I write here fairly infrequently; it’s not part of my daily routine so months usually go by between missives. In fact, I neglected the site’s maintenance for months and failed to notice that my registration had expired and the site was down for an extended period of time! I’m lucky nobody purchased the available domain (although someone did offer a not-insubstantial amount to buy it from me recently!) and I’m sorry for any inconvenience caused by the disruption, but you will be glad to know that I secured the supergood.org site for the next decade! I may be the only reader of this blog, but it means something deeply important and personal that this record exists. So I will continue to write my free and priceless musings on and to the universe!
Summer 2023 was a delightful spin on our planet’s northern axial tilt towards the sun. July was pure family time, with Taylors galore in Portland and a transcontinental visit from clan Buckland in Acadia and Bellport, with most of the nights spent in our beautiful tent! We spent time with the greatest group of friends ever assembled in Warwick, Lake George, Vermont, Coney Island and The Rockaways and generally lived a joyful life of freedom! I also had the great pleasure of spending five days in Montana, visiting college buddies and riding their incredible creation: Legacy Bike Park! A shuttle-operated downhill bike park with beautiful trails and incredible jumps for a spectacular riding experience unlike anything else! I am so so so grateful to share a few days whenever we can with all of the amazing people in my life!
My reading list has been illuminating and inspiring recently:
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
A classic and defining 1962 work duly credited with amplifying, if not initiating, the modern environmental movement, it examines our toxic and myopic use of pesticides and the unintentional havoc wrought on our natural world. It is depressing and terrifying, but demonstrates the incredible and often invisible interconnectedness of everything.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
An overview of the entire food chain in several formats, including Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local Sustainable and Hunter-Gatherer. We make choices every day with our meals, often with very little information about the process of getting the food to our tables. Its dark truths are enlightening and its examples of highest quality agriculture are inspiring.
The Rider by Tim Krabbé
A memoir of a Dutch road bike racer in the 1970’s, describing the grueling training and touring of a cyclist as individual competitor and cog in the peloton, written with existentialist sardonic wit.
Fatherland by Burkhard Bilger
A personal friend and deeply insightful author embarks on a journey of research and discovery regarding his Grandfather, who served as Nazi Party Chief in a village of occupied France. The horrors of war are filtered through a very human lens, with blunt survival and surprising compassion contrasting the bleak and senseless tragedies of mid-century Europe.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Perhaps the most incredible and inspiring biography I’ve ever read, it traces the emergence of an idea and follows the unprecedented development of its manifestation through commitment and dedication. Bicycle builders tinker and trial, spending years learning to glide from dunes at Kitty Hawk, then devising and constructing a motor propulsion system that revolutionizes human aspirations.
1491 by Charles Mann
Examining the sparse historical record of American civilizations before the European arrival and the more thorough accounts of the following years, emerges a story of some of the planet’s largest and most complex societies collapsing to disease and conquest. We are familiar with the eradication of native populations, but this narrative imagines a decimation orders of magnitude bigger than our collective awareness, while also highlighting the great civil and administrative structures present in the Americas in the thousands of years preceding Columbus’ arrival.
The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
Another surprising historical perspective, focusing on the Silk Roads of The Middle East and the region’s appeal and lure for any and every Empire with aspirations of world domination. Wars have waged for control of this critical juncture ever since Alexander the Great marched his Macedonian armies eastward, and continue to be fought there by Imperialistic dictators with no proximity or rightful place in the land.
The Map That Changed The World by Simon Winchester
William Smith was born to the common class in England in the late 18th Century, but as his surveying work took him deep into the coal mines and canal works to transport the fuel around the country, he began to take notice of the stratification below the surface, identifying layers of different rocks and observing the changing fossils embedded within. His focus and dedication to the burgeoning geological sciences produced the first stratification and geological maps of England. Sadly, his background excluded him from acceptance in the scientific community and his maps were plagiarized, committing him to destitution and a spell in debtor’s prison, with recognition of his achievements postponed until the end of his life.
Rethinking Consciousness by Michael S.A. Graziano
What is consciousness and where does it come from? Graziano argues that while we consider self-awareness to be a distinctly human higher order trait, it may have evolved hundreds of millions of years ago in what he calls an “attention schema”, where an organism maximizes benefits from sensory organs when they have awareness of their bodies and environments and can focus their attention resources on different stimuli, leading to a cognition system that develops true self-awareness and intentional thought.
Driverless by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman
Cars of tomorrow will drive themselves and will do so much more safely and efficiently than today’s vehicles. After years of dreaming, the technology required for this revolutionary shift is finally on our doorstep and we are witnessing the birth of automated driving. Much of the book focuses on the Artificial Intelligence that will learn the intricacies of automotive maneuvering and guide us effortlessly through our world, shifting almost every transportation paradigm in the process.
Thank you to these authors for sharing their work with me and thank you for reading mine!