Chris Brooks

Had a fantastic Sunday morning 12 mile run on the Keuka outlet trail with my friend Chris. He is a die-hard marathoner, having logged well over 200 in his lifetime. This is about the flattest 12 miles you can imagine, climbing just 250 ft over the six mile ascent.

How I Get My News

• I’ve put myself on a fairly significant news diet a month or two ago, even turning off my NY Times daily emails. I’m down to just two emails that I get, one in the morning and one at night. I generally don’t check Google News anymore, and I haven’t watched TV news in many years.
  • Axios AM – If I keep just one feed, this will be it. I love the bullet-style organization and the bold “why it matters” and “be smart” calls to action.
  • NextDraft – Unlike Axios, this isn’t coming from a think-tank group of analysts but rather the mind of Dave Pell. The humor that accompanies this afternoon email helps keep things a bit lighter. Warning: strong liberal bent.

What I’m Prepping For

• Solar eclipse, coming right through our beach house in Salishan, Oregon! Or rather, just south of it. I plan to be there.
  • How to safely enjoy the 2017 solar eclipse, a buyer’s guide for normal people
  • How to View a Solar Eclipse
• Dunkirk – Can’t wait to see this!
• In Praise of GoodNotes – I start the fall term of teaching at WOU in September and I’m trying to raise my game in the area of class engagement and effective use of technology. Teddy Svoronos is doing some great things and I plan to emulate some of them.

What I’m Playing

• Several sessions of Advanced Squad Leader over VASL with Allen and Doug. Love love this game and gives me a chance to stay in touch with my Oregon friends while in NY.
• Joined an online playtest of Prelude to Rebellion with the designer. This is a Twilight Struggle style game based on the failed Canadian rebellion in the 1830s. Very fun game and looking forward to its release in early 2018.
• The Shot Heard Round Charleston Harbor…Fort Sumter Design Notes and AAR (Part 1) – Not playing yet, but anticipating.

What I’m Reading

• Academ’s Fury (Codex Alera, #2) – Almost perfect light fantasy and great for a summer read. Looking forward to the rest of the series, though I’m taking a break to finish the Unhewn Throne series.
• The Cubs Way – How can I not like this book, right? But here’s the thing: this is just a great book on organizational development and leadership and even raises my level of admiration for the team and its leadership in 2016.
• Chapter Detection/Table of Contents Tutorial – Because I mostly read my books on my iPad and iPhone, I end up doing a lot of conversion from Amazon formats to EPUB. Some books just don’t look right when converted, so I’ve gotten smarter about cleaning them up (thanks Jim) and have even started using the Sigil tool for deeper fixing.

What I’m Listening To

• 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow – I did not like how this new collection started, but the middle half is exceptionally good. Not Pet Sounds good, but better I think than Smile. Needs a few more listens.

What I’m Contemplating

• Money, financial independence, and how to make the numbers work! Follow on research after my letter to Jacob and Matthew.
  • Portfolio Success Rates: Where to Draw the Line – This is the place to go if you want to see the research and math behind the “4%” or “25x” equation for preparing for financial independence. One great thing about being FI early: you have more time to adjust other variables (like spending, income from side hustles) when portfolio returns aren’t awesome.
  • The Milestones of FI – I’m a spectrum thinker, not a binary thinker and this is a great characterization of how you might think of different stages along an FI journey.

Julie just applied a clear coat of exterior varnish to much of our porch furniture.

What I’m Reading

• Tao of Seneca – Free PDFs – This is more of a pointer if you want to get a taste of what the stoic thing is all about.
• Finished reading Think Python and I didn’t think it was very good. I wouldn’t use it for a CS class. There are better intro books and I’ll try to mention some later.

What I’m Listening To

• Jeff Tweedy – Together at Last – Yes, I’m a Tweedy fanboy going back to the 80s so I’ll always listen to his new stuff. I love his acoustic sets because I can pick apart his songs and find new ways to play them on the guitar.
• First Listen: Offa Rex, ‘The Queen of Hearts’ – Thought I’d like this more with The Decemberists involved, but alas no.

What I’m Contemplating

• I like programming again
  • How You Can Make Serious Money By Learning To Code On Vacation – Is this the developer of tomorrow?
  • 79 Websites To Get Freelance Jobs Fast – They went scrounging for this article and I can tell you some of the sites they point to are unlikely to help you find a job. I’m not even sure they are all active. Still, I’m doing some deep diving here to learn more about this economy.
• I went from sedentary academic to 100-mile marathon runner—thanks to the science of self-control – I didn’t see a lot of science discussed in this article, other than “self discipline means you can run 100 miles!”
• URLs are UI – I haven’t always done a good job maintaining good URLs but I care about them and make attempts to preserve when I can. Most sites do not. Just go scroll through some of my old posts and follow the links – I bet only 10% work. Even some to my own site.
• The Golden Age of Bailing – I’ve noticed this, have you?

What I’m Playing

• The Great Dalmuti – One my all time favorite large-group games that isn’t a party game. Plus you get to wear funny hats.
• Tichu – The next step up from The Great Dalmuti is… Tichu! Always love this partner game and I was able to introduce two new people in a late-night game with Matthew.
• Played the classic Catan with Geoff and Mike. I don’t love this game but will always play it. Always seems to be a slog, even when I’m winning.
• I introduced Geoff to the 2-playerAgricola: All Creatures Big and Small and he enjoyed it. I love this quick-playing farm game.
• Ninety-Nine
• No Thanks! – good even with four players.