As I've been experimenting with adding a third reading section to the day (basically, post-breakfast, lunch, and dinner), I'm finally using my Kindle for something other than hospital visits and waiting room time-slaying via short stories: reading non-fiction (currently, Cal Newport's latest, SLOW PRODUCTIVITY). Whereas I previously penciled up books with brackets and an overabundance of illegible scrawls that I'd hate myself for never reviewing, now I can read, highlight and, when I'm done, send the highlights to myself and put them in Obsidian. While fiction (except short stories) will remain corporeal-exclusive, it's not unlikely that non-fic will switch to digital-only - though if I want it on my shelf, I'll buy a physical version later.

Efforts at slowing down or, rather, at eliminating that feeling of rush from my day, front and center: little things like not acceding to young Kirby’s demands to play Derbzball as soon as I return from the run; like letting myself take 30 minutes after each exercise chunk (one after each meal) to read before going on to the next 90-minute thing. Appropriate, I suppose, that Newport's latest, SLOW PRODUCTIVITY was delivered to the Kindle this morning: not sure that I need help with writing slowly, I'm managing that just fine on my own, TYVM – but I would like a little less rush to nowhere in that as well. Old habits, I suppose.

parking lot kindle

Spent a bit of time waiting in a parking lot (grocery store: my wife got solo grocery shopping down to a science during the pandemic so we’ve decided not to fuck with perfection) this morning and took the opportunity to use it as a case study in my effort to use my Kindle Paperwhite with greater frequency: Economist and NYRB subscriptions show up there now; HOW TO TAKE SMART NOTES in there, too - a book I don't necessarily want to read in my daily reading blocks but do want to peruse in times outside (such as titular parking lot). While the PW's shit for reading comics, it's great for reading manga - ASTRO BOY, LONE WOLF AND CUB, and the third volume of BLACK JACK dwell there as well. That it still had 76% battery life after being buried under piles of books and Bergman / Varda Blu-Ray doorstop sets for three months is an added bonus… she’s seriously got it down to a science: I was in that parking lot for all of 20 minutes, maybe. Respect.