Draw a card. Discard a card. Use the characters, problems, settings, and resolutions to create a very short story.
Rory Story Cubes is simpler with the roll of the dice, but it creates disjointed stories. Nanofictionary adds just enough structure to make coherent stories.
(Random hint, after watching a webinar on writing stories – add a second problem to compound upon the first problem to develop the narrative).
This game is not well rated on boardgamegeek.com, but those users lean towards heavy analytical experiences, not silly story games.
Despite its low rating, this game hits the mark. It has a simple goal and does it well.
I’ve tried many story games over the years. Nanofictionary’s seemingly obvious simplicity is proof of its great design. It finds the right balance between into formless narrative and rules fussiness, hitting the sweet spot.
Like many polished designs, it looks easy (a notion furthered by the crude illustrations on the cards). However, it must have taken an exhaustive exploration to create something that works so well but appears simplistic.
The Looney’s are not good at game development (see my scathing notes on Loonacy), but they managed to pull it off this time. Go check it out if you’re in the mood.
A few years after college, I had an epiphany that all things around me are designed by another human. It should be an obvious notion, especially for an architect.
I am still awed whenever I ponder this basic fact. Almost everything surrounding us is utterly artificial.
I’ve gotten into a good rhythm baking loaves with our Lodge Cast Iron loaf pan. The recipe is quite simple.
50g starter 150g to 200g water 250g bread flour 5g salt
You might notice the wide range of water in this recipe, anywhere from 60% to 80% hydration. It doesn’t seem to matter.
The key is to knead the dough hard at the start.
When I first got into making sourdoughs, all the recipes recommended gentle folding to get big artisan holes.
Having stooped to using the humble loaf pan, such pretensions are unnecessary, so my current process now aims for consistency.
To start at the beginning.
Bring out the starter and wake it up. If past its prime, refresh it.
Once the starter is happy, mix the dough without salt. Let it autolyze for 20 minutes to an hour.
Add salt and knead it (using wet hands in the bowl). Let it sit for half an hour. Knead it again and wait. Repeat again and again, until the dough starts to feel poofy.
By now it’s nighttime, so throw the batch into the fridge.
The next morning take out the dough. After the dough has woken up (usually a few hours) pour it into the loaf pan.
Once the dough has proofed well past the rim of the pan (a few more hours), preheat the toaster oven to 450f, and then bake it on convection for 40 minutes at 325f.
So far the loaves have been remarkably consistent. Admittedly, these instructions are still extremely fuzzy and subjective. That’s life with sourdough. Fermentation is a dance.
Of course, writing this self-congratulatory post guarantees my next loaf will bomb. Fortunately, this hobby lets us eat our mistakes.
Earlier in the week, I mixed some dough at the same time my wife started her own loaf of bread. I deferred and proofed it in the fridge so she could bake that night.
The next morning, I took the dough out to proof and bake. However, the day turned out to be a traffic jam of meetings. By the time I had a moment to breathe, the dough was completely over-proofed.
In the past, I would try to salvage the mess by adding fresh flour to make two loaves of bread. However it’s a gamble, and I’ve been on a losing streak.
I went with the guaranteed route.
On Tuesday morning, my daughter and I pulled out the dough (now batter) added a couple of eggs, a little milk, olive oil, some sugar, and a touch of baking soda.
We made a couple of full-size pancakes. Then I realized she’s old enough.
Time for her to flip these things!
We poured out a smaller pancake. At first, we used a silicone spatula with a short handle, but she accidentally brushed her finger against the rim of the pan.
She’s a tough girl, but no need to burn another finger. We pulled out the wooden spatula. The head wasn’t as sharp but had a long handle.
A mountain of pancakes later, she finished making breakfast.
As always, the kids enjoyed their meal of pan-fried dough, topped with butter and honey.
And I got this post to mark a momentous occasion in her life.
As a good architect, I made another change! I’m going weekly now.
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear some feedback on this letter! Please subscribe if you’d like the next letter in your inbox.
(notes on) A World Without Email
I’ve been a fan of Cal Newport after reading So Good They Can’t Ignore You a couple years ago (quickly followed by devouring Deep Work and Digital Minimalism). Accordingly, I borrowed his audiobook from the library as soon as it was available. The book did not disappoint. It is a great distillation of Cal’s current ideas on email and productivity.
Like many self help books, the first part sells the problem with a narrative detailing the road to our current “hyperactive hive mind”. This section is necessary, but is a bit drawn out. Fortunately, the second part of this book is full of actionable ideas and is highly recommended. You can find all this advice by listening to hours of his Deep Questions Podcast, but this book perfect for someone who isn’t already a Newport acolyte.
Some of his key recommendations include:
be wary about the dissipation of our attention, mental switching costs are incredibly detrimental to high performance in knowledge work.
a mix of practical tips for increasing productivity (such as batching similar tasks on various days)
go outside of email for managing work. Use processes and systems for workflow coordination, such as using taskboards.
don’t assume the simple and easy makes for the best process in organizing your work flow. A little friction may result in long term efficiencies.
Based on the recommendations in his podcast, I’ve already initiated weekly check-in’s with my architect and my immediate supervisor, which have worked spectacularly well. For my next projects, I plan on imposing a communication protocol.
I normally try to avoid enjoying the my status as an Owner. However, I shamelessly exploit the Owner’s prerogative to push the Architect’s workflow beyond our industry standard “fire in the inbox” method of management.
Maybe my first step will be to assign them this book.
My reaction to this book is muted because I was an avid listener to Cal’s podcast last summer. As such, I had already implemented many of his recommendations in his book. If I was ambitious, I would borrow the ebook from the library to carefully re-read the recommendations in the second part of the book. However, I’ve recently turned away from self help books towards classic literature, focusing upon the eight waking hours outside of the office. As such, I haven’t felt an urge to return to this book.
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One Question
Do you have any workflows that may seem circuitous but actually help you manage the work more efficiently?
Hit reply and let’s chat!
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Three Links
Arnaud Marthouret wrote three lessons from racing a bike too fast. His third lesson about no distraction resonates tightly with the aim of The World without Email.
Seth Godin’s Wayfinding gives us permission to be inefficient, because the murky is where the innovation is most needed.
The paintings of Torsten Jovinge (1898-1936) are a real treat. Thanks to Daily Dose for introducing me to this artist.
… and a photo.
Tree Stump, Mt. Charleston, June 2021
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Thanks for subscribing to the OPM letter! I hope you found some prompts to stretch your craft and relationships as a contentious Owner PM. See you next week!
Stay humble and keep experimenting! Justus Pang, RA
This is a beautifully shot, brutal, revenge flick that has garnered a slew of awards. One of its fight scenes even got an A+ in accuracy from Scenic Fights (which is how I found out about this film).
I can’t add much more to this pile of acclaim. I enjoyed watching its raw depiction of the seedy underbelly of Korean society, a nice contrast to the glitzy world of K-pop soap operas. However, this is a Korean film, so there are some gratuitously gruesome moments so I’m interested in rewatching it.
As I usually do with enjoyable films, I followed up by watching some few YouTube reviews about this movie. Two facts caught my attention.
There’s a campy Indian remake called Rocky Handsome. The lead actor in that movie is really swoll and those action scenes are super stiff.
Won Bin, the main actor of this movie, has not acted in a film since this one.
In other words, he has spent the past decade not practicing his craft, outside of the occasional commercial.
What a shame.
I’d respect this choice if he was forsaking the work to avoid from the limelight. Even if it was as crass as saying he’s earned enough to retire early. However his publicists continue to claim that he’s an artist waiting for the right project.
So he is hiding his art from the world. I sound like an over-entitled audience member, but I’m judging him on his terms. If he still wants to be part of the action, then he needs to do something. If he isn’t being handed projects of the proper quality, then he needs to go out and make one.
There is a line between being selective and being cowardly. That line must have been crossed at some point over the past ten years. There is no shame in quitting one’s profession when it isn’t serving one’s needs.
Admittedly, sometimes we need to lay low and let things play out. We shouldn’t always just jump at the first opportunity. Patience is a virtue, but not for ten years.
I’m a sucker for mediocre action flicks. I’m not a big fan of gore and horror and get squirmy at romance and comedy, but give me some violence and I’m there.
For the the past few weeks I’ve been slowly getting sucked into a youtube vortex of action scenes from these two films. Once the algorithm caught my attention, the positive feedback loop took over. And then, youtube found me an Egyptian subtitled version of these two movies.
The next two nights disappeared.
I’m not proud of it.
In fact, I’m quite ashamed of getting spoon fed down this rabbit hole, and this post is an attempt to salvage my dignity.
The story concept is appealing. An everyman (Denzel Washington as a working stiff with a slight paunch) anonymously wreaks justice on the rest of the world. It’s a power fantasy that appeals to a middle aged dude like me navigating a rigged world.
Unfortunately, universal themes are wrapped in a debased magic that dissipates quickly. The first movie had some charm, the second was just pure banality.
I honestly couldn’t recommend either of them, even though they deliver exactly what they promise, like The Prince (2014) or Outside the Line (2021).
The shame is in wanting what they offer. It’s not worth even 90 minutes in this short life of ours.
Editing this post a few months later, I’m amazed that I actually watched both full films. My mind must have actively erased this fact from half a year ago. In any case, I still have a tenuous relationship with YouTube. Late night is a dangerous time. If I get myself onto Grizzlypear or the ebook reader after the kids go to sleep, I can do some productive stuff before going to sleep. But if I get sucked onto my phone, I can easily lose an hour in the blink of an eye.
Having quit Facebook and Twitter already, getting better control over YouTube is my next horizon. I still enjoy the short documentary and commentaries YouTube videos (see my obsession with HEMA), but I’m coming to realize that this trivial edutainment may not be worth the time spent or the danger of slipping down truly frivolous rabbit holes. Like Facebook a couple years ago, I have entered the phase of “deleted the app, both still logging in via the web browser”. We’ll see if I wean of YouTube over the next couple years.
The need to be more selective about my entertainment options has been highlighted by my recent reading of the Journey to the West. In many ways, this book has all the ribald action sequences and entertainment of such films. However, this book is one of the four Chinese Classic Novels for good reason. It gives you the base satisfaction of a fantasy novel but also brings much more to the table. I wouldn’t claim that reading classic novels are as elevated as pondering a dense philosophical tome, but if for late night entertainment, it’s worlds better than this fluff.
In 2020, I decided to purchase only twelve books. I cheated a little and added a few caveats and provisos to skirt around this restriction, but I really didn’t purchase that many books last year.
Halfway in to 2021, I thought it would be interesting to look at my purchases and see how it went. Spoiler alert: my predictions of what “future self” will want to read are quite poor. (No kidding, look at the boxes of books in the garage).
2020, Read
Jazz, Henri Matisse. Excellent book, in spite of the small format of the edition that was available.
Pearls Goes Hollywood, Stephan Pastis. I always purchase the new Pearl treasuries. I adore Pastis’ warm cynical take on life.
The Big Sleep,Raymond Chandler. The novel didn’t hold up very well since it was particularly crass in its dismissal of marginalized groups. The explosion of energy that I experienced on first reading, now feels like a temper tantrum fifteen years later. There are enough classics in noir that I will be a bit choosier for future reading.
Farewell My Lovely, Raymond Chandler. These two novels blend together in my memory. They have both held up better than his Chandler’s novel, even if they include some parts that would offend the touchier sensibilities of contemporary times. I’m glad I did a retrospective of my three favorite novels in the Chandler oeuvre, but I think I’ve outgrown them.
Cheddar, Gordon Edgar. An fun exploration of cheese, industrialization, and America. Purchased at deep discount from a big Chelsea Green Publishing House sale.
Landfill, Tim Dee. A lively meditation on of birdwatching, science, and its subjects. Purchased on deep discount from a big Chelsea Green Publishing House sale.
Krazy Kat (1916-1918), George Herriman. This series is legendary and I’m debating whether to collect the entire set. I got the first one, but since I haven’t cracked it open in the past year, maybe it is not worth trying to catch them all.
The Art of Happiness, Epicurus, George K. Strodach (translator). I was curious about his philosophy, but Epicurus turned out to be heavily focused on his speculations concerning physical physics. I quickly lost interest. I might power through the rest of the book at some point, just to get the feather in the cap.
Growing Food in a Drier Hotter Land, Gary Nabhan. I was absolutely smitten by his first book The Desert Smells like Rain, which I discovered via an environmental literature course syllabus. Purchased as part of a big Chelsea Green Publishing House sale.
Being Salmon, Being Human, Martin Lee Mueller. The premise sounds interesting and I hope to read this eventually though in spite of my recent turn towards ancient wisdom literature. This was on deep discount as part of a big Chelsea Green Publishing House sale.
2020 Cheats (not counted against the limit)
Mutts Sundays, Patrick McDonnell. With my daughter’s comics obsession I wanted her to read some Mutts to go with her Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes.
Salt Fat Acid Heat, Samin Nosrat. An instant classic, I purchased it at the start of the quarantine (having previously read it at the library) but I haven’t referenced it a single time.
The Art of Fermentation, Sandor Ellix Katz. I read the a library copy during quarantine and wanted my own copy. I purchased it as part of a big Chelsea Green Publishing House sale, but haven’t referenced it either.
2021 Purchases
The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, James D’Amato. I haven’t done anything with this book beyond wrapping it up as an extra birthday present for my daughter.
Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg. I liked the library ebook so much that I immediately bought my own hardcopy. Like the Art of Fermentation, I haven’t cracked the cover a second time.
Zhuangzi (inner chapters), Burton Watson (translator). This is universally acclaimed as a translation and I didn’t want to read this on the phone.
Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Sunzi, Ralph D. Sawyer (translator). This is a hefty book! I wanted the breadth of classical thought on this matter and by golly I got it. Now I need to read it.
The Art of War, Sunzi, John Minford (translator). I didn’t realize that I had already listened to this book on tape. Then again, it’s hard to go wrong with a spare copy of Sunzi.
Tao Te Ching, Laozi, John Minford (translator). I read half of this book before being forced to return it to the library. I liked the extensive commentary so I decided to get my own copy.
I Ching, King Wen, John Minford (translator). I liked Minford so much as a translator on his other two works that I decided to start my I Ching journey with his translation.
I Ching, King Wen, Helmut Wilhelm / Cary Baynes (translators). This is the classic that made it a fad in the the artsy circles in the mid-20th century. Since it was good enough for Merce Cunningham and John Cage, I felt I should get my own hardcopy.
I Ching, King Wen, Richard Lynn (translator). This translation is well regarded, especially in a very favorable review SJ Marshall of Biroco.com, calling it the yin to the yang of the Wilhem/Baynes translation. Given my big kick, I thought it was worth investing a slot to check it out.
China, Hiroji Kubota. His Portrait of America was so good, I had to see how he handled with China just as the nation started its stratospheric ascent into becoming a superpower. I also thought it would be good for the kids to see the nation that their mother came from.
Out of the East, Hiroji Kubota. This was a snap amazon algorithm purchase. I fear this may be a lesser work, since the price was so low, but I liked his work enough to take a flier on it.
Books on Deck
The next Pearls Before Swine treasury. I’m not going to count it against the limit next time, since it is a regular purchase every 18 months.
What’s Michael Fatcat Collection, Volume 2. It would be ridiculous not to complete the omnibus pairing. This will also not count against my limit.
Calvin and Hobbes, complete box set. I have the first half of Bill Watterson’s run in trade paperback format. I think Christmas will be when I buy the series (and I suspect Christmas 2022 will be when I pick up the Far Side Collection).
Castle of Crossed Destinies, Italo Calvino. Depending on how generous I’m feeling towards myself, I’m thinking about also buying the Visconti and Marseilles Tarot decks to go with the book. Maybe as a self-Christmas Present.
Sixty-Four Chance Pieces, Will Buckingham. He wrote a great article about the I Ching, and as a fellow fan of Calvino, I’m curious to read his work. However, I’m going to wait till I’ve caught up to the calendar and see if I’m still into the I Ching before making such a purchase (same goes for Changing, a book of I Ching related poetry Richard Berengarten).
Bhagavad Gita. I’ve been going through everything that is available at the library that discusses this book. Once I’ve completed project, I may purchase a hardcopy (though my lack of use for previous “follow up” purchases gives me pause). I’m eyeballing the Easwaran translation, based on a recommendation on a podcast. If I get frisky, maybe I’ll check out Easwaran’s 3 volume detailed commentary.
In all, I have plenty of reading to do, just from this list. This list highlights why I must stop purchasing books “on spec” and only buy one at a time. When I go beyond the immediate future, I’m stuck with a great book among boxes of books in the garage that haven’t been read.
After writing this draft, Libby stopped syncing across my iOS devices so I reset the devices. I had multiple tagged items that weren’t synced, and the only way to rescue the tags were to export them and then manually re-tag them after fixing the glitch. This exercise highlighted how much my interests had drifted just over a few months. All these tags carried the lingering aura of past desire, but I’ve already lost interest in almost all of them.
Given my fondness for organizing things, I followed up that exercise with sorting out my Amazon lists. These lists go back a decade, so this was an exercise in reliving the past on steroids. I’m certain all the books I listed are worthy of my time, but I’m also realizing that I’ll most likely never read any of them. The next step would be to fully relinquish and delete their entries. I’m not ready to do that just yet, but time is not my friend. I need to come to grips with the fact that there are only about 441 books left in my lifetime (12 x 36.75).
I picked up the first book of this two volume omnibus early last year, but I only got around to reading it at the start of this summer. As implied in the title, the series is built upon Michael, a striped tabby who simultaneously inhabits multiple lives. His main world includes a wife and child, but different episodes has him living other households. It isn’t that Michael jumps from place to place, this is a manga of of parallel universes that don’t interact with each other.
Along with Michael are other recurring characters, including a big, fat nemesis named Catzilla, a yakuza boss who is scared that his cat fancy will be outed and his primary rival from the other gang who is cat-phobic, a veterinarian who is on the lam (falsely accused of murder), and a dude-bro who is trying to train his cat to play fetch.
With multiple settings to play with, Kobayashi will occasionally dip into absurdist sequences in alternate realities, including a memorable episode where one of Michael’s owner speculates about Michael’s dreams (spun into a yarn about getting scammed at a nightclub). This series works because of the balance of mundane slices of life with pets and such absurdist moments.
Over the years, I had picked up a couple random thin What’s Michael collections but never read them in sequence. Since each of these shorter books are themselves collections of short vignettes, I didn’t realize that Kobayshi was developing a continuity over the progress of this series. Reading this first volume made me aware of my oversight and it has been delightful to see him slowly populate this world. I’ll be curious what he will do with these multiple threads in the second volume of this omnibus.
Aside from a couple panels, the book generally is appropriate for kids except for our However, I can’t help my American squeamishness about such subjects, so I’ll hold off on giving her this book for maybe another couple years, partly because she has plenty of other comics. Even so, I’ll most likely pick up the second volume of this omnibus (coming out in late August). I ant to complete the pairing to see how he ties up the loose ends with this manga’s run.
After reading this novel, I have to admit that I’m good on Chandler for a bit. He’s stylish and enjoyable, but my current woke self can only handle so many offensive passages from seven decades ago. Plus, I’ve had enough plot twists and turns to keep me satisfied for a while. The gratuitousness of the plot twists are feel especially over the top because Phillip Marlowe is a Mary Sue; he’s a little too perfect underneath his gruff exterior.
Even so, this book holds up for what it is. The Big Sleep is a blast of energy, the Long Goodbye is a bit of an forelorn meditation, and Farewell my Lovely is beautiful ode to a long lost Los Angeles.
Chandler painted a complete portrait of a city. You feel the heat of the sidewalk, the cold of the beach, the muggy air of Downtown before air conditioning. It’s not just Chandler of course, his words are mixed in the mind’s eye with all the iconic Hollywood images from that era. But still, its his book and he’s placed you in a unified total environment.
I suspect I’ll be revisiting this book at some point, if only for nostalgia’s sake. A nostalgia for world that came and went thirty years before my birth.
After rereading these books and writing this post months ago, I’ve kept my threat in the first paragraph. I’ve avoided mysteries by slipping into an esoteric spiritual bent. Then again, philosophy encapsulates just as many counterintuitive twists and turns as a detective novel. Its just at a logical-cosmic level. I wonder when the wheel will turn and I’m back to reading some Agatha Christie.
When I started rereading this book, I was prepared to dislike the experience, thinking that the new me was out of sync with the old me.
The first time I read the Big Sleep, it felt like an explosion of energy, but a passage of a decade made it feel like the spazmatic tantrums of a frustrated man. Even though there are still some problematic passages in The Long Goodbye, and this book takes a while to get rolling, I found that it held up to my high regard over the past decade.
This book is a powerful, scathing indictment of the wealthy folks in “Idle Valley”. However, it also holds a certain charm. Chandler took an elegiac tone, musing upon the debasement of the upper class, mirrored in Phillip Marlowe’s relationship with Terry Lennox. In portraying the rottenness of the residents of Idle Valley, Chandler paints them as actors trapped within the circumstances of their making, birds of their own gilded cages. The players in the novel have created a dysfunctional microcosm within wealthy Los Angeles of mid-century America.
The book is a critique of our corrupt nation, the dynamics of our high society, and the individuals who create it. Chandler carefully walks the fine line between being sympathetic and judgmental towards the plights of his characters. As with much great art, the ambivalence is what makes this book such a lovely read.
While editing this post, I was reminded of the Robert Altman movie adaptation that I watched around the time I first read these books (rest in peace, Blockbuster). While I can’t remember any details except for one particularly violent scene, I recall that it was an intriguing counter-intuitive take on noir. I’m not surprised it did poorly in the box office. The movie was a slow burn that didn’t feel like it took you anywhere. Such moodiness made it feel all the more brilliant for a wannabe auteur like me.
