Chris Brooks Newsletter 018
I’m back living in the van as we transition to our winter life. We aren’t done with Keuka Lake yet though as we are doing a fall colors east coast romp with friends Jim and Jill. Currently parked at a farm near Saranac Lake and plan to walk around Lake Placid area today.
1. 🚘 Where I’ve been traveling
Julie and I did a long weekend in Rosemary Beach, FL with family for a cousin’s wedding. Weather was hot but pleasant, making for some great gulf coast beach and swimming pool time. Wedding ceremony was fast and got us to the best part quickly: hanging out and catching up with extended family. Greatly enjoyed seeing the “kids” (all in their mid to late 30s) dancing for hours at the reception.
I met friends Greg and Matt in NYC for a weekend of exploration. A hotel wasn’t a great option for the three of us, so we did an AirBnB which has become exceptionally challenging in the city. Inventory was very low and we ended up out in Queens. It was still on the A train line (not far from JFK), but our trips to and from Manhattan were about an hour long. We made the most of it, seeing some music in the Village on Friday night, brunch and a Broadway show (Shucked!) with Matthew and Lauren on Saturday, and MOMA / Central Park / Hamilton on Sunday.
2. 📖 What I’ve been reading
I listened to The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, a surprisingly good book that didn’t start off so well for me. It smelled too much like pop science with cherry picked evidence, but the core points resonated with me. He also provides more information on his sources if you’d like a follow up. The core points: we can be healthier, more fit, and happier if take ourselves out of our comfort zones more frequently (daily if possible). Easter overlays the story of an epic caribou hunting trip in Alaska with his chapter-by-chapter advice, but offers simple advice in each category that I can get behind. Examples:
- Experience more cold and heat: sleep colder, set your home temp colder in the winter, work out when it is hot. Swim or just submerge in cold water.
- Allow yourself to feel hunger: skip meals or even fast, consider precise portion measurement, avoid fad diets because they don’t stick.
- Consider rucking: low impact walking or hiking, but with weight on your back.
- Embrace dirt: shower less, sterilize less.
- Talk about death: we are all in the process of expiring, so we should be aware of our mortality and talk about it with loved ones. He’s not talking about planning your memorial service; this is about answering the question “what would I regret if I found out I had 30 days to live?” and acting today on those potential regrets.
All of this within the context of “don’t put yourself in danger and die” etc etc.
One of the reasons we love our “rustic” cottage living, especially in the spring and fall, is that we have to embrace some discomfort. I jump in the lake just about every day I’m there, whether the water is 55 deg F or 75 deg F. What isn’t so rustic is the easy access to alcohol (wine tastings, local breweries) and we aren’t always the best and managing that side of the equation.
If you are perpetually too busy or have been told you work too much, read True Leisure and the Tyranny of Total Work
First, have a system that constrains the amount of work you commit to doing at any moment. In particular, have a clear limit on projects that you are currently working on. This is common practice in environments that use the Kanban system developed at Toyota, which, at the simplest level, has columns for “work to do,” “work in progress,” and “work done.” Burkeman recommends the book “Personal Kanban” for guidance on how to put these ideas into practice as an individual.
Personally, I have zero issues these days mixing in leisure with my sporadic work. Some might even call me lazy.
Last read to share: I absolutely loved this forensic approach to taking down Data Falsificada (Part 1): “Clusterfake” some elite researchers. Next time you want to mess with an Excel file to tamper with data, consider the evidence trail you might be leaving behind.
CalcChain is so useful here because it will tell you whether a cell (or row) containing a formula has been moved, and where it has been moved to. That means that we can use calcChain to go back and see what this spreadsheet may have looked like back in 2010, before it was tampered with!
3. 🍿 What I’ve been watching
Julie and I finally wrapped up Better Call Saul and it provided all of the resolution along with linkage to Breaking Bad that we could have hoped for. I love the positive spin on redemption provided, an extreme contrast to the end of Breaking Bad (that Badfinger song is the perfect closing, isn’t it?).
We watched season one of Silo, with the natural first reaction being “this is so different from the books!” But… the books were short stories combined into an omnibus novel (almost novella) and I think the TV show is doing a much better job an character development, world-building, and backstories.
Of course I have to recommend the Wham! musical documentary about the band. I was very aware of Wham! when the group started, but have always been fuzzy on the transition to George Michael’s solo career (it happened much earlier than I remembered). This answers those questions and more, highlighting the relationship between Michael and Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley.
4. 🎶 What I’ve been listening too
We listened to a healthy dose of Josh Ritter in preparation for an intimate solo acoustic concert up at Point of the Bluff winery. We’ve always seen him with his full band before (great shows), but didn’t know what to expect with just him and his guitar in front of us. “Blown away” is the right description; he’s a talented singer songwriter but also an exceptional rhythm guitar player. There’s nowhere to hide or pretend when doing a show like this, and he delivered.
I enjoy making music playlists, and have a couple from the Apple Music world that you might enjoy. First up is a 90s playlist inspired by the latest issue of Creem magazine. I turned on a one-year subscription to this reboot of the Rolling Stone magazine competitor and like what I see so far.
Also, I love good cover songs! And I love collecting favorite covers from friends. If you have some, reply to this and I’ll give them a listen.
5. 🎲 What I’ve been playing
With gamer friends and family Jacob, Greg, Matt, and Jim visiting over the past few weeks, many games were played. I won’t link to them all, but head over to BGG and look up details if interested:
- Oranienburger Kanal – four plays of this new Rosenburg game and really enjoy it
- Fields of Arle
- Crew – the best (and only?) cooperative trick taking game
- Kingdomino – evergreen light game that Julie loves
- Advanced Squad Leader – online with friend Doug over VASL
- Res Arcana
- 7 Wonders
- Azul
- So Clover!
- Fantastic Factories
- SpaceCorp 2025
- Magic: the Gathering (with the latest Lord of the Rings set)
6. 🇪🇸 What’s Next?
We’ll be back at Keuka in about a week to close things down there for the winter. Jim and Jill helped us tremendously by getting a head start before we departed on this camping trip. Sailboats are put away, yellow cottage porch furniture is in, and more.
On October 20th we’ll start our drive down to Florida with the Tesla and van, stopping to see old friends along the way. We’ll have family time (and go see the Taylor Swift concert movie!) in Melbourne before starting the long drive to Oregon from Florida on October 25. That trip will take about two weeks and we are excited for the slow trek across the country. We’ll spend about two weeks in the greater Portland area before heading to the southern Oregon coast (Bandon Dunes) for a week of golf and Thanksgiving family fun. Then on to Napa for a couple of weeks.
In early December Julie and I will head to Spain for about 3 months. We have the first month planned out: hunkered down in Madrid where we will both be working, taking daily four-hour Spanish immersion classes, and hopefully playing some Padel. Then we hope to roam the south of Spain and cross into Morocco, finishing in Barcelona for 3–4 weeks before our return to the states.
-Chris