Chris Brooks

Julie and I are having fun this summer as ad hoc crew on an E Scow racing sailboat at the Keuka Yacht Club.

What I’m Contemplating

• A Primer on Military Rank and Insignia – As an Air Force guy, I still find myself making mistakes as I see (mainly enlisted) Army folks while strolling around West Point. This article helped.
• GMT Website Update – My favorite game publisher is in the middle of significant back-office and website changes, hopefully for the better.
• 10 Strikes and You’re Out – the iOS Feature You’re Probably Not Using But Should – Good reminder. I’m using this feature (now).

What I’m Reading

• I’m in the middle of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, having finished The Ruins of Gorlan in less than a week. That’s fast for me. This is young adult fantasy but perfect for summer reading.
• Julie and I listened to Talking God, part of a series of books by Tony Hillerman about a pair of native American lawmen. OK but not great, I still want to read A Thief of Time which is tied closer to some of the ruins and sites we saw in southern Utah last month.
• The book The Power of Zero: How to Get to the 0% Tax Bracket and Transform Your Retirement over-promises a bit though I learned some tips. If nothing else it encouraged me to dig deeper into the specifics of required minimum distributions from qualified accounts.
• Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind was better than I expected. It is a marketing piece and a conglomeration of what read like blog articles, but good value of some great writers involved.

What I’m Playing

• I found Exploding Kittens in a Target on our way to West Point and picked it up. Julie and I played a couple of times with Matthew over beers and enjoyed it. Very light game and will be even better with a larger group.

• Julie and I played Lanterns: The Harvest Festival while enjoying a beer last week at Steuben Brewing just up the hill from us. Big fan of this for two or three players.
• Julie and I played our staple Five Crowns last weekend. Julie won and is creeping back towards a 50/50 split lifetime.

What I’m Listening To

• First Listen: Sugarland, ‘Bigger’ – Pretty country.
• Spotify – What? I shut Spotify down about a year ago and switched to Amazon Music, mainly to see how it is and if the Echo integration was significantly better. Echo: better. Music: not better. I miss the social sharing, release radar, discover weekly, etc. Found a deal for returning members ($9.99 for 3 months) so I’m back in and shut down Amazon Music.

Julie and I attended the graduation of West Point class of 2018, scouting for Matthew’s graduation next year. Very hot today – sunny and high 80s. Lots of good intelligence gathering for the big crowd we will have next year.

What I’m Reading

• Julie and I listened to Riders of the Purple Sage while roaming around southern Utah, a perfect place to take in this classic. I used to own the entire Zane Grey collection (gift from my paternal grandfather) but never got into the books and eventually let them go. No regrets on that front, but I was surprised at the quality of writing.
• You can’t tour southern Utah without seeing copies of Desert Solitaire in just about every visitor center bookstore. The irony of course is that Abbey would want these centers destroyed and the parks returned to a wilderness state. The book was quite good if a bit rambling at times. I loved the story of his rafting adventure down the Colorado just before the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam.
• I listened to the Leonardo da Vinci biography. If Leonardo had only been a publisher / finisher he would have been credited for a great many more discoveries and inventions.
• Julie and I wanted a long fiction book to listen to on our trip out to NY, so we re-listend to The Talisman by Stephen King. My first and only read was probably about 35 years ago and I don’t think it holds up very well. It is part of King’s world-building for sure (it meshes in, eventually, with The Dark Tower series) but I think there are too many holes to be “believable fantasy.”

What I’m Exploring

• Packwood Lake – Julie and I met Jacob and Kaitlin half-way and hiked this nice 10 mile round-trip in the shadow of Mt Rainier. A good early season option – some trace of snow and a bit of mud, but in great shape and well trafficked.

What I’m Contemplating

• I ❤ Michelle Wolf – Read the post then listen to the Fresh Air interview. Will give you a different perspective than the likely outrage expressed in the day-after coverage.
• Three-day no-meeting schedule for engineers – Good strategies for software managers to consider.
• Paul Simon vs. the World – I didn’t realize that he’s been so condemned for Graceland.
• Former Bucs center putting NFL in past by hitting road for epic 48-state journey – Great story. I bet this guy will end up extremely successful (financially and emotionally) in the aftermath of his NFL career.
• Jeff Bezos’ latest letter to shareholders – Read about his 6-page memo approach and maintaining high standards of quality.

What I’m Listening To

• Aquilo’s Silhouettes – Discovered this with Shazam app in a Panera and am enjoying it. Hints of Tears for Fears.

What I’m Playing

• I taught Great War Commander to Doug and lost very badly.
• I played Advanced Squad Leader online and in real life during the week we were in Oregon between our Utah trip and our drive to NY. I don’t expect any in-person play this summer but will get in a few VASL games.
• Julie and I taught The Great Dalmuti to our family host in Broomfield, CO. Always a hit with larger groups.