries of Amalo series. I’m impressed with how casually and simply such a rich and complex world is created in this series 📚

New notebook day!

A blue pen rests on an open lined notebook placed on a marble surface.

George is recovering well from recent, minor surgery by sleeping at my feet

A golden retriever wearing a blue harness is lying on its back next to a person’s feet in sandals on a wooden floor.

🔗 Matt Gurney: How Hollywood screwed with our civic expectations

Why do we assume the same government that is, for instance, struggling to fill potholes in my city, or hire enough nurses in my province, or fix a federal payroll system, is going to be more competent when presented with something totally out of the blue? This flies in the face of all of our lived experiences with government. It’s a generous assumption of state capacity that is, to put it charitably, unearned.

Finished reading: Blindsight by Peter Watts is an interesting mix of sci-fi, horror, and philosophy. I enjoyed it. Vampires in space!📚

🎧 I enjoyed Season 7 of Strong Songs and am happy to be a Patreon supporter

Glad it’s Friday

A can of Lake of Bays Brewing Co. hazy pale ale is next to a glass filled with the beer on a countertop.

🎶 Some good, new albums that fit well together:

🇨🇦 Gloves Off is a thought provoking series (so far) on how Canada could respond to recent geopolitical developments