This is my favorite time of the year. That glorious week where everyone recognizes that most professionals and white collar workers are probably not around, or if they are, they're largely disconnected.

A lot of people seem to find solace in doing absolutely nothing. Netflix! Eat a pizza! Get out of bed at 9 or 10! Who cares, time has no meaning this week!

I favor the "productive relaxation" method by giving my mind something to chew over and cleaning up ideas that I know I want to pursue, but haven't started or really thougth deeply about.

Some of these might be of interest to you.

Tri-State Tornado vs last month's Quad-State Tornado🌪

The tornado that struck Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee just before Christmas was a big deal. Not only was it a nocturnal tornado, it was in December, and it was massive. The NWS has yet to release a final report on the event, but it seems like that tornado might have bested my Tri-State Tornado by a few miles in track distance.

However, it's been ranked only as an EF4. And because nothing is easy anymore, there's controversy about that, how the weather service rates tornados, and how rural areas are often disadvantaged by these ratings because they lack modern buildings to compare wind speed against. I wrote about that and included some maps here: https://justinharter.com/1925s-tri-state-tornado-vs-2021s-quad-state-tornado/​

As a quick update: I've finished another chapter in my book and am moving on to the next one, which is likely to be the longest chunk given the subject and target area. The Tri-State still holds the title of deadliest twister, it was stronger (officially) than the one earlier this month, and it may still be potentially the longest-ever on record, but we'll just never know for certain.

HEY! 📧

A little off-topic from my usual, but I've been using HEY email and thought enough of it to write a review. If you've ever thought email was due for an overhaul, this might be worth checking out. It's a very love-it-or-hate it service, though, and probably won't fly if you rely on your company's email to do anything. https://justinharter.com/hey-email-review-2022/​

"Bank robbers! The bank's been robbed!" 💸

A little over a week ago I annoyed the heck out of my Twitter followers with a live-tweet event of the 91st anniversary of a bank robbery in Clinton, Indiana. That may sound like a lame story with a lame place to rob a bank, but the connection between Herman "Baron" Lamm, the Hoosiers that chased him down, and another infamous Hoosier bank robber is laced with almost comical too-hard-to-believe-it-was-real situations. Archive of the tweets in order here: https://justinharter.com/archive-of-my-live-tweets-on-the-baron-lamm-bank-robbery/​

Matters of the heart, or how work was slowly killing me ❤️

Published just today, an analysis of my heart rate and the impact of my work. This past year was a big shift for me, and I thought 2020 was a big year. But this is more about how my Apple Watch's constant recording showed my heart rate was elevated, even sitting at my desk for hours on end. The reason was my work, the kind of work I was doing, and how it was happening around me. https://justinharter.com/after-six-months-of-less-work-my-heart-shows-the-difference/​

Roe v. Wade is on a collision course with itself ⚖️

Earlier in December I read a book about the Supreme Court on the heels of another book about Justice Ginsburg. A quote from Sandra Day O'Connor stuck out to me like a radioactive political issue: "Roe v. Wade is on a collision course with itself."

She correctly knew back in the 80s and 90s that advances in medical science would help babies live earlier and earlier out of the womb and at the same time help us understand when babies become something more human. More here: https://justinharter.com/roe-v-wade-is-on-a-collision-course-with-itself/​

A new podcast and you're the first to know about it 🎧

Speaking of books, I recorded my 500th book this year in Goodreads. It looks like I'll be ending the year with 87 books just this year alone. And I do almost nothing with that information beyond a star rating. So, like every other white guy, I started a podcast.

I've not officially announced this anywhere yet, so you're the first to know about it.

For now there are a handful of episodes, with the initial two on some writing work I was doing, the third on book reviews, and the fourth drops tomorrow and is where I think I've found my stride. I'm honing my approach and format on discussing books and writing projects.

For now, http://justinspodcast.com unceremoniously directs to the category on my website. But you can also subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, via RSS, and on YouTube where all but the first episode (which I didn't bother or think to record) are.

The latest episode is a discussion on some of the more recent books I've read. The next episode is a deep dive on Adam Grant's "Think Again". My next recording will be about Ijeoma Oluo's "Mediocre", and how mediocre white men are the cause of all the world's problems. Evidently.

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Hope you had a great holiday,

Justin

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