If you can get past the overly flowery beginning this newsletter gets better
Rhythm. It's funny we say how life has a rhythm. Even the word itself indicates a music moves through us and around us. We glide from note to note, step by step, swaying hips, bobbing heads, bumping shoulders, just trying to land on the beat.
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
And while this may sound like drudgery, and this may sound dull, and this may sound like deeply internalized and accepted tedium, the death of excitement and spontaneity. I assure you, it is not. The beat, this beat, is merely the structure.
There is reason in repetition and there is a rhyme in this routine. Learning to listen is different from just hearing. I don't merely want the awareness of the beats or the heartbeats, I want to understand them and the space they create and how they are the space and around them is not only the world but a world that can be filled with…with…with music.
I tap these keys in the key of me, and when I look I can see that life is not just monotony, no, it has harmony. The harmony of not one or two, but three. A family. My family. A whole symphony.
Ok this is ridiculous and I'm going to regret it later. But what I'm trying to say is that there is a lot of good going over here - even if it's fairly routine. It's late Spring here in Seattle and it's just cold enough that we are stuck inside and bolt outside everytime we get a glimpse of sun and warmth which is happening with increasing frequency. We didn't take advantage of enough snow activities this winter, most disappointingly the 0-degree sleeping bags we bought have just hung in shame the whole time in the closet. Maybe in a few weekends we'll venture out to some absolutely ridiculously cold place and get one night in them before summer (when I'll have to buy more sleeping bags).
I coached Gaël's basketball team which ended up being way more fun than I thought it would be from the outset. For whatever reason I love conducting (THE MUSICAL THEME CONTINUES) and getting people to run. Shelby and I both see a spin instructor phase in my future - spandex is the most superior form of activewear. The boys did great - it was a little comical and most of the games ended in single digits. Made my heart swell though whenever Gaël took a shot or got so excited he would jump up and down. I worked very hard not to show any favoritism till the last quarter of the last game. In a fit of foolishness I got caught up in the end of season festivities and pledged to coach again. We're taking a break from sports as Gaël doubles down on his chess career (no chess is not a sport and yes my 5th grade chess trophy gives me the authority to say that).
He's reading up a storm and has started taking on Harry Potter. Sadly this is not a shared adventure, but he allows short debates on wizardry and spells. We agree to which people map to witch characters in his life. That list though is for a different newsletter.
Shelby is still getting settled here - in her own words:
"Thank you, thank you for this opportunity to speak…in my own words…Seattle and I are still getting to know each other, the sunshine is inspiring"
"You have to give the people something more than that, this newsletter already is flagged as spam in most people's inbox, you gotta give them like a hidden tidbit or a discovery or something"
"Feisty tonight huh?"
….
Ok time to wrap this. Working more than ever, but getting lots done and having fun. I was very briefly and heavily obsessed with large language models and lost quite a bit of sleep over them, but I think I've used them enough that I am getting a felt sense for the weight of words. Jacques very patiently is teaching me more about machine learning and I'm enjoying getting to apply it at work. Andrew and I completed a very successful hackathon where we made a better smart speaker. Here is a little demo (https://photos.app.goo.gl/NLzY68xN85qyHH2GA).
Tommy and Aunt Karen, I'm still working on writing that letter I promised in December, the todo list a mile long and that's an unfair excuse when I spend lots of days wandering around with Shelby reading to each other in the sun, but it's coming…just keep checking those mailboxes…
This one felt a little off, but hey it's done. I hope wherever you are, you are finding some sunshine and dusting off the picnic basket. Summer…she's a coming. You know the routine here, give me a call or write me a letter. Let me know how you are doing. Means a lot,
Cowabunga dude,
DJ
PS:
Here's a little photo dump of what has happened recently: https://photos.app.goo.gl/z5RVzm7jFMoMTBqS9
(In order: Date night at a hidden record store under a deli, Gaël breakdancing, the jenga night where someone tried to use their tongue to take out a piece, more photos, my rain biking outfit)
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
Wake up. Run on the treadmill. Breakfast with the family. Bike to work. Work. Bike home. Dinner with the family. Go to bed.
And while this may sound like drudgery, and this may sound dull, and this may sound like deeply internalized and accepted tedium, the death of excitement and spontaneity. I assure you, it is not. The beat, this beat, is merely the structure.
There is reason in repetition and there is a rhyme in this routine. Learning to listen is different from just hearing. I don't merely want the awareness of the beats or the heartbeats, I want to understand them and the space they create and how they are the space and around them is not only the world but a world that can be filled with…with…with music.
I tap these keys in the key of me, and when I look I can see that life is not just monotony, no, it has harmony. The harmony of not one or two, but three. A family. My family. A whole symphony.
Ok this is ridiculous and I'm going to regret it later. But what I'm trying to say is that there is a lot of good going over here - even if it's fairly routine. It's late Spring here in Seattle and it's just cold enough that we are stuck inside and bolt outside everytime we get a glimpse of sun and warmth which is happening with increasing frequency. We didn't take advantage of enough snow activities this winter, most disappointingly the 0-degree sleeping bags we bought have just hung in shame the whole time in the closet. Maybe in a few weekends we'll venture out to some absolutely ridiculously cold place and get one night in them before summer (when I'll have to buy more sleeping bags).
I coached Gaël's basketball team which ended up being way more fun than I thought it would be from the outset. For whatever reason I love conducting (THE MUSICAL THEME CONTINUES) and getting people to run. Shelby and I both see a spin instructor phase in my future - spandex is the most superior form of activewear. The boys did great - it was a little comical and most of the games ended in single digits. Made my heart swell though whenever Gaël took a shot or got so excited he would jump up and down. I worked very hard not to show any favoritism till the last quarter of the last game. In a fit of foolishness I got caught up in the end of season festivities and pledged to coach again. We're taking a break from sports as Gaël doubles down on his chess career (no chess is not a sport and yes my 5th grade chess trophy gives me the authority to say that).
He's reading up a storm and has started taking on Harry Potter. Sadly this is not a shared adventure, but he allows short debates on wizardry and spells. We agree to which people map to witch characters in his life. That list though is for a different newsletter.
Shelby is still getting settled here - in her own words:
"Thank you, thank you for this opportunity to speak…in my own words…Seattle and I are still getting to know each other, the sunshine is inspiring"
"You have to give the people something more than that, this newsletter already is flagged as spam in most people's inbox, you gotta give them like a hidden tidbit or a discovery or something"
"Feisty tonight huh?"
….
Ok time to wrap this. Working more than ever, but getting lots done and having fun. I was very briefly and heavily obsessed with large language models and lost quite a bit of sleep over them, but I think I've used them enough that I am getting a felt sense for the weight of words. Jacques very patiently is teaching me more about machine learning and I'm enjoying getting to apply it at work. Andrew and I completed a very successful hackathon where we made a better smart speaker. Here is a little demo (https://photos.app.goo.gl/NLzY68xN85qyHH2GA).
Tommy and Aunt Karen, I'm still working on writing that letter I promised in December, the todo list a mile long and that's an unfair excuse when I spend lots of days wandering around with Shelby reading to each other in the sun, but it's coming…just keep checking those mailboxes…
This one felt a little off, but hey it's done. I hope wherever you are, you are finding some sunshine and dusting off the picnic basket. Summer…she's a coming. You know the routine here, give me a call or write me a letter. Let me know how you are doing. Means a lot,
Cowabunga dude,
DJ
PS:
Here's a little photo dump of what has happened recently: https://photos.app.goo.gl/z5RVzm7jFMoMTBqS9
(In order: Date night at a hidden record store under a deli, Gaël breakdancing, the jenga night where someone tried to use their tongue to take out a piece, more photos, my rain biking outfit)
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