Burton Bluetooth Speaker

This speaker is a collaboration that Burton did with Braven. It was made during the early days of bluetooth speakers, and as such is pretty basic. It has four buttons: Power, Play, Up, Down. I have used it almost every day since the day I bought it (over 7 years ago), and it is still going strong! It has been with me on three different continents, so it is only fitting that I have it with me now. It holds a charge for several days, and can be used as a backup phone charger if needed. The sound is pretty decent for its size, and it is basically bulletproof.

James Folding Blade Pocket Knife (Stuff I brought with me into isolation [part 1])

For the month of April I have given myself an objective: to write a little something each day about an item that I brought with me into “isolation,” while we weather the effects of this pandemic. Some of the items are essentials; others, less so. I have not planned out the whole month yet, but I have a solid mental list. Some of the items are brand specific. Other items, not at all. That is the gist of it. With this explanation out of the way, let’s get to it!

James Folding Blade Pocket Knife. This gem was found in the toe of my Christmas stocking last year (thanks Britt!). Since then it has basically sat in the valet tray on my nightstand, except for the occasional use breaking down Amazon boxes and the like. That was, of course, until I decamped to the Catskills two weeks ago. Since the day we arrived, this piece has lived clipped into the corner of my back pocket and used multiple times per day. It is dangerously sharp. I have used it to cut everything from wood to aluminum cans. Though I haven’t resorted to whittling yet, I have found that the clip works as a bottle opener in a pinch. This is hands-down my favorite blade I have ever owned (except for sentimental reasons, maybe the buck knife that my dad gave me in preparation of our first hunting outing)  😉

Isolationist Vibes

This month has brought some strange times, for sure. It is hard to say what life is going to look like after all of the dust settles. I have been lucky enough to be spending the past 1.5 weeks in relative solitude, away from other humans (except one other human, and one dog). In that Daniel Pink book, I mentioned a while back, a topic he explores is the science of humans being around nature. I’m very loosely paraphrasing here, but essentially Pink cites a study where the findings suggested that humans who are regularly around nature have generally improved moods compared to those who have no exposure to greenery. I have always thought this to be anecdotally true based on personal experience, but now I’m having a chance to really put it to the test. The levels of fear and anxiety that we are all experiencing as New Yorkers seems to be almost unprecedented. I’ll admit that I need all of the help I can get. For that reason I am especially grateful to be in my current day by day situation, greenery included.