The Big Dark

Having lived in Seattle for over 20 years, I'm no stranger to our famous long stretches of grey weather from October to March, otherwise known as "The Big Dark."

I new one that I recently heard the '3:30 rule' (coined by Ron Judd in 2015) which states:

If you don't get your stuff together in time to walk your dog, prune the dogwoods or mend the fence by 3:30 pm, you're going to be finishing in the dark.

Today (Dec 18, 2021), the sun rises here at 7:52 am and will set at 4:18 pm - only giving us only 8 hours and 26 minutes of potential daylight. Unfortunately, the forecast predicts that the light rain and clouds will hide it all.

I'm not sure why I wanted to write about the weather this week, perhaps because we are wrapping up 'pandemic year two'. The new Omicron variant seems to be gaining speed. Sporting events are starting to get delayed, the Rockettes and broadway have cancelled their shows and many I know are feeling 'a big dark' overshadowing the world again.

If anything, the last few years have me thinking about the dichotomy of control: recognition of what one can and cannot control. I try to focus on healthy habits for myself (working out daily, not overeating crap, reading, etc.) rather than worrying too much about how the world is acting around me.

I don't know. It helps me on some days.

But everyone is just tired of all this.

Wrapping up this week as I work towards the big "Things I Like" 2021 edition (hopefully next weekend I’ll post), I wanted to include a video from Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which I thought was interesting.

Michael Richards talks about auditioning for "Seinfeld" and discusses the racist rant at a heckler during a set at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood in 2006 that destroyed his career.

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Forward Thinking

I laughted a bit at this rant on technology in the 80's from Bill Murray.

Thought of the week

This weeks "Deep Links"

Here are a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• "Can you build a website from a piece of paper?" was the question that spawned Paper Website. Read about how this project was born, and the inspiration behind it - More
• "How Will You Measure Your Life?" explores a simple thought: Create a Strategy for Your Life - More
• From the dark side comes "11 Reasons Not to Become Famous (or "A Few Lessons Learned Since 2007")" - More
• My favorite read of the week is "10 Interesting Things Lurking Inside Tedious Meetings". Jessica tries to rationalize that there's always 'something or someone worth showing up for.' A great read - More
• "The Attention Diet" is a beautiful post about the distractions that have started to overwhelm, well, everything - More
• This whole Peloton and Sex and the City thing is crazy. First, I was upset how they killed off a character on a Peloton, then the brilliance of Peloton's response 'ad', and now they've pulled the ad due to the allegations of sexual misconduct. More in "And Just Like That, Peloton Is Trying to Rewrite That Scene in the Sex and the City Sequel" - More
• "Getting to 👃 me" is a fun read on Adam's favorite smells. Who doesn't like the aroma of roasted whole coffee beans? - More
• "How to rest well" explores why it's essential to take downtime to recharge. It's not about being lazy, its the key to a good life and productive career - More
• A rather long but poignant guide that asks you to dig a bit deeper inside and ask yourself: am I happy? and "why we need a life philosophy" - More
• 'If you aren't falling down, you aren't stretching your limits enough' or, falling is a requirement for advancement. Read more in "Make A Habit of Falling Down" - More
• "The Five Sicknesses of the Human Soul" explores some of the teachings from Marcus Aurelius 'for what ravages the soul weakens mind and body.' Fantastic and quick read - More

Fin

Closing out this week with the epic video of Keanu Reeves and the idea of NFT's.

Be well and see you soon for the highly anticipated "Things I Like" 2021 edition!✌🏻