Alexandersmap

    Author: nhcarmichael

    • The Reading List

      Each day the reading list grows.  The will to read is there, and I’m working through the stacks, but the stack grows nonetheless.  I feel like Permetheus pushing the rock up the hill when it comes to tacking the mountains of books I’d like to get through.  Counting some Christmas additions and leftover 2018 reading list books that I’m either still trying to get through or trying to get to, I’m looking at dozens of books.  While I’m happy to have completed many of the books on my 2018 list, I regret the  distractions that kept me from completing the rest.  So here we are, heading into the New Year, and these are the books that I’d like to complete in 2019:

      How the Scots Invented the Modern World
      Guns, Germs and Steel
      This is Marketing
      The Map Thief
      American Nations
      The Count of Monte Cristo
      Cultural Amnesia
      The French and Indian War
      Letters from a Poet
      The Way of the Seal
      The Cuban Affair
      Ulysses
      For Whom the Bell Tolls
      The Rising Tide
      The Fateful Lightning
      Empire of Liberty
      Valiant Ambition
      Benedict Arnold’s Navy
      Leadership
      Belichick

      Twenty-one books.  Thirteen are historical novels or cover historical events. one sports biography, one self-improvement, one business book (marketing), four fiction and one is a book of letters from a poet.  It’s history-heavy, but then that’s an interest of mine.  My short term goal is to finish seven of them – 1/3 – by the end of April.  So I’d better get focused.

    • JOMO

      JOMO

      2018 is the year when I’ve finally sickened of the addictive, time-sucking apps on my phone.  I’ve deleted and re-added Twitter, and now work to pair down my focus on it.  I’ve deleted and definitely NOT gone back to Words With Friends.  And now I’m toying with the idea of dramatically limiting my exposure to Facebook.

      There’s a new term making the rounds lately; JOMO – Joy Of Missing Out, which inserts joy where fear used to reside.  Frankly I’m all in on that.  I’m making 2019, beginning now, the year of JOMO.  I’m deleting FB off my phone, so I can only look at it on my iPad.  I’m figuring out what to do with Twitter, which I enjoy using as a news feed, but frankly the news sucks nowadays and I’d rather focus on things I can control.
      According to my Screen Time feature on the iPhone, I’ve been on Twitter for 4 hours over the last 7 days, Facebook for a little more than 2 hours, and InstaGram and Safari for almost 2 hours each.  That’s not bad compared to a lot of people, but that’s still more than I’d like.  Combined Social Media time for the last 7 days is 11 hours and 55 minutes.  Ouch.  When I think of that stack of books I’m trying to work through, and the time I’m spending mentally away from my family and friends during the holidays it’s not good.
      That said, Social Media can be a good thing in doses.  So I’m going to set screen time limits on my phone and iPad and work to honor those.  I’m going to start using the Watch more as I try to increase my overall activity.  But overall this is an opportunity to change my habits as we roll into the New Year.  

    • Christmas Stoicism

      On”Do what nature demands.  Get a move on – if you have it in you – and don’t worry whether anyone will give you credit for it.  And don’t go expecting Plato’s Republic; be satisfied with even the smallest progress, and treat the outcome of it all as unimportant.” – Marcus Aurulius

      Stoicism and Christianity started at roughly the same time.  I embrace stoicism not as a rejection of Christianity, but because it completes the story for me.  Merry Christmas – and Memento Mori.

    • Silent Night

      Silent Night

      This year marks the anniversary of Silent Night, written and then composed to music two hundred years ago.  The history of Silent Night is making the rounds on various media this holiday season, so I won’t re-write it here, save for this brief Wikipedia intro: “Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.

      It’s Christmas Eve in New Hampshire.  The nest if full, if only for the briefest of times, the presents are under the tree, the plans are made.  2018 was a tough year in so many ways, and many people who were with us at Christmas last year aren’t here this Christmas Eve.  Best to make peace with yourself and your neighbors on this holiest of days.

      Austria is calling me.  Vienna and Salzburg keep popping up in my life.  I work for a company based out of Salzburg and the whole Sound of Music connection to Stowe, Vermont (Trapp Family Lodge) has lingered in my imagination for some time.  Vienna is the title of a Billy Joel song that keeps reminding me that Vienna waits for you.  The Geography of Genius and Cultural Amnesia have both informed me of Vienna’s place in our cultural history and the fragility of Humanism and Intellectualism in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany.

      A popular bumper sticker this year seems to be the “Resist” slogan.  It’s a reaction to Trump and white supremacist groups feeling the courage to crawl out of the rock they live under in the last two years.  Trump is testing our democracy and the Rule of Law like no other President in American history.  So resist, but know your history and what happens when you don’t resist.  Blindly following a religious, political or military leader has consequences often not seen until it’s too late.  The best defense is strength and knowledge.

      On Christmas Eve, most of us want peace of Earth and goodwill toward men.  Looking back one hundred years to the meat grinder that was World War One, it’s easy to see what can happen when we let “leaders” power go unchecked.  When I think of Silent Night I think of the story of the two sides in opposite trenches stopping the fighting on Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night.  The war would grind on and many more would die, but for that brief moment reason and goodwill took over.

      Silent Night, Holy Night
      Mindful of mankind’s plight
      The Lord in Heav’n on high decreed
      From earthly woes we would be freed
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.

    • Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      I spent some time in the first month of 2018 wandering around in Portugal, and a memorable evening in Lisbon sampling port with some of my co-workers.  Within a week of sipping this port I was no longer working at the company that paid for my trip to Portugal.  I have no regrets about my departure.  Eleven months later I rarely think about the company, but I often think of Portugal.

      Life is a dance, and libations have a way of liberating the timid from their restraints.  Our dance with life is all too brief, so best to celebrate the stuff of it in every moment.  Indeed, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, “... with food and drink and magic spells.  [We’re all] Seeking some novel way to frustrate death.”

      I write about death more than I figured I would when I started this blog, and not because I’m particularly obsessed with it, but rather because I’ve grown to accept stoicism as a guiding force in my life.  I’ve been reading and re-reading Meditations in 2018, and I expect I’ll come back to it again in whatever time I have left ahead of me.  I was a stoic before I really understood what that meant, living in the moment, accepting fate (for the most part), and knowing as the Scots do what lies ahead of us:

      “Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time deid” – Scottish Proverb

      Raising a glass of port is different from wine or beer.  It’s a spirit that demands savoring, and I willingly rose to the occasion with my co-worker Jim, splitting a flight of port with him on a memorable evening in Lisbon.  Having a few drinks in faraway places isn’t exactly unique, nor is savoring good and drink and magic spells, as the Bible too points out:

      “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.” – Isaiah 22:13

      Food and drink are only part of the story, of course.  Good health and a sound mind are larger factors in the year ahead and serve to temper the desire to live in the moment.  2018 has been a little too moment-focused and not enough fitness-focused.  Burpees and step counts are good indicators of a commitment to progress.  Consistency must follow the act of committing.

      “Our minds are bodies are meant to be allied in the quest for a better relationship with life.” – Don Miquel Ruiz

      As we wrap up 2018 and look to the year ahead, I’m struck by just how challenging the year was in so many ways.  And yet it was a very good year.  Looking ahead to 2019, it’s clear that America and the world will face more challenges still.  And so it shall be.  Embracing a little more stoicism helps bring the New Year in focus.

      “Think of yourself as dead.  You have lived your life.  Now take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aerulius

      I’ll take that advice and run with it.  Live properly with a commitment to career, fitness, strengthening the mind and of course savoring the moments along the way.  Every moment is magic, and if this blog has documented anything it’s my commitment to finding it in the past and present in every place I go.  Cheers.

    • Book Stacking

      Book Stacking

      My nightstand has a stack of seven books that I’ve been meaning to get to.  The table next to my favorite reading chair has two more.  The bookshelves have dozens more.  And the Kindle app on my iPad has several more.  The cue of books to read is long, and time is short.

      Making time for reading has become a bigger priority for me.  That starts with weaning myself off of the damn iPhone; the ultimate time sucking device.  And I’m doing the same with television and browsing on the computer.  Time is all we have, and way too much of it has been consumed by electronic media.  Being present in the world is a great start to finding more time.

      Reading page-turning fiction is one thing.  I can blow through a spy novel or mystery in no time at all.  The same can be said of masterful non-fiction page-turners like The Boys in the Boat or Unbroken.  Heavier reading like Ulysses or Cultural Amnesia are a different story.  And powerlifting reads like Antifragile are harder still.  I find that I start a lot of books and set them aside when they stop inspiring me to press on.  Frankly not every book you start should be finished anyway.

      Perhaps speed-reading will solve the book stack for me.  Or more audio books to “read” as I drive around the northeast.  Moving to a cabin in the woods with all of my unread books for a sabbatical is out of the question for the time being.  There’s too many things I’d be trading off.  Best to use my time more wisely in day-to-day, moment-to-moment activities.  We all have the same amount of time.  The question is how we use it.  With 2019 around the corner, I’m thinking more about exercise and disciplined work and home improvement and travel…  and reducing the stack of unread books in my life.

    • Christmas Decorations & Dirty Laundry

      Christmas Decorations & Dirty Laundry

      Christmas can be a lovely time of family time, lights and magic.  It can also be a time of shopping chaos, stress on the budget and waistline, and questionable decorative choices.  On the latter point, call me a conservative.

      For a case study in decorative style, one only need drive towards one of the shopping areas strategically places within minutes of home.  You’d see a serious commitment to keeping Unitil shareholders happy with tens of thousands of Christmas lights on display in some yards.  There’s a warm glow that emanates off these homes as endless white lights outline the architectural details of the house and blanket the shrubbery.  Some of these home owners opt for moving fake reindeer or blinking lights to animate the scene and driving up the electric bill.  I honor the massive construction effort and CapEx that these homeowners invested in the holidays.

      Other homes opt for the easy way out, simply sticking a projector out in the yard that shines lasers in green and red at the house, making it appear to be wrapped in an envelop of dazzling electronic bliss. Others double down on this projector trend by introducing floating light displays of snow and God knows what.  The Baby Jesus would be truly… humbled to see this celebration in His honor.  The projector homeowner wants to celebrate Christmas, but without the hassle of doing too much.

      A natural ally to the projector crowd is the inflatables.  Indeed, often you’ll see them coexist together in the wild cu-du-sacs of suburbia.  The inflatables are like holiday chameleons, rapidly popping up Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed characters in rapid succession.  No longer are the inflatables limited to Santa Claus and Rudolph.  No, today you can blow up just about any character in popular culture, and just put a Santa hat on their head or a Christmas present in their claws and you have the perfect addition to your front yard holiday celebration!

      Tragically, this holiday fantasy only comes alive at night.  During the daylight, when everyone is actually looking at your yard, these inflatables appear flaccid sacks of dirty laundry scattered across frozen lawns and restrained from escaping with extension cords and tent stakes.  Inflatables yards are like the morning after a big boozy party staring back at you in the mirror day after hung over day.

      The neighbor of the inflatable is inevitably the dignified wreathes on the windows and doors decorator.  This champion of restraint meticulously sets ribbons and bows amongst the greenery and sets white spotlights to illuminate the house to highlight just how lovely their holidays are going to be.  The wreath and garland homeowner never uses blinking lights, and the music is classic Bing Crosby era, thank you.

      My house is an exercise in simplicity.  Neighbors put white lights on the trees and shrubs out front?  I string colored lights through the trees out front.  And thats where I stop.  Nothing on the shrubs lining the front of the house, no spotlight on the wreath on the front door.  Sure there are candles in the windows and the white lights on the Christmas tree peak through one of the living room windows.  I’m doing my part without trying too hard.  The neighbors must shake their heads as they drive by.

      In New England, we inevitably have a snowstorm and a deep freeze right around the holidays that will cement this display to our lawns until the spring thaw.  So even if you are sad to see the lights turned off, you can take comfort in the fact that they’ll still be attached to the house and shrubs for months to come.  That’s the kind of holiday cheer that stays with you long after your New Year’s Resolutions are broken.

    • There’s Something About Connecticut

      There’s Something About Connecticut

      For the life of me I haven’t fully figured out Connecticut.  It’s a part of New England, but it’s also a big part of New York as well.  Nothing illustrates that more than the Red Sox-Yankees Mason-Dixon line that runs through the state.

      Connecticut exhibits some of the characteristics of New England – Beautiful old towns mixed with postcard views and a rich colonial history.  Litchfield County is to most people the most beautiful part of the state, but you can make a case for Windham or New London County too.  What turns most people off with Connecticut are the highways and associated traffic, and the cities, which have some lovely parts to them but some really run down parts too.

      Connecticut has that Yankee frugality co-mingling with that New York hustle.  It’s a place that’s hard to describe.  Look no further than that Connecticut accent.  It’s a mix of Boston and New York.  You know it when you hear it.  Or if you like, we can talk about the drivers.  Boston gets a bad rap, and deservedly so.  But Connecticut drivers are the worst.  They refuse to move out of the left lane on the highway no matter what their speed, unless of course they’re the other type of driver in Connecticut; the zig zaggers.  These drivers are bouncing between lanes at extremely high rates of speed relative to those around them.  Perhaps they’d stay in the passing lane if the former drivers would ever move over, but perhaps they just love the adventure of putting lives in danger.

      I lived in Litchfield County 24 years ago, and while the memories aren’t great, I do remember loving the 200 acre farm that I lived on.  We had a small apartment in an old farmhouse on a working farm.  Most everything associated with that time in my life is gone, and good riddance to it.  That experience, combined with some epic traffic over the years, may have jaded me.  I like the people, I like the scenery when you get out of the cities, and I’ve had some great moments there.  And yet there’s something about Connecticut…

    • Fog on Buzzards Bay

      Fog on Buzzards Bay

      Saturday we were treated to a beautiful sight as the sun slowly warmed the air above the cold waters of Buzzards Bay and the temperature variations triggered a thick, swirling fog.  This wasn’t some boring whiteout fog, this was a constantly changing feast for the eyes.  The fog highlighted rises in the land I’d never really noticed in the years I’d been coming here.  It amplified the bells on the navigational buoys in the channel approaching the Cape Cod Canal and the sharp honk! honk! honk! blare of the foghorn on some unseen barge making its way up the channel telling whoever will listen that “I am operating astern propulsion”.  Saturday morning was a day for radar if you dared to be out there at all.

      I find fog to be fascinating.  I once walked Bodhi in a fog so thick I couldn’t see five feet in front of me.  I once launched a couple of eights full of rowers, realized that the fog was too thick for them to safely be out there, and couldn’t find them on the river.  Thankfully they’d decided it wasn’t safe and had just gone back to the dock, but I spent 45 minutes slowly running up and down the river in my launch trying to find them.  As I wrote in one of my first posts, when I was in St. Johns, Newfoundland I watched a fog roll in so quickly that I quickly that I wasn’t able to cover 200 hundred yards before everything was obscured.

      Fog can be both dangerous and beautiful.  It completely changes your perception of the world, and when it lifts it stays with you as a haunting memory.  Some view it as sinister or terrifying, but I think it’s fascinating.  I just don’t want to be stopped in the high speed lane of a highway with the people behind me seeing nothing but gray clouds in front of them.
      I generally take weather as it comes.  Really, what choice do we have living in the northeast?  I try to enjoy the rain, snow or fog as much as I do those perfect sunny days or starry nights.  Stoic philosophy dictates that we accept our fate in life.  It is what it is.  For me a cold, foggy morning on the bay was more interesting than a warm, sunny day might have been.  Either way, the pictures speak more eloquently than I can, even if they don’t tell the full story.

    • That’s Puzzling

      That’s Puzzling

      Before everyone stared at their phones or television all day, people read books and played board games, cards or other activities that occupied and expanded their minds in leisure time.  And jigsaw puzzles were a notable preoccupation for people with a little time on their hands as well.  Originally created in 1767 in England from maps glued to wood and then cut into pieces, jigsaw puzzles exploded in popularity about 110 years ago when Parker Brothers of Salem and later Beverly, Massachusetts created something close to the modern puzzles we do today.

      Puzzles usually aren’t made of wood on a jigsaw anymore, though you can still find them that way.  Today’s puzzles are cardboard with a printed picture broken into a thousand or more laser cut pieces.  Puzzles aren’t something you do when you have a few minutes on a lunch break or while you’re on a plane traveling to a business meeting.  Jigsaw puzzles are a time commitment and a zen-like exercise in focus.  You can wile away hours on a puzzle, but it’s time well-spent.  Building a puzzle takes your mind off everyday stressors, lowers your heart rate and sharpens your mind as you work to accomplish the specific task of finding that needle in a haystack.

      Puzzles are best done in a group, making it a team-building exercise and social experience.  To complete a puzzle is akin to finishing a great book – you feel the sense of accomplishment while mourning the end of the ride.  During the Depression in the 1930’s puzzles became a very popular way to spend your time as it gave the participants a much needed sense of accomplishment in otherwise difficult times.  I tend to do puzzles in one place only – on the coffee table on the Cape when I’m having some down time.  It’s become a tradition to finish at least one puzzle during a vacation there, and hopefully a couple more than that.

      While puzzles seem daunting and endless at the beginning when you’re forming the border, completing it accelerates as you get closer to the end, with fewer and fewer pieces to sift through to find the one you need.  It’s an exciting time in the cycle of the jigsaw puzzle, and keeps you coming back for more, even as you stretch out the kinks from bending over a table for hours on end.  The end of the puzzle is always on your mind, but you enjoy the ride while you’re on it.

      The worst thing that can happen with a puzzle is that you get to the end and there’s one piece missing.  That seems to happen more often than it should.  The second worst thing that can happen is that you walk away from the puzzle and someone else finishes it while you’re gone.  All that build-up without the finale.  Which is another reason to keep pressing ahead with the puzzle, piece-by-piece to finish what you invested so much time in.  And when you finally reach the last piece, there’s a celebration and sometimes a picture of the finished product.  Depending on the affection developed for the puzzle over the time building it you may leave it assembled for a period of time, but inevitably the call of another puzzle overtakes you and your hours of work are swept off the table back into the box.  Just a memory, but one you’ll think of fondly.