Hey there –

Happy November! Last month, I mentioned that fall seems to slip by too quickly. Thankfully, we still have a few weeks left to enjoy it before winter truly sets in. My kids’ fall activities are wrapping up—one was in marching band, and the other ran cross country. And I’ve already detached the hoses and winterized the sprinkler system. So while the weather holds, I’m making it a point to get outside, take in the trees, the sky, and the birds, and just enjoy the season.

My youngest daughter, who is 12, mentioned she’d never carved pumpkins before, and I think she might be right! We had done it when our older daughters were younger, but somehow never with her. This year, we made it a priority to get pumpkins and carve some fun faces together.

📕Books I finished reading

The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
★★★★☆
Have you ever spent an entire day completely isolated? No talking, no texting, no messages—just you, alone. For most of us, it’s hard to remember a day like that. Chris Knight, however, spent 27 years living alone in the woods of Maine, with only two brief encounters with other people. It’s almost unimaginable.

“He was confounded by the idea that passing the prime of your life in a cubicle, spending hours a day at a computer, in exchange for money, was considered acceptable, but relaxing in a tent in the woods was disturbed.”

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
★★★☆☆
This book feels more suited for a younger, school-age audience. My wife and I “read” it together—which I really enjoyed, as it gave us a chance to discuss it. Talking about a book with someone else makes it easier to process, understand, and remember. For most of it, I listened to the audiobook, which was well produced and enjoyable. However, I didn’t find the story itself particularly engaging. It follows a young baby boy who narrowly escapes when his family is murdered and ends up in a graveyard, where the resident ghosts take on the task of raising him.

“It’s like the people who believe they’ll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn’t work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If you see what I mean.”

From Strength to Strength by Arthur C Brooks
★★★☆☆
At a certain point in your career, you may reach a stage where the skills that once made you successful start to decline. For “strivers,” this can be particularly challenging, as they’re used to overcoming obstacles by simply working harder. But at this stage, increased effort alone isn’t enough. So, what’s the solution? Arthur Brooks suggests viewing your initial success as the “first wave.” To continue growing, it’s essential to move onto the “second wave,” which focuses on building relationships, making connections, and using your experience to teach and mentor others.

“He who dies with the most toys, dies.”

🎸Music I’ve been listening to

Live from the Ryman, Vol. 2 by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Two of my favorite artists released live albums last month, and this was the first. Jason Isbell performed in my hometown of Omaha last summer, and one of my biggest regrets of the year is not making it to the concert. But sometimes life gets in the way—we were in the middle of moving, and I just couldn’t make it. This live album, though, is some consolation.

A Freight Train Through The Night by White Buffalo
This is the second live album from one of my favorite artists, and it’s White Buffalo’s first live release—I’m grateful he finally put one out. To me, live albums are so much more enjoyable than studio recordings. With 18 tracks, it seems substantial, but at only 1 hour and 15 minutes, it feels a bit short to me.

📃Articles I thought were worth reading

How many books did you read in 2023? Are you in the top 1 percent?, The Washington Post
We know that a large portion of the population doesn’t read books, but sometimes seeing the numbers really puts it into perspective. According to this article, if you read just two books a year, you’re already reading more than half of Americans. I try to remind myself, though, that reading more books doesn’t always mean reading better. As I mentioned last month, I’m working to avoid mindless consumption. I think it’s all about finding a balance between zero and excessive consumption.

🎧Podcast episodes I thought were interesting

This Is the Case of Henry Dee, This American Life
Sometimes, when I’m driving, I tune into NPR. My daughter and I were headed to get a tire fixed—a 25-minute drive—and caught the last part of this episode that really got us thinking. It was about a man who spent 48 years in prison, was paroled, then immediately re-arrested to serve two more years. After 50 years, he was finally free. I can’t help but wonder—after half a century, would he still want freedom? I’m not sure I would.

🎥Videos I thought were worth watching

Look Up 2 – Ten Years Later, Gary Turk
Ten years ago, Gary Turk created a powerful video—a poem urging us to “look up” from our phones. Yet most of us haven’t heeded the message, and now, a decade later, we need the reminder again. His new video, Look Up 2, is just as impactful and even comes with a surprising twist at the end!

How Billie Eilish Exploded onto the Music Scene at 13, Guy Raz
Billie Eilish’s music isn’t usually my style. I knew her brother wrote some of her songs and performed with her, but I didn’t know much of their backstory. It’s a cool story: her brother gave her Ocean Eyes and supported her, and in a way, she ended up helping him, too. By the way, Gaslight Anthem does a great cover of Ocean Eyes.

🎬 My new YouTube videos (October)

Quick TickTick Tip – Side by Side View for Tasks & Calendar – A little bit ago, TickTick released an update that allows us to view the TickTick tasks along side the calendar for easy scheduling of tasks!

Obsidian vs TickTick: The note taking app we should REALLY be using – For note taking, is Obsidian a better solution than TickTick? I discuss a couple of pros to using Obsidian for Notes over TickTick. And I also discuss one pro for using TickTick over Obsidian for a specific type of note.

I had no idea this functionality existed in TickTick. – I always thought the note linking process in TickTick was cumbersome process that included several clicks of the mouse. Turns out I was wrong… there is functionality built into TickTick to pull up your list of notes and tasks right from the keyboard!

Desk Tour | My Work From Home IT Consultant Home Office – Going through all of the things that I currently have in my home office, on my desk. These are the things I use every day to do my work.

Enhancements to the TickTick Calendar released this week. – TickTick released 2 new small enhancements for the TickTick calendar. You can now have a checkbox on your calendar tasks to quickly check them. You can also display additional time zones on your TickTick calendar.

🖋 Quote I’ve been thinking about

“Gotta have opposites dark and light, light and dark in a painting. It’s like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come. I’m waiting on the good times now.”

– Bob Ross