👋 Hey there

Updated: September 16, 2024

I’ve been focused on ‘going deep’. I first read Cal Newport’s Deep Work back in 2016, but I recently “re-read” it as an audiobook and then quickly turned around and read the physical copy and took detailed notes. I think this book presents a lot of good theoretical ideas as well as practical ideas to take action on.

I’ve gotten more into taking notes on books and trying to really get more out of them than just reading them and setting them down. I watched Odysseas video on Mindful Consumption. I listened to Rich Roll’s book, Finding Ultra. I’ve gotten more serious about capturing notes on various topics and using Obsidian as a tool to capture and organize. I’ve spent more time reading than I have for the last several months. All of these things seem to coalesce into a season of depth for me.

📕Books I finished reading (August)

• Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller – I’m not sure what I thought this book was when I purchased it… but it ended up being a very interesting story that intertwined many different topics including the author’s own life but primarily focused on the first president of Stanford University, David Starr Jordan.
  • Quote: “It was the dandelion principle! To some people a dandelion might look like a weed, but to others that same plant can be so much more. To an herbalist, it’s a medicine—a way of detoxifying the liver, clearing the skin, and strengthening the eyes. To a painter, it’s a pigment; to a hippie, a crown; a child, a wish. To a butterfly, it’s sustenance; to a bee, a mating bed; to an ant, one point in a vast olfactory atlas.
  • Rating: ★★★★☆
• The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz – this book was recommended by a friend. I found a copy for $1 at Goodwill. It might’ve been worth a quick read, but I not much more. I didn’t get too much out of it
  • Quote: *”Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are tired as opposed to well-rested. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.”
  • Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick – I read that this was the inspiration for Blade Runner, which I’m not very familiar with… however it also seemed like the inspiration for Terminator. This was a good, short novel about what it means to be human.
  • Quote: “You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity.
  • Rating: ★★★★★
• Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey – This was about as depressing as a story can get. There’s no happy ending to this one. About a group of kids that end up killing one of their peers in a small town in Canada in the 1990’s.
  • Quote: “Never again did the Saanich station witness an evening like the one on Friday, November 21. Never again were the cells full of girls with ponytails and braces and platform shoes. How strange that night seemed in retrospect. All those girls, some suspects for murder, some with information about a murder, in the station after being pulled off the green field, sobbing to the older men, sassing off the detectives, crying for thier boyfriends, saying they saw nothing, saying they heard it but did not believe.”
  • Rating: ★★★★☆

🎸Music I’ve been listening to

• Rite Here Rite Now by Ghost – I just discovered Ghost. They have some satanic tendencies, but I think it’s mostly part of the show, or part of the character – like KISS or Alice Cooper used to be. The music is outstanding. This is their live album.
• The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park – Linkin Park version 2.0… it seems like fans are split down the middle on whether they like the new singer or they don’t. But, Linking Park is a good band I’m glad they’ve come back in some fashion.

🎥Videos I thought were worth watching

• Mindful Consumption – I linked to this one up above, but I really think this one is worth watching. With so much information these days, how do we handle it? Maybe it’s worth slowing down and making sure you’re getting something out of what you’re consuming and not just moving on to the next thing.

🎬 My new YouTube videos (August)

• I stopped using TickTick – This was my return to YouTube after about 3 month break – so I used a click-bait title. I’m not sure I feel so good about that and I’ll probably try to refrain from that in the future. 🙂 This one covers a couple of different apps I tried over that 3 month break and a little bit of what I got out of them.
• Here’s how I’m using TickTick now. – This video shows how I incorporated some of the things from the other apps I tried out into my TickTick setup.
• A discussion on battling distraction and prioritizing focus, Part 1 of Deep Work by Cal Newport – Since I was getting so much out of re-reading Deep Work, I made a video on it. This was part 1 and covers Part 1 of the Book — The Idea.

🖋 Quote I’ve been thinking about

“The American dream is an elegant aspirational, ideal originally premised on egalitarianism – equal opportunity for all. A mandated right to seek self-improvement, an open door to pursue potential, and in turn contribute the fruits of one’s journey for the benefit of all. But along the way, the foundational ethos of this enchanting concept lies like a smoldering carcass on the shoulder of a modern superhighway, supplanted by a relentless compulsion to accumulate and consume. The priority is no longer self-actualization, nor is it contribution. Personal responsibility has been exchanged for victimhood. Challenge is to be avoided. Comfort is King. And he, who amasses the most – wins!”
– Rich Roll, Finding Ultra