Finished reading: Matthew Scace tells the harrowing tale of a major forest fire in Jasper on Fire 📚
📚 Finished reading: The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger is a fascinating book about how sophisticated and under appreciated plants are: they can detect relatives, “see” their surroundings, manipulate their environment, and make complex decisions.
Near the end, Schlanger writes:
Now when I spot a tendril that is making its way through a crack in the sidewalk, I internally commend it for its resourcefulness. I feel I know about some of what it took for the plant to do that-the small miracle of its germination, the craning of its elongation, the articulation of the hundreds, maybe thousands of fine root hairs, right now probing its belowground world for sustenance. I think about the stem cells in each of its growing tips, poised and ready to become whatever sort of flesh the plant needs them to be. The whole being a sensitive, decisioning network spread throughout hundreds of limbs, thousands of roots. A body in motion, adapting in real time to every subtle shift, flowing like water through its surroundings and taking note of the shape and smell and texture of it all.
🏃♂️ 👍 to shorts 👎 to wind and rain on today’s run
🔗 Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part III: What Catapults?
What I always find so striking is that these ‘clever’ a-historical solutions both batter suspension of disbelief but are also a lot less actually clever 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
🚴 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
🚴 After some deliberation, I ordered the Zwift Ride. With a straightforward setup, I’m ready for tomorrow’s long ride in Watopia!
We’re back. This time for provincial championships. So many amazing swimmers!
Days like today, I wouldn’t mind being like George for a few minutes: unaware and content
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 📚
🖖 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
This is important!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: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359
Could anyone who has any Canadian followers please boost or just re-post it yourself? This matters.
🏊♂️ Rare treat of having a lane to myself on today’s swim
🇨🇦 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
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 →
At the pool for high school city championships. Lots of excitement!
