Happy Sunday!
I set my journal down on a stone tabletop.
Marda Park. Mid-afternoon, on a Monday. Kids are playing soccer. My phone is face up next to the journal.
Claude is off researching ideas. Codex is grinding through an email draft. I send one more instruction and let the screen go dark.
This is supposed to be a break. Work came along anyway.
Some people call that AI psychosis. Around here it’s a typical workday.
I flip to the last page. Thursday’s half-entry.
Missing after it – a grinding Friday. A Saturday spent dodging serious thought. And a dark Sunday spent spinning through self doubt.
A lot of blank space to fill.
So I write.
Friday first. Half a page fills. Takeaways. Lessons. Saturday adds four scribbled lines.
A soccer ball flies by. I look up to watch a kid run past. I look back down, and something else catches my eye. A familiar orange notification sits on my phone screen. The pencil slides from my hand. Claude needs my instruction.
“Nope.” I catch myself mid-reach. “I’m not working in the park.”
Back to the open page, Sunday is due for review.
See, I started this journal while traveling to catch a little bit of each day before the next arrived.
Over time, the practice followed me home and sat on my desk. Fifteen minutes squeezed between coffee and emails. Another chore in the morning routine. A journal gives each day somewhere to go.
I lost the plot on letting it take me places.
So I stayed. Filled the page and kept going. Slow and deliberate, trusting the pencil to sort it out.
Twenty-four hours later, I walked back to the same table.
The agents stayed home.
July in 3 snapshots
Front-yard funeral – an arborist came to cut one drooping limb. Then he found root rot. I thought we’d have a day to say goodbye. Two hours later, the tree was down and gone. Sad start to the summer (see the GIF below).
🌇 Summer evening ritual – long evenings have turned convenience-store walks into a summer ritual. A drink, some candy, then the long way home through the neighbourhood. Summer in AB is really something.
🧊 Heatwave hideout – one hot Saturday, we accepted D&D’s standing invitation to enjoy their air conditioning. Indonesian brunch that turned into watching the wildest soccer game I’ve ever seen. 10 goals! The evening brought chess lessons, BBQ’d steaks, and an amped up escape room box.
3 lessons learned in July
I. Anticipation is a form of work. Incoming requests take up room before they take up time. The day gets rearranged. Conversations get rehearsed. Pre-disappointment arrives for things that never happen. Save your energy for reality.
II. It takes energy to enjoy yourself. Rest and enjoyment are different purchases. The couch is free and pays nothing back. A good evening has a cover charge. Get dressed. Text the friend. Take the walk. Pay up and the night pays you back.
III. There’s power in doing the job no one else wants. The line for unwanted work is short. Step up and the rewards stack: trust, sharper skills, an opinion that carries weight. Just know whoever handled the last mess gets first call next time.
3 interesting things
- Generational mosquito run in Edmonton – YouTube (2mins)
Mosquito eggs can sit dormant for years waiting for the right soggy conditions to hatch. They can even survive an Alberta winter. What can’t mosquitoes do? - What it takes to run the biggest IMAX reels – YouTube (17mins)
Adam Savage gets a close look at the massive reels and machinery behind 70mm IMAX. Film projection is absurdly physical. I could watch people explain niche equipment all day. - Leonardo da Vinci gets a near-future interview – YouTube (2mins)
A rapid-fire history lesson built around a stupidly good premise. This is how I’d like to learn about every famous person from now on.
I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔
“This day will never come again and anyone who fails to eat and drink and taste and smell it will never have it offered to them again in all eternity. The sun will never shine as it does today.”
— Hermann Hesse
Until next time,
remember to live and let go,
Scotty
If you enjoyed the newsletter, send it to someone else who will too.