Tick tock tick tock tick tock...
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— Year Progress (@year_progress) January 1, 2019
In This House We Have Moët & Chandon, so let's not think too hard about 2018—and definitely let's not talk about 2019—let's make some lists. If you'd like me to pick a list on a different topic, make your suggestion in the comments.
Best writing
My first job after college was a great setup. Of course ten years ago I gave that great setup the raspberry and moved to Texas for a girl. Moral of the story: don't break your coffee cup.
- Break It Yourself (2018-03-28). And that interstitial period was strange. I can't fully account for it. I've thought before about examining it, considering it from different angles to see if there's any sense to be made, giving it the written treatment. It's like a pond that reflects the sky, giving no intimation of the world beneath until I dive into it. But I'd rather not. Swimming in fresh water gives me the creeps anyway. So I'll just toss it out here and leave it.
Runners up:
- Purpose First, Technology Second (2018-04-03)
- The Machine Doesn't Learn Anything (2018-03-24)
- Tools As Abstract Excuses to Create and Understand (2018-09-04)
- Personal Website Disagrees With Replacing Facebook with Personal Websites (2018-12-19)
Best pictures
Best reading (articles)
This article is literally about glitter. There is no subterfuge. Read it. It is hilarious and neurotic in a DFW kind of way.
- Caity Weaver, What Is Glitter?, The New York Times (2018-12-21). So: what is glitter? A manipulation of humans’ inherent desire for fresh water. An intangible light effect made physical. Mostly plastic, and often from New Jersey. Disposable by design but, it turns out, not literally disposable. A way to make long winter nights slightly brighter, despite the offshore presence of Germans. An object in which the inside of a potato chip bag meets the aurora borealis.
Runners up:
- Kate Knibbs, A Tale of Way More than Two Bozos, The Ringer (2018-03-23).
- Tonya Malinowski, Mission Accomplished: NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka's soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion, ESPN (2018-06-29)
- Brad Stulberg, When a Stress Expert Battles Mental Illness, Outside Magazine (2018-03-07)
- Sarah Baird, This Appalachian Nonprofit Puts Books In The Hands Of Inmates Who Need Them, Buzzfeed News (2018-11-12)
Best listening
Listening to this interview with Tim O'Reilly is what convinced me to go read his latest book, WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us.
- Tim O'Reilly: "It's our brains that are being hacked", Danny in the Valley (2018-01-25) (notes)
Runners up:
- FUBU: Daymond John, How I Built This (2018-04-18).
- George P. Shultz: Perspective, Seminars about Long Term Thinking, The Long Now Foundation (02018-07-16).
- Episode 876: Patent Deception, Planet Money (2018-11-14).
- Ignore Sunk Costs, Akimbo (2018-08-29).
Books
The whole list on Goodreads: read-in-2018
Favorite: Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo (1955)