Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

Peter Kang's Annual Review

I used to love writing annual reviews. I haven't made time for it the last few years, but I'll get back to it someday. While I haven't been writing them, I still enjoy reading other people's reviews. This week, I really enjoyed reading Peter Kang's.

I met Peter about six years ago at an event in New York City, and I've enjoyed his friendship and writing ever since. He's nine years older than me—just enough to look up to without feeling out of reach—so I appreciate all the thoughts he shares on family, life, and business.

In this review, Peter covers his trips from the year, projects around the house, his new book, his kids, and more.

I appreciated his parenting perspectives because his kids are a little bit older than mine. My wife and I have been in the depths of toddler hell recently, so it's good to hear that things get better, and hearing Peter's gentle reminder that you miss these days was pretty meaningful. He talks about missing the feeling of his kids needing him and connects that to how his father is always eager to make him food or help him with projects. I found it interesting and heartwarming to see how his observations on the parent child relationship spanned across three generations.

If you have kids, especially young kids, I think you'll enjoy Peter's annual review. And if you've been thinking about writing one of your own, Peter's is a good guide.

Six Writing Tips from Steinbeck

I've been enjoying Steinbeck's writing recently, and I've been thinking more about how to improve my own, so this felt like a timely find.

I liked rules one, two, and six most:

~ Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.

~ Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.

~ If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.

Top Books from Ryan Holiday's Bookstore

If you collect books like I do, or you're always looking for new book recommendations, this is a fun video. Ryan Holiday walks through his bookstore and shares his favorite books. He's one of the most well-read people I can think of, so who better to recommend a book?

Workout of the Week

Every time I do a workout with the assault bike, I regret ever buying an assault bike. It's a brutal torture device. That said, I recommend you try this workout.

"Pepper Spray"

5 rounds for time:

• 20 cal assault bike

• 10 ground to overhead (35# dumbbells)

My goal was sub 11 minutes, and my time was 11:56. I've never been pepper sprayed, but I imagine it's about as fun as this workout.

Quote of the Week

"Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others to talk." - John Steinbeck

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Talk soon,

Joe