You Are Not Late by Kevin Kelly—I always feel like I’m rushing to the “next thing.” This helped me feel like I’m not actually missing out. Patience is a virtue 🧘🏼♂️
Watch
I love this news anchor. She’s both hilarious and a good sport:
Podcast: God Did Not Put Us Here to Fail | Jon M. Huntsman Sr. | November 2009 | Overcoming Adversity (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
Tool
I am working on building flexibility. These hammies have never been tighter. I’ve also never been able to touch my toes without bending my knees. I used this stretch at the gym, and I will be on the lookout for more videos to add to my routine:
I also really loved some of the comments:
My goal is to do 25-40 mins of lifting each day, then add 10-20 mins of cardio, and wrap up with stretching. I haven’t had a balanced routine like that perhaps ever.
Ponder
Concept: I am known to be particular and opinionated, but a recent Reddit post had me thinking about how I think. The comment provided some useful filters for evaluating what to spend time on Army-wise:
Excerpt: “It is important that you become adept at examining problems from unusual angles and that you seek out unconventional solution methods, because not all cash flow problems conform to the neat patterns for which we have discovered and developed equations.”
~Contemporary Engineering Economics (6th ed.) by Chan S. Park
Quote: “A good leader doesn’t get stuck behind a desk.” ~Richard Branson
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
Andy Weir, author of The Martian, has a few short stories on his website, and they are excellent—seriously. Shalene and I spent an era of our marriage reading short stories out loud to each other before bed. The Egg and The Midtown Butcher are my two faves, and The Egg has some incredible accolades (and rightfully so).
Podcast: The Easy Way to Build and Maintain Meaningful Relationships with Nick Gray | All the Hacks (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
Play
Stardew Valley—I’ve been really enjoying this game. It’s chill and low commitment while being engaging, creative, and relaxing. It’s like a mix between Farmville and Legend of Zelda. I’ve got about 14 hours of gameplay so far, and I know I’ll be sinking (erm, enjoying) many, many more.
Tool
In a Reddit post on backing up photos, users talked about apps that can clean up photos, but there wasn’t a good solution for protecting your data. The real solution was found in a comment that has proven to be a relatively simple technique for cleaning up my Photos app.
Type a date in the search bar without the year.
Click the date so it displays in the search bar, then scroll to full results (the pink boxes are covering my photos).
Then, when you feel the impulse to reach for your phone, just clean out photos with that date (minus the year). There will be several screenshots, random photos, and duplicates that will be easy to delete. This feels way more manageable and gamified than a major photo overhaul. It’s also been fun rediscovering memories and sharing with friends!
Fun Find
I still fantasize about the “wooden castle park” of my youth. As it turns out, there is a specific company credited with making these splintery, creative beauties: Leather and Associates.
Ponder
Excerpt: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a model maker, a potter, a dancer, a programmer, a writer, a political activist, a teacher, a musician, a milliner, whatever. It’s all the same. Making is making, and none of it is failure.” ~Adam Savage in Every Tool’s A Hammer: Life Is What You Make It
Quote: “Routine in an intelligent man is a sign of ambition. A modern stoic knows that the surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time; decide what you want or ought to do during the day, then always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.” ~W. H. Auden
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I am continuing to play around with the formatting, and you will notice, I have added an email subscription for this to be delivered to your inbox whenever I publish something new.
As this blog continues to evolve, I find myself enjoying sharing the things each week that, when discovered through friends or digging on Reddit, delight me.
Podcast: #005 Rick Harper | What Does a Union Rep Do for the Airlines? | The Ultimate Aviators Podcast (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
Note: This is my last episode of the podcast. I’ve got some ideas on how I want to pivot to a new podcast project. I’ll write a blog post on it to solicit feedback. Stay tuned…
Play
I experienced a false start with some friends, and I attempted to play Frosthaven. It took 90 minutes just to set up the box to start gameplay when the side of the box advertised 30 minutes per player (and we allocated 2 hours). It is, no doubt, a beautiful game, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
So instead, we pivoted and played a round of Camel Up. It was easy to learn, quick, and fun. I also love games that
I have also found myself totally enthralled with mahjong. Some old ladies were playing while we were setting up Frosthaven, so I looked up a mobile app. I’ve really enjoyed Vita Mahjong (iOS) as a way to chill at the end of the night.
Tool
Canva has a well-designed color theory tool to find a given color’s complementary color(s). I used it to find the counterpart of my website’s signature blue, and it can go up to a 4-color complement.
Ponder
Quote: “Making good judgments when one has complete data, facts, and knowledge is not leadership – it’s bookkeeping” ~ Dee Hock, Founder and CEO of Visa
Quote: “That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her! Not for me.” ~Amy Poehler via her autobiography, Yes Please
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I’m reinvesting in my blog, because writing is something I greatly enjoy, or as the saying goes, I don’t “[I] Don’t like to write, but like having written.” One thing that I’ve usually been pretty consistent on is summarizing the books I read each year. Here I am in December 2025, summarizing my 2024 reads before doing it all over again for 2025. But I couldn’t let it escape me, so here it is:
I’ve watched a few movies recently and really enjoyed them! Fantastic Four, Superman, and The Man from UNCLE are recent favorites, and I recommend them all.
Podcast: #648 James Clear, Atomic Habits — Simple Strategies for Building (and Breaking) Habits, Questions for Personal Mastery and Growth, Tactics for Writing and Launching a Mega-Bestseller, Finding Leverage, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
His book, Atomic Habits, is on my list of books I like re-reading every year. This podcast is so fun in terms of identifying systems, building personal goals, and I took so many notes. It sparked a lot of creativity.
Play
Unflip—Easily done in your mobile browser, a friend turned me onto this game. I’ve made it to level 36. See if you can catch up to me!
LinkedIn’s Puzzle Games—I’ve been really surprised, but I’ve greatly enjoyed LinkedIn’s daily bite-sized games. Each takes between 20 seconds and 3 minutes to solve, and they’re free (unlike NYT games)
Ponder
Idea: Excerpt from my textbook, Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology (Version 10.0) by John Gallaugher:
“Others point out that the creative destruction, a term coined by early twentieth-century economist Joseph Schumpeter, has always been a tenet of capitalism: It’s not firms that compete doing the same thing as a dominant firm that will unseat it, it is the innovator that offers a fundamentally new product or new innovation delivered in such a way that marks a decisive quality or cost break from previous industrial output. Even firms that have seemed to dominate markets with tech products.”
Quote: “Do not disturb yourself by imagining your whole life at once.” ~Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I haven’t done much by way of production besides studying and training, but I had a few fun things to share below and recalibrate what I’m working on!
CONSUMPTION
Read
Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project (2nd Edition) by Karl Fogel—It’s free to read online, and I’ve been reading through excerpts for a grad school assignment. I really enjoyed the section titled Difficult People (a short read) that gets to the root of managing team dynamics with interpersonal tact. I like how they separated “rude” and “difficult,” too.
Rude:
Rude people are annoying, but they’re not necessarily difficult. This book has already discussed how to handle them: comment on the rudeness the first time, and from then on, either ignore them or treat them the same as anyone else. If they continue being rude, they will usually make themselves so unpopular as to have no influence on others in the project, so they are a self-containing problem.
versus difficult:
To counteract such behavior, it helps to understand the mentality of those who engage in it. People generally do not do it consciously. No one wakes up in the morning and says to himself: “Today I’m going to cynically manipulate procedural forms in order to be an irritating obstructionist.”
Instead, such behavior is often prompted by a kind of insecurity, a feeling (not necessarily based in reality) of being shut out of group interactions and decisions. The person feels he is not being taken seriously, or, in the more severe cases, that there is almost a conspiracy against him — that the other project members have decided to form an exclusive club, of which he is not a member. This then justifies, in his mind, interpreting rules with maximum literalness and engaging in a formal manipulation of the project’s procedures, in order to make everyone else take him seriously. In extreme cases, the person can even believe that he is fighting a lonely battle to save the project from itself.
I also love the You Are What You Write section, because I have long recognized writing as valuable, but I haven’t been able to distill it quite like so:
Consider this: most of what others know about you on the Internet comes from what you write. You may be brilliant, perceptive, and charismatic in person — but if your emails are rambling and unstructured, people will assume that’s the real you. Or perhaps you are rambling and unstructured in person, but no one need ever know that if your posts are lucid and informative.
And again on standard spelling and grammar:
This is not because there’s anything inherently good about following arbitrary rules, but rather that these rules are not arbitrary: they evolved into their present forms because they make text more readable, and you should adhere to them for that reason. Readability is desirable not only because it means more people will understand what you write, but because it makes you look like the sort of person who takes the time to communicate clearly: that is, someone worth paying attention to.
Good grammar also minimizes ambiguity. This is especially important in technical writing, where plausible alternatives will often be juxtaposed, and the distinction between cause and effect may not be immediately clear from context alone. A grammatical structure that represents things in precisely the way the writer intended helps everyone avoid confusion.
The Two Kinds of Moderate by Paul Graham—This is a very brief, politically relevant read. I love his concept of the “accidental moderate.”
“So Cold,” “Backseat,” and “Sideways” are my faves
Podcast: 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment At War | Alan Mack | Ep. 199 | The Team House (Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube)
An aviation legend and serious Chinook pilot. He talks about getting shot down and what it means to continue flying the aircraft to the ground.
Learn
The 2-2-2-2 Rule—I reread an article, and this catchy rule makes investing in relationships way more approachable in our time-constrained lifestyles:
Sexual intimacy: Twice a week
Date night: Every 2 weeks
Overnighter: Every 2 months
Vacation together: Every 2 years
Ponder
Quote: “Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world’s ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all.” ~John W. Gardner
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out on X or LinkedIn 👋
Augsburg—I’ve been working on this sketch of a building in Augsburg, Germany.
Patches—I’ve got some ideas floating around on swag for my unit, and we’re to the point where we’re looking to get something going. I’ve gotta commit soon!
Writing
Wikipedia—I occasionally like to contribute to articles. Here are some of the tweaks I’ve recently made
Matthew S. Holland—I fixed the hyperlink to his book, Bonds of Affection: Civic Charity and the Making of America—Winthrop, Jefferson, and Lincoln
Rose Datoc Dall—I added the book she compiled, Expressions of Jesus: Cultural Representations of the Savior of the World
I’m going to add a portfolio page, especially with the winding down of my side-business. I need a place to capture all the different things I’ve been up to. I have draft already from website editions past, but it needs an overhaul. I’m imagining a page you can scroll through a page of visual tiles highlighting a broad range of my interests and endeavors.
Build
Kitchen Drawer—I fixed a kitchen drawer after my daughter broke it. I had long postponed fixing it, but my wife wanted it done. I complained off-handedly once why it always lands on me to fix things around the house, and she said she would handle it…by hiring someone. Touché. The reverse psychology worked, and I was able to think through and execute a solution pretty quickly. It’s still a little askew, but that’s a future Jonny problem, and we regained some space in our storage-constrained kitchen.
CONSUMPTION
Read
Col Robin Olds—This guy had an insane career, and I had never heard of him until this past week. He was a WWII ace, missed Korea, and retired after Vietnam as a triple-ace! Here are three excerpts I really liked:
“Anybody who doesn’t have fear is an idiot. It’s just that you must make the fear work for you. Hell, when somebody shot at me, it made me madder than hell, and all I wanted to do was shoot back.”
Robin Olds was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on February 20, 1951, and then Colonel on the 15th of April, 1953, while just thirty years of age, Olds served unenthusiastically in several staff assignments until finally returning to flying in 1955.
On September 30, 1966, Olds took command of the 8th Tactical Fight Wing based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. The now 44-year-old colonel immediately placed himself on the flight schedule as a rookie pilot under officers junior to himself, then challenged them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Thus setting the tone for the kind of command Olds brought to the 8th.
Part 2: Pmarca Guide to Career Planning: Skills and education by Marc Andreesen—I loved this article, because it focuses on getting a technical bachelor’s degree and then making yourself formidable with one or two soft skills that really set you apart. I’m hands-down a generalist, and I also took my second position to work for a manager that I’ve maintained a long relationship with (I even got her to apply to be my bosses boss in a new role after leaving her team—and she got the job!). Here’s an excerpt that reminds me of her:
Early in your career, make sure you are working for a great manager—you’ll know her when you see her in action—and then ask her to teach you how to do it.
The Democrats’ Michelle Obama problem by Christian Paz—We’re in a weird limbo period where there is no obvious contender for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Granted both Presidents Obama and Trump were dark horses that took their party by surprise, so maybe it’s not that big of deal, but it’s a unique situation I’m interested in seeing play out.
Watch
General Conference—No talk stood out in particular, but I loved what amounted to a weekend on the couch with family focused on Jesus Christ.
Black Hawk Down—I spent several evenings this past week watching 30 mins or so while on the treadmill in that period between putting the girls to bed and not wanting to go to bed myself. In that state of too-tired-to-be-productive, I would throw this on and walk.
Listen
Song: “NIAMOS! (Chandrilian Club Mix)” by Nicholas Britell and Brandon Roberts (Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube)
This song is such a banger. It is even more intense in the lead-up to when we hear it in Season 2 of Andor and all the emotions tied to that episode.
Ya know, I was skeptical at first listening to Shawn (hit or miss in my book) paired with the SECARMY (a political appointee) talking politics, Army, and ATF, but they hit on a lot of procurement issues and not dealing with status quo that I appreciate. In fact, I need to just post it already, but my essay in Captains Career Course dealt with long production cycles preventing rapid innovation.
Learn
Swimming—I’ve been taking swim lessons, and I’ve experienced a lot of rookie gains! Working with a coach, too, has been amazing. In fact, he’s been so observational and targeted in his recommendations that in just 3 sessions (one more to go), my confidence in the water has increased dramatically to the point where I would consider including swimming in my normal routine and maybe even working up to a triathlon at some point—and I’ve always been leery of water! Swimming’s been on my list of fears to conquer because (1) it’s a basic life skill, and (2) it’s great for fitness into old age. I’ve also been able to purchase a minimal amount of gear for less than $100—swimming jammers, goggles, a swim cap, a snorkel, and fins—which have made an enormous impact in confidence and technique.
Ponder
Quote: “If people aren’t laughing at your dreams, your dreams aren’t big enough.” ~Grayson Marshall
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out on X or LinkedIn 👋
I really value writing, and I also love it when I can share things that I get excited about. I’m attempting to reinvest in my blog as a creative outlet and a way to connect with friends 🙂
PRODUCTION
Drawing
I took my youngest on a daddy-daughter date for froyo, then we went home to draw together. We looked up some tutorials, drawing froyo and a unicorn on a skateboard.
Writing
I’ve been working on two different articles—one on closing my business, and the second on the air assault mission and its lessons learned during annual training. It’s been great to get back into the writing process again.
Website
I’m not sure what the future of my site looks like, but I’m having fun giving it more attention.
Build
Home Automation—I’ve been getting some things around the house automated. I swapped out the light switch in my laundry room (the transition between the house and the garage) with a Lutron Maestro motion sensor light, and I put some lamps on Kasa Smart Plugs to control with Apple Home Kit. Now to get a HomePod to actually automate it all vs. just controlling through my phone. I’ve got a few more plugs on the way with new ideas like automating my kids’ nightlights so they don’t sleep in a bright room, as well as the UV lamp for my plants.
Raspberry Pi + Arduino—I haven’t made anything yet, but I watched some tutorials on how to get the Raspberry Pi Pico doing things with the Thonny IDE. I’ve even had my daughter help on the breadboard or read aloud the lines of code from a tutorial. Hoping for a shared interest with my eldest.
Poison Ivy (2022-) Vol. 1: The Virtuous Cycle—I really enjoyed this take on one of my favorite villains, Poison Ivy. The art is different, her style is edgy yet relatable, and it isn’t like anything I’ve read before.
Watch
Pop an ollie and innovate! | Rodney Mullen | TED | TED—I’ve been getting into skateboarding in my 30s after never being able to afford it in my teens. I bruised my ribs at a skatepark, so I’ve delved into the digital side and have watched a ton of videos related to the art of skating. I never knew the godfather of street skating, Rodney Mullen, until now. He’s a lovable, humble master of his craft.
A relevant quote from a SuperStore episode I recently watched: “Attention shoppers, Cloud Nine is not offering breast exams as part of our wellness fair. We have not hired someone to do that, and if we had it would not be a teenage boy in a Twenty One Pilots t-shirt.”
I have long wanted to learn Python. It’s supposedly user-friendly, and while I don’t see myself coding every day, I want to be programming-literate so that I can be an effective engineer and manager. Selfishly, I think it’d be fulfilling to build some small automations, too. The only thing I don’t love about this gamification approach is that it focuses on how to build a video game, not the applications I’m interested in (although the tools are the same).
Ponder
Idea: I really want to make the swap from Spotify to Apple Music, but I’m struggling with the UI. I’m not sure if Apple’s is just worse or if it’s just growing pains associated with switching from something familiar. I already pay for Apple’s iCloud+, so Apple Music is free. It’d save me ~$16/month to drop Spotify’s family plan, but I don’t know if I can stomach taking the plunge and starting over with playlists. I’ve also, surprisingly, enjoyed Spotify’s AI DJ lately, which is very unlike me.
Idea: Building mental fortitude. I just completed a Tough Mudder over the weekend, and I’m already interested in doing another. Even cooler would be travelling to complete one like going to Nashville with some friends to do theirs!
Quote: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
(Feel free to download and/or share)
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
Sorry that I’ve been MIA—I’ve started flying, and it’s been overwhelming but so rewarding! I’m finally finding a moment to update everyone
PRODUCTION
Drawing
AirPods—While on a conference call, I picked up my leadholder and sketched my AirPods case, trying to focus on shading and highlights, which I have never been able to wrap my head around. I’m actually pretty happy with how it has turned out!
Diablo—I started working on an old sketch that I put down. The proportions are off, but I didn’t let that deter me. Rather than correct them, though, I made it my own to prevent losing momentum. I easily get overwhelmed while drawing.
Logo for Son of Henry—I settled on a brand name for my wood projects (more on that later), and I developed a logo for the brand, Son of Henry. I used the font, Bitter, from Font Squirrel from Font Squirrel.
Writing
I finally published an article I’ve been sitting on for a while titled Perverse Incentives and the US Army. It’s a fun blend of economics and military 😌
Even publishing another Sunday Shares has been therapeutic to get thoughts out and to reestablish the habit of writing
Website
This work has been a bit stagnant and is still a monumental task (in my mind anyways). I think the difficulty comes from not completely understanding what I want to use my website for. Is it an online portfolio and résumé, a collection of random lists and favorites I want to share, just a blog, a mix of all of the above, or something entirely different? I think I may organize my website menu into:
HOME | BLOG | PERSONAL | PROFESSIONAL | ABOUT
I’d love feedback.
Build
Mountain shelves—This was a fun and quick project I cranked out. In fact, I made three so that I could give away two. I shared it on Reddit (apparently now removed), and got some people who wanted to buy them. I hadn’t thought of selling them online, but now I’m noodling on how to get my brand and website figured out.
Dining table + bench—This is the gift that keeps on taking. I’m working on epoxy for the top of the table and bench to eliminate the grooves that food keeps falling into, but first, I have to put on a different urethane (water-based) so that the epoxy will stick. I also had to order another two gallons of it. I’m ready to have this project behind me. I should have planed it, but I didn’t have access to the woodshop when I initially went to build it—all in the name of experience, right? 🤷🏼♂️ Check out V1 on Reddit. I’m currently working on drafting up the bill of materials and will publish a build article once I get the epoxy figured out.
Harry Potter wands—I used ¾” dowels from Lowe’s and had planned on turning them on the lathe at the woodshop. The guy had to leave, though, so that left me with the drum sander. I tried the mounted belt sander but almost hurt myself twice (one wand got thrown somewhere never to be seen again, and another got sucked in between the guard and the belt, shredding the belt), so I did them all entirely with the drum sander…Lessons learned. They were a hit, though!
Book data charts—I build a Google Sheet where I plugged in the data from the books I read this year, and I’m trying to extrapolate useful information. For example, am I happy with the number of female or people of color authors I’m reading or should it increase? “What gets measured gets managed,” right?
Pumpkin—The Empire did nothing wrong.
Son of Henry—I’m working on putting together an online store. So far, I’m thinking about selling the mountain shelves, Harry Potter wands, military coin holders, moral patch displays, and hopefully expanding into some other ideas. I’d love some tips 🤓
Sorry for an article behind a paywall; I used Pocket to read it. Anyways, the gist is that while the parties themselves are divisive, the real issue is between the America that eagerly follows and engages with politics and the America that just wants results. It reframed our political system in a way I hadn’t considered.
Watch
Video: Cooking with Eva | Episode 2: Cookies (YouTube)
I put together another video of Eva and me cooking. It has been a “productive” way to connect with one another, and our extended family has loved it.
At one point back in…I wanna say 2010, I was in a music funk and was really craving something that I couldn’t quite articulate. I discovered “Randale” by Kraftklub on Tumblr and instantly fell in love. They’ve quickly become a favorite band. It helps that I was (and am) a total Germanophile, but their sound is also unique and fun.
I’ve been listening to this song on repeat all week as I’ve been studying. Good vibes! Mord Fustang always pulls through, and he even liked my tweet about the song
I love Acquired (@AcquiredFM) to begin with, but I especially loved the second half where they just riff on different business ideas and how they could work.
Learn
Concept: BallotReady
I used BallotReady to help me figure out who to vote for in this election, specifically the lesser-known and -publicized local candidates. You put in your address, and it generates your ballot. It then walks you through why one might vote yes or no, then you can make your choice and print off your results to easily populate that ballot.
Concept: Sans-serif vs. slab serif vs. serif
In designing the Son of Henry logo, I had to figure out what is in a font. My brother-in-law steered me toward using a slab serif, which turned out to be just the right blend of modern and sleek with traditional and craftsman. It’s worth digging into the Wikipedia article if you’re interested in design. Here are some slab serif fonts that got me thinking: Top 10 Most Popular Slab Serif Fonts.
Ponder
Idea: Getting involved with climate change
I had a conversation with a Twitter friend, Shelby Smith (@CoShelbysmith), on how to be more active in climate change. It was so refreshing to exchange thoughts. It was unique to use passive, long-form communication (i.e. email) to get the creative juices flowing and to have a record of what we had talked about. I look forward to future discussions and how to make meaningful change on both the micro and macro levels.
Quote:
(Feel free to download and/or share)
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I’ve taken some time off due to training. Furthermore, I’ve also been trying to determine what it is I want to get from my website and what I want others to resonate with. I’ve missed publishing Sunday Shares, and I’m okay with it just being for a while. I don’t need to have it all figured out right now; I’ll just keep having fun.
PRODUCTION
Writing
I’ve got two rough draft posts waiting on a few things. One is on how I used a question to discover a path for reaching a future goal (i.e. living in Germany), and the second is on perverse incentives in the military. They’ll get published eventually. Let me know if you’re interested, and I can expedite them.
Website
Personal Site Overhaul
I’ve been diving into some favorite personal websites of others and compiling notes. I’m working on overhauling my own site. I’m sure I’ll turn it into a blog post down the road, but for now, here are my work-in-progress notes.
Book Notes—Check out my tweetstorm on using HTML5 to update some notes. Here are all the ones I’ve added to my Book Notes page:
I love how many different projects Dean is involved in. I get so excited reading about people working on physical projects, and there’s no disputing the influence Dean has had on society.
I had never made this connection before, but I absolutely value my alone time. In fact, I usually get 1.5 to 3 hours every afternoon when my girls (daughters and wife) take a nap. I relish that time. I read, write, and organize. I’m grumpy when I don’t get that solitude.
She’s gotta work on how she names her articles, but this was a great read on entrepreneurship and “taking the plunge.” It’s also where I got the video below. Thanks, Polina! 👋
It gave me chills watching it, but over those 14 minutes, I talked myself into jumping. It was a valuable exercise, and I know I’ll revisit this video when I’m headed into something scary.
The legendary Guy Raz (@guyraz) interviews the founder of Ring, Jamie Siminoff (@JamieSiminoff). It’s so refreshing to hear about a product founder instead of (no offense) just software. As a mechanical engineer, I’m obviously more infatuated with excellent product design and invention, and Jamie delivers (no pun intended)!
Learn
Concept: The Bill Gates Line
Back in 2018, Ben Thompson outlines what he dubs “The Bill Gates Line” which is the threshold defining what a platform is. I had never really taken the time to understand and differentiate what dictates a platform, but this makes a lot of sense. A connected idea (h/t @thepitchshow) is asking whether something is a product or a feature. Their investors often asked whether a platform could clone their idea quickly. If so, it’s a feature, not a product (think Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories).
Ponder
Idea: Reclaiming Father’s Day
I’ll revisit this to turn it into a full post, but I’ve never liked the limelight that comes with Father’s Day or birthdays. This year, I made it about celebrating those I am a father and husband to, not about being celebrated as a father. That totally changed my outlook, and I’ve started a new tradition for myself.
Quote
(Feel free to download and/or share)
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I’ve been focused on an upcoming training (SERE) that I thought was happening yesterday but I was rescheduled for another time. It’ll end up being a good thing, since I’ll now have a bunch of staff duties allowing me to get things done, but it definitely killed my Production-to-Consumption ratio this week as I focused on getting ready. Anyways, enjoy!
PRODUCTION
Website
Cleaned Up Categories—I narrowed down the post categories to Sunday Shares, Journal, Topical Essay, Leader Profile, and Business Spotlight. That should summarize well what I write.
Email Collector—I’m looking into solutions for how to effectively collect everyone’s emails to notify you weekly when I post. I’ve currently got a pop-up set, but I’d love suggestions if you’ve worked with this before.
What a cool article! I’ll have to go through SERE soonish, so this was a great article to give me some peace of mind on a hush-hush training where the mysteriousness contributes to the psychological anticipation.
Watch
I’m not sure why both of the videos this week ended up as regrettable decisions, but they made me laugh…
Song: “Mind (feat. Kate Boy)” by Slow Magic (Spotify | YouTube)
I discovered this song via the Proof Fam Faves 2018 playlist (Spotify), and I’ve come to really like Slow Magic in general. It’s exciting when one song leads you down a wormhole of a newly discovered artist!
The way Steve (@FutureJurvetson) spoke to each of his book recommendations was so elegant. I enjoyed the episode mostly for how articulate he is, and the fantastic book recommendations were a bonus. If you’re unfamiliar with him, he’s a venture capitalist and sits on the boards of SpaceX and Tesla.
Podcast: Michael Mayer – Pseudonymous Social Capital and Bottomless Coffee – [Invest Like the Best, EP.124] | Invest Like the Best (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
I get excited about physical products. Finally, someone is innovating on hardware and not just software. Don’t get me wrong—my life has been significantly improved through software. I just find it…boring as a mechanical engineer. I love that Michael Mayer chose to solder together his own scales until they were just right and then use that to fuel his business model.
If you’ve ever felt bad for being “behind” because you didn’t start a discipline “early enough” – read this book.
I get Thomas Frank’s (@TomFrankly) weekly newsletter, and this concept really stood out to me, because I consistently feel this way. One of my favorite books of recent memory was Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a World of Specialists by David Epstein. It felt so validating to realize I don’t want to be the person to be the best in the world at something. I find energy in the cross-pollination of many ideas across several disciplines.
Quote:
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As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
Happy Flag Day! Coincidentally, it’s also Army Day—hooah! We took down our Colorado state flag this morning and put up our newly purchased United States flag. I did hesitate to buy an American flag, though. I thought about buying an Army flag instead, which doesn’t have nearly as stringent rules as the American flag. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I’m excited to learn more about a specific flag for a change, although U.S. Flag Code is no joke.
I’m working on a long-form piece related to white privilege, racism, and the Confederacy. I’m really excited to share it with ya’ll. After publishing this Sunday Shares, I’ll link to my Google Drive doc in case you want to provide feedback before I finalize the essay. I’ve loved doing all this research to form my own opinions.
CONSUMPTION
Read
Tweet:
Children should be raised the same way muscles are built:
Expose them to the largest setbacks they can recover from.
I’ve found that people who’ve only “won” growing up are quite fragile and have a disproportionate fear of failure.
I actually found this last week after going down the vexillology wormhole. I just searched Spotify for the word, wondering if anyone had done music related to it (I honestly don’t know what I expected to find…), and I happened across Deadmau5!
Podcast: This week on Shark Tank – Mark Cuban joins to talk UBI | Yang Speaks (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
Andrew Yang—former presidential candidate and founder of Humanity Forward—interviews Mark Cuban, and they discuss how they would change the structure of government and voting as well as how people interact with the government.
Learn
Concept: Dutch Baby Pancakes
Shalene calls them German pancakes, which didn’t sound right—plus, I had never had them in Germany. I heard them called Dutch Babies when I first had them. After a quick Google search, it turns out that all of those names are correct, however, it’s definitely an American dish (Wikipedia). By the way, what is it with our habit of naming things after other ethnicities, but then it’s truly an American concoction?
It represents the spectrum of acceptable political views at any given time. I had never heard of this until someone mentioned it in a tweet, but it seems extremely relevant given the political discourse happening over the fast-paced social media platforms these days.
Joseph Overton was the director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and this term was coined after he died.
Guten Abend, meine Damen und Herren. This week, I’ve been super into vexillology—the study of flags! I’m not even that into historical flags. I mostly love the designs. In fact, I’ve been lurking on r/vexillology and r/logodesign for some time now, and they’re still my favorite subreddits.
Production
Drawing
Lightsabers
I needed to get back to drawing. In fact, I’ve been wanting, craving, and toiling with getting back into drawing for years now, but the gap between where I’m at and where I want to be is so large, it’s discouraged me. I thought this would be a fun way to incorporate some of my recent interests (I’ve been watching Clone Wars and Rebels with my daughter and playing the mobile Heroes game). So I finally got around to sketching again and drew up some lightsabers. I love how personal they are and how they represent the user. It ties in well with this week’s focus on symbols and good design 🙂
Henderson Family Flag
I did some flag designs based on my family crest. I finished four design ideas, and I’ll throw up 5-8 this week. I’m also working on my wife’s maiden name, too, although their crest has less symbols to work with 😬
Website
Book Notes
I spent some time adding books to my Book Notes page, but there’s something buggy going on with the formatting. I’ll have to revisit these, because any new additions end up crashing the page.
I was listening to a podcast on what a world flag would look like. Apparently, there’s already such a thing! I’ve also been doing some brainstorming all week on what flags I would design, and when considering an Earth flag, the two designs that I had in my head are very similar to James W. Cadle’s “Flag of Earth” (so good!) and u/thefrek’s design (or even more designs). Another that is great would be Philip Kanellopoulos’s “Abstract Earth Flag”. If you’re interested in more conversation about it, check out this Quora post.
Roman Mars, the host of the 99% Invisible podcast, knocks this one out of the park. He gives his TED talk on his passion for the often forgotten city flags.
The whole album is great, and I first discovered @killparis through @ToastDance. I’ve been casually loving his jams ever since, but I’ve made a concerted effort to tune in this week.
Podcast: Vexillology (FLAGS) with E. Tory Laitila | Ologies with Alie Ward (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
This was a great dive into my obsession with flags this week. As a side note, her podcast dives into different fields of study. This was an off-the-wall episode that brought a lot of fun ideas up.
I remember discussing this question briefly in my econ class when the health econ professor was our substitute. It’s obviously relevant to today, and I think Difference Wiki has a lot yet to be explored! 🤨
Ponder
Quote:
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As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
What an amazing week for space! I’ll get there, but be forewarned: this post is media-heavy. 😬
Production
Another week focused on training, but I have done some more drawing. Excited to post to DeviantArt soon! I’ve been working on a few essays to share with you, too. Soon. I promise!
I’ve been reading more of Joe’s articles, and he’s such a fantastic writer. He articulates himself so clearly and has, in my opinion, very original ideas. I wish I could be friends with the guy. Maybe I’ll randomly bump into him in Colorado 🤷🏼♂️
Video: Launch Recap: NASA and SpaceX fly Astronauts to the Space Station | NASA (YouTube)
Holy Hannah. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the SpaceX launch, we’ve gotta work on your priorities. Shalene and I both got teary-eyed watching. What an incredible experience!
My end-game is astronaut. A friend asked this weekend what my pre-launch song, during launch, and post-launch songs would be. Well here you have it:
Pre-launch: “The Avengers ” by Alan Silvestri (Spotify | YouTube)
Tony Stark has always been my inspiration, and there’s nothing like the Iron Man and Avengers soundtracks to get me amped. I listen to three superhero soundtrack songs before big events like PT tests or when I interviewed for Blue Origin. I love the top YouTube comment—“Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for our national anthem”.
Ascent: “Sonne” by Rammstein (Spotify | YouTube) It does feel slightly sacreligious to be playing a German song as an American astronaut, but let’s chalk it up to cultural exchange. Sonne is the German word for “sun,” and if you look at the translation, it’s very relevant. I would’ve picked this song even if it wasn’t about our star, though. It’s one of the songs that I love working out to. Also, fair warning, the music video is really peculiar in true Rammstein fashion.
It’s not a perfect fit, but I can’t go wrong with KP. A close second was “This is How We Do,” but that felt too…selfish for a moment I’d be sharing with the rest of the world. “Firework” is more of a celebratory song, and it brings up a lot of old memories. I could’ve gone with something more spot-on like “E.T.” or something with a more on-the-point message like “Daisies” or “Rise,” but this one fit for reasons I can’t articulate other than it feeling right.
Ben and David knock another out of the park. They go into amazing detail on how SpaceX has made it through its ups and downs and what their future business model will look like.
This week I finally started flight school! Looking forward to getting going. It went zero-to-sixty in no time at all! 😅
I came across the idea of a “production vs. consumption ratio” this week. While I’m not entirely sure production should be larger than consumption, I think that tying consumption to production is a necessary framework so that action is affiliated with learning. So I want to try emphasizing production each week. It’s a new idea to me, so cut me some slack, but from now on, I want to focus on what I’ve made to share with you each week.
Production
Website
I finally made my website secure! It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. Note: This Sunday Shares is rolling out on Monday because the website was giving me grief…
My Book Notes page is up and running again after some issues. I’ve fixed the page and added a new book to it (mentioned below).
This article is about Don Lind, a Latter-day Saint astronaut, speaking about his experience. It’s sprinkled with spirituality, but his journey is truly incredible. For one, he was on the next Apollo mission to the moon before NASA canceled it. Man, can you even imagine? Wild.
Book: Inside the President’s Helicopter by LTC Gene T. Boyer and Jackie Boor
This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read lately. Back when the Army and the Marines shared the duty of flying for the President, pilot LTC Gene Boyer served under several administrations (LBJ, Nixon, and Ford). It was both a motivating book as a flight school student and a unique take on former presidents. Visit my Book Notes page for more details and quotes.
Watch
Video: How Easy Is It To Program a KAISU Welding Robot? (YouTube)
My buddy’s the handsome blonde speaking throughout the video 😘 Their company is rad! They specialize in robots, but they also whipped up a new ventilator unaffected by supply chain issues on short notice.
Video: SpaceX Returns Americans to the ISS on Wednesday!
Sure, we’ve had Americans traveling to and from the International Space Station regularly since the Space Shuttle retired, but the reason this is a big deal is that we’ve been buying seats on the Russian Soyuz rocket. An American company—SpaceX—is flying private astronauts to the ISS on Wednesday, and you should tune in! This is going to be truly amazing. Watch it live on Wednesday on SpaceX’s launch site (no pun intended) at 4:33 PM Eastern.
Listen
I’ve expanded a bit to broaden my taste in music. I’m looking to feature a new artist each week so that I go searching for new music each week rather than just waiting for my favorite artists to release new songs.
Every once in awhile, I’ll come across a song that I can listen to on repeat for seemingly forever. I’m then able to add it to my Mindless Study playlist, which is unique in that I normally can’t study to words with lyrics. After a while, though, certain songs fade into the background. This one’s now on that list, and I’ve been loving it!
Per Thomas Frank’s (@TomFrankly) recommendation, I finally checked out I See Stars. They didn’t disappoint! I love electronic-y metal and rock (Breathe Carolina, for example), so this fits into my routine music selection nicely. Their album, Treehouse (Spotify), is what I’ve been enjoying.
This is one of the most insightful, data-driven discussions on how to open the economy I’ve heard. They utilize cell phone data and in-store observations to categorize both industries and specific businesses based on the likelihood of spreading the virus.
Tool
I came across Bookcision through an article by The Digital Reader. I was looking for a way to export my Kindle notes to archive in Evernote and post to the Book Notes page on my site. It highlights how terrible Amazon is at UI/UX.
Why on earth does Amazon not put more effort into Goodreads?
This wasn’t initially an issue for me, but I recently listened to Maria Popova’s interview with Tim Ferriss where she laments:
Honestly, I feel that problem has not been solved at all in any kind of practical way. So, the way that I do it is basically a bunch of hacks using existing technologies. Perhaps, I’m just unaware, but I don’t think there’s anybody designing tools today for people who do serious heavy reading. There just isn’t anything that I know.
So, what I do is I highlight in the Kindle app in the iPad, and then Amazon has this function that you can, basically, see your Kindle notes and highlights on the desktop or on your computer. I go to those. I copy them from that page, and I paste them into an Evernote file to have all of my notes in a specific book in one place.
Also, the formatting is kind of shitty on the Kindle notes on the desktop where you can see all your notes. So, if you copy them, they paste them to Evernote with this really weird formatting. So, it tabulates each next notes indented to the right. So, it’s cascading, the long cascading thing that shifts more and more to the right of the page and move down.
Ponder
Idea: Will we move away from a salary tied to cost of living, now that so many companies are going remote?
As companies adopt “work from anywhere” policies, local governments should compete for knowledge workers to move to their city.
A large number of people can now choose where there they want to live.
Cities should create marketing campaigns & incentives to earn their business.
Greetings, loved ones. I’m back bringing you my favorite finds from recent memory. Feel free to let me know what you think. Also, if you have ideas on how I could tweak this to be more beneficial, efficient, etc., share with me!
A brief article that brings some non-obvious approaches to getting your office space (or wherever you’re working these days) organized. My two favorite concepts shared:
Establish a common file naming convention such as DATE_PROJECT_FILENAME. Then, you can always find what you’re looking for. I see this pairing perfectly with the PARA Method. I’ve experimented with date formats, and I don’t love the YYYY-MM-DD format, because it isn’t obvious to everyone what order it’s in whereas the military format (see post’s title: 17MAY2020) always works, but it doesn’t sort alphabetically.
Organize your desk according to natural workflow tendencies. We read left to right, so put inbound items on the left, work in the middle, and outbound on the right. It brought the GTD Method to mind, establishing a personal file inbox.
This is a brilliant series by WIRED on YouTube featuring experts in their field explaining a concept—in this case, gravity—to people of varying understanding. It gets more and more fascinating the higher up they get. In contrast, it also highlights how much they actually know, breaking down complex topics enough for children to grasp the basic concept.
Obviously I will always promote my girl, KP, over anything else. Enjoy this fantastic, acoustic-heavy song that has some classic Katy to it but is still a fun, new jam. The music video looks super hipster, and I still can’t spell “daisies” correctly on the first try.
This is just a fun playlist that I’ve got in my study folder. No lyrics and a great rhythm, I’ve added this one to my rotation for when I need to be in the zone.
Podcast: 418. What Will College Look Like in the Fall (and Beyond)? | Freakonomics Radio (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
This episode has the presidents of Arizona State University, Boston University, and American University speaking to how they’re handling the autumn semester amid COVID-19. They address several topics like expanding housing in a crowded city, price tiers for online vs. in-person courses, and how to address 25% of your student body being international students possibly not returning to campus.
Act
One of my favorite subreddits is /r/udemyfreebies. They post whenever Udemy has a deal for a free course. It reminds me of my buddy who’s mom had a rule that she could never buy anything full-price at Hobby Lobby, because everything is always 50% off at some point. Same idea with Steam. Why buy anything full-price when it seems like everything is always on sale?
Anyways, give them a follow. I’ve picked up a bunch of courses (and haven’t used them because I wasn’t invested, but that’s an entirely different topic…), but they’re there for when I want them!
I started iOS App Development For Beginners – No Swift Skill Required for a business idea with my brother-in-law until we opted to focus attention elsewhere until we got to the point where we actually needed the app (I’ll share more on that another time, I’m sure), and the quality was fantastic.
Learn
Concept: Natural Light
I’ve been doing some reading on why natural light is so important. It’s one of those things I could sense was important but didn’t have anything concrete to back my hunch up.
Two recent pivots have had me thinking more about this: a change in jobs and moving to a new house.
With regard to the job, I went from a narrow part of a building connected to the main structure through sky bridges. Our area was only seven cubicles wide, and the whole building was floor-to-ceiling windows. I absolutely took that for granted. I moved from that more modern, naturally lit building to an older, beige-colored office without windows. I never paid it much mind, but now the difference is obvious.
We also recently moved from a ground-floor apartment to a townhome. The apartment had blinds that made it annoying to open and shut regularly, and all our windows pointed toward another apartment building, so direct sunlight was very limited. Contrast that to our new townhome where we’ve got massive windows on the ground level, and my study desk sits right next to a window. It’s been a gamechanger.
My biggest take-away from the article is that fluorescents flicker imperceptibly, and that strains our eyes without even knowing it!
Ponder
Idea: 4 Most Essential Skills
I’m a huge fan of David Perell. Recently, he tweeted:
A message to my future children: “Learn to sell. Learn to write. Learn to speak. Learn to code.”
That got me thinking. While you could certainly be successful with the ability to code, I think you could swap that for leadership and have a much more adaptable skillset:
I would replace “code” with “lead”. I’m on a great trajectory and anticipate not having to code. Granted, it certainly wouldn’t hurt, and I can do *some*, but I don’t think it’s necessary like the others https://t.co/EL16CPFhkB
All my life I have dreamed that by my work mankind would at least be advanced a little.
I came across this quote in Washington’s Museum of Flight. I was designing a rocket for my senior design project at the time and reading Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. It was such an incredible museum that filled me with awe and emotion as I walked through the history of rocketry while quite literally devoting a majority of my final year in college applying the principles discovered by these titans. For further reading, the “founding fathers” of rocketry are widely considered to be Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Russia/USSR), Hermann Oberth (Germany), Robert Esnault-Pelterie (France), and Robert Goddard (USA).
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I’m still playing around with formatting, so feel free to provide feedback, but I’m experimenting with adding a theme to some newsletters. This week, I focused a bit more on disinformation. Many of the things below all kind revolve around that topic. Hope you enjoy~
I stumbled into this article, but it really resonated with me. I left Facebook because of politics and wasting time and, although I occasionally find myself involved in both of those on Twitter, it’s at least more of what I’m looking to engage with for either insightful discussion or to broaden my perspective.
The author here highlights how spreading wrong information is bearing false witness. It was eye-opening to see how prevalent this issue is, and he takes an exceptionally eloquent approach to break the issue down. I’m jealous of his writing (and formatting)!
This hilarious video by JP Spears will serve as a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek counter to Elon Musk’s worldview shared in the podcast below.
Listen
Podcast: Renée DiResta: Information Warfare | North Star Podcast (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
Ms. DiResta researches online propaganda and even consulted the Senate on the Russian tampering with the election. One of the most interesting points is that “common knowledge” isn’t argued for regularly. No one wakes up and makes it their daily mission to say the earth is round or that we should get vaccinated. And yet, that’s exactly the approach from flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers. It is their mission, and she details losing out on a California bill specifically because of how organized an anti-vaccination campaign was.
Podcast: Joe Rogan Experience #1470 – Elon Musk | The Joe Rogan Experience (Apple Podcasts | YouTube)
As a self-proclaimed “Musketeer,” I’ll fully admit that I idolize the guy. What he has accomplished is nothing short of astounding. That being said, I don’t always agree with him. I can’t think of a single futurist that isn’t also a contrarian. He recently shared that Tesla is suing the county government for imposing COVID-19 restrictions, and they may leave California entirely.
While I am a proponent of shelter-in-place, he makes an interesting point about data reporting for hospitals. Everything is better with economics, right, so we’ve got to look at incentives. When suburban and rural hospitals across the country are having to furlough staff due to diminished capacity, there is a financial incentive to inflate COVID-19 deaths for government funding. Elon specifically refers to the death of someone with COVID-like symptoms but dies of other conditions. He states that such instances are getting reported as coronavirus deaths, which they would of course not be.
Act
My biggest take with COVID-19 is that even with the economy reopening, we should all be wearing masks. My understanding is that wearing a mask doesn’t stop the wearer from getting sick, but it does prevent others from getting sick if you’re carrying it. Therefore, the most vulnerable population isn’t protected by wearing a mask in public; it’s everyone else that needs to be wearing a mask for them.
And what’s the big deal? It’s a little inconvenient, but it could have a significant impact. Heck, it’d be worth it if it had any reasonable impact, so let’s do it. I’m excited about the culture change in the US related to germs. Handshakes are out, and I will shame you for not washing your hands after using the bathroom.
Ponder
Quote: Kevin Kelly
Extraordinary claims should require extraordinary evidence to be believed.
WEBSITE UPDATES
Updated podcast page—Added North Star
Fixing book notes page—HTML is breaking the builder
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
Greetings from down South! We moved last weekend on short notice, so I missed a few posts, but I’m back to share a few things I’ve been especially intrigued by.
Read
Article: IT’S TIME TO BUILD by Marc Andreesen
I really enjoyed this article on reevaluating America in response to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. It’s a futuristic and imaginative approach to rebuilding. The article invokes the disaster response philosophy of “build back better.”
A favorite excerpt:
I expect this essay to be the target of criticism. Here’s a modest proposal to my critics. Instead of attacking my ideas of what to build, conceive your own! What do you think we should build? There’s an excellent chance I’ll agree with you.
Watch
Video: Woodturning – A Coffee Mug
This is a fun woodworking video on using a bunch of different methods to create a coffee mug. It’s also very therapeutic watching something so intricate being crafted from start to finish.
Video: Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly: Be passionate. Be courageous. Be your best.
A mix of politics, astronaut, and inspirational. I loved hearing Gabby and Mark lead us through their experience.
Listen
I’ve been passively interested in urban planning and architecture for quite some time. I started to dig up some podcasts on how we think about cities. Here are some interesting listens, and please share some resources with me if you have any favorites!
Podcast: American Cities in the Age of COVID-19, with Dr. Edward Glaeser | Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw (Apple Podcasts)
An intellectual discussion on the politics of cities and COVID-19 cash handouts.
Disclaimer—There are plenty of things I don’t agree with Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) on, but his opinions are well thought out, and I appreciate the discussions and guests on his podcasts even if they just better define my stance on issues.
Podcast: Alex Danco: Amazon, Cities, and Disruption | North Star Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
I love this discussion on how data giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple fit into cities and what that looks like from a privacy standpoint.
Podcast: Ryan Singer: Design and Consciousness | North Star Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
As the head of Project Strategy at Basecamp, Ryan has no formal training. He discusses how software as a field is so new that he draws from architecture for great design and aesthetics.
Act
I need some work on John Lee Dumas’s “LBNI—learning but never implementing” concept. I consume so much content (specifically audio), but do I ever act on it? Well, sometimes.
Generally speaking, I pull nuggets from everything I consume, and at the very least, it helps me form and refine opinions about the world, but there are so many things that fall by the wayside and never get implemented.
Granted, sometimes that’s deliberate. Meditation and cold showers are two things I have said no to after giving them a shot. I’m sure I’ll revisit them down the road sometime, but for now, I’m not interested in incorporating them.
Learn
Partnerships: NASA announces return-to-moon contract winners (LinkedIn)
NASA’s long-awaited contracts for missions to get us back to the moon have finally arrived! This is a big win for the future of space. As a Lockheed Employee, I am thrilled at the National Team partnership and excited to cheer on peers in the aerospace industry.
Ponder
Idea: Is a degree the only way to be “qualified”?
We consider doctors someone who goes through medical school and residency and is formally trained on how to perform their profession. Does the same apply to every career field? Certainly not, but what about those where formal training is mandated by society, government, etc.?
Can you be an economist without formal training? Can you be an engineer without an engineering license? Can you be an accountant without your CPA?
I tend to frown on those that consider themselves engineers when they don’t have a degree in engineering, but then you get people like Adam Savage or Elon Musk who have so much institutional knowledge and on-the-job training and self-taught skills that does it really matter that they don’t have a degree?
I definitely want a surgeon or someone overseeing the construction of a bridge to have a degree, but then again, if safety is the concern, should Elon Musk be running companies that create autopilot vehicles or rocketships?
So then is it just that they need to be surrounded by the right people? I wouldn’t call the CEO of Microsoft—a company known for its software—a software engineer, but I would call the President of the United States—a political entity—a politician. On the flip side, I would call them both executives. So then it can’t just be the position that they hold.
I’ll probably expand this idea into a short essay to elaborate more. I’d love feedback on my line of thought.
Quote: Henry van Dyke
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
As I am slowly refining this newsletter, I’d love feedback on the format and content. I am particularly interested in how to share this newsletter with you regularly. I post it to Twitter and LinkedIn. Would you rather receive it as an email? Do I need to set up an RSS subscription? Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
Guten tag! Another week down, and I’m slowly refining this newsletter. I’d love feedback on the format and content (e.g. did I go a little hyperlink-crazy?). Reach out in the comments or via Twitter (@JonnyMHenderson).
I’ve been rereading Tony’s article. There are a lot of these tricks I’ve implemented, but I’m working on adding a few more, and it’s always worth revisiting every year or so. The author provides very actionable advice. I’ve added it to my Articles page.
Here’s a favorite excerpt:
The problem with most productivity systems is that they break. As a result, a lot of productivity nuts spend a lot of their time creating new productivity systems over and over again. This, obviously, is not productive.
For that reason, where possible, I suggest that you choose messy systems over rigid systems. The ultimate messy system that I know you’re all familiar with is the paper notebook. A paper notebook gives you incredible flexibility: you can take notes however you want, write drafts, sketch outlines, draw pictures, write to-do lists, etc. A to-do list app just doesn’t allow for that.
The downside to paper notebooks is that it’s impossible (or at least very hard) to find an old note.
Watch
Video: How Rwanda Built a Drone Delivery Service
Truly impressive and inspirational engineering, Zipline is a company that uses autonomous drones to parachute-drop medical supplies to rural or otherwise inaccessible (e.g. flooding) areas. This is a company that gets me excited to be an engineer!
Listen
Songs: “Carefree (feat. LeyeT)” and “Stuck on You (feat. Phil Good)” and “Can’t Forget You” by RAC
Both “Carefree” (Spotify, YouTube) and “Stuck on You” (Spotify, YouTube) were both released in the path month or so, and I’ve been jammin’ ever since. They’re both lots of fun, and we can expect a new album from RAC titled BOY on 8 May 2020.
Podcast: Office Ladies
I didn’t think I’d like this as much as I do! Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly) and Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) host Office Ladies (Apple Podcasts, Spotify). They watch each episode of The Office on their own, take lots of notes, call fellow castmates or crew, and then they break down the show episode by episode. It’s so much fun for fans. It makes for easy listening while working, even when words can sometimes be distracting. Excellent job, ladies!
Act
In a recent podcast I listened to, Jason Fried (founder of Basecamp) talks about how his company is Facebook-free. I love it! I’ve been off of Facebook and Instagram for a long while now, and I haven’t looked back. The last of the Facebook apps I’m on is WhatsApp, but I only use that to text friends internationally.
I recently picked up Signal (signal.org), so I plan on switching over to that where possible—it’s even Edward Snowden-endorsed! I do need to find some solutions for those international contacts, but I just don’t trust Facebook apps on my phone or with my data.
The next companies with targets on their backs are Google and Amazon. While I’ll never truly eliminate either, I can mitigate the information they collect from me and sell off. Seriously, even writing that makes me cringe. How are we okay with those business models?!
Learn
Concept: Pfand
Sorry for German words two weeks in a row, but I’ve thought about this concept for a long time. In fact, a friend and I pitched ideas for a business related to that concept back in college.
Anyways, the idea behind Pfand is that all bottled products charge you, say, an extra 0.25€. You overpay for your bottle, and then when you return the bottle, you’re refunded that change. It encourages people to recycle. A side benefit is also mobilizing the homeless to recycle in exchange for the Pfand people have deposited on those bottles.
It looks like a vending machine that sucks in your bottle on a conveyer belt, spins it around, scans the barcode, and takes it in. They’re in grocery stores, among other places. Here’s a short video if you want to see it in action: Lidl Pfandautomat.
Ponder
Quote: G.K. Chesterton
I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it.
Welcome! I’m excited to be sharing new finds with you this week. Please share feedback with me on what you enjoyed the most. I’m especially interested in how you find the format (i.e. sections). Comment below or reach out via Twitter: @jonnymhenderson.
Read
Article: P.A.R.A. I’ve been using PARA for some time ow. It’s a fantastic system for organizing your digital (and physical) files across all the platforms you use (i.e. platform-agnostic). I’ve listed it on my Articles page as a must-read, and it truly has helped me always be able to find the file I’m looking for.
Watch
Video: Eva’s Cooking Show—Episode 1: Pancakes
Shameless self-promotion here, but a friend shared a video of a toddler cooking and asked that I send one of our daughter. We had a ton of fun making it, and it made for a great quarantine bonding activity 🙂You can watch it on YouTube or below:
Side note—I found the YouTube Audio Library for the background music, which is free (public domain) and creative commons licenses. Such a handy resource
Listen
Song: “Ode to the Mets” by The Strokes
Their new 2020 album, The New Abnormal, is a fun listen. I have never actively listened to them other than “Reptilia”, which I loved from Guitar Hero, but this one is sweet jam (maybe strawberry?). Listen on Spotify or YouTube.
Podcast: North Star Podcast
In my last newsletter, I shared how I’ve been really enjoying getting to know David Perell better through his work. I listened to his podcast this week, and really enjoyed several of the guests he had on. Here are some episodes to get started with:
Austen Allred: The Future of Education—Austen (@austen) founded Lamda School, a free coding education that then gets 17% of your salary (if you make more than $50k) for two years to earn back their costs. Many of their alumni have gone from minimum wage to six-figures. It’s a fascinating look at turning such an old system upside down.
Jeff Morris Jr.: Building a flexible mindset—Jeff (@jmj) is someone I’ve been following for a while now, and this episode is fantastic. He previously worked at Tinder and Lamda School. I loved his story about writing letters as a kid to famous people and getting responses!
Do
Tool: Todoist
I’ve picked up Todoist again for use as a reoccurring daily checklist. I’ve never been great with checking a digital task management system (I tried it for homework in college), but the reoccurring tasks paired with badge notifications have helped. It’s still a work-in-progress, but I love the natural language where you can type “daily” or “every morning” and it will set the repeat schedule. It’s free for personal use.
Learn
History: Reinheitsgebot
There’s a very old German law, Reinheitsgebot (“purity order”), governing the ingredients and pricing of beer that dates back to 1516. “The basic law now declares that only malted grains, hops, water and yeast are permitted.” Essentially the government determined the quality of what would pass for German ber. Here’s a fun, quick overview.
There’s also a brewery in China founded by Germans in 1903 that “is China’s second largest brewery, with about 15% of domestic market share,” adheres to this law, and it’s now publically traded. Pretty rad.
Ponder
Quote: John W. Gardner
Some people may have greatness thrust upon them. Very few people have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly, by “doin’ what comes naturally”; and they don’t stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.
