On keeping a commonplace book
March 2026
The habit of copying out passages by hand slows reading down to the pace at which it can actually be remembered. A page a day is plenty; the point is not the volume but the choosing.
Notes taken in the margins of books, kept here so they are not lost.
Re-reading "The Death and Life of Great American Cities"
January 2026
Jacobs is still the clearest writer on why streets work when they are mixed and fail when they are zoned. Most of what has been written since is footnotes to her chapter on sidewalks.
Short notes on Seneca's letters
November 2025
Letter 1 on the use of time remains the best three paragraphs on the subject. The rest of the collection is uneven, but worth returning to in winter.
A reading list for long train journeys
August 2025
Books that survive a twelve-hour ride: essays over novels, and nothing that needs a table to be read properly. The full list is kept on the about page.