Neighborly
You wave
It’s what people do
You are neighborly
They do not wave
You wave again
They are not neighborly
They stare
They seem annoyed
You are confused
Your car is tinted
They cannot see you
You are anonymous
Before He was Bill Nye the Science Guy
Before he was Bill Nye the Science Guy, he was a regular on Almost Live, a local variety show in Seattle when I was a kid.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
This was a reread as I find the book equal parts witty entertainment, inspiring advice on writing, and a warm view on our existence. My first read was via kindle and I loved the book so much that I ordered a paperback copy when I gave away my kindle.
The Five Year Journal
I have been journalling off and on since 2014, but mostly digitally. I had seen the five year journals and have loved the idea of it. I am weirdly sentimental about knowing what happened a year ago or even ten years ago. I looked through my notes and decided I had enough to backfill a five year journals since 2020, a very interesting year given the pandemic. I purchased a Midori Five Year Journal in May of 2023 and started on my quest.
Yacht Rock
Last night we watched the Yacht Rock Dockumentary on HBO. This was recommended by a friend who knows we enjoy listening to Yacht Rock on SiriusXM. I learned quite a bit about this genre, but also it really gave me joy to watch.
https://www.yachtornyacht.com/
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.