The Column
I felt like giving a general update to the internet about the status of my nouns. TL;DR: - they’re good!
People 👨👩👧👦
I am good. I feel healthy. My family is in a really good routine lately. Exercising enough. Eating decently healthy. Getting the chance to spend quality time together every day. I reckon this is what life is about.
My wife is great. She doesn’t get enough love on here. It’s occurring to me only as I write this sentence that this post will be the post that’s most recent during Valentine’s Day. I should have probably capitalized on that. She’s awesome, though. She competed in the finals at an international Sweet Adeline’s competition this past year in a quartet and with her chorus… and her chorus placed in the Top 10. Internationally. Teams that beat them were from Sweden for goodness sake. It takes people from halfway around the world to even compete. That’s more impressive than anything I know how to do.
My kids are great. My oldest started playing soccer. He’s still young, though. It’s more like he’s playing “go kick the ball maybe”, the game where the rules are optional and the points don’t matter. My younger is basically potty trained at this point. They are both growing a little bit each day. Every day feels wondrous. Perhaps because so many of them include the Curious George theme song at the beginning.
My other family is also great. My cousin/brother is going to become a dad. My parents are engaged in the lives of their kids and grandkids. They’re constantly helping out and I’m constantly humbled by how considerate and great they are. My newest family all seem to be on paths toward fulfillment. New marriages. New significant others. New shared hobbies. Life is looking up.
I’m reminded that each day here is not guaranteed. Love those that you have like today was the last time you could. Nobody can hear this advice enough. People are what life is about.
Places 🏠
Our house is a never ending source of work to be done… but also I’m grateful to be able to do the work. You can love something and want it to be better. That’s what we have going on here. The ranch style house is still something I appreciate, compared to my previous house. It’s so easy to feel connected to the people living here.
The shower is a work in progress. Has been for about 2 years now. And when I say “about”, I mean “more than”. That’s a story for another day.
Things ⌚️
Things are in a good spot. I’m talking about the things I own. They are good. They are enough. More than enough, really. See the quote. The first one.
We got a Blackstone griddle for Christmas. It has certainly upped our food prep game. Used it about once a week thus far and enjoyed the heck out of it.
My iPad continues to be my favorite device I’ve ever owned. My watch is up there, too.
My most recent waterbottle acquisition continues to bring me joy as well as hydration1.
Ideas 💡
Ideas are what have consumed my brain for the past many weeks. My reading and notetaking have increased substantially. I go in waves with it. I’ll read a bunch, then stagnate somewhat. Right now I’m in “backlog of books” mode. See the Top 5. I’ve made 77 new notes this year. We’ve not yet reached Valentine’s Day. Over the past 1428 days I’ve created 1505 notes. That’s 1.05 notes added to the cache per day. Huh.
AI is crazy. I started using ChatGPT and bard Gemini more recently. It’s astounding how helpful it is. It’s also still one of the scariest things, too. All articulations of “humans vs AI” in movies I’ve ever seen woefully under-represent what the AI would be like. Ultron should have destroyed the Avengers.
My Podcast has made a comeback! It’s about movies. Click the image below:
Here’s another idea: a hoodie with abs sown into the front so you can look ripped and cozy. MAKE IT HAPPEN, FASHION.
Top 5: Backlog of Books
5. What If? 2
I love & own Randall Munroe’s other books. Looking forward to this one.
4. The Things We Make
A book about invention.
3. Leadership and Self-Deception
Thanks for the recommendation, Jonboy.
2. The Extended Mind
I just started this. I went in expecting this to be simply about GTD and Notetaking. It looks like it’s about more than that, which I’m happy about.
1. Enterprise Architecture as a Strategy
I actually just finished this.
Quote:
The desire for more is not quenched by getting more. Slight rephrasing of a sign on the wall at Jimmy John’s
The statue delivery My 3 year old’s interpretation of what the Statue of Liberty is called
Footnotes
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This is one of those sentence that will make me cringe in 5 years. It actually accomplished that task 5 years ahead of schedule. ↩