The Weekly Review: Vol VIII Issue 1
Hello friends,
I hope the new year has treated you well. I guess we can say it has not been uneventful, but those events have been very similar to 2020. Whatever your beliefs or background, keeping up what the effects of this pandemic and the growing rift in the US is likely tiring, if not exhausting.
But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of good things happening in the world. I'd like to focus on some of those things for the first issue of this newsletter in 2021. Do you have some new idea or bit of news that made you excited or happy this year? I'd love to hear about it!
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Re-reading goals
For the last several years, I've taken part in the Goodreads reading challenge. I tend to come up 3–5 books short each year, but I'm happy overall with how much I've been reading.
However, I'm not crazy about what I've done with the books I've read. Often, I've done very little beyond reading the words on the page. I made highlights and perhaps a short blurb somewhere in my notes. But as this was all before I had delved into the world of smart note-taking and making the most of what I read, so most of the books I read over the past 3–4 years have no notes.
This is all related to reading non-fiction. My pace of reading fiction has picked up dramatically in recent years and I'm super happy with that. I've even started taking some notes on fiction books for series where there's serious world building going on (see more in Currently below).
So I have several goals related to this for 2021:
- Continue to build a habit of deep reading
- Re-read the best books of my recent life
Deep Work. Atomic Habits. How to Think. These are all books that had an impact on me while I was reading them. I want that impact to be more … impactful. Deep reading and making my own notes from these is a key to increasing that impact.
How about you?
I know there are a lot of readers here who share my interest in knowledge management and reading. I'm curious how many folks have tried joining a group or purchased a class related to this topic. Have you taken any steps like this to increase your skills? Let me know!
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Items of note
Joel Hooks shared this post about writing more and worrying less about the polish. He mentions how shifting from thinking about his writing and site as a blog to a digital garden helped him to write more:
Seriously. The idea of a "blog" needs to get over itself. Everybody is treating writing as a "content marketing strategy" and using it to "build a personal brand" which leads to the fundamental flawed idea that everything you post has to be polished to perfection and ready to be consumed.
I agree with his sentiment, but feel like these digital garden folks are thinking about blogging in the wrong way. For me, my blog is my digital garden (this newsletter included). It's a place to write about what's on my mind, clarify my thinking, and share it with people like you.
Back in the early aughties, this felt like the common perception of personal blog. Maybe that shifted as less people hosted and designed their own sites and started to use services like Medium (or worse, Twitter threads) as a replacement.
The last couple of years has seen a slight resurgence in the personal blog and I hope 2021 continues that trend!
On that exact topic, I was happy to see Noah Stokes redesigned (and relaunched) his own site, Es Bueno. He shared that news in his semi-regular birthday post.
I love the home page which hearkens back to the early blogs of 10–15 years ago. Is that a blog roll? So nice 💯
How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably
Steph Smith shares some thoughts on how what it means to be great, and how to to get there. We each may have a different definition of success or what "greatness" is, but this article is a good refresher for the start of a new year.
Interestingly enough, I realized that it was not the sporadic highs that were exceptional, but instead the long hauls; the sequences of events that seemed minimal at each juncture, but compounded into major gains. This led me to think further about what greatness truly means. I’ve come to learn that it’s not about overnight successes or flashes of excellence, but periods of repeatable habits.
The older I get, the more I focus on habits over goals/projects when the calendar rolls over. The former enables success with the latter.
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Quote of the week
The generation effect is the underlying process which supports note-making. It’s the phenomenon where information is better remembered if it is actively created from your own mind rather than simply read in a passive way. By taking the time and making the effort to rephrase the content you are consuming, you are more likely to commit the information to your long-term memory.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, From note-taking to note-making
New year, but I'm still thinking about how to make more of what I read ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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Currently
Reading: Rythym of War by Brandon Sanderson. It's the fourth instalment in The Stormlight Archive and was released in November. I spent a good chunk of the last quarter of 2020 re-reading the first three in the series, and each time through I start to see more connections to the rest of the Cosmere. And each time I come away with a greater enjoyment and appreciation of the series.
For those unfamiliar with his work, Sanderson has written ten or so series of books. Five of those series (a total of 12 books, 2 novellas, 3 graphic novels) take place in the Cosmere, but each on a different planet. Each series stands on its own, but are part of a grander story arc. And Rythym of War is the first where you really start to see cross world activity play a major part. I won't say more, but if you like epic fantasy, I can't recommend this series enough.
Watching: Like the rest of the world, we enjoyed season 2 of The Mandalorian in the weeks leading up to the holidays. Unlike the rest of the world, I'm not smitten. Like the newer Star Wars movies, like the entire Marvel line up of films, it's entertaining, but no more. It doesn't make you think, there are no clever plot twists, and the characters are flat.
I'll likely take flak for this opinion, but there it is. I should finally go watch Christopher Nolan's Tenet — that is the kind of cinema I prefer.
Drinking: I've been on the hunt for some good beers with a lower amount of alcohol in them. It's easy to find doubles and triples, but less easy to find "light" beers that aren't an overly juicy Radler-type of beverage. Thankfully, the explosion the craft beer industry has brought us variety in all shapes and sizes.
One option I come back to often is House White from Field House Brewing. Their description:
A modern take on a traditional Belgian Witbier, this beer is incredibly light and refreshing, featuring a fluffy body, subtle tartness, and finishing with bright notes of citrus and spice.
My description: delicious.
On the topic of these kinds of beers, it's interesting that you can find options in the 3.8–mid 4% range. But 2%? Doesn't seem to be a thing, so I wonder if it's part of the fermentation process that makes it hard to keep the content that low. Educate me if you have knowledge in this area!
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That's it for issue #1. Have a fantastic weekend and I'll talk to you next issue!