πŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ πŸ‘ to shorts πŸ‘Ž to wind and rain on today’s run

A running route map through Cambridge, highlighted in orange, shows details such as distance, time, and average pace.

πŸ”— Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part III: What Catapults?

What I always find so striking is that these β€˜clever’ a-historical solutions both batter suspension of disbelief but are also a lot lessΒ actually cleverΒ than the historical solutions.

Bret Devereaux continues his fun series of critiquing The Ring of Power from the perspective of a medieval historian.

Nice surprise to see The Wheel of Time Season 3 show up on my AppleTV today. A great show and I hadn’t been following along with development of the new season.

You never had control; all you had was anxiety.

The Imperfectionist: Toxic preconditions

Good nerdy fun

A fun song from DARKSIDE that gives a good sense of the variety on the album

Lunch salads for the week prepared

Several mason jars filled with salad ingredients arranged on a counter

🚴 My first workout with the Zwift Ride was good. The bike is comfortable, quiet, and smooth. Plus, I liked not having to move furniture around before starting while still only half awake.

Quite the week

Glass of scotch with an ice cube, held up by a hand

🚴 After some deliberation, I ordered the Zwift Ride. With a straightforward setup, I’m ready for tomorrow’s long ride in Watopia!

Five boxes of various sizes are stacked in a corner, featuring branding for Zwift and Wahoo.A stationary exercise bike with a "Zwift" logo stands in a room, accompanied by a pair of black shoes on the floor.

We’re back. This time for provincial championships. So many amazing swimmers!

A bustling indoor swimming pool features multiple lanes with swimmers competing as spectators watch from the sides.

Days like today, I wouldn’t mind being like George for a few minutes: unaware and content

A golden retriever puppy on his back, eyes closed and paws in the air

Finished reading: Waves in an Impossible Sea by Matt Strassler is a fascinating, comprehensive, and clear book about field theory in physics. I’ve read a few books on this topic and this is the best one. If you’re curious about particle physics and want to avoid math, you’ll like this one πŸ“š

πŸ–– Finished the final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Lots of fun, though you need to be at least a moderate Trekkie to get most of the jokes

I already boosted this, but I want to add more emphasis. I think every Canadian citizen of the Fediverse ought to sign this petition to get the Government of Canada off Xitter: ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Pet

Could anyone who has any Canadian followers please boost or just re-post it yourself? This matters.

#cnpoli #fediverse

This is important!

πŸŠβ€β™‚οΈ Rare treat of having a lane to myself on today’s swim

πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ Regardless of if any of the proposals are adopted (though I think several should be carefully considered), I’m glad to see Build Canada is offering bold ideas. We need more of this, especially these days

At the pool for high school city championships. Lots of excitement!

A busy indoor swimming pool hosts a swim meet, with swimmers in action and spectators in the stands.

❄️ Running out of room for the snow

A large pile of snow is seen in front of houses with red garage doors in a residential area.

πŸ“ A new season for my notes

The sun rises, seasons change, and I reconsider my note-taking system. Some things are endlessly cyclical.

These days I use a split system: personal notes in Apple Notes (using a simplified Forever Notes structure) and work notes in OneNote, following the PARA method. My daily logs feed into ChatGPT for a summarized weekly note. It’s efficient, structured, and searchableβ€”but also sterile and fleeting.

This week, after a nudge from Lee Peterson in the Hemispheric Views Discord, I dusted off a Field Notes notebook I last used in 2015 and started writing again.

A hand holds a brown Field Notes memo book with a blue pen clipped to it.

Each day gets a fresh page. I list my two or three most important tasks, then jot down whatever comes up. I’ve even revived Patrick Rhone’s Dash/Plus system.

As plenty of folks will tell you, paper is nice. I also like how it keeps my phone on the charger instead of in my pocket, waiting for me to type something.

I’ve stopped being precious about my note-taking. My needs evolve, and so should my system.