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Mandy Brown, Coming home. Thanks to @patrickrhone for sharing.
I cannot, in good conscience, advise this path for anyone with sense. But the choice to do so suits my own proclivities
Here’s to the crazy ones indeed. Applicable to writing, tech, and (near to my own affinities) medical device innovation.
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From a 2016 article by Ben Brooks:
There’s lots of ways to talk yourself into taking one more device, but I’ve always found that when I travel with three devices, one will always go unused. There’s nothing more frustrating than lugging something around you don’t use.
Prescient.
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The Fantastic 4: First Steps, 2025 - ★★ (contains spoilers)
This review may contain spoilers.
I'm not sure I 'got' this movie. There were a lot of elements thrown in and many diluted the story — the Silver Surfer and Galactus didn't feel truly threatening or tied into the plot, and I found myself wanting for a 'true' villain. Pedro Pascal did a great job in his role. This falls on the lower end of my list as far as recent Marvel films go, although I will look forward to future installments as this feels very much like a 'setup' film.
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A House of Dynamite, 2025 - ★★★★
Incredibly engaging premise, and I loved the unique approach to telling the story. I think the film took risks and provided a stark contrast to many films that fall victim to losing the plot and trying to close every possible loop, leaving nothing to the viewer. Not to mention a great cast!
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I think about the idea of ‘planting seeds’ and playing long games a lot, so I saw this article shared and it resonated in a big way.
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Thunderbolts*, 2025 - ★★★½
Fun movie! Solid installment to the MCU, excited to see what's next.
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The Action Item Avalanche
I find that some of my most effective work days are also the ones I end with the most energy. Which conflicts with the idea of ‘spending’ energy. I find going for a walk, writing, and exploring (in a very expansive sense) restorative. When time feels scarce I often neglect these, considering my focus to be better spent on what is right in front of me. But these activities reinforce confidence in execution. They establish a certain cadence. On reflection, they have a tendency to restore more energy than they require.
The trap of ‘determining your own schedule’ is that you have an additional degree of freedom in every decision. Time feels fluid rather than fixed, and activation energy relies entirely on you. I’m thinking about this since hesitancy here has an outsized impact on the work, and this is least apparent when active intervention is most useful. Think: projects requiring attention, decisions needing input, messages piling up. My natural response is to embrace these head-on. And this is fine when it works!
However, some of these benefit from passive problem-solving. Or a more batched approach. The distinction is rarely obvious, and immediate engagement can actually impede effectiveness. This can be how a snowball turns into an avalanche, because a transition to ‘addressing everything as it hits my desk’ opens the door for ’everything’ to compound rapidly and outpace even the most diligent effort. A scoreboard is immensely helpful for making progress visible, but it eats away at confidence if it only ever demonstrates how behind you are.
It comes down to asking key questions: ‘what game are you playing?’ and, at a higher level, ‘what game do you want to play?’ It’s these responses that offer an opportunity to balance the work and truly create value, instead of getting stuck. Clarity here enables a game plan and scoreboard to emerge that inspire action and provide the leverage to decline the avalanche in the first place.
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Be careful not to miss the album for the songs.
Stadium Arcadium on today’s rotation. Love Longplay’s approach to an album-first media interface.
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Captain America: Brave New World, 2025 - ★★★★
I really enjoyed this movie. Strong showing from Marvel in my assessment, although it lacked a single 'true villain' and created a number of parallel story elements that weren't fully developed across the arc. As a bonus, it even came with a cameo from my alma mater!
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Captain America: Brave New World, 2025 - ★★★★
I really enjoyed this movie. Strong showing from Marvel in my assessment, although it lacked a single 'true villain' and created a number of parallel story elements that weren't fully developed across the arc. As a bonus, it even came with a cameo from my alma mater!
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David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, 2023 - ★★★★★
I'm so glad that this story has been told. Not much else to say. It's hard to do much other than root for David and appreciate the determination underlying his entire experience.
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David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, 2023 - ★★★★★
I'm so glad that this story has been told. Not much else to say. It's hard to do much other than root for David and appreciate the determination underlying his entire experience.
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After last week’s storms, it’s frigid in Nashville today. Glad I didn’t put away my sweaters, perfect day for layering!
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Just watched The Shitthropocene - Welcome to the Age of Cheap Crap — well played, Patagonia. Love to see thoughtful, values-driven, creative output from companies like this. Good for the soul.
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Interstellar, 2014 - ★★★★★
A masterpiece. Brilliant story while bending the mind, all the while remaining faithful to science.
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Interstellar, 2014 - ★★★★★
A masterpiece. Brilliant story while bending the mind, all the while remaining faithful to science.
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The Bourne Identity, 2002
Watched on Wednesday January 22, 2025.
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The Bourne Identity, 2002
Watched on Wednesday January 22, 2025.
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The Wild Robot, 2024 - ★★★★½
A lovely film in the theme of 'technology meets nature,' but with faithfulness to nature's beauty as the default state of affairs. Watching it brought back memories of the Iron Giant and other similar movies but provides a brand new storyline just the same, complete with beautiful animation.
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The Wild Robot, 2024 - ★★★★½
A lovely film in the theme of 'technology meets nature,' but with faithfulness to nature's beauty as the default state of affairs. Watching it brought back memories of the Iron Giant and other similar movies but provides a brand new storyline just the same, complete with beautiful animation.
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Finished reading: Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman 📚
My primary takeaway is to eat more natural / plant-based food. More concretely: I came away from the variety of factors Fuhrman presents with motivation around and some tricks to support implementing the changes to act accordingly.
One of the more interesting propositions was that the beneficial mechanisms behind the fruits and vegetables we eat aren’t fully understood just yet. This could explain why isolated nutrients (and activities / actions) often don’t achieve all of the benefits of the original source.
While the beginning comes across strongly and the overarching book is compelling, it criticizes the structure of arguments made by others but then seems to make those same errors later on in support of its own narrative. Walking away from the book, I’d say I enjoyed it and appreciated it as a front-loaded text with clear call-to-action.
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Getting There Episode 007 - Mindset is up! Check it out here: fm.jaredigms.com/getting-t…
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Was in Toronto for this year’s MedTech Conference and had a bit of time to explore!
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Deadpool & Wolverine, 2024 - ★★★★
Great movie that takes Deadpool's 'superhero movie meta' commentary and shows even Marvel isn't above ridicule. Ryan Reynolds + Hugh Jackman made for a great combination and I hope we'll see more of them both in the future!
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Deadpool & Wolverine, 2024 - ★★★★
Great movie that takes Deadpool's 'superhero movie meta' commentary and shows even Marvel isn't above ridicule. Ryan Reynolds + Hugh Jackman made for a great combination and I hope we'll see more of them both in the future!
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