Bday week
Birthdays are my absolute favourite.
I usually organise a big weekend with friends and family - evenings of activities, drinking and food.
It’s a way to celebrate that I made it. Another year.
But I know many people who don’t like that.
They don’t like to mark the date on their wall calendars; they don’t want to be the centre of attention; it’s not their thing.
And even though I don’t understand it, I still believe that when someone says, ‘I don’t like celebrating birthdays’ they just haven’t found their way to do so. Yet.
This week was Paulina’s birthday, and she is one of these people.
So I have to work with what I got.
There is a bit of planning and preparation. Throwing someone a birthday party that can’t be a party is harder than you think.
It can be done, though.
Because it’s not about the gifts, cakes and singing, just because our planet did another circle around the Sun.
It’s about making a day (or a week, as I view birthdays as a full week, not just one day) a little brighter and fun.
Happy birthday to the best wife!
(and even Benji, who had nightly diarrhoea for the better part of the week, can’t ruin the celebrations)
WORK
Podcasts
Casefile is back with the first episode of a 4-part series.
Which shot up to the No. 1 spot in many countries.
And there is more to come!
YouTube
As I wanted to put a line between the old videos and new, I recorded a more personal video for my main channel, going over my love-hate relationship with YouTube.
BOOKS
After finishing the epic Wiedźmin stories, I am back on ‘smart’ books for a little while.
(I also have the latest Dan Brown in a queue…)
How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio
I’ve been following Dalio since his debut with Principles. It’s worth reading his work as he doesn’t react to recent events, but studies history and looks for patterns and parallels.
This book is quite technical, but what I like is that he makes the easy parts in bold, so people who aren’t interested in details can focus on the overall message.
The book builds on previous work and is worth reading for anyone who wants to understand why the world feels a bit shit at the moment.
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
Perez is a British feminist author, and her 2019 book is recommended reading for people interested in the movement.
When it comes to topics that are overshadowed by emotional response (immigration, racism, feminism, etc.) I always look for books backed up by data, writing that strips away the dialogue to the basics. Perez’s writing not only doesn’t disappoint but at times overwhelms with stats and evidence. I recommend it for anyone interested in gender bias and what Perez calls a gender/sex data gap.
MOVIES/TV
Foundation
I love hard Sci-Fi, but I am struggling with this one. Halfway through the first season, and the show is two uneven parts. The Empire plot is top-notch, and everything else is quite bad.
Acting and writing are very uneven, too. It looks great, but for now, I am giving it a pause and starting something else. Life’s too short.
(I really wanted to like it.)
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you (hopefully!) next week!
Mike
https://mikemigas.com/
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