I love seeing your weekly readings. Always found interesting topics through your posts!

I’m currently embarking on Matthew B. Crawford’s “The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction”…super interesting ideas here.

Oh also, randomly, Warframe is my most played game on my Deck! I got the Steam Deck for the first time a couple weeks ago and then went and bought a bunch of new games with the recent sale…but a free MMO shooter is what has kept me hooked the most lately.

The entire Halo series.

I never owned an Xbox growing up when the games were originally releasing. I recently got a Steam Deck and bought the Master Chief Collection on sale last week. I’ve been having an absolute blast working my way through the campaign (still early in the first game!), and I’m just kicking myself now that I never got into this earlier when the multiplayer was more populated. This shit is such my jam.

Hey brother. I’m in a similar boat as you. I’m an attorney, naturally working long and stressful days and weekends, never finding time for myself, never able to decompress. I literally told someone the other day that I can’t remember the last time I was “relaxed”.

I wake up thinking about alcohol. The urge to pour a drink starts creeping up on me around 2:00pm each day. Sometimes I sneak out of the office and grab a pint at the local pub. Sometimes I pour boxed wine into my Yeti mug. The booze came my brain and helps me stop feeling all the pressure and demands of work and life. I usually don’t get drunk, just kinda numb my brain a bit… But it is a slippery slope and definitely comes at a cost. I find myself being unable to totally stop once I have that first drink. And having recently been told that I’m “not a fun drunk”, I’m worried and nervous.

Hang in there. Hopefully the new job is better. And take care of yourself.

Please do! I am looking forward to it.

I recently got a convertible standing desk thing, with a treadmill/walking pad for underneath. It has done wonders for my mental health while at work. Reading boring real estate contracts is a lot easier to get through when I’m standing up and moving instead of falling asleep in my chair while simultaneously destroying my back/posture.

Are you going to post your list of books read in 2023?? I’ve really been intrigued by every one you have mentioned. @alayza

Oh it’s been the Serkis ones for me too! They are absolutely fantastic.

Work is stressful; the news is stressful; parenting is stressful; trying to stay healthy is stressful…

Ugh.

At least one thing is bringing me joy right now: listening to the audiobooks of The Lord of the Rings on my daily walks with my dog.

I’d love to get into using Obsidian but it overwhelms me and freaks me out and also I just don’t know how to best utilize it for my personal work cases…I.e, how to blend professional/personal/creative uses into one all in app experience with Obsidian.

I’m stressed. Burnt out. I’m not sleeping well, feel exhausted all the time, probably am drinking too much and just constantly feel like a failure.

Thanks for sharing that book! The premise is intriguing and I’m picking up a copy soon. I love Montana but had no idea about the prevalence of communism there.

Thanks for grabbing the thread for me this week! I’ve been busy so glad you caught it.

Last week I was obsessing over Iron Maiden. This week it’s been Megadeth. Rust In Peace is an amazing record.

I was also introduced to Rigor Mortis this week. Their self titled. Maybe some of you have heard of Rigor Mortis, maybe not. I had not heard them before until just the other day.

There’s really not a lot to say about this album other than it is pretty much the distillation of thrash in its purest form. Non stop skank beats, yelled vocals and hyper speed riffs - what more do you need? If you like Slayer or Razor, this is probably for you too.

This week has been a busy one, so I didn’t do much new music discovery. But have been pretty obsessed with Iron Maiden. Been listening through their discography alongside a Maiden podcast that discusses and analyzes each album. Have particularly enjoyed Somewhere In Time and really wish that the band was touring the US this year so I could go see them again.

I also prefer Last Word over this one, but still…excited to get new Baroness!

This was my pick too. I’ve actually never watched the video, but I’m going to now!

I’ve had Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on repeat since it released.

Also really been enjoying getting back into Rush with their 2011 live album, Time Machine.

Is Time Machine the tour where they performed Moving Pictures in full?

I’m gonna spin this one today I think. Damn, I am sad that I never got to experience Rush live.

Hahaha I was waiting for someone to toss out Throwing Copper!

I need to check out Time Machine…I love Rush and am sad I missed seeing them live.

I absolutely adore U2’s Under A Blood Red Sky. U2 are my favorite band and I think I have other favorite live shows as bootlegs (Dublin 93!! Point Depot 89!!), but this is my favorite live official release. It is also my bucket list show. If I could go back in time, this is the concert I’d want to go to. Red Rocks is an incredible venue and the performance of The Electric Co. is, well, electric. Also “40”…just an incredible tune and the magic of hearing the audience chant “how long…” is spine tingling. Would have loved to be there.

I think one of my other favorites is Live After Death by Iron Maiden. They perform Flight of Icarus and Rime of the Ancient Mariner and it’s incredible. Also, Phantom of the Opera from the Hammersmith is included on this remaster and that’s in my top 5 Maiden songs.