This is the best answer. For a long time, VCs were willing to load up all sorts of startups and growth-stage companies with cash. But that changed last year. Suddenly, some investors found it made more sense to park their money in less risky, less time-consuming opportunities. That included stuff like bonds. Higher interest rates and an economy in crunch mode made the need to make money now more important than before.
I definitely miss Jerboa. But the past month has already brought so much chaos to my internet use. What's a little more?
No. I've been using Prednisone. I finished my cycle yesterday evening, so I'm optimistic I'll be good to go soon!
Here are a few nonfiction books I couldn't stop reading and ultimately finished in a couple of days. They might be a little niche, but I'd recommend them for everyone.
"Tranny" by Laura Jane Grace (autobiography by the lead singer of the band Against Me!)
"Where You'll Find Me" by Ty Gagne (story and analysis of a woman who died hiking New Hampshire's White Mountains in winter)
"This Land" by Christopher Ketcham (kind of one big reported essay on how big industry and cowboy culture are destroying the American West)
I'm on steroids to treat a gnarly poison ivy rash that spread across my body. The meds have been waking and keeping me up throughout the night. It's a bummer, and I'm tired, but it's also fine. I feel better than I did when I was drinking. I'm still parenting, working, exercising, and reading.
Grateful for life even when it's a little hard.
IWNDWYT.
Thanks! And that is scary. It's definitely easy to forget how fragile this is if we don't care for it. Glad you're doing great now.
The early weekend was crazy. It was such an excuse for me to obliterate the majority of my workweek because god knows I was worthless on Monday and part of Tuesday. Did better late Tuesday, crushed Wednesday, and then was down and out for Thursday and Friday.
It didn't always happen like that. And toward the end, that was really rare. But damn do I remember when I was at my worst. The pain in my head as my alarm blared after a couple of hours of strained sleep. The horror of waking up. The immediate regret, the dread, the feeling that I'd trade anything to be anyone else.
No thanks. Life's better on this side. It wasn't easy to get here, and I still face days when I wonder whether this sober person is really me. Did I really make that change? Did I really set those boundaries? Am I really no longer a drinker, something that was core to my friendships, family relationships, and identity?
The answer is yes, so long as I don't take that next drink. IWNDWYT.
Another sober day = another good day. IWNDWYT.
That's true. July is definitely better where I am, but the blueberry festivals are starting this weekend.
Blueberries fresh off the bush. Tis the season.
This guy was between 5 and 7 feet long. I'm no herpetologist, so I'd love to hear what kind of snake you think it is. I was guessing black racer or rat.
I also saw a huge black bear earlier in the hike. It didn't move when we called out, so that was a little concerning. But eventually, it waddled off after munching on a bunch of vegetation.
All in all, an amazing 10-mile trek through the breezy spring woods.
I'm reading a book called Vacationland, which tells the story of Colorado's high-country tourism and leisure-focused lifestyle industries. The book is filled with ads and propaganda designed to lure tourists, attract new residents, increase political influence, and ultimately strengthen the state's coffers through its (often manipulated) landscape.
I don't always think of ads as propaganda, but Vacationland makes it clear that the effort to get people into the Rockies was a coordinated push that went well beyond the commercial hopes of any one person or organization. It was a network of boosters looking to transform the state.
One result, according to the author, was a catalog of cliches many of us still use to describe the Colorado high country and many other wild places. Things like: sparkling streams stocked with trout, snow-capped mountains, lush alpine meadows, fragrant pine forests, and so on.
Another result: People bought in. Colorado's tourism numbers skyrocketed, and its population growth soon followed.
I'm skeptical that the PR and marketing efforts to promote Colorado's natural resources are responsible for most of this change. (The author notes that road building and other development were vital.) It seems kind of cynical, though, to attribute the state's popularity to human actions. It really is beautiful there, and visitors' connection to the land -- our experiences in the wild -- matter, too.
Did a couple of days of hiking with my buddy last month. As a flatlander, I was so grateful for the chance to spend some time in the Rockies.
The post about the melanistic groundhog promoted me to share this photo.
I had no idea what piebaldism was or how rare it was to see a deer with it. I'm not sure if the stats online are correct, but they suggest about 2 percent of whitetail deer have it.
Again, not sure if this is accurate, but I read somewhere that indigenous groups believed piebald deer were signs that a big change was coming. I just had my first kid before seeing this, so that definitely tracked.
Anyway, really cool sighting. My wife spotted the same deer later that summer. We haven't seen any since.
Did an overnight trip in April, camping at what the state considers a wilderness site on the tea-colored Batsto River.
The New Jersey Pine Barrens is the largest wilderness on the East Coast between Boston and D.C. It's a unique environment, with a lot of cool ecosystems. No virgin forest here, as industry had its way with the land and resources for centuries.
This trip was something like 20 miles through Atlantic white cedar swamps and pitch pine forests.
It might not dazzle like the west at first glance, but it's a place I love more than most.
I didn't post much on Reddit over the last few years, but I figure I ought to contribute to the communities I want to see thrive. My friend and I took our kayaks out last week and saw a bunch of beautiful sights, including egrets and great blue herons. Here's a landscape shot.
That's one thing Reddit doesn't somehow grasp: They outsourced their brand experience a long time ago when they were late to building an app of their own. To me and many others, reddit definitely is reddit is fun. There's no putting that genie back in the bottle.