The Best of March

The top 9 things I read, watched, or listened to this month

The highlight of March was definitely seeing old friends and coworkers on a trip to New York for Dexter: Resurrection. But that also meant a lot of travel time to revisit old favorites, discover talents I wish I had, and read a declassified CIA document that wasn't about Kennedy. Here are my favorite things I stumbled upon this month:

:1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

When I read this book over 20 years ago, it shaped my sense of humor and love for genre blending. I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up again. But damn, it holds up! Stephen Fry narrates the audio version, and he's the perfect voice for the sardonic, deeply delightfully British tone. More on what I learned from this re-read soon.

2. Spaced Repetition

I've heard of this concept a few times but clearly didn't take it to heart because it slipped my mind. This Inc. article was a great reminder about how to hack your memory.

3. The CIA's Simple Sabotage Field Manual

This declassified 1950s guide about how to muck up a fascist bureaucracy, for some mysterious reason, recently became the most downloaded book on Project Guttenberg. Inspired by the French resistance to the Nazi occupation, the book is full of fascinating ways to cause chaos in all sorts of mundane settings. If you find flour in your gas tank, I swear it wasn't me.

4. Dreamful Podcast

The soothing narrator reads stories over gentle music to help you fall asleep. I discovered it just in time for a red-eye flight to NYC. Just watch out for the episode where she reads the first few chapters of Treasure Island, which got me hooked on reading the whole book.

5. This Nose Vacuum

Getting the snot out of a sick toddler's nose is always an adventure. This has been a game-changer. It gets so much more out than our manual snot-sucker. Plus it has music and colorful lights. Sadly, it didn't help much on our big adult noses, but still worth it for the kids.

6. Range by David Epstein

I was a sucker for this book because I always feel like I'm not specialized enough. But maybe we all do and that's why it sold so well? Either way, I appreciated how it dispelled some myths about training and education, and it definitely changed how I answer my daughter's questions—by not answering them so she benefits from the "Generation Effect".

7. Some people can see languages

And I'm jealous. Read about it here.

8. Why I have to stop trying to use my phone while I do other stuff

A great primer on the Switch Cost Effect

9. And a way to work out with a 2.5-year-old

These came to my rescue while watching Juni on days when I didn't get to exercise before she woke up. Kids Adventure Workouts are not necessarily the best-produced videos on the web, nor are they approved by whoever made the original movies, but they do give a kid lots of stimulation and motivation to move. We had a blast doing them together, and are now very confused about the actual plot of Moana 2.

What's the best thing you came across this month? I gotta start stocking up for Apri