Newsletter - The Sisyphean Task of Writing

📍 Location: Bay Area, CA (in transit)

I find it difficult to get started with writing. It is easier for me to give up on writing if I’ve lost a streak. The cadence of the monthly writing rhythm can be easily knocked off balance with any size excuse. I’m reminded of Simon Willison’s idea of escalating streaks, meaning improvement with each iteration. I’d like to think that I can write a better newsletter for every issue and it is about something bigger. Therein lies the Sisyphean lie for writing. The best thing to do is to just start.

The tardiness of this newsletter comes from purchasing our first home. Morgan and I seriously started looking at the beginning of September, and last week, we got an accepted offer. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions. We lost the first offer being outbid by 8 other prospect home owners. 5 of those 8 bids were asking 20% over. We have our fingers crossed the we will get through closing without any hitches.

Otherwise, beyond chugging away at work, I’ve finished two books this month.

1. How Infrastructure Works

I mentioned this one on my blog at the beginning of the year. Deb Chandra’s newsletter, MetaFoundry, has been a favorite of mine for years. I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it. It reminds me of the Engineering classes I wanted to take, mixed with my interest in Civil Engineering and public infrastructure. The book is a welcoming compliment to those ideas, going deeper into the ideas of networks and introducing the social and political structures around infrastructure.

1. Frostbite

As a fan and donating member of Gastropod for years, this book is a deeper dive into a topic than a typical podcast episode. This well-researched book is an examination of an aspect of food overlooked — freezing food. While this appears commonplace now, that wasn’t the case a century ago. Going deep into the cryosphere, Nicola Twilley examines the history and relationships we have with storing our food in the cold climate. Strange fun fact: some people working in large refrigeration plants develop illnesses at the beginning before their body acclimates. Sometimes, when they are driving home, they blast the AC since they are so accustomed to the cold.

The idea of summarizing books annoys me. I want these elegant book notes like summaries and lessons learned. The ability to distill knowledge into bite-sized tips or notes sounds appealing, yet I know it takes a lot of work.

This issue was inspired by Celine Nguyen’s newsletter, “Personal Canon” where in her latest issue, she also addresses the large task of summarizing books. I’m neither as eloquent nor comprehensive with book summaries nor do I think that’s my strength. Are you a huge book note-taker? Do you have a system? If you are, Jillian Hess’ Noted newsletter might be right up your alley.

Ciao.

For the newsletter archive, check out Newsletter Series. For this specific series, check out the Newsletter: Season Four .

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