Analog Pragmatism
I love writing things in my Field Notes. I have an expert system for creating a monthly notebook to help hone in on the right things to focus on for each day. I am able to record reminders in the future. I keep track of important happenings of the day. I have plenty of extra pages to record insightful thoughts, random lists, doodles, or schemes.
What I don’t have is an extra pocket.
End of Year Running Stats
With Apple’s new graphs, I was able to see my running stats for the year. It is interesting to compare the last several years. I genuinely feel like this was a far worse year for running than previous. It seems the stats don’t quite agree with that. It is mind-boggling how boggled our minds are at feeling reality.
2022
2023
2024
I do think about how 2024 could have logged more miles, but I had some foot injury I was working through during the months of April, May, and June.
The Weber Collection
They were on backorder, but the grill covers all came in and are ready for winter.
True Grit by Charles Portis
True Grit was a book I was compelled to read in high school. Unfortunately I did not complete the assignment and it was discarded to the past. The book has come up again and again so I added it to my list. It is a short, but very compelling novel. I see the main character as being very wise and full of grit for her age. There is also something fascinating about the thirty year time period leading up to the 1900’s.
The Smoker Project
A confluence of events has resulted in me expanding my gentleman’s hobby of smoking meats.
First, I was excited to learn that I could smoke brisket on a Weber kettle grill. I came across this method for using a standard Weber, probably thanks to the content algorithm more interested in consuming my attention than expanding my hobbies. I have tried the method three times with the most recent being Thanksgiving. Nobody in my house likes turkey, so it was an easy case to make to smoke brisket instead.
Post-Christmas
This dog is tired of visitors and disruptions to his routine.
Holiday Entertainment
Sit down with your favorite holiday beverage and enjoy.
https://defector.com/the-2024-haters-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-catalog
California
We had the pleasure of joining our good friends in Paso Robles, California last week. We had to arrange this trip close to the holidays, when the oldest was out of college and could help at home with driving and dog responsibilities as work and dog walking and bathroom schedules were melded together into a multi-page todo list for the kids to tackle. They did great and did not burn the house down, microwave plasma issue notwithstanding.
North by Scott Jurek
I knew of Scott from Born to Run and have heard of him in various podcasts. He sounds like an absolute machine when it comes to endurance. Adventure books have a place that strikes a mood for me. I am finding as I get older, the adventure for me is in right in front of me. The idea of travel feels more and more like escapism. The idea of challenging myself in a big way like this feels like removal from real life.
Austin
Spent this week visiting Austin, Texas. Second time I have been there this year. Austin always strikes me as a city that didn’t get enough hugs when it was young and needs a lot of attention. I did take some time to walk about 12 miles around the city. Visited some of the sites, drank some of the drinks, and enjoyed their finest Texas brisket. It did not disappoint with above average people watching and some of the characters I met.