What I’m Reading
722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York
I was recommended this book by my uncle, who has been a reporter in New York City for over twenty years. It’s a little too dense and historical for my liking, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to the casual reader. However, it is amazing to read about the beginnings of the NYC subway system from the 1890’s and early 1900’s. How government and private companies were able to collaborate to create over 300 miles of subway tracks across four boroughs in the span of 25 years. The amount of geology research, engineering expertise, ingenuity, and hard work to complete just one underground subway track is mind-blowing. Add to the fact that they were doing most of this by hand, hammer and dynamite alone and it’s truly remarkable to imagine how far we’ve come and what an experience we get by being able to ride from the Bronx to Coney Island for just $2.75.
What I’m Listening To
Kanye’s new album “ye” – (Yikes is my favorite so far)
Love him or hate him, the guy knows how to make music. Granted, he’s lost a lot of fans for his personality and his weird-ass Twitter rants. But I’ve never really liked to associate music and artist. One of the reasons I don’t really like concerts (I know… weird) but I like to totally separate my image of the artist or band and really just try to appreciate the music for how it sounds and how it makes me feel. One of the best ways I’ve heard it said is by Derek Sivers, who created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales for 150,000 musicians.
“Music and people dont mix
Music should be appreciated alone without seeing or knowing the musician
Listening to music for it’s own sake, not the people around you and filtering it through your opinions and beliefs of the people performing the music”
Workouts I’m Following
I forget how I even came across this guy – maybe on the Instagram discover page – which is where I waste the majority of my time. But he has really unique kettlebell workouts that I find super interesting and effective. He basically became famous for no other reason than posting his workouts on his Instagram page. As I’ve gotten back in to weight lifting, I’ve mainly been following Primal Swoledier’s kettlebell workouts and I’ve gotten significantly stronger in my legs, abs, and shoulders. And they only take about 10-15 minutes, which I love.
Link to his website if you want to learn more
Location I’m Researching
Malta
I booked a flight to Italy for this October but I’ve been hearing more and more about Malta as one of the top travel destinations for 2018. I have never heard of anyone going there, so I figured why not? Me and my girlfriend booked a quick 45 minute, $30 flight to Malta from Sicily, since it’s right off the coast, and we’ll be staying there for three nights. It’s super small so it’s an island we can probably walk from coast to coast in a day, but excited to explore a country I know absolutely nothing about.
Quote I’m Pondering
If I had nine hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six sharpening my axe.
-Abraham Lincoln
Lots of people in London travel to Malta for holiday. Only good things said about it…