Although difficult to choose, Death’s End by Cixin Liu is the best book of the trilogy. Incredibly imaginative and immense in scope with a hopeful end, despite some grim content. 📚
Microposts
Some heavy snow flakes today
There was a raccoon in our office ceiling making all sorts of noise and commotion. As soon as the peanut butter trap was setup, the raccoon vanished. Must have been caught before and is wise to our tricks.
I upgraded from an iPhone 7 to 11. Now I’m back to having the best phone in the house, which is how it should be. I felt strange (jealous?) when my kids had better phones than me 😏
An interesting article on neurons being more complicated processors than originally thought: Neural Dendrites Reveal Their Computational Power - Quanta Magazine
After 13 years in our house, we’re starting a big renovation that requires moving out. I’m amazed (though shouldn’t be) at how cathartic it is to purge the accumulated junk. I hope that, as a family, we can be mindful about what we allow in, once the renovation is complete.
A good historical perspective on the Hubble constant: How they pinned a single, momentous number on the Universe
A good article on the importance of concentration: Playing chess is an essential life lesson in concentration
There are smiles under those scarves ⛷ ❄️
Our records management team is holding a “clean desk” contest to promote good practice.
Here’s my before image:
And, thanks to significant effort, the after:
Maybe I’ll get most improved? 😀
With the hope that some public accountability will help, I’m declaring a 30-day ban on my use of the following sentence phrasing:
Something, but something else
I write this phrase often, but it is a lazy construction (okay, that was the last one 😀)
I’ve listened to more Rush in the past few days than in the last several years. I regret neglecting their music and am glad to have them back
This Micro Monday I’d like to suggest @Dominikhoecht for a good mix of interesting photos, parenting observations, and geekery.
Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll is the best kind of non-fiction: engagingly written, sophisticated enough to take the audience seriously, and about a fascinating topic 📚
I find it amusing that the Universe Splitter app is categorized as entertainment: it splits the entire universe with the tap of a button! Should at least be a utility 😀
Farewell to Neil Peart. His music has been part of my life from the start. 🥁😢
This Strong Songs episode on Stairway to Heaven is a fun listen and insightful analysis of a classic song 🎙
I finished Season 3 of The Leftovers, a fascinating exploration of loss, love, and family. Well worth watching if you like mysterious plots and unresolved narratives. The actors and writing are great and the ending is satisfying. 📺
I really enjoyed this Mindscape podcast episode with Dan Dennett 🎙
The snow wasn’t great, but still nice to get out for a ski this weekend.
Bob Boilen’s Top 20 Albums For 2019 is a good list
Where to start? 📚
We take Boxing Day seriously here as a day of relaxation. So, I’m disappointed to have exceeded my 0 minutes target. The spike around 2 was when I went upstairs for a nap 😴
Wednesday, December 25, 2019 →
The Labo VR kit is great fun to build and play
I’m most certainly in the target demographic, so perhaps not surprising that I enjoyed For All Mankind. I like these sorts of alternative histories and space exploration is a fascinating topic. I’m looking forward to whatever comes in season 2. 📺
The Stiehl Assassin by Terry Brooks is okay. Given this is the last series he plans to write, I’m curious to see where he takes the fourth book. Based on the three books so far, the plot is pretty standard for Shannara series. I’d hoped for something more dramatic.
After the original series, I think the Genesis of Shannara series is the most inventive one. 📚
Great fun with my siblings last night on our annual Christmas dinner adventure. Storm Crow Manor was very entertaining with nerd-themed drinks.
I declared podcasts bankruptcy and recovered with a better curated subscription list 🎧👍
A mind bending discussion on the Making Sense podcast: what we perceive as reality is only a “user interface wrapper” that natural selection has created to enhance our fitness. It has no necessary mapping to the truth of reality.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an imaginative literary romance novel wrapped in a time travel espionage plot. I really enjoyed it, though it was not at all like my usual sci-fi reading 📚