Wow, I haven’t ventured onto this blog in a while. These are books from April 2021. I haven’t been reading because I am vaccinated and I have been socializing with other vaccinated people. It’s all quite exciting.
Hello, Habits: A Minimalist’s Guide to a Better Life
by Fumio Sasaki
This book was super repetitive. It might be a good introduction to someone who hasn’t read any of the habit books, but I’ve read most of the books he mentions. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is better, I think. Gretchen Rubin’s Better than Before is better.
While various rewards may be obtained by successfully acquiring a habit, I think the maximum reward is a sense of self-approval, to be able to like yourself.
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
by BJ Fogg Ph.D
Why do I keep reading habit books? I don’t know, either. Blah, this one was boring. But maybe that’s just me and not an indictment on the actual book. I think I am habit-book’d out.
One Best Hike: Grand Canyon: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Hike from the Rim to the River―and Back
by Elizabeth Wenk
Hiking the Grand Canyon is the next bucket list item I want to tackle. I’ve been trying to get reservations at Phantom Ranch — the cottages at the bottom of the canyon — for a decade plus. Now they’re at reduced capacity and I’m losing patience. I’m thinking about backpacking it, but I haven’t backpacked at all. There’s a lot of gear to acquire.
Running with Sherman: How a Rescue Donkey Inspired a Rag-tag Gang of Runners to Enter the Craziest Race in America
by Christopher McDougall
This guy wrote Born to Run which I thought was good. In this book, he trains his donkey to run. Not as good, but not bad either. I enjoy the writer’s voice quite a bit.
*****
Yeah, that’s really it for books.
What else?
Hmm. I told you I bought a bunch of clothes. Nice clothes. Silk dresses and such. Now I’m realizing the true costs. I had to tailor the clothes and dry clean the clothes and buy a steamer to iron the clothes.
So yeah, overzealous on the new wardrobe. I bought a cocktail dress for $100 that I can’t imagine actually wearing, but I really love. I will regret that decision, I think, in a couple of years. I’d rather have the VTSAX.
Or maybe not. Trying on the pieces makes me happy, I can “afford” it, and maybe I can convince someone I know to throw a cocktail party.
Or maybe I’ll just wear it around my apartment. 😀
What else?
I finished the fifth draft of my book and now I just have to get up the courage to send it to agents and publishers. I have to brace myself for rejection. I’ve chosen instead to hang out with people and ignore it. That’s the good and bad part of being retired. I don’t have a fire under me, but I’m pretty happy. Life is fun, if currently a little aimless.
What’s new with you guys?
Good to hear you’re enjoying life. I’m still struggling away with my novel draft, and am possibly going to buy a house back in Ireland soon (living in aus).
Australia to Ireland is quite the change!
“…and maybe I can convince someone I know to throw a cocktail party.”
Don’t wait for someone else — throw your own party! Make it a fundraiser for a charity you want to support. Contact Chris at Denver Distillery (chris@denverdistillery.com, 720-381-3226). They host events for up to 60 people. They’re very flexible; you can sell tickets to the event and raise money that way, or have people buy their own drinks and get a percentage of the sales. Whatever works best for you. It’s a win-win-win: you get to wear your dress, your charity receives funds, and Denver Distillery sells their product and gets their name out. Get a few friends to help you organize it. It will be a blast.
This is awesome, glad to know you can see some people, makes the whole world change for the better. Perhaps the book will get published, I suspect you’ll get the fire once you’ve decided it’s what you want next.
We’ve had to adapt and just visit some social friends / family despite the lack of vaccination. At our countries current run rate it is estimated we’ll take 9 years to reach the majority of vaccinations but I suspect it’ll be accelerated to within the next year or two. In the interim we’ll just need to live with it, wear masks/sanitize or other rules. It’s been a strange sad time. But we adapt and carry on.
What country is that?
South Africa. I’ve been using this site to see the pace of vaccination: http://mediahack.co.za/datastories/coronavirus/vaccination-calculator/ But it has been accelerating in the past few weeks so we’re finally gaining some momentum.
Good idea!
I like to hear ‘ I’m pretty happy. Life is fun.’
And that you have pretty silk and cocktail dresses . Is good.
Myself, I can’t decide whether it’s safe to enter the fray after over a year of masking , despite being vaccinated. I’m with Tim Kreider of The Atlantic’s excellent piece ‘I’m Not Scared to Reenter Society. I’m Just Not Sure I Want To.’ As he says, make it worth my while.
It’s definitely a chance to prune your social life. That title is funny.
Don’t give up on hiking the canyon. It’s amazing. Consider taking the Kibab trail down, and Bright Angel up.
The book talks about those trails!
I was all set to do the grand canyon in 2020 right before the pandy hit.. I had just done it in 2019 and was set to make it an annual tradition since I live in Arizona. We did the Kaibab trail down and Bright Angel up and in a day, this way we don’t need any reservations at Phantom ranch.
One day is pretty hard core!
Yeah, we did (South) Rim-to-River-to-(North) Rim, rest day, then back, just about two years ago. It was well worth it, but R2R2R probably requires some training; it’s hard. Carrying day hike stuff only makes it a bit easier.
Also, my friend managed to meet a new friend on the trip, and they’re living together in California these days.
That’s a fun story. 😁
We did a 5 day Grand Canyon hike a few years ago. It was fantastic.
We went with a guided trip (wildland Trekking). They provided all of the gear, dealt with all of the permits and booking the backcountry sites, did all of the cooking, and our guide was a great source of information.
If you choose to stay at Phantom ranch you pretty much have to hike to the bottom in a single day, and hike out in a single day. Also, you’re on the Bright Angel trail the whole time.
Out 5 day hike meant that we didn’t have as long of a hike in either direction in a single day. It also got us away from the Bright Angel trail after lunch on day one. Bright Angel is very busy, even crowded. On our other days we saw maybe 5-6 other people all day.
It was a great way to experience the canyon.
I love this idea! Sounds like a blast.
I drank Ayahuasca six times in Costa Rica and twice in England. Travelled around England for several months during ‘lockdown’, Made lots of new friends. Wild swimming is a new hobby of mine which I love. Been going for a lot of runs in a nearby national park. Experienced 2 months of deep despair which helped me to realise where all my ‘problems’ stem from. So all in all a very eventful 5 months. God, I love being retired!
I want to try Ayahuasca!
What’s stopping you?
I dunno. I haven’t been to south America in ages
You can go to central america too. Several retreat centres in Costa Rica.
Just be aware that your ego may be sabotaging your plans to go because it knows it’s going to die
Hello Anita,
I am happy to have connected with you! You have been a huge inspiration to me! My relationship with money has definitely changed for the better!
Would you consider doing a Zoom meeting for your newsletter subscribers?
I would love to join the chat!
All the best,
Violetta
Thanks for commenting!! A big zoom call sounds scary, but I’ll try to psyche myself up for it. 🙂
Nothing wrong with spoiling yourself with some pretty dresses 🙂
Appreciate the permission! It feels a little indulgent. 🙂
Great post, I don’t know how you discipline yourself to write and then submit a story. It is hard work..
Grand Canyon hikes: I took the Bright Angel trail in July like 5 years ago. We started early enough but the forest ranger tried to tell us to sit in the lodge and have beer until it got dark and cool, but I figured it was for wimps only.. that was the most grueling hike on the way back, lots of sitting and resting.. but I took a picture of a nice heart shaped rock formation at the end of the 13 hour round trip exit..
If you are reading any fiction, “Queen’s Gambit” was a great Netflix show and the book is only slightly worse than the movie. Better if you like extra chess play-by-play action.
I haven’t read anything in months. I’m not sure why
Happy to see the new post 🙂 On the Grand Canyon bucket list, I would suggest doing it as a day hike. I did it from North rim down and up South. It is doable and you will find many fellow hikers doing it. the whole hike is amazingly gorgeous and breathtaking.
Appreciate the recommendation!
You’re back, yay!!! Are you allowed to say what your book is about? And are you still gonna look for a job, or just enjoy being retired?
My book is about three generations of a family and how money changes them.
Not looking for a job, just enjoying retirement. Loving it.
Does your story follow the “wealth never survives three generations” adage? If so, is the title “Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves” or “From the Stables to the Stars”?(https://www.jpmorgan.com/wealth-management/wealth-partners/insights/family-fortunes)
We’re very lucky to be born in the U.S. in the middle generation.
Will you email me a copy of your manuscript?
-Bob
Yes! Working title is Three Generations, but a possible title is From Shirtsleeves. 🙂
No, not ready to send it off to strangers.
Heh, is your book autobiographical???
A little, but not really.
If you do decide to do the Grand Canyon as a camping trip, know that you can rent nearly all the gear you’d need, so you don’t need to spend the money on a bunch of stuff you’ll only use a few times!
Good to know!