Keep Two Thoughts

Stretching our attention span beyond social media posts and reconsidering James Baldwin.   Links:   Pew Research Anil Dash's post   Merlin Mann building a better to-do list part one and part two

The debate on sending kids back to school in the early months of COVID in the US.   Links: The Importance of Reopening America's Schools this Fall CDC report on children and the flu COVID and lung scarring and heart damage CDC report on Multiple Inflamatory syndrome in children.

The importance of nothing.   Errata: The date given in this episode is incorrect. The essay was originally published a week earlier on July 28, 2020.

What probability tells us about large and small numbers.   This was not part of the newsletter and was a separate essay I wrote July 24, 2020.

Focusing on the verb not the noun.   Links:   Eugene Wallingford: Persistence wins, even for someone like you Austin Kleon: The noun and the verb

On giving good notes to creative people.   Links   My presentation on Getting the most from your time Aline Brosh-McKenna on Scriptnotes Jose Molina's Note quote

A look back at staying social while leaving social media giant Facebook.   This was originally posted as an essay on Keep Two Thoughts - and was not the newsletter for July 14, 2020. We'll resume with those essays next week.

Finding the role you're meant to play. We do so much more than our job title. Links: Interview with Josh and Eliza In the original essay I shared plans of what I was planning to do next and pointed to this blog post called " Cups and Balls I also menitoned and linked to this essay on a coding mistake I made .  

It's not a competition - find your place, find your pace.   Link:   Take a Breath video from try! Swift WWDC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3L44h6mks&t=107s

A bit of a technical discussion about the keynote and state of the union at Apple's annual developer conference.   Links:   Developers, Developers, Developers Graham Lee's post Erica Sadun's post

Being passionate about what you do may be more important than doing what you're passionate about. It's what gets your behind into the seat day after day.   Links:   Nick Lockwood on motivation Big Think on Decision making

The answer we give may depend on who's asking and the work that they've put in.

On the importance of putting ourselves in other people's shoes and what we can do when we recognize we're hurting someone.

Design Patterns aren't those long, complicated, formal things you think they are. They are usually simple solutions to a common problem. This episode includes a simple example.   Links: Luis' pattern Duncan's extension

Many times when we say we're looking for advice, we're really seeking permission. Go ahead and give yourself permission to do the things you want and need to do.  

During the pandemic a new sort of way of gathering emerged where we presented, attended, and met at virtual conferences. As much as I missed seeing people in person, there was something special and more inclusive about these conferences too.

You say "thank you" both to thank the other person and to remind yourself of all of the things that others do for you throughout your day.

When you interview someone for a job, instead of having them up at a white board answering technical questions, make sure it's someone you want to work with.  As an experiment, there's no music this episode. Let me know what you think.  Links: NetNewsWire repository  https://github.com/Ranchero-Software/NetNewsWire/tree/master/Mac Practicing the Coding Challenges https://inessential.com/2020/04/26...

The problem isn't always where the pain is. In this episode I use the lessons of referred pain to consider how to fix a problem in a book I'm writing.   Music: Apple Loops Chinese Traditional Dizi

After a month of lockdown we were losing track of what day it was. Meanwhile people are pointing out all that Newton had done during the lockdowns in his time.   Music from Garage Band Loops Hand in Hand.

Why is it that companies offer better discounts to new customers than existing customers? Also, a discussion of discounts from other authors and a discount I tried with the Functional Kickstart book.   Here's a link to A Functional Programming Kickstart: https://editorscut.com/Books/FunctionalKickstart/bookPage.html The music in the episode is "Two Gentlemen" by KidDiv downloaded from youtube.com/...

In this episode I revisit the launch of the newsletter on the anniversary of it turning three years old and welcome you to the podcast edition.   Like a sourdough starter that's gone off, I decided to let go of my old newsletter and start this one fresh. I'm doing the same with this podcast.   Here's a link to A Bread Baking Kickstart: https://editorscut.com/Books/Bread/bookPage.html