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11 changes: 4 additions & 7 deletions src/markdown-pages/bookshelf.md
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title: "Bookshelf"
---


This is a starting point for book recommendations that I think probably have the *broadest* appeal. In general, I think recommendations are more valuable if they are more personal, and for that matter a recommendation of 2 books is worth more than a recommendation of 100. So I will try to keep this list as small as possible, which I hope does not make it so mainstream that it is uninteresting.
This is a starting point for book recommendations that I think probably have the _broadest_ appeal. In general, I think recommendations are more valuable if they are more personal, and for that matter a recommendation of 2 books is worth more than a recommendation of 100. So I will try to keep this list as small as possible, which I hope does not make it so mainstream that it is uninteresting.

As always, the most valuable book is the one you read twice.

Expand All @@ -14,15 +13,14 @@ Literature is the most pleasurable and the most useful of all writing, it will t

Bohumil Hrabal - [I Served the King of England](https://amzn.to/39p9eB6) had a profound impact on me when I first read it. [Too Loud a Solitude](https://amzn.to/3nWKRyW) (which apparently on amazon I have purchased four times) and [Closely Watched Trains](https://amzn.to/2JmKYom) are also excellent short works.

Italo Calvino - [Invisible Cities](https://amzn.to/33RCeOr) is his most popular work and is *good* but [If on a Winter's Night a Traveler](https://amzn.to/2JKeN2F) is his best, however it is even better if you have read other Calvino first. The short stories in [Numbers in the Dark](https://amzn.to/3gjTctO) are very good.
Italo Calvino - [Invisible Cities](https://amzn.to/33RCeOr) is his most popular work and is _good_ but [If on a Winter's Night a Traveler](https://amzn.to/2JKeN2F) is his best, however it is even better if you have read other Calvino first. The short stories in [Numbers in the Dark](https://amzn.to/3gjTctO) are very good.

Vladimir Nabokov - [Pnin](https://amzn.to/3gmamaq) is his most accessible work. His collection of short [Stories](https://amzn.to/2VHPsJj) is one of my favorite collections. His best work is [Ada, or Ardor](https://amzn.to/2L5Xvxi).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Almost everything ever published by Marquez is excellent, including his autobiography. It is easy to find his most popular works but his best work is probably [No One Writes to the Colonel](https://amzn.to/33RxnwR).

Others come to mind but they are not for everyone. I love Stefan Zweig's fiction but I suspect many would find him stuffy. [The Post-Office Girl](https://amzn.to/3qwvdw9) might be his best. Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky's [Memories of the Future](https://amzn.to/3gh2SoW) is darkly imaginative but certainly not for everyone. At the other end of the hallway, Haruki Murakami's dreamlike worlds are oddly all comfortably similar to each other: I think [Wind-Up Bird Chronicle](https://amzn.to/2JT1DQS) and [Kafka on the Shore](https://amzn.to/2LeLUfy) are his best, but others have grown on me over time. Fernando Pessoa's [Book of Disquiet](https://amzn.to/3gyXLk6) is a masterpiece, but I don't expect everyone to agree.


## History

The first three books taken together clear up some considerable blind spots in the average person's view of history. For re-reading, the audiobook versions of all three are quite good.
Expand All @@ -49,7 +47,7 @@ In some sense these are history, and they often have more detail than most histo

[Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination](https://amzn.to/3gD3VQ4) by Neal Gabler - Mst companies would never accept someone like Disney as CEO today, for a number of reasons. It is difficult to appreciate Disney's differences in summary, so the biography is well worth it.

[The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life](https://amzn.to/2LfMvxp) by John le Carré - One of the best audiobook performances, as it is read by the author, who has all the emotion (and accents) as he recounts his life stories. It is probably more worthwhile if you've read a few of his other books, at a minimum read *The Spy Who Came in From The Cold* and watch *Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*.
[The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life](https://amzn.to/2LfMvxp) by John le Carré - One of the best audiobook performances, as it is read by the author, who has all the emotion (and accents) as he recounts his life stories. It is probably more worthwhile if you've read a few of his other books, at a minimum read _The Spy Who Came in From The Cold_ and watch _Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy_.

## Design

Expand All @@ -59,11 +57,10 @@ In some sense these are history, and they often have more detail than most histo

[Drawing for architecture](https://amzn.to/3fICnZc) by Leon Krier

For my discussion of these books you should read my series of articles: [Designing a New Old Home](https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/designing-a-new-old-home-part-1-cf298b58ed41).
For my discussion of these books you should read my series of articles: [Designing a New Old Home](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/designing-a-new-old-home-beginnings).

## Food

[An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace](https://amzn.to/3q55jzD) by Tamar Adler - Shreeda called this "A Pattern Language for food." A book about how to think about cooking and eating, I think it is the best "cook book" that exists.

[The Measure of Her Powers: An M. F. K. Fisher Reader](https://amzn.to/33ZLoIK) - MFK Fisher is perhaps the greatest American food writer of all time. She has the perfect evocative imagination needed to speak about food. The audiobook is very good.

56 changes: 27 additions & 29 deletions src/markdown-pages/goals2020.md
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Expand Up @@ -4,15 +4,15 @@ title: "Goals for 2020 (updated)"
date: "1.26.2020 & 11.26.2020"
---

## *This has been updated with pass/fail*
## _This has been updated with pass/fail_

Some context: In 2018 my wife and I bought 3 former haying fields, about 4.5 acres, and built a home there, which we moved into early 2019. [Some pictures](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1183143604925190144). Landscaping was not in the budget, so we're doing it all ourselves, which takes a considerable amount of our time and these goals.

Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update this page as I succeed or fail.

1. Finish clearing the 3rd field (overtaken by pines) and plant about a half-acre(?) of buckwheat by hand(???) harvest by hand.

*Update august 2020: This failed. See the [official buckwheat planting thread](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1261093563087097857) for details*
_Update august 2020: This failed. See the [official buckwheat planting thread](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1261093563087097857) for details_

2. Move garden closer to house, so we can walk outside with bare feet on brick path to reach it easily from kitchen

Expand All @@ -22,17 +22,17 @@ Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update thi
<img src="../images/posts/goals2020/fields.jpg" alt="Fields" title="Fields" />
<div>

✔️ *Update: We created 4 new beds next to the house and used both gardens this year. We will probably add 4 more beds next year to this new upper garden*
✔️ _Update: We created 4 new beds next to the house and used both gardens this year. We will probably add 4 more beds next year to this new upper garden_

✔️ *In the fall we created even more space for gardens close to the house*
✔️ _In the fall we created even more space for gardens close to the house_

3. Pay for a friend with a tractor to build a retaining wall out of granite (already acquired) behind house. Build nice patio. It will look like pictured. Just kidding (unless...?)

<div style="max-width: 500px; margin: auto;">
<img src="../images/posts/goals2020/patio.jpg" alt="Patio (not really)" title="Patio (not really)" />
<div>

✔️✔️✔️❌ *Our friend got seriously injured and was off to a slow start, but now I am working with him to not only build the wall and a stone patio, but rebuild my smaller brick patio much larger:*
✔️✔️✔️❌ _Our friend got seriously injured and was off to a slow start, but now I am working with him to not only build the wall and a stone patio, but rebuild my smaller brick patio much larger:_

<div style="max-width: 500px; margin: auto;">
<img src="../images/posts/goals2020/patio2.jpg" alt="Patio so far" title="Patio so far" />
Expand All @@ -44,53 +44,51 @@ Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update thi

5. Build small shed

✔️ *May update: decided to build a chicken house instead. It is being sided [right now](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1264256237002264577).*
✔️ _May update: decided to build a chicken house instead. It is being sided [right now](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1264256237002264577)._

6. Build wood storage outside

✔️ *A simple semi-timber framed storage was built, plus a holz-hausen*
✔️ _A simple semi-timber framed storage was built, plus a holz-hausen_

7. Turn the entire front lawn into a crazy field of poppies, probably a mix of shirley, california, and icelandic. The california poppies experiment grew really well this year but we'll see how they do year over year.

*May update: Although I planted hundreds of thousands of poppy seeds, either the strange spring weather (very cold then very hot with no rain) or my poor timing has caused only a handful of them to grow. This is very unfortunate, but I will try again next year.*
_May update: Although I planted hundreds of thousands of poppy seeds, either the strange spring weather (very cold then very hot with no rain) or my poor timing has caused only a handful of them to grow. This is very unfortunate, but I will try again next year._

8. Have a baby

*update: [coming July](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1215265380677058563)*
_update: [coming July](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1215265380677058563)_

*May update: [30 weeks](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1257628232205111296)*
_May update: [30 weeks](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1257628232205111296)_

✔️ *July 21 update: [Luca Marin Sarris](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1286769485375066113)*
✔️ _July 21 update: [Luca Marin Sarris](https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1286769485375066113)_

9. Design some cottages. It may be many years before we're able to build one, though

*no progress :(*
_no progress :(_

10. Design a workshop, build it if we have funds? Something really simple, enough to hold woodworking equip, a pottery wheel, and small propane forge hooked up to our 500gal tank?

*!! No progress!!*
_!! No progress!!_

11. (in the winter months, mostly) publish more than last year. Winter here lends itself to this sort of thing.

*so far: [Designing a New Old Home: Part 1](https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/designing-a-new-old-home-part-1-cf298b58ed41) Jan 16 2019*

✔️ *Update: I have started [newsletter](https://simonsarris.substack.com) in the summer, surprisingly*
✔️ _Update: I have started [newsletter](https://map.simonsarris.com) in the summer, surprisingly_

12. Host more guests than last year, cook for more people. We both love cooking for other people, but have kept our heads down a lot in 2019.

*Update: so there's this virus...*
_Update: so there's this virus..._

13. Make a few more "for fun" websites

❌(✔️? Starting Simeville in earnest)

14. Make a small LLC? And sell some art stuff? I'm not sure what yet, maybe pottery or wood things, just for fun.

*not started*
_not started_

15. Leave the US at least once (a goal we have for every year, even if its just driving to Montreal)

❌❌❌ *Well the virus will kill this one...*
❌❌❌ _Well the virus will kill this one..._

16. On the 3rd field, start to build a temple to Artemis or Apollo, or the sun. It will almost certainly have to be timber, not stone. Also build a small temple or shrine to Christ. Probably won't be done in 2020.

Expand All @@ -111,23 +109,23 @@ Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update thi
</div>
</div>

❌? *June update: I sunk a tractor near here and made it somewhat uglier :D*
❌? _June update: I sunk a tractor near here and made it somewhat uglier :D_

✔️? *Fall update: The area has been considerably cleaned up now, mostly raw dirt. The duck pond itself is still fairly plain.*
✔️? _Fall update: The area has been considerably cleaned up now, mostly raw dirt. The duck pond itself is still fairly plain._

18. Start a book of fables, try to self-publish it before the end of 2021? I have only some notes for this so far, I really don't know how long it will take.

✔️ *May update: started a collection, but it's small so far.*
✔️ _May update: started a collection, but it's small so far._

✔️ *August update: Through my [newsletter](https://simonsarris.substack.com) I now have several, which I will start the collection nicely.*
✔️ _August update: Through my [newsletter](https://map.simonsarris.com) I now have several, which I will start the collection nicely._

19. Learn the basics of timber framing. Maybe use 5. and 6. as practice for this.

✔️? *Did some very rudimentary stuff with the chook house. August: Practicing some techniques for the wood storage, too.*
✔️? _Did some very rudimentary stuff with the chook house. August: Practicing some techniques for the wood storage, too._

20. Furnish another bedroom in the house. We just got our guest bedroom a bed and mattress (don't all visit at once guys) but it needs everything else.

❌/✔️ *August update: this is 30% complete*
❌/✔️ _August update: this is 30% complete_

21. Build shelves for the kitchen, just one level, right above the tile

Expand All @@ -143,16 +141,16 @@ Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update thi
<img src="../images/posts/goals2020/island.jpg" alt="Kitchen island" style="max-height: 400px;" />
</div>

✔️ *Coming very soon!*
✔️ _Coming very soon!_

23. Make some kind of village builder, simulator, or collaboration game. Something beautiful. Probably in HTML Canvas. Probably (???) in 3d.

*Started in winter but abandoned due to lack of time, for now*
_Started in winter but abandoned due to lack of time, for now_

24. Re-start the orchard, that was started and semi- (mostly?) destroyed this year. Plant bigger trees or come up with something for deer defense.

✔️ *May update: One peach tree is now defended, two new apple trees are in.*
✔️ _May update: One peach tree is now defended, two new apple trees are in._

25. Find some way to inspire more people, or make them more optimistic. Or find a way to make people want beautiful things & want to make beauty. This is ofc hazy, but I think I'll have a good sense of whether or not I accomplish it.

✔️ *I think I understand this now. Several people have told me to ✔️ this goal but I think most of the work here is yet to come.*
✔️ _I think I understand this now. Several people have told me to ✔️ this goal but I think most of the work here is yet to come._
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion src/markdown-pages/goals2021.md
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Expand Up @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ date: "1.18.2021 & 11.27.2021"

## _This has been updated with pass/fail_

Some context: Me and my wife bought some former haying fields overrun with pines and [built a house](https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/designing-a-new-old-home-part-1-cf298b58ed41) there. We have been doing all the landscaping ourselves, which will take years, and now we are starting to build out a small farm.
Some context: Me and my wife bought some former haying fields overrun with pines and [built a house](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/designing-a-new-old-home-beginnings) there. We have been doing all the landscaping ourselves, which will take years, and now we are starting to build out a small farm.

Goals are numbered only in the order I thought of them. I will try to update this page as I succeed or fail. You can see the pass/fail of last year's goals here: [Goals for 2020](/goals2020).

Expand Down
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silentTitle: "Home"
---

*What's new:*
_What's new:_

📯 In October 2022 I have launched [Careful Words](https://carefulwords.com), a slightly more inspired thesaurus, that contains lots of historical quotes and poetry alongside synonyms. I intend to curate it heavily over time.

📯 I have started a [newsletter](https://simonsarris.substack.com/). It shall be a stromata of anecdotes, fables, tales, advice if you ask for it, photography, questions, sentiment, and ways to get lost in the forest. Some of it will be private. Some will be legible. Not too legible I hope.
📯 I have started a [newsletter](https://map.simonsarris.com/). It shall be a stromata of anecdotes, fables, tales, advice if you ask for it, photography, questions, sentiment, and ways to get lost in the forest. Some of it will be private. Some will be legible. Not too legible I hope.

Some highlights:

[In Praise of the Gods: What the Rationalistic World Forgot](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/in-praise-of-the-gods), *the stupor of rationality • stories, building intuition • alchemy, building process • religion, building wonder* — Why rationalism is overdone, how to build your intuition, why I call myself an alchemist, and how I think about religion.
[In Praise of the Gods: What the Rationalistic World Forgot](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/in-praise-of-the-gods), _the stupor of rationality • stories, building intuition • alchemy, building process • religion, building wonder_ — Why rationalism is overdone, how to build your intuition, why I call myself an alchemist, and how I think about religion.

[Long Distance Thinking](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/long-distance-thinking), True things are disclosed slowly.
[Long Distance Thinking](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/long-distance-thinking), True things are disclosed slowly.

[The Most Precious Resource is Agency](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/the-most-precious-resource-is-agency), The world is a very malleable place.
[The Most Precious Resource is Agency](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/the-most-precious-resource-is-agency), The world is a very malleable place.

[That Which is Unique, Breaks](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/that-which-is-unique-breaks)
[That Which is Unique, Breaks](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/that-which-is-unique-breaks)

[Familiarity and Belonging](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/familiarity-and-belonging)
[Familiarity and Belonging](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/familiarity-and-belonging)

[Where to Live](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/where-to-live)
[Where to Live](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/where-to-live)

[Photography Workflow](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/photography-workflow), I detail how I edit photos, and recommendations for new photographers
[Photography Workflow](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/photography-workflow), I detail how I edit photos, and recommendations for new photographers

[On the Usefulness of Photography](https://simonsarris.substack.com/p/on-the-usefulness-of-photography), *Photography is a magical art and an underrated tool: Combined with modern photo storage it is the biggest boost to memory since the invention of writing. I have for you here some notes on it’s usefulness and the art.*
[On the Usefulness of Photography](https://map.simonsarris.com/p/on-the-usefulness-of-photography), _Photography is a magical art and an underrated tool: Combined with modern photo storage it is the biggest boost to memory since the invention of writing. I have for you here some notes on it’s usefulness and the art._

~ ~ ~



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