New books for the new year 📚
Microposts
🥶 Shortest and coldest swim of the year
Finished reading: Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a good end to a fun series. I enjoyed the world building and premise of the trilogy which doesn’t get too serious 📚
Finished reading: Against the Grain by James C. Scott is a really interesting exploration of the links between agriculture and state building. Definitely changed my mind about early state formation 📚
We had a fun family night out to see the Candlelight Tribute to Taylor Swift at Longboat Hall. Interesting to hear the music reinterpreted by these talented musicians
🎵 Will Butler + Sister Squares - Will Butler + Sister Squares
I’m enjoying this one
The new Apple Watch integration with Training Peaks is really nice. Like my Garmin friends, I can finally just roll out of bed and do what my watch tell me to without having to manually create workouts 🏊🚴♂️🏃♂️
DayOne has integrated Journaling Suggestions already. A nice addition and now there’s no compelling reason to use the new Apple Journal app. I liked the promised simplicity of the new app, only to find it too simple. My journal is extended memory, so I rely on search, which isn’t in the new app.
Lucy tried the gecko food. Didn’t work well with her system, but she has no regrets
🏃♂️ Forgot to turn off the workout before getting back in the car. Got some impressive running paces! 😀
Nice addition to HealthFit: a visual summary of training load to see if you’re optimizing stress and recovery
🏊 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️ Alright, signed up for the Ironman 70.3 in Muskoka. I enjoyed the race last year and look forward to a repeat
🎄 Tree is up and decorated
🏃♂️ Light rain, wind, and NIN playlist made for a gloomy ambience on today’s run
I don’t understand Apple’s algorithms. There’s no way I listened to 100 Gecs Boiler Room Session 51 times. Once was fun, but it is 1 hour and 26 minutes long. I would remember listening to it that many times
🏃♂️ A bit gloomy on today’s off the bike run
Wednesday, November 29, 2023 →
Trying out a new home screen with my personal focus.
- Screen Time at the top left to keep me honest and Day One on the top right to make journaling easy.
- I’m testing out relying on Siri suggestions as a large widget which is working out well, so far.
- Just Notes in the dock with everything else accessible via a Spotlight search.
- Last part is large Calendar, Reminders, and Music widgets with a swipe to the right in the Today View. These are consistently available across all focus modes.
🔗 How paltry the return by Jen Gerson
“Now more than ever, soft and hard power are important,” Joly noted, correctly, ignoring the fact that Canada increasingly has neither, and doesn’t seem to be doing much about that.
Making a good case that we don’t take ourselves seriously anymore
Finished reading: I’ll admit that I was hesitant to read Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson. The original Mistborn trilogy came to a satisfying end for me and I knew that reading this book would open up to the whole Cosmere universe. I’ve simply decided that I don’t need to be a completionist. And, I’m glad, because this was a fun story that paired well with the trilogy 📚
In a pleasant surprise, my cellular carrier just boosted by monthly 4GB to 20GB at no cost. I’m not accustomed to this kind of good customer service from a carrier
Finished reading: All Souls Lost by Dan Moren is fun. Has the same lightly humorous tone as the Bayern Agenda series with a supernatural, rather than sci-fi, plot 📚
Hmm, I beg to differ Apple Music
I’m not ready ❄️
Finished reading: The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin is a great follow up to A Wizard of Earthsea that adds depth to the world of Earthsea📚
🦎 We have a new houseguest
🏃♂️ Frosty out there on today’s trail run
🎵 Who Can See Forever Soundtrack (Live) - Iron & Wine is a good one
🏃♂️ Another Thursday, so another hill repeat run. Note to self, next time don’t start the repeats at the bottom of a big hill. The cool down run back up the hill wasn’t fun.
Finished reading: I really enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Great characters and good story. Although I’m not steeped in gamer culture, you don’t need to be to follow along📚
Although it seems frivolous, my favourite new feature of WatchOS 10 is the Snoopy watch face. I have it set as my weeknight and weekend face, and enjoy its whimsy. A nice break from my serious work watch face, full of calendar events and reminders.