Only a few weeks since my last “Now” update, but with school being remote from Thanksgiving until the end of January and a couple weeks vacation just finished, I’ve had a LOT of time to read things and watch things. I’ve hardly traveled more than a mile from home in months now.

A few observations:

• During this lockdown, I’ve been following a strict ketogenic diet the past couple months, and recently I’ve added home workouts to my daily routine, gradually ramping things up. My major hardware investment during the pandemic was a Diamondback 1260sc Rear Wheel Studio Cycle. I opted for this over the Peloton bike and subscription mostly because my new Apple Watch Series 6 and and Apple’s new Fitness+ service makes gives me a cheaper and more flexible approach to regular training here at home. The cycling gives me a good cardio workout, which I supplement with a strength and stretching regimen I have been easing into.
• Joining the Fitness+ service makes an Apple One subscription bundle economical, as I have already been using Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, and iCloud storage. Apple One also gives me Apple Arcade, which I probably won’t make much use of, but it’s there if I want it.
• I’ve been using my Apple Watch to track my sleep, which has been helpful as well. I splurged for some nice new flannel sheets (the very soft Premium Supimas from L.L. Bean) for the cold weather and picked up a new comforter with some Bean holiday gift certificates as well. I think one upside of the pandemic experience for me has been better sleep—and now I can document it nightly.
• As of today, I’ve completed a streak of 541 consecutive daily New York Times crosswords. I was never in the habit of doing these puzzles until I was inspired a couple years back by a student of mine who arrived each day with a pencil and the newspaper, working away on the crossword before the start of class. I complete them on the dedicated iPad app, usually before I go to bed (the next day’s crossword is posted most nights at 10pm). I started with just Monday and Tuesday puzzles, using the week’s easiest to get used to typical patterns of clues and answers, and before long was handling the whole week. I now do ten puzzles a week: one daily in the Times and three more in The New Yorker on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Unlike the NYT puzzles, the magazine’s get easier as the week progresses.

Next update will probably be in March, once the winter term at school winds down.

What I’m Reading