These Dogs
From this Austin Kleon interview:
What isn’t about dogs?
I have learned more from my dogs, and from my horses to a lesser extent, than I’ve learned from almost anything else in my life, including from one of the most expensive educations that could be crammed down a gullet.
Dogs are devoted, forgiving, intuitive to a fault, and intelligent beyond our reckoning. When I am without my dog, if there is a trip where he can’t come with me, I feel like a Philip Pullmancharacter who possesses a spirit animal and has been separated.
Wet April
Photo from April that I came across.
Podcast with Chase Reeves
I’ve been a long time Chase Reeves fan through his YouTube channel as he has coached me through important bag and shoe decisions. He does this all with a very authentic and engaging spirit. This podcast gets into some good religious and spiritual territory that I can’t disagree with. This is definitely somebody I’d have a coffee with.
The Every by Dave Eggers
I came across this book from stumbling through YouTube algorithms. The catchy title of the video is “The Book That Made Me Quit My Smartphone” which grabbed my interest. The review is great and I’d suggest watching it if you are at all interested in this book.
This is the second book, but you do not need any familiarity with the prior book. The Every is a conglomeration of many tech companies (Amazon, Google, facebook, Apple) in the not too distant future.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
When reading Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider, he mentions that he gets book suggestions from the book he is reading. I did the same, Desert Solitaire, suggested in his very own Ghost Rider book. It was pitched as a book about solitude, written by Edward Abbey back in the mid-1960’s. He was a Forrest Ranger in the Arches National Park, prior to it being as popular and visited as it is today.
Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
Nexus is a book about information systems and how it relates to society and specifically nations and their political structures. The book is not what I would call uplifting per se, but more informative and with a slight amount of hopefulness. Besides the AI hype machine happening, it was a useful book for understanding the political trends in the current age. An age of hubris and nationalism.
The first big idea from this book was around political structures and how they relate to information flow.
The Last Man by Mary Shelley
I started on this book and then abandoned it after 120 pages. It was really difficult for me to get into the verbose and extravagant language that may have been a function of the time it in which it was written. From Mary Shelley, of Frankenstein fame, came one her other books, The Last Man. Written in 1826, this book is an early example of apocalypse and is likely a product of its time given the frequent plagues that were the norm over human history.
Ghost Rider by Neil Peart
A sad book coming from a very sad time in the life of childhood hero of mine.
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
A detailed, fair, and engaging recounting of the Founding Father most likely to be fun to hang out with.
Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
I think in retrospect, this book will be a very useful reference for when I am feeling stuck in some particular aspect of life. It is formatted to be consumed over four weeks, but the topics are suitable for picking up as needed. Definitely a great cure for the dilemma of the modern man.