GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Notes

  • Anaheim and Big Bear, Summer 2024

    Notes from our Disneyland + Big Bear run (trying to escape the Las Vegas heat before school starts).

    0) The day before we left, we battled a pantry bug infestation. After decades of bulk purchases it was finally our turn. Better that they showed up before we left, but it made for a hectic run up to the vacation. From now on, everything bulk goes into the freezer for a week. And no more stocking up.

    1) Our boy is not good with mountains nor traffic and certainly not both—he’s thrown up a couple of times on the Cajon Pass between Victorville and San Bernardino.  If your kiddo has a similar issue, Coyote Canyon Park is a lifesaver.  It sits right after the pass with restrooms and a shaded playground. As a city park, the restrooms might be closed after dark, but they were open both times we’ve visited. Our future Vegas to SoCal runs will plan on hitting the Clyde V. Kane Rest Stop and then this park as we glide into the megacity.

    2) The kids felt they liked Legoland almost as much as Disney.  If so, there’s more stuff to do a short drive away, the weather more pleasant, Legoland a bit cheaper, and the park is well suited for younger kids. San Diego FTW. That said, this is Disneyland!  

    3) We refused to pay the extra $35 per head per day for Lightning Passes but still got plenty of rides by skipping the popular roller coasters (Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Star Wars, Cars). That said, keep an eye out for the virtual queue program.  It was being used to control crowds at the Haunted Mansion Ride (and I suspect offered as a free taste for their Lightning Pass system).

    4) We stayed at the Anaheim Islander Inn and Suites (which we used for our last visit five years ago).  A totally no frills motel with bananas and costco danishes for “breakfast”.  The place was clean, walking distance to the park, and the price was right.

    5) The design manager at my office with a bit more Disneyland experience recommends the Candy Cane Inn.  It’s a little pricier but looks a lot nicer (it was on our route to the park).  We would have considered this place if we were visiting with our parents since they have a shuttle to the park.

    6) Bring a stroller. This is the last time our boy can ride it and it was nice to throw wheels under him for the half mile march home. Even so, we’ll bring it next time since it was a great provisions cart to supply these day long marathons.

    7) The three weekday tickets were the best deal we could find. Ideally, we’d live in Southern California and visit once a month for a season, but that’s not an option for Nevadans. Three days in a row was plenty; we were getting frayed by the last day. Even our girl acknowledged that she would have had her fill after four days (two at each park).

    8) I strongly prefer Disneyland over California Adventure. Disneyland feels more authentic in its simulacrum, partly because much of it was built before disability standards. California Adventure is the outdoor mall version of Disneyland—the girl commented that it felt a bit like a casino. But they preferred the thrill rides at California Adventure.

    9) We planned on exploring other parts of LA, but it was too friggin hot. Coming from Vegas, I thought we could handle the heat, but outdoor all day under a humid 83 is a lot. So we went up to Big Bear instead. Along the way, we got gas in San Bernardino. It was 105. I have no idea why anyone would live there instead of Vegas.

    10) Yes, the boy threw up twice on the way up the mountain.

    11) We stayed up there for two full days to decompress from Disney before heading home.  We hit up the Big Bear Valley Historical Museum with a few old buildings and plenty of exhibits, well worth the entry fee of $5 per adult. The Big Bear Alpine Zoo was a bit more expensive ($54 for the family) and the animals were hiding from the heat.  The San Diego or Los Angeles Zoos would be better deals…but we weren’t in SD nor LA, and LV don’t got no zoos.  Both places were good for 90 minutes each if you savor the strolls. 

    12) I suspect there are plenty of nature things to do as well, but we used up all our walking energy in Anaheim. Our AirBNB had Disney+ so we caught up on Bluey. YouTube noticed and fed us the single Bluey episode that the Mouse refuses to stream on their service. Fortunately the Australian Broadcasting Company has now uploaded Dad Baby for everyone to watch. It’s hilarious. Go check it out.

    13) We also watched Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, and Dumbo. They’re all great, but Dumbo was amazing. 5 minutes of story as an excuse to produce 85 minutes of badass animation. If you haven’t watched Dumbo lately, do yourself a favor and check it out after you watch Dad Baby.

    14) The ride home was uneventful. Unlike the route up from LA, the road down to Vegas was gentle, on par with a Mount Charleston run.  Along the way, we hit up the EddieWorld gas station north of Barstow.  It was meh—what you’d expect from any wannabe tourist trap (like the Terrible’s at Jean). 

    15) We skipped the claw machine at Prizm Mall at Primm this time, but it’s a way better stop with all the massive murals inside and outside of the dead mall. I wonder how long that building will stay open since it only has one shop operating in that place. Five years ago we hit up the old Barstow Outlet Mall (the old one set back from the freeway). At the time it was almost empty but still well maintained with green lawns. That place is now fenced off and totally brown inside.

    16) I brought a bunch of books but I didn’t get much reading in. But I did get some good progress on The Conference of the Birds (Darbandi & Davis translation). I dig it. I don’t grok the Sufi obsession with “love” in a Islamic context but I’m only halfway through. At least I’m now in sync with the masnavi meter. Last year, I tried to read Rumi’s Masnavi but I couldn’t get past the rhyming structure. Now I think I can flow with it.

    update: 17). I completely forgot to mention the highlight of our Zoo trip. While at the gray wolf exhibit, the three wolves settled up against the glass. They were on a raised platform so our faces were less than an inch away from these majestic beasts. Mama was so moved that she let the kids buy a wolf stuffy at the gift shop even though she’s sick of the proliferation of soft toys in our house. This afternoon my daughter looked the zoo website and found out that these wolves were rescued from the illegal pet trade. They arrived malnourished and with severe mange. Humans are so callously cruel, and yet, this zoo shows that we can also emend our faults.

  • Hilda, Bluey, Waffles+Mochi

    Hilda, Seasons 1 and 2, Luke Pearson

    In 2020, we discovered Hilda on Netflix and devoured the series. Our girl was so charmed, she read all the graphic novels and books, even though the stories had already been retold in the TV show.

    Hilda works because the world is constrained and limitless. The geography is tight, but anything can happen. And even if we’re missing a bunch of Scandinavian mythology, there’s a lots to enjoy.

    A young spunky protagonist.
    Strange creatures.
    The supernatural.
    Thrills.
    Lots of trolls.
    Hilda’s friends.

    And my favorite, the woodman. He’s a total ass, but he likes jazz and lives in a stylish modern home from the 70’s. I wish I could be as imperturbable as him.

    Suitable for children but interesting for adults. Thrilling but not scary.

    Here’s to the next season!

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    I wrote this in 2021 and Season 3 came out last year…but we are no longer on Netflix. At some point we’ll resubscribe. Maybe after the kids grow out of their Pokemon obsession.

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    Bluey, Seasons 1 to 3, Joe Brumm

    The dog family y’all wish you had—
    playing parents,
    giggling kids,
    house atop of the hill,
    and a verdant lawn.

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    This is how you know it’s great — Disney Plus was compelled to license this Australian Broadcasting Company show. Hard recommend.

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    Waffles + Mochi, Season 1, Thormahlen and Konner.

    We loved it—the girl, the boy, and me— but mama found it a too saccharine.

    I normally avoid food shows because it’s an exercise of remote envy. This show certainly brings a lot of envy, but it moved briskly and covered fun topics. And how can you deny a power anthem to the lowly egg?

    But was it prudent to feature Mrs. Obama in the show? The Obama fit my type, so I enjoyed her presence. Maybe they would have had a wider reach with a non-political figure. Then again, in this rabidly interconnected age, the mere involvement of the production company might have turned off Republican viewers anyways. Their loss.

    I wonder what GOP tinged productions am I missing out on?

    That aside, I enjoyed all ten episodes. It might be too saccharine for you, but at least check out their fine with the first episode.

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    Another show to add to the Netflix cue, along with Arcane Season 2 and Pui Pui Molcar Season 2.

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    Speaking of Arcane, I just realized that I never wrote about Season 1, by Linke and Yee.

    It’s a visual treat, but I can’t get excited by teenagers dealing with their issues, even if they are trying to save/ruin the world. I noted in an aside last year “Arcane—a fun show that doesn’t reach the stratosphere of top-line classics.”

    Check out this scene. Stylish and visceral. Damn.

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    cartoons
    all
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    pokemon
    gotta
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  • Baron in the Trees, Calvino (1957), The Jerusalem Windows, Chagall (1962), Genie’s Banquet, Eifuku & Takada (2016) Dorfromantik, Palm & Zach (2023)

    Baron in the Trees, only took me forever to read this.

    • Like many foreign films, the novel is fun and quirky until but the real world intrudes.
    • Indeed, this impending sense of doom is why it took me months to finish.
    • But it was edifying. A brilliant display of sparse deep storytelling.

    Jerusalem Windows, a killer $2 find at the library.

    • As with many mid-century monographs, it comes with a hagiography of the great artist. I kind of enjoy it, in a nostalgic way.
    • The colors are stunning, and it’s awesome to watch the process from sketches to finished window and detail.
    • But the allegory in the images are hard to grok, even for a kid who grew up as a hardcore Christian. I need to reread this book. Slower.

    Genie’s Banquet, a filler with the kids.

    • A fine example of a sharp little Japanese card game, common in the 2010’s.
    • As a cooperative game, this it’s a perfect fit at this moment.
    • There are some translation glitches in the rules, but the joy of boardgaming is that you can make up the rules when you’re unsure. We made it work.

    Dorfromantik, for my wife’s fake birthday, but really for the boy.

    • Charming and idyllic is exactly correct in describing this game. Normally I want a game to have an edge, but it’s the lack such an edge that makes this game. The SDJ is well earned.
    • This board game successfully imports the ubiquitous constant-unlock dynamic of the mobile gaming. However, I appreciate that this is non-destructive process (unlike the Legacy series). Most importantly, thank god, there’s no pay to win model with this thing.
    • I wonder if I should toughen the boy up by playing competitive games (winning, losing, manhood, and all that). In the meantime I’ll enjoy these team games with him. Who knows when he will phase out—they change so fast!

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    Having finished my calligraphy notebook last week, I started on our girl’s composition book from first grade. Might as well use up all the paper we got. It’s fun to add my practice with her old studies, and this means I’ll finish another notebook sooner rather than later!

    (and yes…that should have been “hungry”, but sometimes you just roll with it.)

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  • Book Notes, April, May 2024

    Now that we’ve finally put our books up on shelves after a decade in the garage, I pull random old books to enjoy before bedtime. The bedroom is getting crowded with a pile that needs to go back downstairs.

    Here are some notes before sending them back into the stacks.

    Staying by the bed

    Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino—I’m still slowly working through this book. I paused to read Cosmicomics and might get distracted by T-zero but I want to finish it sooner rather than later.

    Letter on Ethics, Seneca—I enjoyed listening to the selected letters audiobook by Penguin so I picked up the complete letters translated by Margaret Graver last year. I finally started reading them; I’m enchanted by their brevity even though (spoiler warning) the later letters seem to run long.

    The Unbroken Web, Richard Adams—This collection of stories has that pan-religious vibe from the 70/80’s. I most likely would have sent this back onto the shelves but I wrapped it up as a self-birthday present so I might as well give it a solid try in June.

    Carlo Scarpa, The Complete Works—I borrowed this volum many times in college so I finally bought it as a birthday treat. In the past, I only looked at the images, but after spending 100 euros, I’m for damn sure reading the essays. Good lord, that’s some turgid writing. Architecture criticism at its finest.

    Going back up

    Cosmicomics, Italo Calvino—I’ve tried reading this many times over the years and finally broke through. It’s a tender collection of short stories based on scientific principles. I wonder if aging and kids have given me an appreciation for love stories.

    Zhuangzi (Burton) & Lieh-tzu (Graham)—Always good to revisit two of the key texts of Daoism.

    Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess—The boy was curious about chess so we played a few times. I pulled this book of the shelves because I find chess utterly impenetrable. I’ve never been good at with spatial games, much less a perfect information abstract. I slogged through a couple exercises before giving up even though I’m still enchanted by the structure of this book.

    The 26 Letters, Oscar Ogg—Delightfully of its time though I wonder how it holds up with the historical scholarship over the past sixty years.

    40 days dans le desert B, Moebius—Absolute classic. Trippy as fuck.

    The Ode Less Travelled, Stephen Fry—I borrowed this book from the library when I thought I’d take my poetry experiments more seriously. Instead, work took over my life. In stressful times, the pursuit of quality may have the paradoxical side effect of stifling production. Time to send it back to the public library.

    Under the Jaguar Sun, Italo Calvino—I was searching for something to calm the mind, but this was a bit too intense. Turned out that my subconscious was close, since the correct answer was Cosmicomics.

    Journey to the West (Yu)—Always good for a romp Great Sage Under Heaven. Plus a little poetry.

    Charles M. Russell—Nice overview of the artist’s work. Holy hell, the wild west was indeed wild. Life of all types was cheap back then.

    Signal to Noise, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean—The art holds up. The writing is what you’d expect from a 30 year old writing about a protagonist twice his age. I loved Gaiman, but I’ve soured over the past few years. One day I’ll revisit Sandman, but I’m dreading the potential realization that I’ve outgrown this as well.

    Giovanni Battista Piranesi—A collection of his prints. If drawn accurately, the scale of the ruins are unimaginable, towering over the inglorious lives conducted under these decaying edifices. Quite unsafe to stay in those shadows, though I guess you’ll take what you can get in the heat of summer. Beyond antiquity though, his renderings are sick. Beyond rad.

    Carlo Scarpa—In college, I picked up this Taschen survey on the (relative) cheap. It’s a passable intro to his work, though with the obnoxious style repeating text with multiple languages on each page. Then again, it reminded me of the greatness of Scarpa which lead to my big birthday purchase (noted above).
     

  • quill

    In January, I wrote a letter to a colleague who is rejoining to our team. Selfishly, I’m excited that she returned.

    This was my first tiny poem-calligraphies to leave the house. It was also one of the last ones that I wrote.

    It’s been a long 2024, and we haven’t even started the biennial budgeting season—that hits tomorrow.

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    Unfortunately, my publication schedule will continue to be sporadic. After we get our budget season assignments, it’s off to the races through June.

    Beyond the increasing workload, it has been a tumultuous time for our team. Hopefully things will settle down, but it’s not surprising that my Commute Music project has stalled on Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult over the past month.

    I just started moving again with Blue Mitchell. Yes, I’m slightly out of alphabetical order. It was a necessary fudge.

    Hopefully I’ll get another post out in May, and then June, but frankly it’s been all about work for the past quarter. I’ve already told my supervisor that I’ll try to keep up the pace up through July 1st, but after that it stops. (He’s the best boss I’ve had, but we’re all going through it together). Maybe I’ll breathe again.

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  • plumbing

    When buying the house we agreed to address a few minor plumbing issues. Easy enough to do during the negotiations, but the work still had to be done. We changed the innards for two of our toilets, switched faucet stems, and installed a new kitchen sink with our own RO filter.

    That sink took three days, five trips to Home Depot, and a couple angle stops.

    Yes, hiring a plumber would have been more sensible but I learned stuff and enjoyed the challenge (aside from multiple trips to the hardware store!)

    Shoutout to YouTube…there’s no way I would have started this project without all those tutorials. That site is the greatest DIY reference library ever assembled. It has so many videos for every task, with a myriad of angles and opinions.

    I hope more folks make use of this empowering free resource. Simple repairs are one of the easiest ways to earn a feeling of accomplishment on a weekend afternoon.

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    David Auerbach, Carols in the Caves

    • The sound engineers tried to capture the essence in being a massive cave, but the whole album sounded distant. Everything felt flat.
    • This might be a good holiday background album, but does not have presence as the central audio feature for a drive.
    • The album cover looks great.

    Babyland, You Suck Crap

    • Last week, I complained about noise. This one is all about noise, but I had fun.
    • Sampling a multitude of instruments (and implements) gave the audio palate an enjoyable richness. I suspect growing up with electronica and hip-hop makes me prefer variety when getting bashed over the head.
    • I wish I had detailed memories of attending that concert with my landscaper colleague. Sadly, I just don’t remember much from such events. A few visual flashes and a plastic disc is all I have from 20 years ago.

    Elevate, The Architect

    • While looking up this album last week, I learned about the genre “Math Rock“. I had to give it a second shot now that I know “It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), counterpoint, odd time signatures, and extended chords.”
    • Still very noisy. Most likely still not my thing, but the architectural cover makes a lot more sense with the music behind it.
    • Am I enjoying this album more because I’m now aware that it’s supposed to be sophisticated? Is the emperor clothed or nekkid?

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  • Music Notes

    The first week of the commute music project started well. I listened to Aceyalone twice before slogging through a lot of guitar noise.

    Aceyalone, A Book of Human Language

    • I don’t know enough about hiphop to judge the rapping.
    • Clearly catered to art school nerds who want deep subjects and big words over late 90’s gangsta bling.
    • Love the sonic landscape, especially the bass riff in “the Hunt” (sampled Coltrane’s Ole).

    Aerosmith, Classics Live!

    • Following the complexity of Aceyalone, this was a wall of noise.
    • Lots of electric guitars and distortion. Is this rock? I’m listening to too much jazz.
    • Thoughts of youth culture, what will my daughter think of the pop characters of her childhood when she’s in her mid-40’s?

    Al and the Transamericans, Analog

    • Plenty of electric guitar, but not as frenetic.
    • More melodic and borrows from old tunes and instruments. Very Americana, the banjo makes an appearance.
    • Slightly awkward, in a likable way.

    Elevate, The Architect
    When writing this post, I found I had swapped the band and the album title. Oops, but I like having it on the first page of the binder.

    • More noise. I’m not built for rock.
    • I do buy things for the cover. In this case, the cover and the title. I’d do it again, even though this will be my one and only listen through this album.
    • Google image search led me to the Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. When it works, the internet is amazing. Fun fact, the Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper took 21 years to restore (1978-1999).

    Bonus (?)
    Last February, I shared Ruthie Foster’s rendition of “War Pigs” to mark the first year of Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine. October brought further horrors with Israel-Palestine. Let’s hope for better in 2024.

  • Keep making mistakes!

    I’ve mentioned it before but thought this is worth repeating. I’m no fan of AI, but it’s appearance has unlocked my acceptance of imperfection.

    It wasn’t a coincidence that I started drawing after two dormant decades after Dall-E and Midjourney hit the mainstream in 2022.

    Before this happened, I would have guessed that generative AI images would finally smothered the last embers of my interest in drawing.

    Instead, I was freed from the self induced constipation of accuracy. I picked up the pen and started laying ink on paper again.

    They’re rough. There’s no undo button. No edit function. All you can do is start over, again. Try not to mess it all up with the last few lines on the page.

    These aren’t perfect, but I can vouch for their provenance. My hand was there when each molecule of dye nestled into the fibers of these pages.

    Here’s to many experiments in this year of the Dragon!
     

    I wasn’t super happy with the purple, but it was “good enough”…until I messed up the last two letters of this page. Lettering in ink demands full attention. The simplest mistake can be catastrophic.
    This was on a good track, and then I got cute with his beard and ruined the dragon. Again, the last thing killed the whole page.
    At this point, I didn’t even try to outline the dragon. I didn’t have energy to try a fourth time. I kind of like how the dragon is a bit atmospheric on the page…but that might be a total rationalization for wimping out.

  • jade

    We went to the Clark County Museum’s historical park for their annual “Heritage Holidays” celebration. It’s been four years since our last visit, a completely different world ago.

    I presume he enjoyed it a lot more than when he was twenty months old!

    This photo was taken in a tiny two bedroom house, originally constructed in Henderson, Nevada around the Second World War.

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    We have been extremely cautious about the pandemic so we still aren’t eating out. As such, much of this info is out of date, but I wanted to mention a few favorite Vegas places, but please do your own research.

    Vegas Restaurants

    • Ramen was just becoming a craze and hadn’t made it to Houston before we left. So when we arrived, we went straight to Monta. It was still our favorite before the pandemic hit, though I’m not sure it’s totally worth the long wait.
    • Pacific Island Taste was a favorite at my office. My co-worker still vouches for it and we had them cater our holiday potluck a month ago. Get some Hawaiian flavors at the 9th island!
    • If I was going fancy on the Strip, I guess I’d pick the Bouchon at the Venetian. Strip restaurants are usually money grabs by celebrities so it lacks the passion you find with chefs at their original passions. But we’ve had a couple memorable Easter brunches with friends up at the top of this hotel.

    Vegas Coffee Shops

    • Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project wasted a ridiculous amount of money, but one of its legacies is the sunken courtyard with Mothership Coffee Roasters in the old Ferguson Motel in Downtown.
    • Nearby is Publicus, an independently owned coffee shop that has maintained a stellar reputation.
    • Le Paris Coffee and Pastry is an off strip gem on Decatur and Desert Inn. It was the place I’d take folks to show them the “real Vegas”.

    Quirky Places in the Desert

    • The Clark County Museum is a great deal with general admission at $2.00. We should go there when the sun is out, I’ve heard there is more there to be enjoyed.
    • Cactus Joe’s is a nursery and variety store. Given that it’s primarily outdoors, this was one of our first visits when we started coming out of our shell. It’s a fun shop, even if none of the stuff matches our aesthetic tastes.
    • Calico Basin is on the outside of the famous Red Rock Canyon. It’s free and won’t involve a long wait to visit.
    • If you want to check out a big piece of civil engineering, the Hualapai Lot Trail Head gets you right there. It’s wild to hike in the hills overlooking the city, turn a corner and feel like you’ve disappeared into the desert.
    • Las Vegas Books is a used bookstore that opened a couple of years ago by owners who moved here from Minnesota. This is the quintessential Las Vegas story. Come here and work hard, and you will establish a reputation in no time.

    And if you want decade-old tips for Houston (we left in 2013) here are few highlights.

    • We loved walking through the Menil art collections. It was our last stop before leaving the city.
    • The quirky Orange Show is an inspiring testament to what one determined person can make.
    • The Port Authority offers a super cool, free 90 minute boat tour of the shipping channel.  
    • If you have time for a full day detour, run up to the Kimbell Art Museum at Fort Worth. This building is a required visit for any architect.

    Houston Nostalgia in Restaurant Form

    • Cafe Brasil is where I started a Friday morning caffeine and contemplation routine, with a shot of espresso and a scone.
    • Wandering around the neighborhood, we discovered La Guadalupana and fell in love with their pastries (almond croissants!), vampiro (beet, carrot, and orange juice), and their mojarra frita.
    • Our favorite breakfast plate was the migas (Mexican style egg scramble with tortilla strips) at Baby Barnaby’s. This American posh fusion took it this TexMex breakfast plate to another level.
    • In Bellaire (Chinatown), we would get the Spicy Fried Tofu at Star Snow Ice in the Dun Huang Plaza. It paired great with their sweet Hot Tofu soup. Sometimes we would start a meal run with Fried Tofu as an appetizer, go to another restaurant for the entree, and return for Hot Tofu as dessert.

    Hopefully I didn’t steer y’all wrong in with the food, but I can vouch for the other stuff. And I’m always happy to chat about my towns. I hope you have fun in the desert (or swamp!)

  • Money Multiplication Matters

    Tangents from a few books about money. I heartily recommend the one by Harry Browne; the rest are OK.

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    Fail Safe Investing, Lifelong Financial Security in 30 minutes, Harry Browne, 1999

    If you’re a wimp (like me) this is the best book on investing. And if you get interested in Risk Parity style portfolios, check out Frank Vasquez’s “Risk Parity Radio” for up to date opinions and advice on this style of portfolio construction.

    • If you want to speculate, look elsewhere. Harry Browne advises that your profession will be your primary source of wealth and warns against taking risks like investing on margin.
    • Clean, clear advice. Some specifics are outdated (such as how to purchase investments) but his conservative concepts are solid.
    • I plan on revisiting this book every year. I’ve taken a more aggressive approach than his “Permanent Portfolio” (more stocks, less gold and bonds). Still, I thank him for introducing me to Gold. It’s a controversial asset but a game changer for me. It added a third uncorrelated asset class to ballast the portfolio, which made me more comfortable with investing heavier in stocks.

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    Explore TIPS, Harry Sit, 2010

    Gotta start somewhere and I was curious about Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities when I started my investment journey in 2022. I’ve gone with a different investing strategy.

    • TIPS are bonds with inflation insurance. Harry is a fan of going heavy on TIPS relative to nominal bonds. (I believe a properly diversified portfolio will compensate for inflation with the other asset classes, so I don’t like the extra cost of the inflation insurance).
    • Purchase them at auction, the secondary market or via ETF’s. Harry Sit is open to all investment avenues.
    • I-bonds are more like CD’s since they can’t be sold on the secondary market. Harry Sit is not a fan.

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    Value Averaging, The Safe and Easy Strategy for Higher Investment Returns, Michael E. Edleson, 1993

    An optimized way to pour cash into the investment market.

    • “Value Averaging” is setting a goal for how much you want an investment to increase over time and purchasing accordingly. Unlike “Dollar Cost Averaging”, Value Averaging pushes you to buy more when the markets are down and less when they’re up.
    • If you want to be awesome, the book gives a bunch of math to optimize the investment curve.
    • As a retail investor playing with small sums, I believe optimization is a waste. After learning the basics, the smallest edge requires a ton of study. Any such such bet will be overwhelmed by the capricious whims of the gods. Better to enjoy the finer parts of life.

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    Die Broke, Stephen M. Pollen and Mark Levine, 1997

    I found the book in a random giveaway pile in Berkeley, maybe in lower Sproul Plaza. Two cities (and decades) later, I finally read it.

    • Great title and interesting provocation to reevaluate our relationship to money, work, and retirement.
    • I love books with unique structures. Part 1 is a short self help mindset manual. Part 2 is an alphabetical list of chapters with practical advice. (Since this book is almost thirty years old, I lightly skimmed the second part since I presume most of it is out of date.)
    • I enjoyed Part 1, partly because I already agree with their four key maxims. I view employment as a transaction not fulfillment, believe in avoiding debt, and doubt the positive good of leaving a large bequest. I’m not totally sold on the maxim of “Don’t Retire” but I appreciate their skepticism of the modern retirement paradigm.

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