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 perfect. ★★★★☆
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. ★★★★★
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 thinking about this one community college professor who did more than anyone to inspire me to pursue a college degree. I thought how sad it would be if he never knew the difference he made. So after a quick search on the internet, I found him. I wrote him an email. I introduced myself and told him a few stories about how he had challenged and inspired me, how he had helped me forge a path to the person I am today.
And he wrote back:
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 would give it another try. I went from reading last night on my Kindle to listening this morning in the car, to reading again in a waiting room, to listening once more as I did chores.
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 📚
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 systems, you can safely skip this one.
If you told me a year ago that I’d write a blog post about the power of Apple widgets, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here I am—writing a blog post about Apple widgets.
You might be asking, what are you even talking about? What are widgets? Apple introduced these quirky appendages in 2020 as a way to present information from apps on the home screen of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The most popular widgets provide information about weather, stocks, and news. My reaction back then was decidedly ho-hum. Why would I want to clutter the precious real estate of my iPhone screen when I could just open the app?
A particular kind of widget in Bear 2 finally convinced me of their value.
In January, I switched from Craft to Bear 2 for my reading and knowledge notes. I shared why I chose Bear in this post. The switch went so well that I soon brought over my journal from Day One and my writing from Ulysses. For the past four months, almost everything I’ve written has started and ended in Bear.
📷 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 times.
📷 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 years ago.
📷 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
