Week 46, 2026 — small changes

It was another nice week at home, with a near-ideal balance of work, sport and meeting friends. Tried a new cafe, a new restaurant and a new neighborhood grocer. All were great and serve as wonderful reminders to keep trying new places. In recent months I’ve had to unpin so many of the establishments I’d saved on Google Maps in the past decade. So much turnover.

Speaking of new things, I started keeping a journal (handwritten!) which is a mix of notes, reflections and lists. It’s working for me, and by working I mean it’s actually becoming a habit, which I can scarcely believe. Will continue tinkering away at it, without overthinking it, and see where I am in a few weeks.

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I had the chance to speak at an online event with my Greaterthan colleagues about our experiences trying alternative approaches to distributing money. Good stuff.

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I chanced upon a paperback copy of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha so I put Steppenwolf to the side for a moment. It’s a lyrical, fast-paced, novel-style book and I spent a very pleasant afternoon immersed in it. The book didn’t touch me the way it seems to have profoundly impacted many others. Which doesn’t bother me much—I quite enjoy reading and watching reviews and interpretations to help me appreciate what I hadn’t spotted myself. Also making a note to self to read Tezuka Osamu’s Buddha when I’m in Japan next. It would be fun to read a version of this story as a Japanese manga.

I continue to love Anne Lamot’s Bird by Bird. I’m reading a few chapters a day and am sad that it’s almost done.