Hard to believe that I’ve been blogging for 20 years. I’ve never been prolific and there’s a big dip through 2013 to 2016 when Twitter dominated. But, I’m really glad to have stuck with this.
Microposts
📺 Silo (2023) - ★★★☆☆
A good show. I’d enjoyed the first book (not so much the 2nd, haven’t read the 3rd). The show is consistent with the book, while making good changes
Fun to see Toronto playing itself, rather than New York, in S2E3 of Strange New Worlds, complete with the omnipresent construction cones 🖖 📺
Finished reading: Shape by Jordan Ellenberg is a delightfully meandering book about geometry and why it is important. The book is much more about people than math. Well worth reading 📚
The Three Body Problem series is one of my favourites for mind-bending ideas. So, I’m really curious to see how this new Netflix series portrays the books.
🎵 I’ve been enjoying New Mythology from Nick Mulvey.
🏃♂️ Today’s run had no distance or pace goal. A run with no plan is usually a bad idea. This one ended up being longer than it likely should have been
Training Peaks integration with Apple Workouts in WatchOS 10 is a big deal! I’ve been creating custom workouts on my watch for a while now. This will be a lot easier.
I like the new design direction in WatchOS 10. I always wanted the Siri watch face to work and this new approach seems similar and, hopefully, will actually surface relevant details.
I enjoy the packing. Helps calm the pre-race nerves
I find “compress the history of the universe or humanity down into a number line” projects compelling. This one is particularly well done (via Kottke)
🚨Warning🚨 Contains highly addictive substances. Open with extreme caution
Finished reading: The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss is a good second book in the series. The long, imaginative fantasy narrative is exactly what I was looking for in a book 📚
🥱 This justifies a nap
🎵 Simply the Best by Tina Turner was a staple in my childhood home. My Dad had one of her concerts on VHS and watched it frequently. For this song, in particular, he turned up the volume quite loud
🏃♂️Nice zone 2 run with some pickups
Lettuce seeds are germinating. We might have lots of salads to eat in a few months
Finished reading: An Emergency in Ottawa by Paul Wells is a good, short read on a very consequential period in recent Canadian history 📚
On two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” … I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
– Charles Babbage
🎵 Don’t Test the Pest by Pest Control will give you the kick in the pants that you might need to get going
🎵 Perhaps In Sides is Orbital’s best album? I could listen to The Box, Pt. 2 on repeat for a while
Finished reading: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells is another fun, short Murderbot story. I like that these are staying simple and sarcastic📚
Best feature of the hotel: two fresh pancakes with the press of a button
Finished reading: Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson is fascinating. The importance of a seemingly small incident is really well explained and shows how such a thing can reverberate through history 📚
Finished reading: The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef includes some good tips for keeping an open mind and incorporating constructive feedback 📚
Glow in the dark mini golf
📺 Star Trek: Picard (Season 3) - ★★★★☆
Definitely the best of the three seasons. Leverages a lot of nostalgia which is okay with me. Nice to clean up after the Nemesis debacle and give these characters a proper ending.
So impressed with this team. My niece has been great in net. 🥅🏒
Finished reading: A Beginner’s Guide to the End by B. J. Miller and Shoshana Berger. I’m grateful that I didn’t need to read this book now. That said, this is an important topic, best thought about when it isn’t an emergency. Despite a few America-specific points that don’t apply to this Canadian, there’s lots of useful and careful advice in this book 📚
🎵 10,000 gecs - 100 gecs - ★★★☆☆
A good workout album: fun, quirky, and upbeat
