While I’m taking some time off, I figured it’s a good time to do another post about some of my favorite things I’ve watched, listened to, and read recently.
If you’re not interested in checking out my fantastic content recommendations but are yearning for something strictly finance-related, here’s a link to the main blog page where you can read past articles.
NOTE: The content is linked in the green titles.
So, here’s what I’ve been into:
Financial Advice For My New Daughter by Morgan Housel
In this short article, Housel gives what he feels are some of the most important financial lessons he could pass on to his daughter. Since I just had two sons about a month ago, I reread it recently and found it simple yet insightful. I feel this advice is more impactful than the generic, “Open a Roth IRA while you’re young” stuff that gets thrown around a lot.
This is one of my favorite parts:
“It is easy to assume that wealth and poverty are caused by the choices we make, but it’s even easier to underestimate the role of chance in life.
Everyone’s life is a reflection of the experiences they’ve had and the people they’ve met, a lot of which are out of your control and driven by chance. Being born to different families, with different values, in different countries, in different generations, and the luck of who you happen to meet along the way plays a bigger role in outcomes than most people want to admit.
I want you to believe in the values and rewards of hard work. But realize that not all success is due to hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness. Keep this in mind when judging people, including yourself.”
Does My Son Know You? by Jonathan Tjarks
I knew about Jonathan Tjarks through his writing about the NBA and heard him on a few sports podcasts I listen to. Sadly, he recently passed away from cancer. While he was going through treatment, he wrote this article about fatherhood, cancer, and what matters most. It’s a good reminder of how finite life is and to make the most of it.
I thought this paragraph was interesting when talking about his own dad passing away when Jonathan was young:
“I can’t imagine not being in a life group at this point. Human beings aren’t supposed to go through life as faces in a crowd. It’s like the song from Cheers. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
Life group is a different kind of insurance. People talk a lot about medical insurance and life insurance when you get sick. But relational insurance is far more important. I didn’t need my dad’s money, but I could have used some of his friends.”
The Bear is a TV series about an award-winning chef who comes back home to work in his family’s Chicago sandwich shop after the death of his brother. This show took me by surprise and was my favorite thing I watched this summer (ok fine, besides Top Gun: Maverick).
The show portrays a realistic, gritty view of what it’s like to work in a kitchen, but like most good shows, it’s less about the food and more about the lives of the employees. It’s fast-paced and stress-inducing, yet it also has a lot of heart. I watched it again after I finished it the first time and the last two episodes blew my socks off.
Sticking with food-based TV, Chef’s Table has been one of my favorite shows for years now. There are six seasons of the original Chef’s Table series and they’ve made spinoff series with Chef’s Table: France, Chef’s Table: BBQ, and most recently Chef’s Table: Pizza. I like this season just as much as I like all of them.
For those who are unfamiliar, Chef’s Table is a documentary series about the best chefs around the world. Each episode is the story of a different chef. Come for the cinematic, beautiful shots of delicious food, but stay for the engaging stories that leave you inspired and thinking deeply about life.
Yes, I’m watching this show along with what seems like the rest of America. I love the Lord of the Rings movies and books, so of course I’m going to give this show a shot.
Apparently, this is the most expensive season of TV ever created, with a budget of a whopping $715 million, and it looks like it. The world of Middle Earth they’ve created looks breathtaking and you can tell there was a lot of attention to detail. When watching I find myself getting caught up in the world. I’m still waiting to engage more with the story and the characters, but so far through three episodes, I’m intrigued.
There haven’t been a lot of new, good movies over the past few months. So one night a few weeks ago I randomly turned on Napoleon Dynamite and watched it through for the first time in years. And I tell you what, I was completely charmed by it.
Because this was such a formative movie when I was growing up, I didn’t really laugh at the jokes because I’ve heard them all over 100 times now, but rather found myself really empathizing with the characters and their struggles in a small town in Idaho. More than being just a comedy, I thought it was a sneakily well-put-together movie. So, if you’re bored one night and looking for a good time, try giving it a rewatch.
If you have any other content recommendations, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. I’d love to hear them!
Thanks for reading!