The Connection Newsletter 37 - New Year

The Connection Newsletter 37 - New Year, New Yew

January 07, 2019

Hello!

This is edition #37 of

The Connection

, the weekly email I send family, friends, and future friends (hello!) Glad you're here, and happy new year.

Hope you had a restful month filled with fam time, good books, and better whiskey. I’ve missed sending this newsletter to you, and I’m excited for 2019. Thanks for reading and sticking with me in the second year of

The Connection

. It means a lot.

Make sure to hit "Display Images" above to see puppy pics. 

To kick things off, my first article of 2019:

. I made the conscious decision to write dramatically less this year, so I can focus on three high-priority projects in 2019. I talk more about that decision and the thought process behind it 

.   

For this first newsletter, I wanted to share a few things I’m loving since the last time we spoke:

Socks. 

These

are terrific. Over the past few years, the premium you pay for wool socks seems to have increased. I love wool for its warm and wicking properties, but at $20 for one pair of SmartWool or Icebreaker socks, I decided it was time to try other brands. For the really cold days, I’m loving these Fun Toes. A wool, polyester, and nylon blend, they’re toasty warm and it feels like you’re walking on a gently heated marshmallow. One downside: they are thick, so if you’re looking for a thin performance sock, this is not the best bet.

App.

lets you borrow thousands of ebooks and audiobooks from your local library. It automagically allows you to search your local library catalog and connects to your library card. You can search, place holds, read, and listen to books all from this one app. Prefer reading on your Kindle? No problem -- one button push and it’ll send to your Kindle as well. When your ebook is due, it returns itself, so no need to worry about overdue books.

Book.

by Anthony Bourdain. Using the Libby app I borrowed the audiobook and absolutely loved it. Mr. Bourdain reads the book himself, and it’s equal parts uplifting and inspirational and incredibly sad. He transports you into the milieu of NYC restaurants and kitchens with confidence, bravado, and honesty. I loved it so much I bought a hard copy for myself before I finished listening to the book.

Television. 

Binged a few things, but the standout is

on Netflix (h/t to Gigi and Carolynn for nudging me to watch this). A near perfect horror story, with the added challenge of maintaining the suspense, mystery, and scares over the course of a 10-episode (~700 minutes) story arc.

Notebook.

. I’ve carried pocket journals for as long as I remember, but haven’t used a big ole baddie like this Leuchtturm1917 in years. I love it -- all that extra space is terrific for plotting and drawing and daydreaming. Plus, I’ve found Leuchtturm’s are way more durable than Moleskins, regardless of the size you purchase. I also prefer squares over to lines.

Camera.

. Picked up this set-up to take photos of sushi and babies (h/t Brian for the recommendation). Absolutely love taking pretty pictures with it.

Shogun. 

I started doing digital marketing for one of the family restaurant, Shogun in Albany, New York. First order of business? An Instagram account, natch.

-- would love to hear what you think.

Next week, back to your regularly scheduled hand-curated articles. But if you enjoyed this random list of recommendations, please let me know. Should I do more?

Thanks for reading!

Last thing: Is there anything I can help you with?

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