Sunday’s With ScootyDub (The 20th ed.)

Happy Sunday & Happy New Year!

Where has the year gone?

I find myself asking that more and more. Maybe it’s a sign of getting older? 

For me, the clock striking midnight to mark the new year literally signifies I’m getting older. I turn 32 years old in a few hours. It’s funny how once you’ve settled into the decade you’re living in, one year older doesn’t seem to matter much. I worried about turning 30, only to find out I had nothing to worry about. 31 turned out better than I could’ve hoped for. If I keep going the way I’ve been going, I’m sure 32 will be great. 

So, where has the year gone? The year has gone into moving forward. Striving to progress as an individual, a partner, a professional, a writer, and all the other various roles I embody through my navigating of life.

I sit here content with the efforts I’ve made this year. I took action where I couldn’t before, and because of it, I am different than I was before. For me, that is the most important measure. My aim is to always be growing, learning, and adapting. To end the year with my circumstances changing as much as they have, with a fresh set of problems to solve, is a great success.

I hope you, too, have made headway in 2022. In whatever it is you’re endeavouring for.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in 2023!

December Highlights:

🚙  I picked up the CRV after the sun had set on December 1st. I felt a significant sense of relief as I drove it under the street lights toward home. My aching, persisting vehicle problems had finally been solved. With snowflakes softly falling, it was a fitting night to be upgrading to a reliable vehicle. I named it “Louis” in honour of its first life with Francis. And after driving Wade the past few winters, Louis has been nothing short of a dream. 

 🎄  I took Louis out for the first long cruise driving to Tofield for Christmas. Sarah and I stayed three nights at my parents’ to celebrate the holidays. We spent the first day watching Avatar 2 in the theatre. That’s not all of what we did but it was a lot of what we did that day. On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed dinner, games, and presents, made especially delightful by my 1.4-year-old nephew. We drove home on Christmas Day and hosted Sarah’s parents for dinner on Boxing Day. It was a bountiful and good-spirited few days of enjoying time spent with family. 

🏒 To end the month, I joined my good buddy, Bubbs, for a game of good ol’ ice hockey. I hadn’t skated in over six months. It felt good to be back, carving up the ice. My legs didn’t last long, but the beauty of playing hockey for an hour, is you just gotta keep going back out there. It was a welcome reminder of the good you can do yourself by moving your body a little extra in these cold winter months. 

Three value-packed things to share 🌎

⚒️ AI TOOL this is going to change the world

Chat GPT

“GPT, or Generative Pre-training Transformer, is a type of artificial intelligence model that is used for natural language processing tasks, such as language translation, text generation, and language understanding.” 

I used the tool to generate that description. It’s a bit wordy for my taste. Think of Chat GPT as a personal assistant that is phenomenally efficient at processing information and presenting it as you need it in seconds. You want to condense a book into 10 bullet points? Chat GPT can do that. You need to write a complicated contract specific to your municipality? Chat GPT can do that, too. You want a diet & exercise plan catered specifically to you? Again, it will provide that for you in seconds. 

I’m sure there are plenty of limitations to the technology. But for something released for free, to the general public of the internet, it is incredibly powerful. I see it as an evolution of how we use the internet. Up to this point, the internet has provided us with all the knowledge of mankind. A tool like this takes all of that knowledge and makes it applicable to specific problems in our lives. Like any tool, it’s only as useful as your ability how to use it. The more complex questions you ask, the more compelling results you will get. 

I believe this is the beginning of a fundamental change in how we interact with the world. The possibilities are far-reaching. 

🎥 MOVIE mixing genres to tell a fascinating, thought-provoking, and satisfying story 

Everything Everywhere All At Once (Prime Video)

I didn’t know much about this movie before I watched it. That’s how I’d recommend you go into it, too, if you can. It surprised me in so many ways. I felt connected to the characters almost immediately. It pulled me in more and more as the story progressed. And afterwards, I couldn’t help but reflect on different aspects of the story playing out in my own life. It made me consider things I haven’t considered for a very long time. It is a wonderful piece of fiction. 

📖 3 Books I read every day this year

The Daily Laws | The Artist’s Way Every Day | A Calendar of Wisdom

Each of these books contains 366 chapters. One for every day of the year. A perfect size to condense a lesson into the smallest amount of words. I use these books to consider and challenge my perspectives on life. I want to read philosophy but I don’t always have the attention for an entire book. These books allow me to keep philosophy close to mind every day in an easily digestible form. 

Photos of the Month 📷

I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔

If you enjoyed the newsletter, do me a favour and share it with one person.

I haven’t figured out how to do one of those auto-share buttons, so you’ll need to copy and paste, like we used to before phones got so smart. 

Here’s to you having a splendidly 2023!

Scotty

P.S.  The best song of all time?

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