2024.02.DisappearingMoment
I’ve had some minor aches and injuries over the past few months. Nothing terrible. More like the Henny Youngmann joke. No long or fast running for a little while longer. Limited bench pressing and squats. If it hurts, don’t do it. That kind of thing.
I found myself with time to fill. A specific kind of time. I needed something I could do on my own that requires focus.
I’ve started writing more. For me, writing also means designing, coding, publishing. I’ve played with new designs for my website. I’ve worked on three long essays. I published an essay on the U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials on January 31. I published Interfaces, Shame, and Classical Music today. An essay on Sifan Hassan should be ready by the end of March.
It feels good to feel creative. I feel like I’m part of a community. Like I understand my friends who paint, weave, or make playlists. I have a friend who is creating a font. A friend sent me a zine based on email messages from her father.
I like feeling physically engaged. I look forward to feeling that way again soon. When it happens, I don’t wany to lose touch with the part of me that publishes essays.
Welcome to February 2024’s Disappearing Moment, an inventory of my experiences. I hope you enjoy it.
Podcasts
- The Big Dig (A Personal Favorite): Great podcasts make me care about things. Boston infrastructure? Damned if I wasn't hooked immediately. Come for the accents, stay for the catharsis.
- Classy (I Liked It): Stories about class in America. I’d like it twice as much if the episodes were half as long.
- The Evaporated (I Liked it). Stories about suicide, murder, and abandoned identity in Japan. I’d like it twice as much if there were half as many episodes.
- The Newfoundlander (I Liked It): Experience. Memory. Ancestry. Family. Identity. Community. The toll of colonization and genocide. It is everywhere, including Newfoundland.
- You Didn’t See Nothin (I Loved It): Part memoir of a journalist and drug dealer, part story of a hate crime. Echoes of two Chicago favorites, Homemade Stories and Somebody.
Nerdy Software
I wish people didn’t post podcasts to Youtube. Some are even Youtube-only. In those instances, I use Cobalt, then upload the mp3 to Overcast.
Bougie Products
Cook with tools you love. They don’t have to be expensive. Our OXO Stainless Steel Turner makes my day every day.
Personal Finance and Investing
If you have a high-interest mortgage, figure out what rate justifies refinancing. Follow average mortgage rates, and check rates at trustworthy banks or credit unions.
Reading
Native Governance Center, Beyond Land Acknowledgement: A Guide (I Loved It). If virtue signaling is as far as you go, you’re implicated, not absolved. This is a good guide to making personal and societal amends. (See also, American Society of Association Executives Societal Statement Framework.)
Watch Sifan Hassan Run
I’m writing an essay about Sifan Hassan, my favorite athlete. You’ll like it better if you’ve seen her run. Here are ten of my favorite Sifan Hassan races.
- 2015-08-25: 1,500m, Final, World Championships, Beijing: She became the second Dutch woman to medal at a World Championships.
- 2019-07-12: Mile, Diamond League, Monaco: One of her first great races.
- 2019-09-28: 10,000m, Final, World Championships, Doha: The most Hassan race she’s ever run.
- 2019-10-05: 1,500m, Final, World Championships, Doha: You appreciate this one even more if you watch the one before it.
- 2021-08-02: 1,500m, Preliminary, Olympics, Tokyo: A career-defining race. If you only watch one race, make it this one.
- 2021-08-02: 5,000m, Final, Olympics, Tokyo: The first Track & Field gold medal for the Netherlands since 1992.
- 2023-04-23: London Marathon: Her first marathon. She wins. That’s maybe the hundredth most interesting aspect of her race.
- 2023-08-19: 10,000m, Final, World Championships, Budapest: Don’t miss this heartbreaking race.
- 2023-10-08: Chicago Marathon: Hassan’s second marathon. How hard is it to run a marathon? We have no idea.
- 2024-03-02: Tokyo Marathon: Hassan is scheduled to run her third marathon this week. FloTrack will stream the 2024 Tokyo Marathon on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern).
Thanks for spending a few moments with me. I look forward to corresponding again next month.
Brett
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