I watch too much tv + I spend too much time on the internet = this blog

 I should know the names of the books I read. It feels weird to spend hours with a book either in audio, digital, or physical form and not at least know the name of the book you've read and the author. But that's the predicament that I often find myself in these days. Right now the book I don't know the name of is the biography of Francis Ford Coppola (I've since found the name of the book. It is: The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story, by Sam Wasson) . At one time I would say that he was my favorite director, but I'm not sure why other than he directed what may be the movies that I find to be perfect ( The Godfathers I and II ) and he somehow found a way to fit The Conversation and Apocalypse Now in the mix as well.  Reading and learning about who he is and what drove him as an artist was nothing that I would call revelatory. Read enough biographies and you realize that great people are often characterized by their drive, their desire to do what they...

 One book where I use my eyes, one book where I use my ears a month for the entirety of 2024 and then I'm solid. Well 34 days into the year, I'm right on target. In fact, I may be 2 ear books ahead of schedule. I'll use this space to talk about what I read. Nothing crazy, just a few words here and there. Who knows, maybe I'll write more if the mood strikes.  First up: Make Your Bed , William H. McRaven. I have a difficult time taking advice, I'll give advice every single minute of every single day, but you try to give me advice and that's where the rubber hits the road. Well that's what this book is, it's advice from a person that has lived a very successful life in the military. First as a Seal and then as something more than that. The beginning of the book is about making your bed and how it sets you up for success every single day. Here's the thing, I get up first every morning, my wife wakes up after me and she makes the bed. Am I therefore doome...

New year's resolutions are a motherfucker. I make them every single year with the best of intentions, but every single year, they pass me by. As I've gotten older, I've learned to give myself some grace and I just set out to do better next year. This year I'm trying to flip the script and look at every day as a chance to walk the right path. In that spirit, instead of resolutions, this year I set goals in a bunch of different categories. What makes this year different is that I've resolved to track those goals on a weekly basis and regularly check in and hold myself accountable.  It turns out, I'm already being tested. My 21 month old son has gone from having covid to now having croup so needless to say the last week has been a struggle of taking care of him, not sleeping much and trying to have a successful first week of 2024. And while other things have popped up that have made financial goals a bit tougher to achieve, there's definitely something to be sa...