Archive

Finished reading: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner 📚💙 What a beautiful and poignant book. Hopeful and joyous at the possibilities of life, but bookended by the realities of disappointment and loss. ★★★★★

Finished reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain 💙📚 Fascinating deep dive into the world of introversion and extroversion. Some meaningful parts of our temperament are genetic and passed down from our parents. If you’re a fussy, highly sensitive …

Currently reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain 📚💙 This has been an eye-opening book for the ways that extroverts and introverts differ. Bloggers, who Cain suggests are almost all introverts, will share personal details with an online …

Reflections on Reading The Story of Civilization: 

This month, I finished a multi-year reading of Will and Ariel Durant’s The Story of Civilization, an eleven-volume opus considered one of the finest narratives of world history ever written.

Durant published the first volume in 1935 when he had just turned 50. The tenth volume, Rousseau and …

Finished reading: Laozi’s Dao De Jing by Laozi 💙📚 This short book oozes with wisdom with the help of Ken Liu’s wonderful translation and notes. Read this one slowly and set aside time for reflection. So much of the advice is contrary to conventional western views that it can seem non-sensical. …

Om Malik recently launched a separate “daily” blog, which looks like a subdomain off his Wordpress site. For folks who keep a Wordpress blog, have you considered this as an alternative to separate Wordpress/Micro.blog sites for short and long posts? Puzzling through a longer term …

Currently reading: Laozi’s Dao De Jing by Laozi 💙📚 To solve the hard you must begin with the easy; To do something big you must start very small. All difficulties must be resolved through simple steps. All grand deeds must be performed through tiny details.

Finished reading: Creative Nonfiction by Lee Gutkind 📚

One of my minor complaints about the Matter read-it-later app was addressed in a big way today. “Co-Reader” provides AI assistance at the paragraph level. Tap any paragraph in an article and to see AI-generated questions and answers. All within the app. Immersive reading at its best.

Finished reading: The Age of Napoleon by Will Durant 💙📚 The eleventh and final volume of the Story of Civilization, covering the years from the beginning of the French Revolution through Waterloo. Napoleon’s rise, dictatorship, stunning victories and ultimate defeat were thrilling to read. ★★★★☆

On Notebooks and Pens: 

A few weeks ago, I came across this blog post about the author’s reasons for switching to a different everyday-carry notebook. I love posts like these, and this one had me clicking on websites, blog posts, and videos about notebooks and pens until long past bedtime.

For some, it can be difficult …

Finished reading: The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway 💙📚 Donald Sutherland did a wonderful job narrating this audiobook. It was nice to reacquaint myself with Hemingway’s short and simple sentences, yet so full of energy. Made me yearn for the ocean. ★★★★★

Question for @manton: I notice that sometimes when I make small changes to my site, like changing the category of a post, my website won’t reflect the change. I’ve switched devices, browsers, etc. No difference. The only thing that works is rebuilding the site. Is this normal or a sign …

Elevate Your Online Reading with Matter: 

I love the idea of a read-it-later app. The premise is simple: Save articles and blog posts that arise throughout the day with a single tap and read them later when you have the time. This way, you stay focused and never worry about misplacing or forgetting an important article.

A good read-it-later …

Wisdom from Kevin Kelly: Productivity is often a distraction. Don’t aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible, rather aim for better tasks that you never want to stop doing.

Apple is launching a new product this week — probably an iPhone SE. But what if they unveil an e-reader and a subscription reading service? Books are in the cross-hairs of the intersection between arts and technology. Amazon and e-readers are ripe for Apple-style disruption. A man can dream!

I love my Kindle Oasis, but Amazon is sure making it hard to stay loyal. Maybe Kobo will save the day and release an updated black and white e-reader to replace its discontinued Libra 2. This should be the golden age for e-reader innovation. Kobo? Apple? Sony? Anyone?

Ah, Patrick O’Brian. He was truly one of a kind. If you haven’t discovered Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, there’s not a moment to lose. 💙📚

💬 You learn to dance with the limp. Sometimes I’ve thought of grief as missing an amputated limb, but walking with a limp is better. Thank you @chrisheck for sharing this.

My blog had its tenth birthday last July, and I forgot to celebrate: Why Blogs Matter

Why Blogs Matter: 

This blog had its tenth birthday last July, and I forgot to celebrate.

I had no idea what I was doing when I shared that first essay in 2014. Since then, I’ve written about a hundred more posts. Each is now swirling around the ether, a faint signal in the noise for those who share an interest …

Think different. 💬

A question for @mtt about using blockquotes in the Tiny theme. I’ve attached a screenshot of a quote with the citation source shown on a separate line and off to the right. How is this done? Is this markdown or is there some html magic at work to have that citation show up like that? Thanks!

Finished reading: Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks 💙📚 An entertaining book filled with practical advice on how to improve your storytelling, whether in front of a live audience, on a date, or in a written essay. Dicks shares examples of his own stories, then breaks down why they work. ★★★★☆

Incredible update to the Readwise app today. You can now “chat” with your highlights, which uses AI to find connections you probably overlooked or forgot from your reading. Since it only draws from the highlights you saved, the results are astonishingly personal. This is my kind of AI! …

Finished reading: Fallen Leaves by Will Durant 💙📚 In 208 eloquent pages, Durant shares his views on death, religion, education, war, politics, spirituality, and, through it all, the meaning of life. Truly a gift to humanity from a scholar who devoted his long life to the study of history. ★★★★★

Connor would have turned 23 today. The very prime of life. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him, but these birthdays are tough. Hug your kids. #forever20

Finished reading: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen 📚 What a delightful book. The first chapter reeled me in with the story of how the Moleskin notebook exploded in popularity in the 1990s. The author clearly has been bitten by the same notebook fetish bug. He cites brand …

New post with my favorite books from 2024 along with updates to my reading system. My year in books for 2024.

My Year of Reading in 2024: 

I read 53 books last year, split about evenly between physical and e-books, and listened to just one audiobook. I usually listen to 10 -15 audiobooks a year, but in 2024, I decided to leave the AirPods behind on long walks to be more present. This felt like a fair exchange.

Finished reading: Rousseau and Revolution by Will Durant 📚 The tenth volume of the Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. This one provides an immensely readable history of Europe leading up to the French Revolution. This series has been such an education. ★★★★★

Finished reading: The Work of Art by Adam Moss 📚

Finished reading: The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl 📚

Finished reading: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke 📚

Finished reading: Thinking on Paper by V.A. Howard, J.H. Barton 📚

Finished reading: James by Percival Everett 📚

Finished reading: A Rage in Harlem (Special Edition) by Chester Himes 📚 What a crazy rollercoaster ride through Harlem in the 1950s. I’m just now catching my breath! ★★★★☆

Finished reading: Needful Things by Stephen King 📚 This one missed the mark for me. Too many characters — almost the entire town of Castle Rock. With so many, I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Any other author would get a two stars, but King gets a pass. ★★★☆☆

Finished reading: A System for Writing by Bob Noto 📚 A guide to the Zettelkasten method of note-taking. Writing and linking atomic notes feels so non-intuitive and…nutty? The examples late in the book of the poor quality of published books compiled from atomic notes did not help the cause. ★★★☆☆

Wrist pain prompted me to set aside my Magic keyboard and Mighty Mouse for more ergonomic options. Enter the KeyChron K15 Max Alice mechanical keyboard and a Logitech vertical mouse. I love the clicky keyboard and more comfortable layout, but sheesh, it’s hard for this old dog to learn a new …

Finished reading: The Age of Voltaire by Will Durant 📚 Continuing my quest to read all eleven volumes of Will Durant’s Opus, The Story of Civilization. Volume IX centers on science and philosophy overtaking religion through thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot. The church did its best to stop it, but …

Finished reading: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett 📚 I came for the essays on the craft of writing, but stayed for her views on RV life, dogs, opera, marriage, friendship, etc. An eclectic collection, but all Ann Patchett. What a writer. ★★★★☆

Finished reading: The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner 📚 A poignant novel on retirement, the fleetingness of life, and all those many paths not taken. One to savor. ★★★★★

Finished reading: The Elephant Whisperer by Anthony Lawrence 📚 I enjoyed these episodic adventures in the wilds of South Africa amongst elephants and the incredible struggle to preserve and cohabitate with these massive and intelligent animals. An Immense World by Ed Yong introduced me to the ways …

Currently reading: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett 📚

Finished reading: Spook Street by Mick Herron 📚 The fourth Slow Horses book was fun. These books follow a formula, yet are so well written. Now I can watch the Apple TV version … ★★★★☆

Finished reading: The Age of Louis XIV by Will Durant: Finished reading: The Age of Louis XIV by Will Durant 📚 My straight-through reading of this mammoth 11-volume history continues. Volume VIII shares a detailed view of Europe in the 17th Century. So much war and bloodshed and atrocity, and yet brilliance too. From Durant: Let us agree that in every …

From this week’s release notes from journaling app Day One: By streamlining the app’s features, we can focus on delivering a better overall experience for all users, regardless of the device they use. Day One has been under fire for removing features and mucking up their intuitive user …

New Index Card Organizer for Notes: I’m trying out a new note-taking method. I’ve switched from Field Notes to this custom index card holder. I prefer taking notes on index cards, but I’m always misplacing them or can’t find one when I need it. This “book” solves that. I moved the ring to the top …

Finished reading: Somehow by Anne Lamott 📚 I loved Lamott’s Bird by Bird memoir on the writing craft. The writing here was good, but forced. Too many similes, too many quotes from others. Great life advice: be kind to yourself & others, all we need is love, etc., but too much …

Book-wrapt — that beneficent feeling of being wholly imbooked, beshelved, inlibriated, circumvolumed, peribibliated … — The Private Library by Reid Byers 📚

What’s the best way to ask for @help on Micro.blog? I tagged @Manton in this post, but didn’t get a response. I know he’s busy, so I posted my question as a reply to the closest topic on the help forum. My reply triggered a temporary account suspension – four days ago. I …

Finished reading: Table for Two by Amor Towles 📚 I’ll read anything that Amor Towles writes. He’s one of my favorite living writers. This collection of six short stories and a novella hit the mark, though each left me wanting more, to know happens next. A master storyteller. ★★★★★

Community is a body of people crying for one another, working together for a common cause, enjoying and overlooking (or grimly tolerating) each other’s foibles; it’s a rough and beautiful quilt sewn of patches that don’t seem to go together at all, and then do. Anne Lamott, Somehow

I was getting tension headaches from too many hours of looking down at a book at night, so I bought this Levo book stand. It holds the book securely and rotates into any position I need, even fully reclined. Expensive, but worth it. Headaches are gone!

For fun, I asked ChatGPT to create a cover image for an essay I wrote. The essay mentions old books and a Kindle: note the hybrid book/eReader lit by candlelight, and how the leather wing chair barricades the door. “Don’t bother me, I’m reading,” it seems to suggest. ❤️❤️❤️

Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had. Enduring and grounding advice from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

From Are Bookstores Just a Waste of Space? (New Yorker): Two-thirds of the books released by the top-ten trade publishers sell fewer than a thousand copies, and less than four per cent sell more than twenty thousand. I knew that bestselling authors dominate book sales, but these are humbling …

Currently reading: Somehow by Anne Lamott 📚

Finished reading: The Public Library by Robert Dawson 📚

Currently reading: The Public Library by Robert Dawson 📚

Currently reading: Table for Two by Amor Towles 📚

Finished reading: The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis 📚 Who knew a book about Chess could be so intense! This was a great, great book. ★★★★★

Currently reading: The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis 📚

Finished reading: City of Glass by Paul Auster 📚 A strange meta-detective novel with an unreliable narrator who slowly dissolves into insanity. I followed maybe half of the literary and Biblical allusions. Not at all what I expected, but oddly satisfying.

Currently reading: The Age of Louis XIV by Will Durant 📚

Finished reading: The Age of Reason Begins by Will Durant 📚 My quest to read all eleven volumes of Durant’s Story of Civilization continues. Volume VII has returned to the shelf with hundreds of scribbles and notes and many, many exclamation marks. If you think the world is crazy now, you ought to …

Finished reading: Here is New York by E. B. White

Finished reading: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 📚

Finished reading: Move on Down to Mexico by 📚

Finished reading: Real Tigers by Mick Herron 📚

Currently reading: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 📚

Currently reading: Real Tigers by Mick Herron 📚

Finished reading: You Like It Darker by Stephen King 📚 This is a wonderful collection of short stories and novellas by our generation’s master storyteller. I enjoyed every piece, but particularly liked Rattlesnakes, a sequel of sorts to Cujo. It’s meditation on the persistent grief of …

Finished reading: Dead Lions by Mick Herron 📚 My second Slow Horses book and just as good as the first. There were a few more departures in this book frm the TV version, which kept me guessing. Herron is a talented writer.

I’ve seen so many beautiful postcards and photos of Crater Lake over my life. None of them, including this one I took today from the crater’s edge, capture the true beauty of this place. Yowza.

We’re one week into a six-week circuit from Arizona through Nevada and Oregon to Washington State, then down the coast through Oregon and California. We’re staying primarily in National Parks in our little self-contained RV, but we’re not rushing: three days at each stop. We’re at 6,000 feet …

Currently listening: The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 📚 How could it be that my wife of 27 years, a bookworm like me, has never read The Lord of the Rings? We’re heading out on an extended roadtrip in our little RV, and we were struggling to …

Currently reading: Dead Lions by Mick Herron 📚

Finished reading: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 📚 I enjoyed the setting of the fictional small town on Puget Sound. I liked the premise of the story. I loved the octopus. But, in the end, the author was too young/naive to be inside the head of a grief-stricken 70-year-old woman. It …

Finished reading: Consolations by David Whyte 📚 Ah, what a treasure. Two to three page poetic essays on 52 commonplace words or themes like Curiousity, Heartbreak, and Forgivness. I’ve been ruminating on this definition of Beauty for the past month: Beauty is the harvest of presence. Whyte often …

Currently reading: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 📚

David Whyte: A life’s work is not a series of stepping-stones, onto which we calmly place our feet, but more like an ocean crossing where there is no path, only a heading, a direction, in conversation with the elements. Looking back, we see the wake we have left as only a brief glimmering …

Finished reading: The Regulators by Richard Bachman/Stephen King 📚★★★☆☆ Continuing my quest to read every Stephen King novel … The Regulators was published on the same day as Desperation. Many of the same characters bedeviled by the same evil spirit Tak, but set in a parallel universe. The …

There are 10,000 books in my library, and it will keep growing until I die. This has exasperated my daughters, amused my friends and baffled my accountant. If I had not picked up this habit in the library long ago, I would have more money in the bank today; I would not be richer. — Pete Hamill

Finished reading: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 📚 This book was nothing like I expected. Frankenstein (the scientist) is arrogant, self-absorbed, and makes incredibly bad decisions. The story itself is unbelievably far-fetched. There were times I wanted to throw my Kindle on the floor at the …

Currently reading: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 📚 Slow to post this, but I’m doing a group read of this classic on BlueSky (#hotfranksummer).

Currently reading: The Regulators by Richard Bachman 📚

Finished reading: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 📚 I had an idea that this was a story about the trials of an orphan in Dickensian London. It was about that, but so much more. This novel has warmth and sadness and joy and despair. Characters that will stick with me for a long, long time. I’m …

Celebrating Three Years of Sobriety: 

I passed my third anniversary of giving up alcohol today. I thought I would share some background on this milestone and why I decided to stop drinking.

I have a long history with alcohol.  Maybe it’s the genetics mapped deep in my Irish blood or an inheritance from longstanding tradition, but …

Currently reading: The Age of Reason Begins by Will Durant 📚 One of the great diseases of this age is the multitude of books that doth so overcharge the world that it is not able to digest the abundance of idle matter that is every day hatched and brought into the world. Barnaby Rich, known …

Currently reading: The Age of Reason Begins by Will Durant 📚 I took a short break in my marathon read of the 11-volume Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. Back at it with Volume VII.

Reading a Book in 15 Minutes: Interesting and humorous article by Anthony Lane in the New Yorker about the book summary app Blinkist: Can You Read a Book in a Quarter of an Hour?. We’re reading fewer books as a society. Our ever-fascinating smart phones aren’t helping the cause: The most potent enemy of reading, it goes without …

Finished reading: 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 📚 I know I’ve read this a long time ago, but it was nice to be reacquainted with Helene, the zany book-loving American, and Mr. Frank Doel, the reserved British bookseller. The abrupt ending catches you off guard, but it’s also …

The Booksellers documentary is so, so good. All the bookshelves, rare books, home libraries … and so many kindred spirits talking about their love of books. The whole documentary is beautiful and a little melancholy. Booksellers and librarians are my favorite people. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

Finished reading: Stories of Books and Libraries by Jane Holloway (ed.) 📚 A book of short stories, excerpts and essays about the love of reading and libraries? Of course I’m going to love it. A good father’s day gift for a dad who loves books. ★★★★★

Thank Your Teachers: 

I came across a journal entry I wrote on this day ten years ago. I was reflecting on the people in my life that made a difference on how things have turned out for me. I realized that many of these people couldn’t possibly know the impact they had on me and the countless others they helped.

I kept …

David Copperfield and the Magic of Amazon WhisperSync: I’m currently reading the classic David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 📚 for the first time. I’m reading it on my Kindle with an add-on $3 splurge of the Audible audiobook. I experimented with WhisperSync many years ago when it was first released and found it buggy. For such a low fee, I thought I …

Currently reading: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 📚

Finished reading: The Death of Grass by John Christopher 📚 A short 1950s SciFi novel about a virus that kills grasses. Starvation and violence breaks out. Governments fall. Civilization crumbles. Except for the very dated portrayal of women, the story felt current. ★★★★☆

Finished reading: The Reformation by Will Durant 📚

Currently reading: The Death of Grass by John Christopher 📚

How A Hidden Feature in Bear Changed the Way I Review Notes: 

This is the second of what might become a series of posts about how I use the Bear app to improve how I leverage notes in my reading and thinking. This is not a topic that will interest many, but writing a blog offers its indulgences. Unless your interests lie in the nerdier aspects of note-taking …

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 30: Hometown Vashon Island will always be my hometown.

Finished reading: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 📚 An absolute masterpiece. Totally gutted by the end. I can’t believe it took me this long to read it. ★★★★★

Finished reading: Sibley’s Birding Basics by David Allen Sibley 📚 Ah, the inevitable slide into birdwatching. Great introductory guide to help me get started. ★★★★☆

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 29: Drift

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 28: Community Of all the communities I’ve been a part of - industry leader, islander, 55+ retirement living - liveaboard boat life was the most incredible. We all had a little extra salt water in our veins that compelled us to a life afloat. Good …

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 27: Surprise My all-time favorite Surprise. In fact, all twenty volumes of this Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian are wonderful. I am perpetually rereading them. I think I’m on my fourth circumnavigation after my first voyage some 20 …

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 26: Critters

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 25: Spine The spine of this tattered old book tells a story of how loved it is. I must have read these stories a dozen times over the past thirty years. Scribbles and underlines and exclamation marks scattered throughout. A life in marginalia.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 24: Light Is there anything more mesmerizing than the shifting light and shapes of a campfire under a blanket of stars?

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 23: Dreamy

Currently reading: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 📚

Finished reading: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 📚 Characters who love books and reading, lots of fun literary references, a bookstore set on an island … this one could have been written just for me. ★★★★☆

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 22: Blue Crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca on a clear, calm day.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 21: Mountain Mount Rainier while under sail in Commencement Bay (2006).

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 20: Ice The winter before we moved full time to Arizona.

Currently reading: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 📚

Finished reading: Desperation by Stephen King 📚 Maybe not one of Mr. King’s best efforts, but it was entertaining, and the ending came together better than I expected. ★★★☆☆

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 19: Birthday A puppy for my son’s 13th birthday back in 2015. Happy memories.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 18: Mood Tonight’s camp site here in the Mojave National Preserve has put me in a good mood. It doesn’t get much better than this.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 17: Transcendence La Ventana Arch, New Mexico

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 16: **flâneur**: 📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 16: flâneur Today’s photo theme reminds me of Vacilando, which I learned from this passage in Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck: In Spanish there is a word for which I can’t find a counterword in English. It is the verb vacilar, present …

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 15: Small I’ve never felt quite so small or felt part of something quite so large as when standing on the lip of the Grand Canyon. It truly is one of Earth’s wonders.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 14: Cactus

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 13: Page A random page from The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Definitely the trippiest book I’ve ever read, yet poignant and incredibly memorable. In sailing, we say it’s the journey, not the destination that matters. Same with House of Leaves.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 12: Magic

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 11: Sky

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 10: Train Hobo bunnies waiting on a train in Ladysmith, British Columbia.

🥓 Day 9: Crispy | prompt submitted by @rom As an antidote to yesterday’s prevention theme, here’s a flashback to breakfast aboard our boat with crispy bacon and donuts from the Lyme Kiln Cafe in Roche Harbor. Yum!

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 8: Prevention

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 7: Well-being

Currently reading: Desperation by Stephen King 📚 Tackling the remaining Stephen King books I haven’t read. I usually read fiction on my Kindle, but I have the hardback of this one. I forgot how heavy and unwieldy some of Stephen King books can be!

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 6: Windy Gale force winds aboard MV Indiscretion.

Finished reading: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 📚 I loved this short, spare novella. In 109 pages, Keegan puts you squarely in the mind and body of its protagonist, Furlong. You feel the pangs of long-ago childhood angst, the chill of an Irish cold spell, the ugliness of small town …

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 5: Serene Toba Inlet, British Columbia, aboard MV Indiscretion.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 4: Foliage

Currently reading: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 📚

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 3: Card A Father’s Day card from my son Connor in 2020 before he left home for college. He died in a motorcycle accident two years later. I usually toss cards, but I kept this one, and I treasure it. Hug your kids tonight.

📷 April 2024 Micro.Blog photo challenge, Day 2: Flowers

📷 Day01 : toy (@pcora)

Currently reading: Slow Horses by Mick Herron 📚 Lamb’s laugh wasn’t a genuine surrender to amusement; more of a temporary derangement. Not a laugh you’d want to hear from anyone holding a stick. I enjoyed the TV series, but the book is even better.

Finished reading: The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry 📚★★★★★ Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.

Currently reading: Sibley’s Birding Basics by David Allen Sibley 📚

Finished reading: Dune by Frank Herbert 📚 ★★★★★

There is no better teacher than history in determining the future. There are answers worth billions of dollars in a $30 history book.📚 Charlie Munger

Camped along the Colorado River here at Davis Camp on the Arizona-Nevada border. Smaller rigs can nose right up to the edge of the river. This is my kind of camping.

Currently reading: Dune by Frank Herbert 📚 Rereading ahead of seeing the movie. I had forgotten how much I loved this book.

Finished reading: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh 📚 ★★★☆☆

The End of Private Libraries: 

There seem to be two kinds of people on this earth—those who love books and everyone else. The bookish have always been far outnumbered, and the gap must be widening in this age of endless digital entertainment. I count myself among the proud minority, but a book, of all things, has brought into …

After three good years with Craft, I’ve moved my reading notes and PKM to Bear. I really love Bear’s simplicity and hidden power on both Mac and iOS. No futzing, just my words. Blog post: Bear 2 for Writing and Thinking.

Bear 2 for Writing and Thinking: 

For the past six weeks, I’ve been evaluating an app to replace Craft for my reading notes.  This post shares the reasons I’m moving away from Craft and why Bear 2 might be the best app around for writing and thinking on the Mac and iPad.

Craft and the Value of Connected Notes

I use Craft to capture …

Currently reading: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh 📚

Finished reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 📚 This was a good book. I liked the characters and the storyline. The reasons Sam and Sadie found to be mad at the other were a little frustrating, but I think that’s ultimately the lesson they each needed to learn. The …

Mac-only Apps: 

I’ve been evaluating Bear 2 to replace Craft for my reading notes and quasi-Zettelkasten for the past few weeks. I’ve used Craft for over three years, but that tool has morphed into a team note-taking and document-sharing platform that doesn’t mesh well with my needs anymore.

My …

Finished reading: The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 📚

Currently reading: The Reformation by Will Durant 📚

Finished reading: The Renaissance by Will Durant 📚

Reading The Story of Civilization: 

In the spring of last year, I started reading The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. This is no quick undertaking. Spanning eleven volumes and 10,000 pages, it will take me the rest of this year to finish.

The first volume was published in 1935 when Durant had just turned 50. He …

Steinbeck captures my basic attitude towards New Years Resolutions here in the third week of January: It is very strange that when you set a goal for yourself, it is hard not to hold toward it even if it is inconvenient and not even desirable.

My Two Journals: 

I surprised myself a little over a year ago by writing in a paper journal every morning. The surprise wasn’t that I was keeping a journal but that I was doing it by hand. I had been using the Day One journaling app to record my private thoughts for over a decade. But this was no ordinary year. …

It’s been a couple years since I finished In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. I read all six volumes with an amazing Twitter book group over the course of a year. I struggled with the serpentine sentences and French society references at the time, but passages like these stuck with me. 📚

Currently reading: The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 📚

Quicken Classic for Mac - A Long-time User Review: 

I’ve used some version of Quicken for 35 years. That puts me in a stodgy demographic that manages money in a certain “this is how I’ve always done it” way. For the uninitiated, Quicken is a personal finance software program that helps manage your checkbook and credit cards, pay your bills, keep to …

Finished reading: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 📚

My Year in Reading: 

I read 75 books in 2023, my high water mark for the most reading in a year. Books have always been like a warm blanket, and I needed that comfort during a most challenging year.

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. — James …

Finished reading: Wednesday’s Child by Yiyun Li 📚 My 75th book of 2023, which is a new personal record for the most books I’ve read in a single year. Many of the stories in this collection touch on the hard to articulate grief of losing a child, which hit home for me. ★★★★☆

Currently reading: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong 📚

Finished reading: Holly by Stephen King 📚

I found this lovely bookmark in my Christmas stocking. Santa knows me so well! 📚

The Private Library by Reid Byers: Finished reading: The Private Library by Reid Byers 📚 Book-wrapt — that beneficient feeling of being wholly imbooked, beshelved, inlibriated, circumvolumed, peribibliated … it implies the traditional library wrapped in shelves of books, and the condition of rapt attention to a particular …

Currently reading: Holly by Stephen King 📚

Finished reading: Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark 📚 A slow read over the course of a few months, one chapter/writing tool per sitting. Lots of great tips and advice to improve your writing.

Finished reading: The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan W. Watts 📚 Another compelling argument for being present in our lives, and paying close attention to the marvels that surround us. How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted …

Currently reading: Wednesday’s Child by Yiyun Li 📚

Finished reading: The Vagabond’s Way by Rolf Potts 📚

Stephen King: Finished reading: Christine and Blaze by Stephen King 📚 Continuing my quest to read the Stephen King books I missed along the way. With these two, I’ve now read thirteen King books this year. The 700-page Christine book flew by on my Kindle. Lots of supernatural fun mixed in with nostalgia for my …

The Age of Faith by Will Durant: Finished reading: The Age of Faith by Will Durant 📚 I finished this fourth installment of Will Durant’s Story of Civilization after three months of slow, careful reading. The Age of Faith begins with the fall of Rome and carries through the end of the Middle Ages. The writing is clear, …

Finished reading: Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross 📚 Your Brain on Art is the latest selection from the Next Big Idea Club. The authors did a nice job of gathering scientific evidence of how art making and appreciation physically changes your brain. I loved the part where a scientist …

Finished reading: The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now by Thich Nhat Hanh 📚 Impermanence is something wonderful. If things were not impermanent, life would not be possible. A seed could never become a plant of corn; the child couldn’t grow into a young adult; there could never …

Currently reading: The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now by Thich Nhat Hanh 📚

Finished reading: The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King 📚 Continuing my quest to go back and read the Stephen King books I’ve missed along the way. I listened to the audiobook of this one, narrated by actor Bronson Pinchot. I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobooks, but the narration of …

Finished reading: The Silentiary by Antonio Di Benedetto 📚 What a strange little book. The narrator is slowly driven insane by all the commercial sounds encroaching on his family home: an auto repair shop next door, a nightclub across the street, an idling bus outside his bedroom window, all told in …

Started reading: Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen 📚

Enjoying a pint of Athletic Brewing non-alcoholic beer tonight. I gave up alcohol a few years ago, but still enjoy great beer thanks to this wonderful brewer. I subscribe to their monthly club, which gives me a sample of their pilot beers - this month’s Oregon Strata Web Hop IPA is terrific. 🍻

Finished reading: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King 📚 Working through the few books of Stephen King I haven’t read. This is a collection of his early stories. A few are dated, and a few are exceptional. There is a bleakness that pervades many of these stories. I hoped for a good outcome for the …

Replace “book” with “blog” and you’ve captured what makes a community like Micro.blog so special: Even the oddest, most particular book was written with that kind of crazy courage—the writer’s belief that someone would find his or her book important to read. I was …

Fascinating article in The Economist this week about the effort underway by computer scientists to use machine language models and a particle accelerator (!) to decipher the petrified remains of 500 scrolls from a Roman library buried in the Vesuvius eruption. The impact on classical studies and …

🍿Went to see Killers of the Flower Moon last night. Parts of the movie were extraordinary. Such a sad, sad story. But gosh, the 3 1/2 hour length was too long. With better editing, this could have been a 2 1/2 hour movie that held me on the edge of my seat.

Currently reading: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King 📚 Working my way through the backlog of Stephen King books I haven’t read (I’ve read over 50 of his books!?!). What a gifted and prolific storyteller he is!

Getting some culture today at the Phoenix Art Museum. Since moving to the area last December, we try to see something new each week on what we call our Adventure Thursdays (and eat: lunch at Welcome Diner was delicious). Any Phoenicians here with recommendations on places we should visit?

The first lesson of philosophy is that we cannot be wise about everything. We are fragments in infinity and moments in eternity; for such forked atoms to describe the universe, or the Supreme Being, must make the planets tremble with mirth. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization Volume III: Caesar …

Finished reading: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 📚 A good premise perhaps weakened by too many characters and side stories. The depression era setting, poor living conditions, and the horrors of racism and cruel treatment of people with disabilities felt Dickensian. McBride …

The English word lost derives from the Old Norse los, which refers to the disbanding of an army. This etymology implies that losing one’s way is less about being in the wrong place than it is about letting go of planned endeavors, and embracing surprises rather than avoiding them. Rolf Potts, The …

The Curiosity of Micro.blog: 

How I fell into a trance with the Indy blog service, Micro.blog, is a curious story.

I received a renewal invoice from HostGator notifying me that the cost of my bi-annual web hosting service was going up 58%. Quick math informed me that I was paying too much for a personal blog. Surely there …

Finished reading: Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane 📚 Mary Pat Fennessy is one of the most compelling characters I’ve encountered in a while. She made the bleakness of the story worth it. And yes, the story is bleak! Dennis Lehane is a terrific storyteller.

A Slow Read of the Story of Civilization 📚: 

I’ve had this old set of Will and Ariel Durant’s Pulitzer-prize-winning Story of Civilization on my bookshelves, collecting dust for almost a quarter of a century. These books belonged to my grandmother, who willed them to me after passing. I inherited her love of reading, so I’ve …

Currently reading: The Age of Faith by Will Durant 📚

I’ve wanted to see the Grand Canyon for as long I could remember. I think it was a Brady Bunch episode from the early 70s that first caught my imagination. They described the canyon as mountains lying down. Last week, we drove up from Phoenix and camped on the South Rim. We took our electric …

The Wastelands: 

Grieving the loss of a child is a journey through wastelands you never expected to cross. Unlike every other challenge you’ve ever faced, there is no easy way through a loss like this. You stumble and fall. You curse. You are hobbled and bloody. You are not sure of the way. You might be going in …

All Good Things: 

After five years of amazing adventures aboard our Nordhavn trawler MV Indiscretion, we’ve decided it’s time for a change. We are coming off the water.

We didn’t plan on this. We dreamed for decades to be at this very spot in our lives — casting off the bowlines to explore the world under our own …

A Father’s Grief: 

This is the most difficult thing I've ever written. I’m sharing this partly because I hope that releasing these words will provide some catharsis from the excruciating pain I have carried around these last months. Perhaps the sentiments I’ve conveyed here can be a small comfort to someone who has …

Is there anything better in life than being the captain of your own little ship? Is there any better way to greet the day than casting off at dawn?

An Early morning departure across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Watching the sun rise from the wheelhouse is a unique trawler life delight. Calm seas, light wind, a favorable current. Feeling especially blessed this morning.

Our first ever stern tie aboard Indiscretion here in Prideaux Haven! That was quite the experience. We learned so much about what not to do! Oh, and swear words come through loud and clear on our wireless Eartec headsets even when one member of the crew is on shore.

We’ve lived aboard Indiscretion now for 75 days. Other than the comical annoyance that anything you need is ALWAYS under or behind other awkward things that you must first haul out, life on this trawler has been amazing. And now that we’re underway, home takes on a richer meaning. In one …

We had such good intentions … We left Shilshole Marina on 6/1 with the northern reaches of British Columbia on our minds. This is the year to revisit Canada: the Sunshine Coast, The Broughtons, a slow cruise down the West Coast of Vancouver Island. We’d skip the San Juans altogether. …

Shilshole Marina — The Voyage Home: 

Kicking back in the cockpit of Indiscretion on this fine May evening, I've been thinking about how life has a way of circling back on itself in strange, unexpected ways.

We've been settled in our new slip at Shilshole Marina in Seattle for a month now as we finalize the sale of our Vashon Island …

Shilshole Marina on Sunday night.

The Art of Letting Go: 

If the first half of life is about growing and accumulating, then the second half must see us disbursing, letting go. Life is full of cycles — like the seasons, or perhaps more dear to me, the flooding and ebbing of tides.

In the past few years, I’ve let go of my aging parents, my career and a …

A New Life of Indiscretion: 

A sea change is underway for Indiscretion and her crew. In the span of three cold, dark and rainy months here in the Pacific Northwest, we have decided to shake things up in four significant ways.

A Writer’s Journal: Day One or Craft?: 

I’ve kept a journal for most of my adult life. I got started in my early twenties filling dozens of blank journal books. Ten years ago, I went digital with an app called Day One, and I have been using an iPad to journal since then. My journal holds thousands of entries — over a million words — …

Read Better with Craft and Readwise: 

Have you ever run across a book you know you’ve read but can’t recall much about it? Or, come across a passage in a book while you were reading that seemed important — something you knew you could use at some point in the future — but didn’t know where or how to save it so you could find it again?

Keep the Change: 

As I walked through the throng of travelers at LAX recently on my way to a flight that would be canceled the minute I got to the gate, I reflected on how change is the only real constant in life. In less than a week, I found myself hurrying through crowded airports in Seattle, Denver and Los …

The Craft App —A Year of Magical Linking: 

It’s been a year since I adopted Craft as my primary research and note-taking app. I shared my impressions of Craft early on, but I thought I would provide an update on how I’m using the software and why, with all the other choices available in the personal knowledge management (PKM) space, I’m …

The Gales of November: 

We’re in the middle of a wet, windy month here in the Pacific Northwest. A weather phenomenon known as a “bomb cyclone” brought sustained winds of 30 knots and gusts up to 50 knots earlier this month. Since then, successive weather systems, aptly called atmospheric rivers, have pummeled Puget …

Grammarly, Ulysses and Lost Links: 

I’m a long-time subscriber of Grammarly, the subscription-based grammar checking and proofreading service. I’m the kind of writer that needs grammar and style checking. No matter how many times I review a draft, the round trip through Grammarly finds some sort of error. It’s tough to proofread your …

Fall Cruising on Hood Canal: 

The crew of Indiscretion achieved a matrimonial milestone this month — our 25th Wedding Anniversary. This is remarkable, not only because our marriage has lasted far longer than the statistical average, but also because our friends all expected this spur-of-the-moment marriage to dissolve within …

Fall cruising in the Pacific Northwest brings such a variety of weather conditions. Full sun, clouds, rain, blustery winds, even hail and thunderstorms. We canceled many cruising opportunities on our sailboats when the forecast was iffy, but not anymore. This trawler provides a comfortable sanctuary …

Reading Deeply: 

I spend a lot of time with my nose in a book. Last year, I read 61 books, and I'm on track to read that many again in 2021. Yet, as fast as I read, I can't seem to make a dent in my To-Be-Read pile. So many books, so little time. Sometimes it feels like I'm running on a treadmill with an …

Writing Things Down in a Paperless World: 

For the past ten years, I have been on a mission to eradicate paper from my work and home life. I can now access information more quickly and from anywhere, whether at sea or at the Apple Store where I need to produce the invoice for a dead MacBook Pro. And yet, one hold-out refuses to go gently …

Organizing the Tool Shed: 

In my office, I keep an old photograph of the Buckaroo Tavern in the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont. The photo truly captured the character of the place: two chrome-festooned Harley Davidson motorcycles parked up on the sidewalk out front, bright orbs from the lights hung over the pool tables, and …

Water, Water: 

On a boat, the most basic conveniences of life — like running water — require forethought and attention. In this post, we explore how we manage water aboard our Nordhavn 43 trawler.

Ample fresh water aboard Indiscretion is one of the many extravagances we enjoy aboard this expedition trawler. …

Boat Problem? Think Horses, Not Zebras: 

One of the great joys of anchoring out in a beautiful bay is the free time you have to focus on lingering boat projects. When you’re away from the boat, these issues seem to stack up until a later day. But here in Hunter Bay in the beautiful San Juan Islands? I had plenty of time.

My focus of the …

Indiscretion Gets a Second Brain: 

With most of my nautical life spent on sailboats, marine electronics has never been much of a focus area. Our most well-equipped cruising sailboat carried just basic navigation equipment: an autopilot, a chartplotter, and instruments for speed, depth, and wind. I knew that more sophisticated …

Sometimes all it takes is a few quiet days and nights at anchor in some secluded bay. Any stress you might have brought aboard fell away in the wake of the voyage, but soon you rediscover a deeper level of relaxation and peace that you only seem to find on a boat. You slip into that easily misplaced …

Early Spring in the San Juans: Island Jewels: 

Part three: After a rough start (part one) and a nice passage north (part two), we concluded our three weeks of island hopping through the beautiful San Sun Islands, enjoying mostly fine weather and deserted anchorages.

Jones Island

After a blissful three days on Stuart Island, we plot the …

Early Spring in the San Juan Islands: Heading North: 

Part Two: Having quickly resolved our hydraulic system problems, the crew of Indiscretion heads north for the San Juan Islands.

After departing Shilshole Marina, we arrive at Port Ludlow and spend the night at anchor to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the tide in the morning. Weather on the …

Early Spring in the San Juan Islands: Departure Troubles: 

Part One: The crew of Indiscretion sets out for an open-ended cruise through the San Juan Islands in early spring, but their voyage is in jeopardy within hours of departure.

The San Juan Islands are some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world. More than a hundred named islands and …

Back to reality: the lawn needs mowing, the deck needs pressure washing, the bills need paying … but a part of me is still afloat, feeling the gentle sway and rock, marveling at the colors and hush of twilight on a boat in the islands.

I can’t tell you how lucky I feel to be adventuring with this beautiful woman. She’s been putting up with me for almost 25 years, raising children, managing a career, and making the best of the challenges in life. Through it all it seems like she’s always smiling. I snapped this …

It’s that moment before a cruise when you sit back and consider. Everything is stowed. We have more food than we will likely have a chance to eat. My maintenance list is checked off. The engine room check just now was fine. All systems are go. The boat is literally tugging at her lines to go. …

Winter Cruise through Central Puget Sound: 

With a welcome change in the weather, the crew of Indiscretion made immediate plans to cast off our dock lines. We unloaded a dock cart full of too much food, topped off the water tank, and set out for a much-needed winter cruise through central Puget Sound.

Indiscretion Hires a Full-time Captain: 

I could see the problem from the very start. This complicated trawler yacht with all her engines and systems required more attention than I could possibly dedicate on nights and weekends. She needed a full-time captain and engineer to keep her Bristol and ready at a moment’s notice to cast off and …

Want to Keep a Journal? Go Digital: 

I’ve kept a personal journal for most of my adult life. These journals have helped me wrestle with every significant decision and manage through the many stresses of everyday life. Last month, I put down my millionth word in over 40 years of self-reflection.

I’ve written about the reasons to keep …

The New Craft App Does More Than Keep Notes: 

About a month ago, I started using a new Mac/iOS app called Craft to help me make sense of books I read and organize ideas and content for my own writing. I was intrigued by the potential of bringing all my disparate notes into one friction-free digital home, enabling new connections and insights …

Indiscretion Gets a New Screen: 

The crew of Indiscretion has fully embraced the Apple ecosystem. It doesn’t seem very long ago that the Mac was the underdog, but now, Macs, iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches, Apple TV's, and even the underwhelming HomePod have found their way into our lives. We use this technology in the pilothouse …

Fall Cruising in South Puget Sound: 

Fall weather in the Northwest can be pretty iffy. Rain and wind are the norm for this time of year, which took its toll on our boating time back when we sailed. Unlike my more hardcore sailor friends, the novelty of freezing my ass off in the cockpit lost its appeal some time in my mid-forties. …

Quicken 2020 for Mac - A Long-time User’s Review: 

Welcome to my third annual review of the personal finance software, Quicken for Mac. I have been using Quicken to manage my finances since 1989: first on the Mac, then a long stint on the Windows version, before switching back to the new-and-improved Mac version four years ago. I wrote about the …

Charging System Upgrade: 

During our two decades of sailing, we held a particular disdain for powerboats and their noisy generators. On starlit nights, the chug-chug-chug of neighboring generators disturbed the quiet stillness of the anchorage. Back then, we could be smug. With the simple systems on a sailboat, we could go …

The Cruise of the Empty Nesters: 

When we purchased our Nordhavn 43 trawler a little over two years ago, we had big plans for the fall of 2020. We’d leave our newly emptied home and sail off to far away destinations — a longtime dream come true.

In fact, we did cast off, but not like we expected.

The Cost of Indiscretion: 

As a licensed CPA and long-time boat owner, I’m no stranger to the financial consequences of keeping a boat. People like to joke about how quickly money flows into a boat, like stuffing $100 bills down a bottomless drain. Or, how many “boat units” a particular upgrade or repair will be. Somehow, …

Mornings on the Boat: 

Mornings start early on Indiscretion. Sometime between 6 and 7 a.m., one of our two trawler dogs will jump down off the bed and start issuing low whines I can’t drown out no matter how deeply I burrow into the blankets.

I complain a lot about having to take the dogs ashore in the morning, but to …

We said goodbye to this young man this morning and have started our drive back home - 1,400 miles away. Every parent must face this, but holy smokes this was hard. Felt like a punch in the gut to walk out of that dorm room. It’s a new chapter for all of us and I know I should be excited, but …

Indiscretion at Anchor: 

Anchoring a boat has come a long way. On our sailboats, it always felt like a risky proposition. We'd make sure to set the anchor and watch our position in relation to a fixed point on land. I'd stand at the bow for a long time before turning in, feeling the pressure of wind on my cheek, wondering …

Coaches: 

I'm told I say it every year, but today was certainly the best Father's Day ever. Being spoiled by my two children, and seeing how they've become wonderful adults has put me in a thankful, reflective mood. I'm sure every generation thinks this, but I believe what it means to be a father has changed …

What an amazing Father’s Day present! MV Indiscretion at anchor captured by the amazing artist (and my niece!) Sara Breen. Whoa!

Energize!: 

Over the past few months, we’ve been awakened by our Maretron monitoring system with a low-battery alarm during the wee hours. You cannot distinguish the low-battery alarm from the Anchor watch alarm, so on the times this has happened, I immediately launched myself to the pilothouse to gauge which …

These two. My pride and joy. What amazing adults they have become, right before my eyes. In the midst of this pandemic with the whole world out of balance, they are both set to achieve big milestones in their lives without the fanfare they deserve. Connor, a high school graduate bound for the …

Our Nordhavn trawler can take us to incredibly remote parts of the world. But what if something breaks down so far away from everything? I’ve spent most my life believing that outsourcing tasks to experts is the best model for life. Shoot, I even lead the strategy function of a multi-billion …

Trawler Maintenance for the Mechanically Challenged: 

Are you mechanically-inclined, perhaps an engineer? Are you inquisitive by nature, wondering how things tick? Do you like to fix stuff? If so, this post is not meant for you, although you might get a chuckle here and there if you decide to keep reading. 

I wrote this for a different segment of …

There is nothing so magical and comforting as the wheelhouse of a trawler at night. Words fail. Pictures can’t capture it. The gentle rocking, the warm light, the sense of adventure and impending expedition, the saltwater soaking into already salty veins. Some people spend their whole lives …

With all our usual park trails now off limits, Franklin and I have taken to the backroads of Vashon for our daily constitutional. I am reminded that most of this island could be considered one giant park, andI feel especially thankful to call this our home in times like these. On today’s five …

Take Comfort in the Small Things: 

So many worries. Our future unknown and uncertain. Quarantine and isolation. And yet … these are the days we’ll remember for a generation: those dark times when we persevered and grew stronger as a person, as a family, and as a community. We made sacrifices, experienced heartfelt loss, and …

Indiscretion in Heavy Weather: 

Most captains pay close attention to weather forecasts and will postpone departures to protect the comfort and safety of the ship and its passengers. But what if the skipper has a track record of being too cautious? And what if the ship is an ocean-capable Nordhavn trawler?

***

I’m the first to …

Winter Cruise to Olympia: 

We took our first cruise of 2020 aboard Indiscretion to Olympia last week. After a wet and windy start to the year, the weather gods smiled down at us and provided four days of sun and calm seas that perfectly coincided with our travel. That doesn’t happen very often in February around here, so …

Read More Books: Read More Than One Book at a Time: 

The latest in a series of tips to help you read at least 50 books a year without feeling like you’re reading that much at all.

This tip may be an unpopular one. Many readers are devoted to a single book at a time, and would consider it is almost cheating to allow a second (or third) book into the …

Read More Books: Listen to Audiobooks: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractible environment, it can be challenging to find time for books. In this read-more-books series, I’ll share tips and tricks to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like you’re reading that much at all.

Read …

Read More Books: Set a Goal and Have a System of Follow Through: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractible environment, it can be challenging to find time for books. In this read-more-books series, I’ll share the tips and tricks I use to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like I’m reading that much at all. …

Read More: Make Use of Short Breaks during the Day: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractible environment, it can be challenging to find time for books. In this read-more-books series, I’ll share the tips and tricks I use to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like I’m reading that much at all. …

How to Read More: Meet Libby, Your Digital Librarian: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractible environment, it can be challenging to find time for books. In this read-more-books series, I’ll share the tips and tricks I use to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like I’m reading that much at all.

Read More Books with GoodReads.com: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractible environment, it can be challenging to find time for books. In this read-more-books series, I’ll share the tips and tricks I use to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like I’m reading that much at all. …

How to Read More: Use a Kindle: 

Reading books is one of life’s great rewards, but in today’s increasingly distractable environment, it can be difficult to find time for books. In this series of posts, I’ll share the tips and tricks I use to read at least 50 books a year without feeling like I’m reading that much at all.

First …

In Defense of Reading: 

I have read 50 books so far this year, though it doesn’t feel like I’m really reading that much. I simply cut out the hours I might have scrolled through social media feeds or listened to half-baked podcasts, which freed up more time for reading books. I believe we are experiencing a golden age for …

Trawler Dogs: 

I stood mostly naked near the bow of the boat in the early hours of a Thursday morning. The sun hadn’t risen, and it was damp and chilly in my underwear. I hoped other boats anchored nearby wouldn’t witness this act of indignity. Desperate times require desperate measures, I told myself, as I …

One Simple Tip to Improve your Day One Journal: 

Want to establish a consistent journaling habit and record your most important life events? Let me give you some simple advice from a long-time journal writer: scan your previous half dozen entries before you start to write. This two-minute drill will help you fight writer’s block and improve the …

Homeward Bound: 

We’ve been back ashore now for a few weeks, home from our month-long trip aboard Indiscretion in the San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands. We spent the majority of our nights at anchor or tied to a mooring buoy, enjoying the onboard accommodations and tranquility.

I expected to run into some form …

Going Paperless: Tools and Tips: 

I have kept a paperless office for nearly a decade. The technology has improved a lot since I started, making it pretty easy for anyone to reduce to eliminate paper from their daily life. In this post, I’ll share how I eliminated 95% of the paper from my home and office, and in the process, …

Canadian Gulf Islands - A Magic Kind of Medicine: 

We are tied up to to the guest dock at the Causeway Marina in Victoria Harbour with a front-row seat of all the bustle and glamour that waterfront Victoria provides.

This for me is what’s great about boating. Anchored in a small bay surrounded by wilderness, birdsong, cackling geese, a faint cooling breeze. Far, far away from bustle and strife. Fellow boaters passing by in dinghies with smiles and waves. A sense of shared fraternity that we all found this …

Wind in our Hair, Water in our Shoes: 

Our first week in the islands was a blur. It usually takes about three days for us to lose our landward ways and find our sea legs, but our entry seemed easier this time. The pace of life on a trawler forces you to slow down, let the stress fall away - very much like our years under sail, but with …

Spencer Spit: 

I’m writing this in the red glow of the wheelhouse courtesy lights on this calm night at Spencer Spit on the northwest side of Lopez Island. Lisa and Connor have retired to their respective staterooms, bushed from a long day of sea air. I’m tired, but I want to capture some of this experience while …

A Passage of Firsts: 

Our voyage has begun! We cast off the dock lines in the wee hours of Saturday morning to catch the ebb tide and are now comfortably anchored in Hunter Bay on the Southeast part of Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands.

Final Preparations: 

We’re counting down the days until we cast off for our summer trip to revisit the San Juan Islands and then venture farther north than we’ve ever been under sail, hopefully, all the way to Desolation Sound in British Columbia.

Back to School with Lugger Bob: 

Lisa and I attended the Northern Lights Hands-On Diesel Engine Class in Ballard last month. The class is taught by Robert Senter, aka “Lugger Bob,” a renowned expert on the engines and generators in Nordhavn yachts, and for that matter practically every other system as well.

A Wheelhouse at Night: 

I’m writing this tonight from the settee of Indiscretion’s wheelhouse — one hell of a place to put down words. It’s just past twilight now, and I’ve turned on the red courtesy lights that provide just enough glow to see my surroundings, but not enough to spoil vision while voyaging at night. Ahead …

Backing to Port: 

When we purchased Indiscretion late last summer, we knew we needed help in getting to know our new vessel, the systems on board, and in particular, maneuvering her 60,000 pounds around docks and other boats. Coming from a smaller and lighter sailboat, operating this trawler was a whole new …

RTFM: 

Indiscretion, our Nordhavn trawler, has a Maretron onboard computer system which monitors most of the vital components aboard the vessel. From a display at the helm or master stateroom, I can review the wind speed outside, fuel, water and holding tank levels, state of the batteries, engine …

Engine Maintenance - Favorite Class Ever?: Lisa and I attended a training session at Northern Lights in Ballard, the company that manufactured Indiscretion’s engine and generator. This one-day “Captain’s Course” is taught by Bob Senter, a respected authority on practically everything within the engine room of a trawler. It was a pleasure to …

Fear of Flying: I spent last weekend in Las Vegas to attend my niece’s Little White Chapel wedding on the Strip. Frequent flier miles paid for our tickets, placing us in the far back of the plane. On the way home to Seattle, my family took the whole row on the port side of the aircraft, while I settled into the …

Quicken 2019 for Mac Review: 

See my Quicken 2020 for Mac Review for the most recent review.

I have been using Quicken to manage my finances since 1989, making this my 30th anniversary with the program. Though I started on a Mac, and use a Mac today, the vast majority of my use has been on Windows. A little over two years ago, I …

Happy Birthday, Patrick O'Brian!: 

Patrick O’Brian, the author of the Aubrey-Maturin seafaring novels, would have been 104 years old today. Mr. O’Brian passed away in 2000 but left behind a treasure of twenty meticulously researched historical sea novels set in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The books center on …

Luana Beach Road. Or maybe the Shire.

Eartec Wireless Radios - The Marriage Saver: 

Lisa and I have celebrated 22 wedding anniversaries. For at least the past dozen years, we haven’t exchanged gifts beyond small tokens like flowers or chocolates. Instead, we go out to dinner, just the two of us, to celebrate the occasion. This year we celebrated at May’s Kitchen, a Thai restaurant …

A Sailor Crosses the Bar (Part Two): 

After two decades of sailing, we have crossed over to the dark side.

A few weeks ago we bought a powerboat, a Nordhavn 43 trawler, that we’ve named Indiscretion. She isn’t a typical go-fast stinkpot kind of powerboat. Her cruising speed of 7 knots isn’t far off from sailing. We …

A Sailor Looks at Crossing the Bar (Part One): 

When I was starting out in public accounting, nearly thirty years ago, I got the chance to work for a new partner who had just joined our firm. His name was Joe Sambataro, an Italian-American from New Jersey, full of blunt honesty and character, and we hit it off right away. He became an important …

The Ferry Commuter's Secret: 

I’ve taken over 6,000 ferry rides since moving to Vashon Island. Most of these were uneventful passages to work and back. But everyone once in a while, say 1% off the time, or 60 sailings, I’ve been the very first car on the ferry.

Being the first car on the ferry has some unique benefits. Unless an …

Book or Computer? The Best Place to Keep your Journal: 

This is the second installment of a multi-part series on journal writing. The first post described the benefits of keeping a journal. Here, I’ll share thoughts on where to keep your journal: paper or digital.

For most of my adult life, I’ve kept a journal. I’ve always felt a calling to record my …

Five Reasons You Should Keep a Journal: 

You should keep a journal and ideally write in it every day. You’ve likely heard that advice already. The internet is full of articles and research on why journaling is good for you. I’ve read a lot of these myself.

One memorable take on journaling came from the Asian Efficiency Podcast last year. …

Quicken 2018 for Mac - A Long-time User Review: 

An update to this review for Quicken 2019 for Mac is available here.

Personal financial management is important to me. I’ve always tried to be disciplined when it comes to money, and as a CPA and business planner as my chosen vocation, managing my own money comes pretty naturally. Applying finance …

A Golden Age for Reading Books: 

While reading books might be waning in today’s mobile phone obsessed, Facebook generation, the tools and technology for reading and remembering books have never been better. I’d call it a Golden Age for those lucky souls willing to invest the time to read.

This is difficult for me to admit, coming …

Not many sailing nights like this left this year. Beautiful moon. Feeling blessed.

Sanctuary: Batman has his cave; Ironman has his lab; but for me, this place and my books provide such a great comfort - a salve from the trials of life and the boost of energy I need to keep pushing forward. I’ve read so many great books here, and dreamed up hundreds of plans, some limited few of which …

I’ve been playing baseball with Connor since he was five years old. First tossing baseballs underhanded into a tiny red mitt, later playing catch out in the yard, most every night in the summer. A couple years ago we started a Sunday routine of taking a bucket of baseballs up to the high …

Losses and Gains: 

Back in my early thirties, my uncle Jim died unexpectedly. He had a lifelong passion of sailing, particularly the sell-everything-and-sail-off-across the-horizon variety. He had years and years of Cruising World magazines stacked up next to the toilet in his bathroom. I remember him waxing on about …

House Guest: 

I’ve always been a big reader and dreamed of having my own private library for as long as I can remember. One of the things that drew me to our house here on Vashon was the book-lined room with views out to the water. We’ve expanded the shelves over the years and now have all my books in …

Valencia of Childhood Dreams: 

When I was a boy, younger than twelve-year-old Connor is now, I believed all the stories my dear Pop told me. He sailed across oceans, traveled down the Nile, jumped out of planes in the 82nd Airborne, drank with Hemingway, conspired with Castro, along with many other misdeeds and adventures. While …

Downwind sailing