Howdy folks,
 

Another Thursday, another dose of Traipsing About! I haven’t run out of bad jokes brilliant witticisms yet, so I’m sticking with a weekly schedule into November.

Other than recently misjudging the weather and enjoying (surviving) one of my colder, wetter mountain bike rides, I’m loving October. My fall obsession is Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Tea, which I can’t get enough of.
Trapezing About, Edition 82 features:

-Setting goals like Warren Buffett (choose 5!)

-A snappy, beautiful mtb video showcasing Mexico

-Sci-fi dorkery about the genesis of Dune.

-Koinly, a handy crypto tax tool.

Onward! We've got T. Rex drawings to see.
Dakota

Priority setting, Buffett style

Life contains so many shiny objects. Hobbies to learn, places to travel, work goals to check off.

Famed investor Warren Buffett's advice about setting priorities strikes me as spot on:

-Make a list of the top 25 things you want to accomplish.

-Review the list and circle the five most important to you.

-The five you circled are List A and the 20 you didn't are List B.

-Now title List B as "Things To Avoid At All Costs" because they're the ones that will distract you from getting what you really want.

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My top 5 are classified (*cough* piano), but are compete with “make millions from a T. Rex drawing NFT launch.” Decisions, decisions.

What I find powerful about this method is that it forces me to focus on the important stuff. So many potential tasks to derail my goals, but now I can let them off at a previous station and get back to work.

From the original article by James Clear:

"Eliminate ruthlessly. Force yourself to focus. Complete a task or kill it.

The most dangerous distractions are the ones you love, but that don't love you back."

The Colors of Mexico

Even if this stunner video didn’t feature a badass mountain biker, I’d probably still love it. Gorgeous shots of Mexico and slick editing! (Thanks, Brandon.)

One thing I found strange: the rider, Kilian Bron, is from New Zealand, not Mexico. I’m no expert on cultural appropriation, but hmmm…why not feature one of the phenomenal Mexican enduro riders instead?

The genesis of Dune (sci-fi dork alert)

I recently reread Dune and absolutely devoured it. No wonder the book forms the roots of so much sci-fi.

Speaking of roots, always-curious Austin Kleon shared this tweet about the genesis of Dune. Here’s a quick summary:

In 1957, a journalist named Frank Herbert (<--Dune author) visited coastal Oregon to report on the USDA's efforts to stabilize massive shifting sand dunes with grass. (As usual, the goal was to protect human stuff like roads and houses.)

The intended article was never published. Instead, Herbert’s reporting inspired one of history's most beloved science fiction novels.

The USDA's plan to stabilize the Oregon Dunes with beachgrass had serious repercussions, as do so many well-intentioned ecological interventions. Today, beach grass covers almost 80% of the dunes.

Herbert saw the potential risks immediately. He was fond of the following quote, which he modified and incorporated into his novel: "The highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences."

For all you crypto tax dodgers

Admit it, you’ve looked at Dogecoin and Bitcoin and thought, “I could own a palace AND a yacht!” Well, if you’re dipping your toes in and haven’t thought about the tax consequences, you might want to…

For my crypto dabbling (100% Shibu Inu, Dogecoin is so over!), I’m tracking tax stuff info using Koinly.io. It aggregates and tracks all my holdings from various exchanges. Taxes are as simple as downloading a year-end statement to hand to my CPA.

Thanks for scoping out this issue of Traipsing About.
 

Unsolicited advice is like buying Shibu Inu crypto: it might "help" you end up living at your parent's house, OR you might strike it big. Roll the dice.

This week’s advice: focus on five priorities and never, ever buy crypto (especially Shibu Inu) with money you can’t afford losing.

P.S. Whoa, these winning shots from the Epson Panoramic Photo contest are meraviglioso!
P.P.S. Just to be crystal clear, I own zero dog meme crypto. Also, for those don't give a hoot about crypto, I promise Traipsing isn't turning into a newsletter trumpeting the virtues of Bitcoin.