August 2024
London Bridge, August 2024
My ongoing search for great coffee shops in London -
The Roasting Plant Coffee, London Bridge. Great location, right by London Bridge (south of the river), Borough Market and the London Bridge Underground station. I particularly enjoy coming here on weekday mornings to prepare for my day on one of the provided (reasonably ergonomic) desks. The shop also has a novelty feature, the 'Javabot' which is a coffee bean roaster that is proudly showcased in the shop, complex network of exposed pipework and all.
Book I’m reading -
Dominion by Tom Holland. In my head this is a continuation of the 'WEIRD book' by Joseph Henrich (although I may have done this in the wrong sequence). I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but I anticipate needing to start over again as I don't think I've fully appreciated the nuances of the early arguments made by Holland.
Rediscovering the Grateful Dead:
I've enjoyed the Grateful Dead for many years now, although my interest in them keeps waxing and waning (the sometimes 30-minute solos are probably one reason why). The thing that keeps bringing me back though is the virtuoso-level guitar instrumentation (provided by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir) and the beautiful lyrics by Rob Hunter. Recently I've found myself gravitating towards their quieter tracks, some of these include:
Article I'm Revisiting: I've come to really admire Joe Biden over the last few years, mainly for his public policy and political triumphs. However my admiration for Joe Biden as a person began with this article from the Atlantic from back in January 2020. It is mainly about Biden's lifelong struggle with stuttering and it is presented with such humanity and nuance by John Hendrickson. An absolutely beautiful piece of writing.