Intro / Preface / Extra Words
It's been a great week. You've had exactly enough time to get your long list of todos done, and you're ready to go into the long weekend without a thing left to accomplish. You'll get to kick back, relax and unwind. Life is an Adirondack chair.
LOL, nah. It hasn't been a great week. You're probably like me and having an "OMG it's Friday how did that happen and who can I blame?" kind of week. That's fine. Remember that you do in fact have a long weekend, and let the vacation brain set in as you peruse this carefully curated list of distractions.
Enjoy.
Current Things
Amazon made a small change to the way it sells books. Publishers are terrified.
This is from my sister, who is very smart. People don't understand how technology like Amazon's Buy Box works, so they don't know that clicking a buy button determines whether or not someone gets paid for their work. Amazon is taking the choice to support an author out of the hands of the consumer, which seems like a really terribly precedent for how Amazon chooses to do business going forward (with all products, not just books).
Timeless Things
20 Albums To Begin A Journey into Jazz
I was cooking dinner last week and decided that I wanted Amanda and Baby Morris to have some good jams on in the background. I basically Googled "how to get into jazz" and this is an article that came up. I've been working my way through this list (using Spotify) and I've really been enjoying it. I've heard a lot of these names before, but I liked having specific album recommendations to go along with the names. If you think jazz is elevator music, this list will change your mind.
Random Things
The Rollerball Pen Guide
I was talking with my buddy Brian F. about pens the other day and he mentioned something about respecting the Field Notes branding, but finding their pens basically unusable. Brian F. is a man who knows a good pen, so I thought I'd try to educate myself a little on the world of rollerball pens. I found this delightful little article and thought I'd share.
Food
3 Ways to Pair White Bean Soup | Food & Wine
It's getting warmer so my time to cook soups is drawing to a close. But towards the end of winter and all through spring I've been cooking several soups and pastas featuring white beans (like cannellini) and I was having trouble figuring out what to pair them with. This article is obviously meant to solve that problem, and it reminded me that I've been meaning to try Beaujolais; I still haven't gotten around to actually doing that, but in case you'd like to here's a short list of three to try.
Business Time
The CFO's guide to SaaS business metrics
As several of you know, my job is to manage a handful of SaaS (software as a service) apps. I've also had conversations with several of you that were asking about what exactly that entails, so here's a glimpse (spoiler alert, there are lots of acronyms).
Work / Productivity
Productive Nightly Routines
This article is what the title suggests. I'd say that I don't do a great job with the "sleep hygiene" part. And as much as I'd like to be part of the 5% of people (X-Men, basically) that are able to function on very few hours of sleep, I'm not one of them. I don't require much sleep, but I tend to function best on at least 5-6 hours. 8 or more makes me feel like a zombie. My wife gets pretty annoyed when I get up early on Saturdays because I'm bored of sleeping; she's in the 8+ demo.
Sports (Disc Golf)
Magic Johnson Says Brandon Ingram Is His Team's Only Untouchable Player
"Hey what if we had a team made of only guards? Y'all wanna try that?" - Magic Johnson, apparently.
I love technology (and science)
The Antidote to Health BS
Critically examining claims made by others when it conflicts with our biases is a tough skill to develop, but this researcher set out to develop curriculum to teach discernment. But as one critic says in the article, “It doesn't matter what we know, if we don't apply it in real life. Knowledge has to kick in when it's needed. It has to over-ride other influences and impulses.”
Further Reading
Leaper: The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero by Geoffrey Wood
This is a book written by my wife's uncle and my friend/uncle-in-law (is that a thing?) and it's delightful. I am a very slow reader, but this book only took me a week to devour. It's quick-witted and funny and poignant, so grab a copy and enjoy. Drinking coffee while reading is required.