🎡 Afterlife - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory is setting the right mood for me today

Afterlife - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory poster

I found a great place to deposit my $200 bribe. I’d like the money to go somewhere helpful and to counter some of the nasty rhetoric and actions around LGBTQ issues πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ

Finished reading: If you like creepy, weird books (and I do), you’ll enjoy Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer. But, you have to read the great Area X trilogy first πŸ“š

πŸ”— The Cult of the Bully

It may seem priggish to say it, given the current β€œvibe shift,” but we really can’t give up on personal integrity just yet. The day we celebrate our children for their selfishness and cruelty will be the point of no return.

I can’t believe that I’m about to type this sentence: Now that America is threatening Canada with economic ruin and potential annexation as the 51st state, I think it is very important for Canadians to stay well informed. To that end, I recommend two great sources: Paul Wells and The Line. Both are high quality, independent journalism with important voices in the True North, Strong and Free πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦

A fun episode of The Incomparable on my favourite fiction book of 2024

πŸ”— What Aging Can Teach Us About Sustainable Success

With that in mind, here are a few lessons I’ve learned as an aging athlete who can still run pretty fast, but is having a lot of doing it.

  1. Stop short. Almost always.

There’s an old adage in running that you should have one more rep in the tank. It’s also called the no hands on your knees rule. Both get a simple point, the risk of pushing to get that final repeat is seldom worth it. The benefit is small, if it even exists.

I’m tempted to write this on my shoes. Good advice that I followed this morning: the workout called for 5–8 reps and I stopped after 5 good ones.

Required viewing

Two people are watching Groundhog Day, as seen from a cozy living room setting.

πŸ”— Are We All Just Liars?

Eleven miles later, I stopped my watch β€” satisfied, yet aware that my run was a castle constructed out of lies. I never intended to stop early, but I told myself that I would. I think I believed myself in the moment. As a moral philosopher, this gives me pause.

via The Morning Shakeout

We had a great two-day family ski trip to Blue Mountain. After a few years off skis, great to be back.

Three people in ski gear are posing together on a snowy slope with trees in the background.Snowy street lined with trees and buildings adorned with colorful holiday lights.Long icicles hang from a rooftop with snow-covered trees and a softly lit ski slope in the background.Three people are sitting on a ski lift, dressed in winter clothing and ski gear, smiling at the camera.A family of four is smiling together at a snowy, festive outdoor location with lit-up buildings in the background.A snowy landscape overlooks a town with expansive cloudy skies above.

πŸ”— The "near abroad" comes home // Paul Wells // paulwells.substack.com

I’ve believed for many years that Canada’s national bird was a chicken coming home to roost, except this one looks like an eagle.

πŸ–– Outline of a short story, starring a Star Trek fan:

  1. New episode of Vulcan Hello podcast arrives
  2. Realizes there’s a new movie: Section 31!?
  3. Stops listening to avoid spoilers
  4. Starts watching Section 31
  5. 20 minutes in thinks: β€œuh oh, is this the only Star Trek movie I’m not going to finish?”
  6. Goes back to podcast. Is convinced to finish Section 31, eventually
  7. Has at least five other good Star Trek movies to rewatch first

Yoga with George

A golden retriever is lying on a carpet, gazing into the camera with a stick nearby.A dog rests its head on a toy next to a tablet displaying a yoga class in a living room setting.

β˜•οΈ Consistently tasty coffee

I’ve been a happy AeroPress user for many years now. A few weeks ago, I was gifted the Flow Control Filter Cap. The cap acts as a pressure activated valve that prevents any drip through the filter, until you press on the plunger. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much of a difference it has made to the consistency of my coffee Before trying the flow control cap, I would not have said the AeroPress was unduly inconsistent.

Continue reading β†’

Finished reading: Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave by SeΓ‘n O’Hagan is a remarkable conversation about creativity, grief, and religionπŸ“š

πŸŠβ€β™‚οΈ The Mystery of the Shrinking Pool

There’s an odd glitch with my Apple Watch: anytime I finish a swim interval, it claims there are still two meters left. Then after about five seconds, it realizes I’ve stopped, decides I’ve finished a lap after all, and moves to the next interval. It isn’t the pool, I’ve tried several different ones. Even stranger, it isn’t accumulating by lap. If I finish a 25m sprint: two meters short. A 500m interval: also two meters short.

Continue reading β†’

Dispatch from the Front Line: “Canada” is a question of what we can get

The ability of a population to withstand neighbourly aggression β€” “economic force,” if you will β€” depends on two things. The first is internal social cohesion and identity. The second is what the aggressor is willing to do or offer in order to secure capitulation.

The first is so important, yet so intangible and fickle

🎧 Nice to have Strombo back on Apple Music radio. The show has been a regular companion for my long basement rides and was missed over the past few months

πŸ“š Although I exceeded my goal of reading 45 books in 2024 by finishing 60 books. I’m going to keep my goal for 2025 at 45, anticipating that I’ll be reading more non-fiction this year which will slow me down – for the better.

If you’re interested in owning your own web content (and you should be), the new Micro.one is a fantastic option at a super affordable $1/month. I joined Micro.blog back in 2018 and am a very happy Premium user.