Welcome to (my very first) Rising Tide, a weekly digest of things I’m currently into. This is an ongoing list of books, music, podcasts, learning opportunities, products, and more that I have discovered over the last few days and deem shareable.
I hope you enjoy!
Listen up
1. We road tripped to Northern Michigan for Christmas. Six hours in the car one way? Yes, please! We were finally able to catch up on Season 3 of the Serial Podcast.
2. When Rdio was bought by Pandora a few years ago, I switched over to Spotify. I have had a playlist titled “Liked on Rdio” with hundreds of songs, left untouched since. Stumbling upon it recently, I realized there were some hidden gems. This week was spent combing through it and filing keepers into playlists. mellow canyougo is my current pride and joy.
Turn the page
3. I just finished reading Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – Anne Lamott. Witty and insightful, this is a quick read for any writer or reader, aspiring or professional.
“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
4. I also just finished Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. I bought it because it was written by a Michigan author, set in Michigan, and the summary described Margo (I always thought that was a cool name!), a young independent girl following in the footsteps of Annie Oakley. It was a quick read, beautifully written. I specifically admire Campbell’s ability to pass time so seamlessly, and her description of nature are visceral.
5. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of momentum to my reading. I’m not sure what to attribute it to. Nonetheless, I am grateful to be reading a lot and enjoying it! Seeking out a data driven logic to how many books a person can read in a year, I found Charles Shu’s The Simple Truth Behind Reading 200 Books a Year. It’s both a logical and inspiring post. I am not going so far as to commit to 200 books in a year, but I have set a 2019 New Year’s Resolution Intention to read 52 books.
“Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will…”
– Warren Buffett
School of thought
6. Looking for a new approach to time management in 2019, I have discovered Tony Robbin’s Rapid Planning Method. Fairly straight forward, this may just be another 2019 New Year’s Intention. I also ordered a copy of The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll. If you aren’t familiar with Ryder’s work, start here.
7. I’m a proud graduate of Adobe InDesign CC – Essentials Training Course by Daniel Walter Scott on Udemy. Check out Dan’s courses or his company, Bring Your Own Laptop! He’s a great instructor, very detailed and interactive. I look forward to taking some more of his classes. With that, I’m trying to figure out how best to include completed courses like this in my professional portfolio. Advice is welcome.
8. As the year reaches 99% complete, keep track of 2019’s progress using the Progress Bar. I follow @year_progress on Twitter but just realized they have a site that shows year, quarter, month, and work day progress with percentages.
Well, I think that’s it for this week! Until next time…