Wednesday What’s Up
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.
- 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.