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I'm learning to draw, learning to learn, and sharing the good stuff along the way. Join a handful of current readers and tens of thousands of future readers. (Affirmations, baby!)
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Journal: A podcast and a video, just as planned
I’ll probably put this at the top of every newsletter for the next 70 weeks: Check out Active Recall on iTunes! It’d be great if you could leave a review.
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Journal: Active Recall
Here are some things I made this week and some thoughts about making them. I hit my goal to have one podcast post and one video post. Active Recall Podcast,
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Journal: New content and podcasts, podcasts, podcasts
New things from the past few weeks — I’m back from California. I skipped sending the newsletter for a couple weeks, but I’ve been adding content. I’ve been using Evernote
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Make it easy
Books can affect you differently depending on when in your life you read them. Bad example: Oh, the Places You’ll Go! will be different for a high school graduate than
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Journal: Starting a podcast right as it’s becoming uncool to start a podcast
Just saw this on season 2 of Love: This is turning into a journal of ideas that I’m enthusiastic about that changes every week. I was talking to a friend about
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Journal: Learning
This is the 8th edition of the newsletter. I didn’t do the day by day updates this week. I need to add a couple weeks of newsletter posts to the
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Journal: My first podcast
This is a running journal of thoughts. Parts of these might serve as drafts of future videos and posts. This week, I did a lot of planning followed by straying
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Don’t listen to me Ep 01 — The second pilot
Trying out voice dictation again. This seems to work pretty well with the Blue Snowball. like an right a bunch of content really quickly so I could probably put the
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Don’t Listen to Me 00: The pilot
Welcome to the pilot episode of Don’t Listen to Me! As the title suggests, I go through my favorite pilots from Maverick down to Captain Jimmy “Check me out, I’m
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Journal: My first video
Saturday — I’m writing some of this on the train. I got pretty excited after making a video with content almost entirely made on my iPad: The Grid of Activities.
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Journal: What I’m listening to, reading, and watching
I wrote most of this on the way to San Francisco. I’m finishing this on a train home from Flushing. I did some of the drawings between 5-8am on a
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Journal: Eating, habits, and Wrestlemania
A few thoughts from things I’ve been watching and reading this week.
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The four pillars of health
Note: This would be Journal 21 or Issue 4, depending on how you’re counting. I’m going to stop numbering these. Eventually I’ll stop writing notes explaining that I’ve stopped numbering these.
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Journal 20: What I’m skimming
Welcome to issue 3 or issue 20, depending on how you’re counting. I wrote new things this week, which I’ll probably share next week. Because I have a small backlog
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Journal 19: Frank’s Neo-Xanga
Every week or two, I change my mind about which direction to take this blog. I started by posting daily, then thought I wanted to put together short videos (and
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Journal 18: The Duel
Welcome to the first edition of this newsletter that I’m actually sending out to subscribers. I was thinking of different names so that it wouldn’t just be called Francis’s Newsletter.
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Journal 17: More Things I Learned
(Then even more things I learned, then scary things to learn in the dark, etc.) I didn’t draw as much this week. I did write a few posts: Podcast Notes:
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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami writes about his life and how running has always been a part of it. The audiobook is a
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Podcast Notes: Cal Newport and Pat Flynn
Active recall, deep work, and other useful tools
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Journal 16: Things I Learned
Another week in the books. I tried drawing Jerrod Carmichael a bunch. I wanted a drawing to go along with my podcast notes post for Carmichael’s appearance on the Tim
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Podcast Notes: Jerrod Carmichael on the Tim Ferris Show
Another in a series of notes for other people’s podcasts.
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Weekly Walk: The High Line
I took a very long walk two days ago. When I walked out the door I was aiming to be out for 4 hours and it stretched over 6. In my first
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Journal 15: Working on a new layout
Iterating on the new post layout. Some drawings.
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Weekly Walk
A long walk goes longer and I draw some things along the way.
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We Learn Nothing
I learned about We Learn Nothing: Essays and Cartoons by Tim Kreider through Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans. There’s a chapter by Kreider called “Lazy: a manifesto”. An earlier version is
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The Joy of Less
I listened to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and read Spark Joy. Marie Kondo’s books are popular for a reason. Her system works. Lots of reviews comment on the anthropomorphication
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Decisive
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work is by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. If you read business books, you might be familiar with their other books,
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18 Minutes
In 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, Peter Bregman writes about focus, distraction, and getting things done. The title comes from his daily steps for focusing
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Journal #14: Back to drawing
This week, I finally got back to drawing. Going to get back to believing in the process. If I show up and draw, I’ll get better at drawing. Reading about deliberate practice won’t
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Journal Issue 13: The Blog of Five Things
My progress on this blog reminds me of Seth Godin’s concept of The Dip. The total effort is accumulating but the results aren’t increasing. A dip can come before a
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Flow junkes
Action sports are often marketed with adrenaline up front. The athletes are adrenaline junkies, living in a rushed state. The Rise of Superman explains that it’s far from the truth:
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Flow and Animal Chin
I heard about this book through The Joe Rogan Experience #873, where Steven Kotler was a guest. Rogan talked about playing pool and mentions a term called "stroke". Being in
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Journal Issue 12: Still making, showing, and learning
“In that really enthusiastic moment I decided I’d do a 1-hour photo walk every day. I’ve since decided that’s definitely unsustainable but I might be able to do 3-4 times
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Flow levels and entry points
Rise of Superman is about flow and action sports athletes. They achieve high levels of flow with regularity not seen in other fields. Steven Kotler explains how we can apply
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Tools of Titans (of Comedy)
What you can learn from Jocko Willink and Michael Che
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 11: How to increase your readership 2100%
The key is to start with 4 viewers. I posted a few things last week: Food I ate in 2016 What I learned from reading and writing in 2016 Reading
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No idea? Unimportant idea? Obvious idea? Write anyway
Sketching to generate ideas seems like common sense. Writing to generate ideas isn’t as obvious.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 10
A dispatch from The Met.
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Tools I’m using
Smaller tools from the book that I’ve been able to use immediately.
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Star gazing
The benefits of star gazing and how a comedy titan uses it as a tool.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 9
There really is magic in morning pages.
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The second diet
It’s important to think about our mental diets.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 8
I’m breaking the long posts into multiple shorter posts.
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Bose QuietComfort 35 Impressions
For the last couple weeks, I’ve been using Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones (thanks to my girlfriend!). Here are some early impressions. Summary: I only wish I had them sooner. Some
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Funnier morning pages
Giving morning pages another shot, for the umpteenth time.
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The Clown vs. The Editor
Remembering to generate ideas freely. Featuring a drawing of Doink the Clown.
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Subtext
The truth in every (good) joke.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 7
Drawings: Vince Carter, Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson, and a very bad doodle of Macho Man.
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My favorite Tim Ferriss Show episodes
I’m excited for Tools of Titans, Tim Ferriss’s 4th book, coming out in December. I want to set some time aside to devour it, then write and draw a book
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 6
Six weeks in a row. It’s a miracle.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 5
Showing up when inspiration doesn’t strike.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 4: Speaking of faces
How to draw Gucci Mane.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 3
Tried to start with words, ended up not drawing as much. A million course corrections but I’ll get this right.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 2
I did some 5-minute sketches, learned some keys to drawing, and bought some DC Comics guides.
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Make, Show, Learn Issue 1
The first issue of what I think will be the future of this blog. At least this week.
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More drawings
A drawing of some Uggs.
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A sketch a day
I did this sketch on my iPhone 7 Plus using Procreate.
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More iPhone 7 Plus photos
Went to Dia:Beacon. We also went apple picking. It was a good chance to give the iPhone 7 Plus camera a spin.
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10-3-2-1-0
In trying to course-correct and not let my health fall into oblivion, here are a few guidelines I’ll follow to improve my sleep.
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Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t
You’ve overcome The Resistance, now learn to wade through despair.
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In your head, then on paper, then on screen
Don’t jump straight into code.
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Sunday Journal: 30 Days, No Tinkering
Trying to turn my focus back to writing and creating content.
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iPhone 7 Plus Sample Photos
One week with the iPhone 7 Plus.
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Thirty days of WordPress
Back to posting daily and some early thoughts on why I’m switching from Jekyll to WordPress.
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100 Days, 100 Posts
A look at the previous iteration of this blog, a Jekyll installation where I wrote a post every day for 100 days.
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Sketches
Here’s my second note for Comedy Writing for Late Night TV (here’s the first note). Some meta points: I tried reading this with the tips I linked to about How
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Semi-scripted
I’m trying the following breakdown that fits into three 25-minute time blocks (5-minute breaks in between): First block: Six minutes of pre-reading. I mark an estimate of what I’ll read
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He is Late-Night
I liked the format of writing separate notes for Grit. I’m giving that another shot. I write better book notes posts when I write as I read. When putting longer
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No internet, no laughing
Klosterman writes about starting his career as a writer without the internet. It allowed me to have an experience that is not exactly unique, but that will never again be
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Simulation or multiverse? Doesn’t matter
Chuck Klosterman talks about consciousness and our place in the uni…multiverse. He explains the multiverse and has answers from Brian Greene, an expert in the topic. (Who has a TED
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We’re probably wrong and that’s okay
In But What if We’re Wrong, Chuck Klosterman looks at the present as if it were the distant past. In one chapter, he tries sorting out which modern writers will
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Getting familiar
One of the patterns is called “Familiar Tools” talking about the tools programmers use. Write down a list of your familiar tools. If the list has less than five items,
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We’re talking about practice
Apprenticeship Patterns has a pattern called “Practice, Practice, Practice”. Adewale and Dave talk about having a place where you’re comfortable making mistakes. Again, I’ll connect this apprenticeship pattern to something
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Retreating into competence
Apprenticeship Patterns talks about going deep into new subjects as a good way to learn. The risk with going in the deep end is that you’ll sometimes get in hairy
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Open the firehose, don’t drown in the shallows
(I’m trying to write book notes compilations one section at a time. One excerpt per day with the goal of filling one iA Writer screen up. About 350 words.) This week, I’m
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Over 500 quotes
I started a refresh for this site. I want to continue writing regularly. However, I don’t think it will take the form of long articles about design sprints and design
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User testing
One of the bigger threads through Console Wars is the competition between advertising agencies to get Sega’s business. One of the agencies—Goodby, Berlin, & Silverstein—really got inside kids’ heads through
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Celebrities
Console Wars does a great job capturing Sega’s willingness to try new ideas. And a lot of the ideas involve celebrities. It was interesting to read about them planning the
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Blast Processing and tech specs
Again, the best parts of Console Wars are the behind-the-scenes looks at Sega’s marketing strategies. The Super Nintendo had Mode 7, which made games like Star Fox and Mario Kart
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Protips and more
Prior to reading Console Wars, I had some perspective on video games in Japan. Actually, it’s a little unusual. My dad was in the Navy and I grew up on
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No mention of RPGs
Okay I exaggerated, Console Wars mentions RPGs exactly once: Oshima partnered up with Yuji Naka, a brilliant hothead in the programming department who was responsible for one of Sega’s most
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Mortal Kombat II behind the glass case
“Let me show you something.” I stepped aside and an older kid—picture young John Connor—took the joystick. A few moments later Sub-Zero ripped someone’s head off with their spine attached.
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See the forest for the other forest
Flash Boys also shows the perspective of programmers in finance. I’ve been a programmer at a fashion company where technology is a means to an end. The relationship in finance
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Milliseconds Matter
Flash Boys has been on my to-read list for a while. I’d seen it referenced in passing as if everyone had read it. Michael Lewis writes about high frequency trading
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Simulation or multiverse? Doesn't matter
Chuck Klosterman talks about consciousness and our place in the uni…multiverse. He explains the multiverse and has answers from Brian Greene, an expert in the topic. (Who has a TED
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We're probably wrong and that's okay
In But What if We’re Wrong, Chuck Klosterman looks at the present as if it were the distant past. In one chapter, he tries sorting out which modern writers will
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Sunday Journal 08
I tinkered this week. That means there was a mix of design, development, and spinning my tires. I’m at a place where I’m not super embarrassed of the look/layout, just
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Card set prototype
Testing what a set of cards could look like in a post. I also tried a few in this week’s Sunday Journal. This is a card with text content. This
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Two (hundred) crappy pages
This is it, the 100th post. It’d be great if I could end on a high note. Instead, this post will be a microcosm of the other 99. It’s going
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Sunday Journal Issue 07: Stumble and recovery
“I often like working with a hangover because my mind is crackling with energy and I can think very clearly.” — Francis Bacon I heard that in Daily Rituals about
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Friday Links: Issue 09
This will be the last Friday Links post in my 100 Posts, 100 Days project. I want to write pieces that are more well thought out, and I’ll do that
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Ego is the Enemy
Tim Ferriss often asks guests what book they’ve gifted the most. I never had an answer for that question (not that he’ll be asking me that personally any time soon).
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Sprint
I’ve been reading through Sprint. I remembered how much I enjoy reading things by the Google Ventures design team. Book notes were the most valuable thing from this 100 Posts,
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Front Page Sprint: Me in Keynote
This is a GIF of me working in Keynote for an hour. I exported the slides to jpg and am sharing it here. It’s very rough. Everything below this is
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The Serious Guide to Joke Writing
In The Serious Guide to Joke Writing, Sally Holloway shares exercises for comedy writing. I read it earlier this year. Here’s the directive I took away from it when I
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Front page sprint: Crazy 8s
Continuing on with the sprint (part 1) for the front page of the 100 Posts, 100 Days, I did a few rounds of Crazy 8s. I finally broke in one
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Meditation: Take Ten
I started meditating a couple weeks ago. Going back through my posts, I also wrote about wanting to meditate a month ago: There’s a chapter about meditation, which I really
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Couch to 5K: Sessions 1-6
I started running recently. Well, I started doing intervals of walking and jogging with ambitions to run. Eventually. I’m following the Couch to 5K plan. I’m using the first app
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Sunday Journal Issue 06: Entering the final turn
I used the full utility belt this week. I wrote some posts long form, I did some voice dictation, I wrote with my Chromebook, I wrote at my desk, I
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Book note on Infinite Jest: Quality
I watched the first season of Simon Rich’s Man Seeking Woman this week. There’s a clip where Josh is preparing his apartment and Infinite Jest is one of the books
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Front page sprint: 20 minutes sketching
I’m starting to think about redesigning the front page of this site. At the end of this project, I’ll have 100 posts. I don’t expect that anyone will try reading
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Smartcuts
In Smartcuts, Shane Snow looks at seemingly overnight successes. Many people point out that overnight success is actually the result of years of hard work. However, tons of people put
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The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth
James Altucher followed up Choose Yourself! with The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth. The books are similar, with Altucher sharing what he’s learned through his experiences. Guide to Wealth is
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Choose Yourself!
Some of my posts have been written around things I hear on James Altucher’s podcast. I enjoyed his book Choose Yourself!. I like his outlook on life. Altucher has had
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Friday Links Issue 08: More Rich
Simon Rich Picks His 9 Favorite Obscure Saturday Night Live Sketches He Wrote With FXX’s Man Seeking Woman returning for its second season last Wednesday, we asked the show’s mastermind
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Book note on The Creative Habit: Excuses
In The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp shares her journey and gives guidance on building a habit of working on your creativity. One of the key things is getting over some
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The Miracle of Morning Pages
Before I started the 100 posts in 100 days project, I was experimenting with morning pages for writing every day. I found it really good, but it could take a
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Magic: The Gathering R&D Principles
Netflix has a documentary about Magic: The Gathering. It’s a great look at the history and current state of MTG. I enjoyed the look at Wizards of the Coast, where
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Spark Joy
In Spark Joy, Marie Kondo explains further how to apply the principles from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. When I was a kid, my parents would have different levels of
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10% Happier
In 10% Happier, Dan Harris1 tells the story of how he became a regular meditator. He opens by saying his preferred title was “The Voice in my Head is an
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You are a Writer
In You are a Writer, Jeff Goins explains why you should call yourself a writer. He then explains the area to make sure you’re backing up your words. I’ve always
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Book note on Spoiled Brats: Write lots of jokes
I finished reading Spoiled Brats by Simon Rich. (A couple weeks ago I finished The Last Girlfriend on Earth.) All of this was after listening to his appearance on The
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Sunday Journal Issue 05
Where I write about writing. Saturday — August 6: The past couple weeks involved a lot of social events that I was happy to put aside writing for. I was falling
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Friday Links Issue 07a: Write themselves
Somewhere inside, I partially expected these posts to write themselves. Save a link. Grab an excerpt. Write a paragraph on the train. Repeat throughout the week. The key to that
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Beginning meditation
As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m giving meditation another shot. I first really got interested in actually meditating after listening to the 10% Happier audiobook. 10% Happier by
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Book note on Originals
In Originals, Adam Grant talks about creating many ideas to get to the good ideas1: “Original thinkers,” Stanford professor Robert Sutton notes, “will come up with many ideas that are
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Per Se
Compared to Brooklyn Fare: My other 3-star Michelin experience was at Brooklyn Fare. It’s sort of like comparing apples and oranges. But like very expensive apples and oranges you would
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Why didn't I start doing this sooner — HN
I was reading an HN thread about “why didn’t I start doing this sooner?” It seems like these were popular: Meditation Fitness Nutrition Sleep I’ve been pretty good about the
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Sunday Journal Issue 04
Monday — July 25: Set up posts for the week. Created docs with Jekyll headers. This is a step beyond the spreadsheet and will help me focus. It’s taking the
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Friday Links Issue 07: Routines
The key isn’t the routines but having a routine at all. My theme this week seems to be looking at more routines. Mostly triggered by reading this post on time
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Brain vomit
I’ve been trying to pick out directives when reading books. If I’m going to continue writing about podcasts, I’ll try writing about a directive that I got from an episode.
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Obvious to you, amazing to others
I was looking into a Derek Sivers quote1: “What’s obvious to you is amazing to others.” I found this video from a set of videos he made as previews for
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Stray book notes
I keep hearing about this approach to writing, though it’s slightly different from person to person: Tweet: Ideas they’re thinking about writing about Blog posts: The most popular tweets become
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What would this look like if it were easy?
I was listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast today, in an episode where he discusses caging his monkey mind along with many other things. (He’s being interviewed rather than interviewing
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Sunday Journal Issue 03
In last week’s Sunday journal, I wrote longer on Sunday because I didn’t write every day. This week, I wrote most days and remembered to write thoughts down here on
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Anything You Want
Derek Sivers’s book notes have been priceless for me. I used his recommendations for guidance a lot in the past few years. Learning how he processes books he reads led
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Friday Links Issue 06: These will be doorstops
I went to a workshop about effective presentations earlier this week. We went over storytelling and its power to make things memorable. This reminded me of something Steve Jobs said
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Warren Buffet’s goals
In Grit, Angela Duckworth says grit has two components: passion and perseverance. Gritty people are passionate about things that take years to achieve. That helps them through the sub-goals, some
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Muji paper magazine notebook mini
I used to buy Muji storyboard notebooks in New York—I mentioned them in this design sprint post from 2014. I mentioned that they’re “somehow only $2” and I guess it
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Quitting
One Grit chapter covers raising gritty children. Angela’s household has a “Hard thing” rule: Everyone, including mom and dad, has to do a hard thing. A hard thing is something
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Very Fresh Noodles and other pictures from the week
Here are four photos from this week. First, a look at my lunch yesterday. Very Fresh Noodles in Chelsea Market. I originally planned to only post this picture, but I
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Hard work beats talent
I’ve been listening to the audiobook version of Grit over the past week. I finished it once and have started listening a second time through. I haven’t written book notes
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Sunday Journal Issue 02
In last week’s Sunday journal, I wrote a little bit each day about that day’s writing. This week, I didn’t write every day and forgot to start the journal for
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Sort of about affirmations
“Projects tends to rot if you leave it alone for a few years, and it takes effort for someone to deal with it again.” — John Carmack in the release notes
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Friday Links Issue 05
It’s been a bit of an off week. After posting ten things last week, life happened. Meaning summer in New York. I met up with friends. Stayed out later than
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Stray thoughts: 4K Monitor
This week hasn’t been the best as far as my writing goes. This will be the first edition of stray thoughts. I’ll write things that come to mind. There will
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Focus
I planned to write about focus today. I knew that by looking at my writing schedule spreadsheet. But looking at the schedule reminded me that I needed to upload yesterday’s
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Write Every Day
In Write Every Day: How to Write Faster, and Write More, Cathy Yardley discusses different strategies to implement when establishing a writing routine. As usual with writing books, it’s targeted
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Creativity is like breathing — Oatmeal
I really enjoyed this comic about creativity by The Oatmeal. (And also enjoyed the article I found it in: Tobias Van Schnieder: Creativity is like Breathing.) You inhale things by
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Writing at: Bryant Park
I’m trying to write in different locations to get a better sense of what kind of place is best for writing. I wrote some notes while writing in Bryant Park.
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Sunday Journal Issue 01
I’m experimenting with a writing journal. Maybe if I have a decided place to put these thoughts on writing, I won’t litter the rest of my posts with them. Also,
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Technical Blogging
In Technical Blogging: Turn Your Expertise into a Remarkable Online Presence, Antonio Cangiano shares his knowledge about setting up, running, and marketing a technical blog. There are good sections on
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Mindless Eating
In Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, Brian Wansink explains food habits people have and suggests ways to eat better. A lot of the book focuses a
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Friday Links Issue 04
Here we go. I’m approaching 40 days. Posting every day is feeling more and more routine. I really look forward to writing every day now. There few days where I
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Teaching one thing at a time
I wrote a couple issues of a design newsletter earlier this year. I’ll eventually talk about why I stopped. Actually, I can do that right now: writing an email was
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Creative Confidence
In, Creative Confidence, Tom Kelley and David Kelley talk about creativity and how effective design thinking can be in traditionally non-creative fields. Here are some excerpts I enjoyed. In our
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Writing isn't: Those other things
This is the third part of a series of posts about trying to publish daily. Check out the intro. For the first section of the series, I’m writing about things
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Bird By Bird
Bird by Bird is one of my favorite books about the value of writing regularly. Anne Lamott weaves stories of her life with writing advice. Here are some of my
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Writing isn't: Publishing
This is the first part of a series of posts about trying to publish daily. Check out the intro. For the first section of the series, I’m writing about things
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Writing isn't: Sort of writing
This is the first part of a series of posts about trying to publish daily. Check out the intro. For the first section of the series, I’m writing about things
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Save the Cat
These are book notes for Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder. I paused about 30 pages in on my first read, about a year ago. I was reading Nobody Wants
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On Writing Well
These are book notes for On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Good writing comes in
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59 Seconds
These are book notes for 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman. “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you
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Friday Links Issue 03
Here’s a set of four links from the week. When I started this 100 posts in 100 days project, I knew I’d need some recurring posts to fill in some
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Trying to publish daily: Writing isn't intro
This is the intro for a series of posts about things I’ve learned while trying to publish daily. I’m experimenting with a board of post-its to organize my writing, inspired
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Design Sprints and The Board
One section in Save The Cat is called “Chairman of the Board” and talks about a screenwriting tool called “The Board”. Have a great piece of dialogue? Write it on
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On writing daily, style, and clarity
I really enjoyed this post by Ryan Holiday: Why do you write so much1? Nobody has ever asked me why I write so much. Maybe that can be a goal.
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Directives and applying what you read
At times I feel like I’m writing the unofficial Tim Ferriss podcast blog. Like old SNES strategy guides where some would have stamps on the cover with “Unofficial” styled like
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Docs to Jekyll
After knocking my head against the wall a few times, I think I have a pretty good system now for going from Docs to Jekyll. I’m really happy about this.
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All the books I've read this year
One of my 2016 resolutions is to read one book per week. I haven’t been pushing toward the goal explicitly but I read pretty much every day. We’re approaching the
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Friday Links Issue 02
It’s Friday evening and I have a weekend with no traveling. Three hours into any flight and this sounded like gold. Now that it’s here I wonder what I was
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Twenty days in
Okay so I’m twenty days into this project. Twenty posts looks like a lot more than then. Like it’s starting to look like a project instead of something I sort
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Who and how?
I really liked The Obstacle is the Way so I went to one of Ryan Holiday’s talks1 for The Ego is the Enemy. He checks and responds to his own
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The Miracle Morning for Writers
These are book notes for The Miracle Morning for Writers by Hal Elrod, Honoree Corder, Steve Scott, and S.J. Scott I read The Miracle Morning last year and really enjoyed
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Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of my favorite places in the city. Maybe my favorite place. Any time I’m away from New York for any amount of time, I like
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Japan Trip 10 of 10: More As Seen on TV
Check out my first post about some places we visited in Japan that you can check out in better-filmed things on TV or online. Sushi Yasuda Parts Unknown: Sushi Yasuda
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James Altucher podcast: Gary Gulman and better, same, and worse
Gary Gulman was a guest on James Altucher’s podcast. I’ve seen him at the Comedy Cellar a couple times and really enjoyed his sets. In the most recent set I
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Japan Trip 09 of 10: Tsukiji Market
“Too late.” Auction Huh? It was 3am, it couldn’t be too late. “Fish? Fish market? It’s too late.” I guess it was too late. We didn’t get into the tuna
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Japan Trip 08 of 10: Rico! Osprey!
Ever since we booked tickets to Japan, I wanted to go to a New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) show. In the past year, I’ve slowly, somehow gotten back into wrestling1.
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Japan Trip 07 of 10: Cheap eats
Beef bowls at Matsuya and Sukiya I was looking for a beef bowl. And I knew that Yoshinoya was available in California so I didn’t want to get that. (Similar
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Japan Trip 06 of 10: Five more thoughts
Here are some more thoughts on my trip to Japan. I didn’t know the language: I thought this was going to cause more issues than it actually did. Especially not
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I ordered a Chromebook — first impressions
I’m not sure what it was that really triggered things but I ordered a Chromebook last night1. I’ve wanted a lighter laptop for a while. My main (well, only) personal
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Japan Trip 05 of 10: Ramen
Ramen is one of my favorite things to eat. I’ve said that I could probably eat ramen every day. I’ve changed my mind on that. While I like eating ramen
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Ten days in
I’m ten days in on this project and happy with the progress. There are some struggles, sometimes I’ve thought “What’s the point?” There’s always the reality that there might not
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Happy Money
In Happy Money, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton explain the best ways to spend money to increase happiness, based on behavioral science. I really enjoyed it and have been trying
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Friday Links Issue 01
Inspired by Tim Ferris’s weekly newsletter of five things, I’ll start putting together lists of five links that interest me. Maybe bi-weekly. Because if I’m going to get to 100
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Japan Trip 04 of 10: As seen on TV
Aka Places we visited with better things you can watch online. Osaka in general — No Reservations We watched this episode on the flight to Japan. I wish they just
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Seth Godin and Stephen King's pencil
Maybe this writing project will just turn into recapping podcasts I enjoyed. Who knows. Either way, this post is about Seth Godin’s appearance on the Tim Ferris podcast. I mentioned
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Japan Trip 03 of 10: Airplane food
I read Andy Greenwald’s food diary and it reminded me that 1.) I don’t write as well as he does but 2.) I can try to eat as well as
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Japan Trip 02 of 10: DIY Mos Burger
I wanted to write ten posts about Japan. That would hopefully be more focused than the initial random thoughts post. Each of the ten posts will probably have one picture
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At Dunkin Donuts
I’m writing this longhand at Dunkin Donuts. I’m still a little jetlagged. Actually I’m probably a lot jet lagged. But I’m also resigned to the fact that I’m flying back
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Japan Trip 01 of 10: Five quick thoughts
I’m back from my trip to Japan. There’s a lot to process — including literally processing photos. Well, the 2016 sense of “processing”1 meaning toggling things in Lightroom but wishing I
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A Writing Idea
Last night I got back from Google I/O. It’s the beginning of a month of travel. I have a good number of flights scheduled for May and June. It hit
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Two crappy pages
From a Men’s Health interview with Kobe Bryant in 2007: MF: Do you have any training tips, aside from Olympic lifts, that you’d recommend to younger basketball players?* Kobe: The
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Discussing Design
Note: This was originally posted on Design Sprints. Communication is an important soft skill for product designers. In Discussing Design, Adam Connor and Aaron Irizary discuss the importance of critique
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Founders at Work
Book notes for Founders at Work.
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Show Your Work
Note: This was originally posted on Design Sprints. I don’t read particularly quickly, but I finished Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work in a single sitting. It’s great for identifying what work is worth sharing