Finished reading: I wanted to like The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley. The main thesis is that as societies became more complex and conflicts more intense, governments needed to develop written constitutions to cede rights to their citizens and keep them participating in wars. I found getting through the details a tough slog that distracted from the broader narrative. 📚
🏃♂️ Running in fresh snow can be nice. The ambient noise of the city is muffled and the snow cushions your foot striking the ground ❄️
Finished reading: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Well worth reading. I appreciated the absence of giant, apocalyptic battles and the focus on the maturation of a single wizard📚
🎄Decorating
🏃♂️ I expected the rain on today’s zone 2 trail run. The hail and wind gusts were a surprise. Hard to hold zone 2 while being pummelled by ice! 💨🌧️🥶
📺 I’m looking forward to season 2 of Slow Horses. Season 1 was a surprise favourite for me
🏃♂️An easy, zone 2 run today. Almost dark by 5pm
Likely doing this a few times today 😴
📺 Outer Range on Amazon Prime is pretty good. Mysterious and creepy with great Wyoming scenery. As with many shows like this, I worry that the premise can’t sustain more than a season. We’ll see with this one, though the last episode seemed to unravel quickly
🎵 A moody soundtrack to my afternoon
The legal test the government must pass: not was it right, but was it reasonable?
The Constitution, it is said, is not a suicide pact. I would say it another way: the law is not an ass. Written between the lines of any statute is an abiding expectation of reasonableness.
🏃♂️ I’d planned for an easy zone 2 run this morning. Picked the wrong running group though. Time to update my zones anyway. I likely shouldn’t be able to hold zone 5 for so long
Time for a stout
Getting tense
Saturday night
Rediscovered Maybe It’s Me by Treble Charger in my music library. Instantly transported back to undergrad at university. I’m always impressed with how music anchors certain time periods 🎵
The new Checklists search attribute in Apple Notes is really helpful for my weekly reviews. I’ve setup a smart search that shows all of my recent notes that still have incomplete checklists. Great for finding those forgotten tasks in meeting notes 🗒️
Finished reading: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark. A fun, short story📚
Other than knowing if I was physically capable of finishing, the main source of uncertainty when I signed up for my first triathlon was how much it would cost. Starting out, I had one pair of running shoes and some goggles from my kids' swimming lessons. So, I knew I’d need to invest in a lot of gear. Here’s the list of what I ended up buying along with some commentary.
Winter has arrived ❄️
