My right leg was signalling a potential injury. So, I converted this morning’s bike ride into a sleep in. Then had an extra coffee and listened to an episode of the Focused Podcast on Getting Intentional. Now I feel like a superhero, ready to take on the day!
Microposts
Pizza night!
🎶 A mention in a Pitchfork review reminded me that Spiritchaser by Dead Can Dance is great. I hadn’t listened to it in at least twenty years.
Watched: The first few episodes of Alien: Earth Season 1 are good. Then the season gets bogged down. Several cool ideas though and definitely the creepiest sheep in TV. I’ll check out season two. The Incomparable has a good discussion of the season. 🍿
George’s predecessors would be flabbergasted that he’s allowed on Grandma’s couch
🏃♂️ Snowshoes would have helped with parts of today’s run. My Arc’teryx kept my feet warm, but extra effort for a relatively slow pace
Willibald Farm Distillery & Brewery. 📍
Delicious lunch at Willibald Farms. I recommend the When Pigs Fly stout and BLT.
🏊♂️🚴🏃♂️ Filling in the 2026 race calendar by adding in the Guelph Lake Olympic-distance triathlon
My first day back at work and the internet went down. Maybe I should take the hint?
📚 Thanks to my family for a great set of books for Christmas this year.
Finished reading: Breaking Point by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson provides a very clear description of Canada’s challenges. Thankfully it also provides good ideas on how to fix them. Pairs well with Andrew Coyne’s recent book, though they disagree on electoral reform. Although daunting, I’m optimistic that this is an exciting time for Canada’s rejuvenation 🍁📚
🔗 The Telemetry - by Angus Hervey - Fix The News
This gap, between the world as it is and how we’re told to see it, comes down to a choice about what we do with our attention. Mission control doesn’t ignore danger. It’s acknowledged, monitored, taken seriously. But knowing which emergencies require immediate action means you need to watch all the instruments, not just the alarms. That’s the difference between panic and an effective response.
An important reminder about the sensationalization of news
Finished reading: The Random Universe by Andrew H. Jaffe is an interesting exploration of probability and models in physics and cosmology. I also appreciated the historical context that showed how the models developed 📚
🏃♂️ Burning off some Christmas cheer on today’s run
Finished reading: As a Canadian public servant, I’m not the target market for Scaling People by Claire Hughes Johnson. Nonetheless, I found the sections on managing teams and navigating conflict useful 📚
12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 12: Home
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 11: Feast
🎄Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 →
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 10: Travel
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 →
🎶 II by Voices from the Lake is good for getting focused
🎶 Great version of A Dawning at 9:34
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 9: Baking
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 8: Grinch
Finished reading: Seemed inevitable that The Last Town by Blake Crouch would become a mostly straightforward action plot with lots of shooting. Still entertaining, though not nearly as good as the first book in the series. 📚
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 7: Solstice
Finished reading: Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe continues a great series. I can’t understand how I lasted this long without reading these books. So many elements that are what I look for in a book: sci-fi, fantasy, and an unreliable narrator 📚
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 6: Sparkle
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 5: Beard
❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 4: Evergreen
Came home to a mess of needles, ornaments, and water. Our Christmas tree fell over! George looked very nervous, as if I would blame him for it. The tree is back up and tied to the wall with some rope. Hopefully that fixes it