Gentlemen. Welcome to the 53rd edition of MNTS.

2024 LC 70 4.0L Hard Top 3 Door VXR

Legitimately depressed that this little fella isn’t available in the US and is basically impossible to import and drive in California. If anyone knows of a loop hole I’m very interested.

The Lydian Stone

High probability this is the only book I read in 2025 published in 2025. Very excited is an understatement.

Google Arts and Culture App

App I'm enjoying for increasing my exposure to art of all kinds. The Explore and Browse by Topic feature has been a major upgrade to my habitual scrolling and is a treasure trove of historic imagery.

A couple of artists I’m mesmerized by at the moment.

J.M.W. Turner - master of moon light

Canaletto - crisp perspective

Things Hidden

Documentary I’m watching. Raising twins provides a front-row seat to mimetic desire in action. Every five minutes, I witness Girard's theory play out in stereo – one child suddenly desperate for whatever toy (or parent) their sibling just engaged with. For the uninitiated, this documentary offers the most approachable introduction to Girard's work I've found. His framework didn't just help me understand my twins; it became a mirror for examining my own desires and their origins.

I published additional thoughts and highlights here.

Made In USA Print Directory

If you are into made in USA stuff this is an indispensable resource. Pairs well with the final nog latte of the season.

Ploughman’s Lunch

graciously featured my candid photography piece in his end of year round up. I’m genuinely flattered to be included in this group of writers and thinkers. Here’s to another year of courage and finesse.

Cow We Doin'

Ploughman's Lunch: End of the Year Edition

M.F.K Fisher wrote a lovely book titled How to Cook a Wolf. While she doesn’t give any instruction on how to actually cook a wolf, written in 1942, the book does contain several terrific essays on food and on eating during the shortages of World War II. Opining on “How to Be a Wise Man” — because, as the epigraph of the chapter states, “a wise man alway…

Read more

a year ago · 20 likes · 11 comments · Lou Tamposi

Notebooks

I start every year with a fresh notebook and these Monocle Leuchtturms with cloth covers are elite. So far, this duo has been my favorite note taking setup by a wide margin.

On media diet

Big mood this year.

“I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid,” …“and I find myself much the happier.”

- Thomas Jefferson

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 53.

Happy New Year!

Until next time — Vividus Invictus1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 52nd edition of MNTS.

For the inaugural “Shop Talk” podcast, I sat down with David Bessis, author of Mathematica -A secret world of intuition and curiosity. This marks the first of what I hope will be many deep dives with interesting people doing interesting things. Let me know what you think.

Donald D Hoffman on Consciousness

If you are interested in going down the consciousness rabbit hole Bessis and I briefly touch on, this episode is wild. I’ve added Hoffman’s book to my reading list after listening to this and his personal site is worth exploring. h/t to for the recommendation.

Australia’s Post Punk Renaissance

post-punk is less a genre than a space of possibility. “What unites all this activity,” Simon Reynolds suggests in his book Rip it Up and Start Again, “is a set of open-ended imperatives: innovation; wilful oddness; the wilful jettisoning of all things precedented or ‘rock’n’roll.”

I don’t know exactly what is going on in AUS. right now but there are a bunch of really impressive, young, post punk bands emerging. It feels like something special is brewing and it’s worth keeping a pulse on. I’m up to my eyeballs in the movement at the moment and pretty bummed this scene is happening 8,000 miles from California. It’s positively electric.

A few bands worth exploring - Radio Free Alice, The Belair Lip Bombs, Girl and Girl, Sex Mask, DUST, Gut Health, Armlock - incredible band names for what it’s worth.

Unabashedly Cyber Punk

is back at it again with his LOOK BOOK NO. 07. His latest work reads like a storyboard for a delightfully unhinged William Gibson adaptation we desperately need. Hollywood, take note: your Neuromancer costume designer is already doing the work.

On Gratitude

In an age of digital ephemera, there's something defiantly human about putting pen to paper to express appreciation. After searching fruitlessly for thank you notes that carried the quality and authentic sentiment I was after, I designed and printed my own. They're available here if you, too, believe in the power of analog appreciation.

The Marls

American Trench makes great socks. I own an absurd amount of them already but have (irrationally) added their latest offering to the collection.

Wooden Choir Ensemble

I imagine this wooden choral ensemble performing Christmas carols from your shelf to be bizarrely charming.

Butter Knife

If you’ve been around a while you know I take my butter consumption rather seriously. A purpose-built tool for applying the noblest of toppings just feels right. The branding and aesthetic from Allday Goods is also spot on. Fun stuff.

On Randomness

Start stressing personal elegance at your next misfortune. … The only article Lady Fortuna has no control over is your behavior. Good luck.

- N.N. Taleb

For more on this see my latest Book Notes:

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 52.

Until next time, gents — Vividus Invictus1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 51st edition of MNTS.

I’ve been distracted and off my regular schedule the last week or so, but for good reason. Thanks to the serendipity engine that is the internet, I’ve connected with David Bessis, the author of Mathematica. We’re scheduled to record what will be the first episode of The Mettleist – Shop Talk podcast (hopefully, the first of many). I’ve been pouring my meager spare time into preparing for it, so once this is in the rearview mirror, I’ll get back to publishing book notes and MNTS on a regular basis.

I hope you all are as excited about the interview as I am! If you have any burning questions you'd like me to ask, feel free to leave a comment.

Without further ado—let’s cook!

We’ve been wrong about Math for 2300 years

is also now on Substack. His first essay is a banger and he essentially distills the main argument of his book Mathematica, in it. I wrote about his book here a couple weeks back and I looking forward to chatting with him.

Along the way, we also failed to articulate the most compelling value proposition of mathematics: math is an imagination technique that makes you smarter.

This is what really struck me as I was writing my book: once you read Descartes, Grothendieck, and Thurston in parallel, you start to notice that they speak almost only of imagination. Each describes the use of imagination in new modalities, discovered by accident and breaking with what they’d been taught. They all view this as the secret to their success. If we don’t communicate this dimension of math, we’re missing an essential piece.

Wait, when did preference become God?

OG friend of the newsletter published this biting take on contemporary culture. Great piece. Love to see it!

Religious wisdom? Nah, preference beats that. Philosophy’s greatest hits, debated by history’s greatest minds? Sorry, preference wins. Cultural knowledge built over thousands of years? Preference says no. Biology’s basic drives? Preference doesn’t care. Your entire ancestral line? Preference shrugs.

Saul Leiter - Color

I shared this in my candid photography memo but it warrants repeat viewing. Leiter’s colors are insane.

For Demming nerds

Demonstrates the importance of understanding natural variation and the ill effects of process tampering.

New Father John Misty Album

Really enjoying this new album. Big CAKE vibes from a few of these tracks and I’m not mad about it at all.

Mini Stainless Whisk

This little guy has become an indispensable side kick in the kitchen. A major process improvement tool for dijonaise, vinaigrettes, marinades, heck I even use it to mix in electrolytes and EAAs into my water. Far superior to a shaker ball.

Flux Adapt Runners

I’m on my third pair of these and they made some nice improvements since I last purchased them. The new pair feels lighter and the grip on the bottom is highly improved. It’s also worth noting this updated version runs a half size smaller than the previous shoes. While I don’t consider these barefoot shoes (the stack height is too high to truly be considered barefoot imo), these are super functional and comfortable daily running shoes. They check all the boxes zero drop, wide toe box, low-key color options, durable and reasonably priced.

Nietzsche vs. John

Murphy breaks down Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity in Genealogy of Morals and contrasts it with his interpretation of The Gospel According to John, from the New Testament. It’s quite a compelling take and these ideas have been pin balling around my dome for the better part of two weeks now.

On Good Sense

Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for every one thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess.

— Rene Descartes

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 51.

Enjoy some decadent food and bonus time with family this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vividus Invictus!1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 50th edition of MNTS.

Quick one this week.

Let’s get it!

Hunter S. Thompson on the Honolulu Marathon

We are talking about two distinct groups here, two entirely different marathons. The Racers would all be finished and half drunk by 8 in the morning, or just about the time that the pack was pouring through the halfway point. They run smoothly, almost silently, with a fine-tuned stride. No wasted energy, no fighting the street or bouncing along like a jogger. These people flow, and they flow very fast. Watching the Racers race is like watching Kobe Bryant in the open court or Michael Vick turning the corner. Each one of them is literally one in a billion. A racer in full stride is an elegant thing to see.

Kamakura Denim Button Down

I own multiple of these and they are in heavy rotation this time of year. They get better with every wear and wash. Damn near perfect off the rack. Extremely versatile. A wardrobe staple.

The Last Men’s Shop

Never had Buffalo on the list of destinations to hit, but damn, this is trad men’s wear mecca.

Obscure music I’m enjoying

Radio Free Alice (RFA) - post punk Aussie kids crooning about young love. Their entire discography is 10 songs and they are all pretty great. Good cunts.

Subscriber Care Packages are in route

Hooking up our most engaged subscribers with some The Mettleist swag. Wear it well gents. ✌️☝️

Ricoh GR III HDF

After an overwhelming few months of research trying to find the perfect camera for my needs and skill level, I finally pulled the trigger on the Ricoh GR III HDF. I’m still getting the hang of it, but I’m very excited about the potential of this little camera. It’s powerful, pocketable, and discreet. Even though I’m still all thumbs while shooting, I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of the output.

I found this tutorial to be extremely helpful for dialing in the settings and functions.

And Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes website and app for all the various film simulations. Fun stuff!

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 50.

Vividus Invictus!1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 49th edition of MNTS.

Let’s rock and fire.

Greg Maddux One of a Kind Documentary

Maddux represents absolutely everything I loved about baseball. This is so good.

School is Not Enough

Sarris is on fire lately. This makes me so pumped to be a parent.

The goal of education is to create a path to mastery or responsibility. If a child can sell the fruit of his labor, so much the better. But the essential lesson is that every difficult thing attempted acts as a multiplier on his confidence and the rest of his knowledge. Drudgery is sometimes confused with building character, and I think this is a mistake. It is building skill itself that builds self-possession. After selling thousands of dollars worth of pastries over the summer, a child does not only know that he can make pastries. He knows that he can make anything.

Rory Sutherland on TikTok fame

Eventually Sutherland and Ogilvy bought the account from its creator and have continued the upload process themselves. “I don’t have any sense that this was a resentment because he thought of doing it and I didn’t, I can only be grateful for him for spotting it,” he says.

Sutherland’s reaction to this is quite telling of his character. He could have just as easily been outraged and lawyered up. It’s always a pleasure to see someones behaviors align with what they espouse when the chips are on the table.

“It occurs to me that there’s a lot of knowledge in ad agencies or the marketing departments of Unilever, or whatever. Knowledge which … if every small business, if every cafe in Britain, got just a little better at understanding the stuff then you could put a percentage point or two on GDP,” he says.

Ray Bradbury on intuition, agency, and love.

We are big fans of Mr. Bradbury.

“The man who cannot laugh freely is a sick man.

The man who cannot cry and releases tears in that direction there's a sick man.

The man who cannot be violent through exercise, through sports, through acting out his violence on paper, or painting, or acting on a stage is a sick man”.

Private Train Cars

Can we get a NetJets but for private rail cars? I’m buying.

Rubato

The folks at Rubato are absolutely nailing it. Overall, super thoughtful and well executed. I love every piece they conjure up. They make garments worthy aspiration. I’ve watched this whimsical day dream of a brand video for their latest collection more times than I care to admit. I’m struck by the masterful use of natural light, texture, and color/color grading in the cinematography and how perfectly harmonized all the imagery is. Really fun stuff.

If you want to nerd out on the brand a bit more like I did, this interview with the founders is great.

Music I’m Enjoying

Something about this season of the year calls for jazz. These are two of my favorites albums in rotation this fall.

Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz 1969-1974

Getz/Gilerto ‘76

Quote that’s been on my mind lately

What used to be described as a thoughtless act of aggression was now regarded as the courage one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one's unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was perfectly legitimate selfdefence.

- Thucydides

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 49.

Vividus Invictus!1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 48th edition of MNTS.

Let’s boogie.

Hamlet Hail To The Thief

A frenetic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet haunted by Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief

Unexpected, but incredible collab. Perhaps this is your sign to take another pass at Hamlet. Comments section going off.

Breadcrumbs

This is part of why I write — the interesting people I have found I did not first meet in person, but found their breadcrumbs online: blogs, projects, videos, stories, photo reels, some of them produced years before I found them. People understand the idea of a famous author’s or director’s body of work, but there is no reason this concept can’t apply to everyone in some small way. I think it does.

Rodney Mullen on Science, Language, Innovation and Intuition

This talk is as wild as his skateboarding. Legend.

For an invention to become an innovation, it has to match the ethos and the usage of the culture adopting it. Big lesson for us.

So the deliberate maintenance of these very subtle skillsets are what are instrumental to setting people apart to do what we do at these levels.

Row 7 Seed Company

Produce optimized for flavor, what a concept.

Today, we are partnering with regional organic growers to bring Row 7 produce to the grocery aisle, ensuring that each vegetable is grown for place and picked (and eaten) at the perfect moment. The end goal? Tastier food, healthier soil, more diverse and nutritious diets for as many people as possible. In other words, a revolution we can all get behind.

The Lindy Guide to Lighting

Perhaps the most impactful and cost effective design decision you can make to improve the feel-good factor in your home is being considerate about lighting choices.

Humans evolved in environments where the primary source of light was the sun, and much of that light was horizontal. During early morning and late afternoon, the sun sits lower in the sky, producing horizontal light that is softer and more scattered. This period coincides with humans' natural peak activity times during our evolutionary past. That’s when humans were most active during our evolutionary past. It's when our bodies were primed for work, hunting, gathering, and movement.

All types of light are useful and pleasing used in the correct context. These are my simple parameters for how I think about lighting. Brighter, bluer, overhead light earlier in the day. Great for staying alert and focused, but can cause some serious dis regulation if used too early or too late in the day. Transitioning to dimmer, warmer, horizontal light as the day progresses aligns with our circadian cycles and helps to facilitate winding down for restful sleep.

Bon Iver - SABLE, EP

New music I’m enjoying.

From my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 48.

Vividus Invictus!1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 47th edition of MNTS.

Let’s ride!

In Praise of Desire

By

I highlighted 15 passages from this piece. So good.

Desire is a beautiful emotion. One must look with the freshness of a child’s vision to see the poeticism that we even want things. We want to go places. We want to love people. We want to be happy. We want healthy bodies and humble friends. We want the future to be better than the past. On good days, we believe it can be.

ACL Weekend Update - on Nike and Starbucks

Not all efficiency is good. Sometimes we need surprise and delight in the form of physical spaces, experiences and partners.

channeling some Dr. W Edwards Demming and Danny Meyer, not sure if it was intentional, but love to see it.

“To optimize the whole, we must sub-optimize the parts.”

— W. Edwards Deming

But to tell people that “hospitality” was a completely different word than “service” was something they hadn’t heard before, that hospitality describes an emotional transaction whereas service describes a technical transaction – and you need them both.

— Danny Meyer

I finished Authentic a couple weeks ago, the autobiography of Paul Van Doren, the Vans founder, and came across this article from Cedric Chin over at CommonCog on the Brooks turnaround.

Based on my assessment, Nike appears primed for a similar “Boom, bust, boom” business cycle. Both Vans and Brooks suffered from (and overcame) eerily similar fates. All three companies over-indexed on commoditization, short-term direction from leadership, organizational bloat, and a lack of focus on their core customers.

I haven’t owned a pair of Nikes since the J. Crew Killshots circa 2018. Nikes have become the pumpkin spice latte of footwear; they scream basic. The good news for Nike is the playbook for a turnaround exists; all they have to do is execute. Exciting to see Nike on the road to a comeback.

On Feeling Connected

Look at people on the train and remind yourself that they have an entire world inside their head—and feel how a sense of connection flows from you. You can do this with animals, too, and plants, and objects, and ideas. Pay attention to things as if they are too big to fit in your head—and feel love seep out of you. Do small acts of kindness and don’t take credit. Care more than necessary.

Things Hidden

Very excited about this Rene Girard documentary. Bummed I missed the screenings in my neck of the woods, but perhaps you can still catch one.

El Jadida Naval Trouser

Love the fit of these in theory.

August.build

Database of “Buy once, cry once” gear. I’ve been eyeing these Kutrite kitchen shears for a minute.

Why these are special.

Findlay - Off & On

Album I’m revisiting. Natalie Findlay was ahead of her time with this one. Still fresh over a decade later.

Gankas on Golf Is Hard

I don’t know how many Pros get off my mat and they go “dude, that kid stripes it over there. Whats he shoot?” and I go bro he don’t know how to play golf he shoots 80. And then he’s like he hits it way better than me, and I’m like yeah he does but he don’t know how to score. Scoring is a different game.

Unclassified ARMY HOLISTIC HEALTH AND FITNESS DRILLS AND EXERCISES

Makes you wonder what the classified stuff looks like.

A few snaps form my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 47.

Until next time, gents.

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

Gentlemen.

Welcome to number 46.

Let’s ride!

Etran de L’Air

Can’t get enough of these guys at the moment.

Recalling the driven politician and the quiet family man

Mr Lee's favourite question is "So?". If you update him on something, he will invariably reply with "So?". You reply and think you have answered him, but again he asks, "So?". This "so?" question forces you to get to the core of the issue and draw out the implications of each fact. His instinct is to cut through the clutter, drill to the core of the issue, and identify the vital points.

Mr Lee's rich insights on issues come from a capacious and disciplined mind. He listens and reads widely, but he does so like a detective, looking for and linking vital clues while discarding the irrelevant.

Mrs Lee was supportive, without intruding - she was certainly not "just a busybody", and anyone who had the chance to observe them together would know just how close a couple they were, and how much strength her presence gave to her husband

On Landscapes

bringing the heat with this one.

By giving these ideas a name — “Sacred Silence,” “Wide Angle Vision,” “Heart Connected” — it solidifies them in your brain. It makes them real. And, as I discovered — or, really uncovered, since I think I knew this intuitively⁴ all along — that’s what I’ve been doing each week as I write this newsletter. Retelling and reenforcing and realizing stories.

The way we experience the world hasn’t changed in the hundreds of thousands of years we’ve evolved in it — but our connection has. And, how sometimes, we just need a reminder that the connection is still there.

How to Ruin a Great Conversation

Guest Essay by Brian Daskam

I have a rather underdeveloped theory that goes like this: Every enjoyable conversation feels a little like a conspiracy. A family telling inside jokes at dinner, office mates gossiping together after work, a couple huddled together in a restaurant booth… Each group is a distinct caucus in which each member is known, and each member belongs. Or, put another way, anyone who is not part of the conversation is an outsider. That feeling of belonging is one of the key pleasures of great conversation

These Chore Coats

Noah Johnson can take a hike. Terrible take.

Olithica Heirlooms

These are bang on.

Shakespeare Bust

My neighbor 3D-printed this Shakespeare bust for me. It’s taking every bit of discipline I have not to run out and buy a printer—so many possibilities! My neighbor, who turns out to be somewhat of an expert on this type of thing, recommends this one.

Rory Sutherland - Are We Now Too Impatient to Be Intelligent

Love me some Rory Sutherland, always a delight.

…going quite a bit faster when you're going slowly is a really big gain, going very fast when you're already going fast is actually the action of a dickhead. Basically, once you hit a comfortable 65 or 70 on the road; okay, don't bother that's enough it's a waste of time because the risk you actually incur on yourself and the risk you effectively impose on other people by going any faster is utterly pointless in term terms of time saved

Premium AeroPress Coffee Maker

Been waiting for a non-plastic version of this to be available, very excited.

The Mettleist sample hats

Need to make a few tweaks before I submit a production run, but getting closer.

A snap from my camera roll

That’s a wrap on 46.

Vividus Invictus!1

AP

Gentlemen. Welcome to the 45th edition of MNTS.

It’s been too long since my last dispatch. My prior concept for this newsletter was overly restraining; my self-enforced standards had me in a state of paralysis. Therefore, I’m changing the format once again. I’m pivoting to something quicker and dirtier, a weekly smorgasbord, if you will. I’ll figure this format out eventually.

Without further adieu.

Let’s eat!

I spent $58 on French butter and have zero remorse. This did, however, prompt us to try churning our own. TBC.

Handy reference and inspiration for your next landscaping project.

Nice piece on via negativa that doesn't mention via negativa. I liked the examples used. Good reminder.

When Taleb talks, I listen. 90% of this one was too technical and way over my head, but there are a few gems.

Best Made Co. is back.

I bought a handful of items in support of the re-launch. Sadly, three of the four items were lost in transit. The customer service team was A+ and happily sent me replacements (still en route). Their product archive is also worth flicking through.

Currently reading Authentic by Paul Van Doren. It's hokey, but as a So Cal native, I’m loving every page of it.

Mettleist swag is coming soon! Early subscribers will get a complimentary care package. More to come on this topic.

Joss Naylor Obit - Absolute legend.

Timepiece I’m eyeing.

Pants I’m pining for.

Quote I saved. More books.

“One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books; the best are not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough; and if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child's intellectual life.”
― Charlotte Mason

Song I’m jamming to.

A few snaps from the camera roll

That’s a wrap on 45. Hit reply and let me know what you liked (or didn’t like).

Until next week.

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

Welcome to the 44th edition of MNTS. After a brief(ish) hiatus, we’re back with a reinvigorated approach to the newsletter.

I’m much more interested in sharing high-quality recommendations1 than I am in pumping out something for the sake of consistency. So, going forward, my plan is to meticulously collect and curate the best-of-the-best (profound, practical, peculiar, and personal) bits and share them with this intimate coterie. The queue will dictate the cadence.

My hope is that we will collectively hold the quality2 bar high. If I share something that doesn’t meet the standard3, reply to this email or drop me a comment below.

Lastly, if you come across something that you think should be included in a future edition, please send it my direction4.

Without further adieu, let’s eat!

The Profound

All of Bach Cello Suites

I’m completely in awe of these renditions of Bach’s cello suites. I recommend visiting the actual All of Bach website as opposed to the YouTube channel because of the easy access to the extra “Behind the Music” videos that add a ton of context and personality to the performances. This is not intended to be background music. It’s damn near a transcendent experience if you listen singularly. I’ve listened to Cello Suite 1 in G minor (below) about 6 times now and twice on separate occasions; I’ve had tears welling in my eyes5, overcome by the magnitude of it all.

The Cello Suites have had staying power for 300 years for a reason.

The Practical

Animated Knots

Highly satisfying animations, practical, and underappreciated know-how.

The Peculiar

Johan Sebastian Bachlava

In stark contrast to Bach, as ascribed above, Action Bronson’s new album won’t bring a tear to your eye. Well, it might, but for completely different reasons.

His recent slew of albums felt forced and contrived, so this makes JSB an unexpected delight. The album is chock-full of his hallmark esoteric 90’s references that flash me straight back to being 13 years old, playing Tekken 3 in the arcade at Lamp Post Pizza. The silly, outrageous bars make me cringe and giggle simultaneously. Undoubtedly, his best work since 2017’s Blue Chips 7000.

Hideo Nomo, Hogan, and Citrus Wahoo are the standouts, but it’s a fun listen all the way through.

The Personal

We took the twins to their first concert in the park courtesy of the Pacific Symphony. They take picnicking and pasta salad very seriously.

ÆSTHETIC

An image to ponder before you go.

That’s a wrap on 44. Until next time, gents. Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

Reading

Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury—I re-read this on a whim for the first time in twenty years, and I will just say that it’s a classic for a reason. Bradbury’s prose is the equivalent of gorging on a whole torchon of foie gras. It's extremely rich and leaves one feeling slightly nauseated from too much of a good thing, but you can’t help but go back for a bit more. Loved this monologue by Faber:

Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary' you are. That's my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.

Investor Perspectives #2: How to Beat the Market? by Market Sentiment

Market Leaders: Invest in companies that are in the top half of the field - That is, greater than average in market cap, shares outstanding, cash flow, and sales. Market Leaders were able to give close to double the return of the S&P 500 while having slightly higher risk (Std deviation and Sharpe ratio). Intuitively, this strategy makes sense, as we are picking the best-performing companies from the biggest companies. Over the long term, this outperformance should be reflected in the stock price, and that’s exactly what we see below!

Snail mail experimental project by Justin Murphy—I’m extremely bullish on physical print publications making a bit of a resurgence. I'm excited about the concept, and I hope this becomes something more people offer.

Listening

Random

We’ve been looking for a non-stick pan alternative, and we finally pulled the trigger on this ceramic one by Xtrema. It’s a great little frying pan, it’s surprisingly light and when properly oiled is completely non-stick. My only gripe is the form and aesthetic of the pan is brutal. I suspect there are legitimate constraints due to being made from ceramic, but this thing is ugly.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

Reading

I picked up Unpublished David Ogilvy this past week and read most of it in one sitting. It’s a collection of memos, speeches and interviews compiled by Ogilvy’s partners at his firm as a gift for his 75th birthday. It was as punchy, eccentric and funny as expected. I absolutely loved it. I’ll process my highlights and publish book notes in the next couple weeks.

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman stepping down - and Wall St Hates it by Ron Miller This news opens up a really compelling trade imo. One of my favorite events to trade is “bad news, great company” and this falls squarely into that category. Additionally, this is not the first time Slootman has turned over the CEO reins. If we look at ServiceNow the previous company he was running as a potential indicator of what’s to come he departed in 2017 when the stock price was under $100, NOW (ticker) is currently trading at $770 per share. I’m waiting to see this consilidate around $185 before I take a starter position, but will be watching this closely over the next few weeks.

Notes on Taste by Brie Wolfson - h/t to for sending this my way. As I was reading this I was getting the feeling I recognized who the writer was before I got to the end. Sure enough it was Brie Wolfson. I’m a big fan of her writing and projects. Check out her personal site for more.

One hypothesis is that creating forces taste upon its maker. Creators must master self-expression and craft if they’re going to make something truly compelling.

William Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer’ finally getting the TV series adaptation We’ve waited 40 years for by Rachel Ulatowski - always exciting to have something to look forward to. My favorite scifi book is being made into a series in 2026. You have two years to read it so you can be ahead of the hype cycle. Fingers crossed the adaptation does the book justice.

Listening

I may have shared this previously, but it’s worth revisiting. I’ve been throwing this on a ton lately. Pairs well with rain.

Random

I thought I had snagged one of these before they sold out, but sadly my order was cancelled. A new edition is apparently in the works so keep your eyes peeled.

The ultimate sourcebook of Made in USA apparel, Crafted With Pride is a compilation of thoughtfully produced, quality apparel made right in your neighborhood. In this first edition publication, discover over 750 companies from across the United States committed to domestic manufacturing.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

New Post: Book Notes

By doing these posts regularly in 2024, I’ve concluded that not every book I read deserves a dedicated write-up. Sometimes, I’m just compelled to read something and want to capture my highlights and let it simmer for a while. Ametora is one of those books. Perhaps I will revisit the highlights later to extract more value from them, or perhaps not. I will take a Noguchi-esque approach to building out my library of book notes, meaning the books I find myself revisiting most frequently likely contain the highest signal and, therefore, deserve the most robust notes and distillations.

Reading

I finished Algorithms to Live By Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths - I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have a bunch of highlights and was introduced to several really useful computer science concepts like Three Arm Bandits, Noguchi Filiing Sytems, Laplace’s Law, Hill Climbing, and several others. I feel that this book did an excellent job of explaining how to look at the world through the lens of computer science. These concepts generalize extremely well because they are all heavily logic and math-based.

N=1: Single Subject Research by slimemoldtimemold - I’m a big fan of N=1 experiments and have been running them less rigorously for the last decade. I will likely incorporate the suggested random number generator into my next experiment.

Even if the difference is much more subtle — perhaps a 75% chance of a migraine with 400 mg magnesium and 80% without — with enough days, she can still show to an arbitrary level of confidence that the magnesium has the observed effect FOR HER, however small that effect might be.

My Personal “Attention Span” Takeaways by David Epstein - I’ve been cultivating more awareness of my attention span lately and concur with Epstein on a couple of these points. First, “don’t plan big chunks of time for intense focus” I have also generally found this futile. My tactic is to time-block 15-30 min to start a task and then build in some slack. If I get into a flow and catch some momentum, I can keep going, but If I don’t, I move on to something different. I can never predict when I will get into the flow and be compelled to produce at an accelerated clip. Knowing this, however, makes it much more of a numbers game, meaning the more time I sit down and start, the more chances I have of striking creative output gold. The second thing he mentioned that I also have been tracking is “paying attention to my attention: at what time and under what circumstances did I find it easy to focus?” I’ve noticed that the morning hours between 7:00 - 9:00 am are when creative thoughts and ideas tend to surface for me. Realizing this, I try to guard that time of day to work on my hardest, most cognitively demanding tasks.

Listening

The more I listen to Cal Newport, the more I’m convinced he’s Jason Bateman re-skinned as a computer scientist. Jokes aside. I’m sold on the concept of slow productivity and emphasis on quality, fun episode.

Random

Back in the tunnel, framed this one better than the last.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

Reading

Algorithms to Live By Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths - the chapter on caching introduced me to the Noguchi Filing System. A tantalizingly simple concept to create self-organizing systems. Essentially, it is an instance of the Last Recently Used principle, which states that the more recently something was used, the more likely it will be retrieved again in the future. Whenever an item is used and put back, it gets placed in the front / far left of the shelf or filing system. The Noguchi system is intended for document organization; however, I think this filing system would work well in any place with stacks or rows of things. The obvious places I thought to leverage this system were my closet, bookshelf, and kitchen. No more organizing by color, style, or genre. Just put the most recently used items first in the line or stack. Using this system, the answers to what I use, read/reference, and wear most automatically emerge bias-free. The other attractive aspect is how this would reduce the mental burden of figuring out what to buy more of or invest in higher quality versions of and what to throw out, move to an off-site archive, or stop purchasing entirely.

What might appear to others to be an unorganized mess, is infact, a self-organizing mess. Tossing things back on the top of the pile is the very best you can do, shy of knowing the future.

Statistical Process Control: A Manager’s Guide by Chris of Two Wrongs - continuing down the process control rabbit hole. I was curious to know about the magic constant of 2.66 for setting the upper and lower process limits of an XmR chart, and this piece provides a succinct explanation.

Listening

I really enjoyed this episode with Steph Smith. She is one of the most interesting thinkers I’ve come across in a while. If you’re short on time, I recommend just listening to the second half, where she shares her methods and tools for doing quick and dirty market research. Below are links to the tools she shared during the interview.

Neal Agarwal

Keywords Everywhere

Reddit tools

Gummysearch

SimilarWeb

Jungle Scout

Answer The Public

Random

I don’t need a boat. I don’t need a boat. I don’t need a boat? This 68’ Nauset will haunt me.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

New Post-Book Notes

Reading

Finished Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler and have notes queued up to be published in a couple of weeks. Cedric Chin’s Becoming Data Driven, From First Principles provides a breakdown of my excitement surrounding this topic. Operations nerds need only apply.

The XmR chart is most potent as a cultural transformation lever

Wheeler likes to say that XmR charts are the beginning of knowledge. What he means by this, I think, is simple: the XmR chart is the quickest, most effective way to create org-wide understanding of variation. Put differently, the XmR chart — while also effective as an operational tool — is most potent as a cultural transformation lever. And this is because they’re so easy to plot, so easy to teach, and simple enough that misuse is easy to detect.

Started Algorithms to Live By Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths - I’ve especially enjoyed the Optimal Stopping and Explore/Exploit chapters. This essay by Henrik Karlsson introduces and explores these same topics.

Creativity faucet: Increase your creativity by Julian Shapiro - a similar confluence point with what I wrote in September, Making the Abstract Material.

It's easier to look at something bad then intuit how to make it better than to make something good out of thin air.

Listening

A couple of exciting music-related announcements hit my windshield this week, so I have been revisiting some rotation staples.

1. Arcade Fire is planning a limited tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first (best) album, Funeral. This makes me feel old and giddy simultaneously. Here's hoping they add a West Coast show.

2. Vampire Weekend announced that their new album, Only God Was Above Us, will be released on April 5th. The twins and I have made listening to their FOTB album part of our weekend running ritual so we are excited. The bubbly little intro guitar riff on Harmony Hall makes them squeal and bop as we glide out of the garage.

Random

A few snaps from an unusually cold and rainy couple of weeks in SoCal.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

AP

New Post-Pod Notes

Reading

Ametora How Japan Saved American Style by W. David Marx - finished reading. Book notes forthcoming.

Ritual technology by Gordon Brander - I really loved this piece. H/T to . It articulates well a lot of what I believe to be true about the power of rituals. A maxim of mine is Ritual belays consistency. If you want to be consistent at something, start by designing a ritual.

Ritual technology operates on a different timescale. Underneath the fast twitch of compulsion loops is the slow thrum of ritual. Elder feedback systems. An antidote to algorithmic engagement addiction

Becoming Data Driven, From First Principles by Cedric Chin - incredible breakdown of some of the same concepts from Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler book I shared last week. This type of stuff really gets me excited. Down the W. Edwards Demming rabbit hole, I go.

The key idea here is that a large change is not necessarily worth investigating, and a small change is not necessarily benign. What you want to know is if the change is exceptional

Listening

This caught my attention because I’ve had the book Crossing the Chasm in the want-to-read stack for a couple of years now. I only got about half through this podcast, but so far, the conversation has made me want to read it more. No pun intended.

Random

I splurged and bought a replica Michael Ducaroy Togo lounge chair, which arrived Friday after a two-month build process. To me, it conjures a cross between a baseball glove and a giant cockroach out of a bad sci-fi film. It’s very strange, very 70s, and very comfortable. I absolutely love it and have high hopes this will be a forever piece.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

Andrew

New Post-Book Notes

Reading

Ametora How Japan Saved American Style by W. David Marx - working in the apparel industry early in my career, I’ve been aware of Japan’s exuberance for Ivy and American Traditional style, but this book provides a detailed timeline of how this phenomenon emerged.

Ametora, the Japanese slang abbreviation of “American Traditional”

…there was something chic about how Ivy students wore items until they disentigrated— holes in shoes, frayed collars, on shirts, patches on jacket elbows. Many nouveau riche Japanese would gasp in horror at this frugality, but the old-money Ishizu saw an immediate link between Ivy League fashion and the rakish, rough liij of hei’i’ habo, the early twentieth century phenomenon of elite students flaunting prestige through shabby uniforms. Ivy clothing signaled status through subtle underplay, something that Ishizu could feel in his old money blood.

Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler - the straightforward simplicity of a process behavior chart is blowing my mind. How is this not more mainstream?

By causing the potential signals to stand out, the process behavior chart will also minimize the number of times that you will miss a signal. Thus, process behavior charts are the beginning of knowledge because the help you ask the right questions.

Everybody needs this kind of help.

Andrew Carnegie by Joseph Frazier Wall - This behemoth is the next book from Poor Charlie’s Almanack recommended reading list.

How to be More Agentic by Cate Hall

In my way of thinking, radical agency is about finding real edges: things you are willing to do that others aren’t, often because they’re annoying or unpleasant

Momentum, Intellectual Humility, and Missing Pieces of the Model by Byrne Hobart

momentum exists at many levels:

It's much easier to keep working on something than to start it; divide your day into five-minute slices and you'll see productivity feed on itself, and also see that even minor interruptions that break the flow of concentration can put a stop to it. Habits accumulate, especially when they get to the point that you're building them into your schedule. The transition from "it takes mental effort to do this" to "it takes mental effort to skip this" is surprisingly short.

Listening

A few weeks back, the algorithm pushed a 2014 clip of Future Islands performing on Letterman that was so perfectly unhinged I had to investigate. I file this firmly under the “not for everyone” category, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying their back catalog, and the new album dropped yesterday. It’s great.

Be sure to peruse the comments section for some absolute gems

"it's like if the high school PE teacher was given a slot at the talent show and blew everyone away."

All four members of the band express their emotions through the vocalist

Random

Zab’s Hot Sauce. This sauce has taken over as my go-to morning hot sauce; I’m two bottles in and absolutely hooked. Cool branding, clean ingredients, and perfectly subtle slow burn hot sauce.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

Andrew

New Post-Book Notes

Reading

Men and Rubber: The Story of Business by Harvey S. Firestone is the second book from Poor Charlie’s Almanack recommended reading list. I flew through this one and absolutely loved the chapters recounting his yearly camping excursion with Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. What a bunch of beauties.

Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler - I picked this one up in the hopes of it helping me come up with a solution to an ongoing issue I’m having at my day job. More to come in a future MNTS.

Peter Kaufman’s An Unsung Hero Talk Transcript by KG - I’m deep down a Peter Kaufman rabbit hole at the moment. This is another incredible talk he gave at the University of Redlands.

When you combine top-down and bottom-up, you make correct decisions.

Go and talk to everybody. Get all the input from everybody. And what does that do? It designs the plan, doesn’t it? And then when you go to raise the money, everybody’s willing to contribute. Why? It’s their plan. They own it.

2024: A Pivotal Year on the Brink by Ray Dalio - I don’t know that I necessarily agree with this, but I do appreciate the attempt at articulating a macro view of all the wild and crazy factors heading into the election year. Weird times, folks.

Regardless of what happens in the US elections, the outcomes will have big implications for what will happen in the markets, economies, the domestic order, the world order, geopolitical and economic issues, the handling of the climate, and technology issues because each of the sides has very different views about these issues. The amounts of economic regulation, taxes, immigration, trade agreements, and tariffs as well as social issues will be handled very differently, depending on who is elected. For example, if Donald Trump is elected there is a good chance he would leave NATO, put 10% tariffs on all imports, reduce income and corporate taxes, greatly reduce regulations, reduce green initiatives, pursue much stronger policies of the right, and become more isolationist and nationalistic. If President Biden (or the Democrat who will replace him if the strains of the job impact him) wins, he will pursue diametrically opposed policies. The ideological fight of the extremists is real. If things continue going as they are, voters might eventually be faced with the question, “If forced to choose, would you prefer a fascist or a communist?” In any case, there is no doubt that 2024 will be an important, pivotal year for determining how the domestic order and all that it influences will go.

Listening

I can’t get enough of David Ogilvy; this one was so good. h/t

Random

Channeling some Fan Ho

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

Andrew

New Post - Pod Notes

Reading

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin- I finished reading the first book on the recommended readings from Charlie Munger and Peter Kaufman's list. Loved it! I have the book notes queued up to be published in a couple of weeks.

Men and Rubber: The Story of Business by Harvey S. Firestone is the second book we will be reading from the reading list. I’ve had this in the reading stack for a while, and I’m happy to prioritize and finally move to the top of the stack.

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke - Revisiting my highlights this week. I’ve planned to publish my book notes on this one for a while, but I highlighted so many passages I’d essentially be re-writing her book. I’m working through distilling my insights and will publish a dedicated post in the coming weeks.

Spikey and Meta Generalist by Byrne Hobart - interesting dichotomy proposed by Hobart. Self-assessing, I fall fairly squarely in the meta generalist schema.

The meta-generalist approach is less about getting good at a discrete set of tasks, and more about getting generally good at picking up new areas of expertise. Interestingly, this shows up in two kinds of CEOs at opposite ends of the spectrum: salesman-CEOs and capital allocators. The salesman CEO has to pick up enough information about a prospective customer's problems to articulate how their product can solve them, suss out unstated obstacles, and build a model of the customer's true org chart as opposed to the formal one. Capital allocator CEOs are, of course, looking at a broad set of investment opportunities, fitting them into some kind of framework that makes them comparable, and then doing deals.

Forty Years of Projects by Seth Godin is a cool way to reflect on one’s career and a valuable reminder of what can be accomplished with a long time horizon.

Here are a handful of the projects I’ve created and shipped over the last three decades–not my favorites, necessarily, or the biggest, but ones that indicate where I was when I was doing them. This is way more self-referential than I’m usually comfortable with, but the combination of timing and the specifics that come from the example made me think it was worth posting a chronology. Happy anniversary, and thanks for letting me create…

Listening

David Deutsch tends to be above my intellectual comfort zone, but this one is pretty approachable. His takes on AGI, creativity, and goal-driven life are thoughtful and insightful.

Random

Working on my portraits with one of my muses.

Until next week!

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

Andrew

New Post - Pod Notes

Reading

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Frankin - and I have decided to work our way through the recommended reading list in the back of Poor Charlie’s Almanack chronologically, starting with the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, published in 1897. If you are interested in reading along and joining us for a group discussion in a few weeks, reply to this email or comment below, and I’ll send you the invite to our virtual meet-up.

Almost everyone I’ve met would be well-served thinking more about what to focus on by Henrik Karlsson

The gambler needs to learn new knowledge about the machines and simultaneously use what they have already learned to optimize their decisions. In the literature, these two activities are referred to as exploring and exploiting. You can’t do both things at the same time. When you explore, you are pulling new arms on the bandit trying to figure out their expected payout. When you exploit, you pull the best arm you’ve found. You need to find the right balance. If you spend too little time exploring, you get stuck playing a machine with a low expected payoff. But if you spend too much time exploring, you will earn less than you would if you played the best arm. This is the explore/exploit trade-off.

This is the Person Selling Your Product by Stay SaaSy

If the person selling your product has a big account fall through, they’d better have other opportunities that can take its place. Even if losing that big prospect wasn’t their fault – the budget got cut, the buyer got laid off, the CEO got abducted by fucking aliens – this quarter’s commission check is now at risk and that nice gift for the kids might be gone with it. If the person selling your product misses the next quarter, they could be dusting off their resume.

Salesforce Signals the Golden Age of Cushy Tech Jobs is Over by Brody Ford, Jake Bennett

“The most important thing you can do in sales and life is to be a ‘homie.’ ”

Really Bad PowerPoint by Seth Godin - revisiting this one from 2007, not much has changed.

Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.)If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.

The Art (and Science) of the Steak by Jevi is the best steak prep and cooking explainer I’ve come across.

What will follow is my personal distillation of insights and techniques for cooking the perfect steak, cobbled together through years of research and testing. While there is no “one way” to cook a steak, knowing why you choose to do something (or not do something) is critical to the goal of elevating the centerpiece of your dinner.

Listening

If you are interested in some tactical ways to re-frame focus and distractedness, this was a great listen.

There's something wrong with this very stupid to-do list method, which doesn't force you to understand that there are trade-offs that you have to prioritize properly and that can Only be done with constraints. And that constraints come from your calendar. So you're turning your values into time by making time for traction and having this calendar.

And then only then you can look at your calendar and say, ah, whatever it is I plan to do, that's traction. Everything else is distraction.

Random

Training for the SoCal Iditarod. If you squint, you can see the ocean.

Stay spirited, stay resilient.

Andrew