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Review Brooks & Crowley
April 2018
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the whalers would pull the carcass alongside the ship, cut off its head, and haul the head on deck. Then, whalers would cut a hole and bail out the oil inside with a bucket. Oil harvested from the whale burned brightly and was odorless, so it was used to illuminate street lamps. The Nantucket whaling fleet was prolific, and the whale oil was shipped to municipalities the world over to light their street lamps. This resource made Nantucket one of the richest places in the world during that time. Eventually, the invention and stabilization of kerosene and natural gas supplanted whale oil as a cheaper alternative. I picked up this book while on vacation down the Cape. I didn’t know a thing about it. It was on a display table at a monument we checked out. The cover looked intriguing and indicated that it had won a National Book Award. Good enough for me. I don’t really go looking for a particular book or do any research before hitting the library. I just pick one that catches my eye. It keeps my expectations low, and I haven’t been disappointed. Sometimes, it is okay to judge a book by its cover. Currently, I tend to read three books at a time — all of different styles. At any given moment, I could be part-way through a self-help or business book, a biography, and a novel, depending on my mood. Right now, I’m actually reading another of Nathaniel Philbrick’s books. This one is about General Custer’s last stand. The time period makes the story a bit harder to read. I never knew much about the plains. I’ve just flown over them, like everyone else, while on my way to the West Coast. There is a ton of history out there, and it is vastly different from our Boston history. Whether or not you immerse yourself in multiple books at a time and prefer nonfiction or fiction, reading is thoroughly enjoyable. If you ever find yourself in a bookstore and a cover or spine happens to catch your eye, go ahead and pick it up. You never know— you might find yourself entertained or learn something new. –Neil Crowley
‘TWO-MINUTE MYSTERIES’ AND BEYOND
1820. This book begins where “Moby Dick” ends, and the sinking of the Essex was the inspiration for the ending of “Moby Dick.” Philbrick’s book picks up with an 80-ton sperm whale striking and sinking the Essex. The book follows the crew as they struggle to survive on lifeboats without food and with very little water, until the boats are found by fellow Pacific Ocean sailors 90 days later. This book is not for the faint of heart. Only eight of the crew of 20 survived. While entertaining, this is a story of survival you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Philbrick follows the survivors through the rest of their lives. Since reading the book, I’ve noticed several street signs on the Cape and Islands named for these characters. I enjoyed the book because I was able to learn a lot about the whaling industry and the history of Nantucket and New England in the 1820s. I never knew why Nantucket was one of the richest places in the world at that time. It certainly wasn’t tourism in those days; it was the whaling industry. As it turns out, whales, especially sperm whales, were hunted primarily for the oil they contain, mostly in their heads. A sperm whale can contain as many as 500 gallons of oil! After killing a whale,
International Children’s Book Day was on April 2, and it had me thinking about what I enjoy most about reading, both as a kid and now. I read a ton when I was young. Maybe it was because we didn’t have cellphones and video games back then, but I enjoyed reading for entertainment. I was pretty fond of the book “Two-Minute Mysteries.” It was a collection of 79 short stories, each just a page or two long and jam-packed with cryptic clues to a mysterious story. After the story, it would explain how everything unfolded and what the clues meant, but you needed to try and unravel it yourself before looking. I’d try to figure out the mystery before I finished reading the story. Later, I graduated to full-length mysteries, but I enjoyed the pace of the two-minute versions. They let your mind fill in the details about the time period, etc. Nowadays, I tend to follow my interests, and that has me gravitating toward nonfiction, mostly biographies. By reading real-life stories, you learn so much history about life in particular periods of time. A good book can feel like a form of time travel. One book that I really enjoyed reading was “In the Heart of the Sea” by Nathaniel Philbrick, which is the tragic tale of the sinking of the Nantucket whaleship, Essex, in the Pacific Ocean in
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HIIT It An Action-Packed Workout in Half the Time
HIIT promises an effective workout in under an hour, and it ranked third in the American College of Sports and Medicine’s worldwide survey of top fitness trends from 2017. What’s HIIT all about? One of the biggest fitness crazes to take gyms and backyards by storm in the last few years, high- intensity interval training, better known as HIIT, packs a lot of punch into a short amount of time. Unlike weightlifting and grueling gym sessions, HIIT looks to make the most out of your body weight in a minute or less. Each interval in a HIIT workout is designed to push you to the max for a brief period of time — “short bursts of very hard work,” explains SELF magazine. Intervals may be as short as 20–90 seconds, enough Family adventures are a great way to grow closer and develop meaningful connections. But with lodging prices rising and the logistical nightmare that traveling with the entire family can be, many Americans are looking at a new option: ditching the beaches and resorts and heading to the great outdoors. Actually, we know this option isn’t new at all. Spending time outdoors with family may very well be one of the most time-honored traditions ever. CAMPING Lodgings and flights are expensive, so going on a family vacation can cost thousands of dollars — and that’s just for the basics! But camping only requires a tent, a fire, picnic food, and water. Rather than scarfing down fast food between flights and dealing with airport security, departure delays, and long
time to make you breathe really hard (and burn a lot of fat) if you’re going all-out. Another key component of HIIT is resting between intervals so you can be ready to kick it up again in 20 seconds.
before beginning a new workout program to make sure it’s safe for you.
You can try this workout at home. Since there’s little to no equipment involved, HIIT can be a great workout to try at home. There are many HIIT programs you can follow on YouTube fitness channels or sites like Self.com. Invite a friend to join. If you prefer a group atmosphere, many gyms have classes that incorporate HIIT principles for a fast-paced fat-burning workout. HIIT may have health benefits beyond burning fat. A study by the International Journal of Epidemiology found that women who did intense activity for just 1–2 minutes a day reduced their risk for osteoporosis.
Ready to do a HIIT workout of your own? Here are a few tips.
You can have too much of a good thing. While there are many benefits to this workout, it shouldn’t be your only exercise, and doing it too often will actually prevent you from making progress. Trainer and exercise physiologist Franci Cohen recommends trying HIIT three days a week with moderate cardio days between to allow your body time to recover and get back up to speed for your next workout. In addition, consult your doctor
Family Time in the Great Outdoors
flights, take a deep breath and roast marshmallows over the fire with the people you love.
skill or investment. All it takes is the willingness to learn and the desire to connect with nature. This is why fishing is the perfect activity for youngsters of all ages. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your rod and reel and head to the nearest lake or river. While these are all great stand-alone options, together they form an amazing three-headed monster for your next family outing. By combining camping with a hike to a river or lake where you can go fishing, you are sure to create lasting memories with your family that will draw you closer together. Ditch the lines at the airport and the stress of travel. Unleash the possibilities of adventure in the great outdoors.
HIKING A hike with family is an easy way to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. All a hike requires is a trail and a sense of adventure. The best part of hiking is that you can tailor the distance to fit your family’s needs. If you have children or grandkids who aren’t up for the challenge of an arduous daylong trek, there’s sure to be a shorter scenic trail. If nothing else, you can always turn around and backtrack the way you came. FISHING Fishing is a great way to get out and do something relaxing yet challenging. It doesn’t require a lot of
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Annie Duke’s ‘Thinking in Bets’ What a Poker Pro Can Teach You About Risk
To emphasize the nature of her work, Duke begins with an introduction called “Why This Isn’t a Poker Book.” She writes that the process of thinking in bets “starts with recognizing that there are exactly two things that determine how our lives turn out: the quality of our decisions and luck.” When you make a decision, you rarely have perfect clarity regarding all the factors at play. This imperfect picture is what makes every business decision risky. Duke argues that ignoring inherent risk results in dangerous outcome-based thinking. As an alternative, she proposes that you acknowledge that not every decision will be the right one. This way, you can investigate the nature of your decision-making process and improve it without being blinded by lucky (or unlucky) results. Poker provides a fertile analogy for this concept. It’s a game of imperfect information. No matter how much poker you’ve played, you never know which cards the
other players hold. You can make educated inferences based on the information you gather, but there is always going to be a risk in calling a bet. The process parallels how we decide what’s best for a company. We analyze all the information we have at hand and make a projection about the best option. Until the decision plays out, we won’t know the outcome. Though Duke knows more about poker than just about anyone, she doesn’t limit her examples to gambling. She writes with equal skill and depth about everything from CEOs to football coaches. “Thinking in Bets” is a comprehensive overview of risk assessment that provides countless tips on how to improve your decision-making. Even if you have no idea whether a flush beats a straight, you’ll find “Thinking in Bets” a valuable addition to your leadership library. Entrepreneurship requires making millions of decisions. Don’t you want to make them better?
Annie Duke may seem an unlikely business consultant given that she’s best-known as a
Laugh Out Loud professional poker player. But the lessons in her new book, “Thinking in Bets,” extend far beyond the felt. Duke, who studied psychology at UPenn and has consulted for a number of companies, takes the decision-making lessons she learned at the poker table and applies them to the hard choices we have to make in business.
Greek Chicken and Veggie Skewers
Ingredients
Start to finish: 30 minutes Servings: 4
MARINADE •
1/2 cup olive oil 2 lemons, juiced
• • • • • • •
SKEWERS •
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cubed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• • • •
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 red onion, cubed
1 teaspoon oregano
2 zucchini, cubed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 pint button mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a jar and shake until well-combined. 2. Thread the chicken and vegetables onto skewers and lay in a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.
3. When ready to cook, remove the skewers from the fridge and heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat. 4. Grill the skewers until chicken is cooked through and veggies are lightly charred.
Recipe inspired by ultimatepaleoguide.com
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Inside This Issue
1
Do Judge a Book By Its Cover
What HIIT’s All About
2
3 Awesome Ways to Create Lasting Memories
3
Entrepreneurship Library: ‘Thinking in Bets’
Greek Chicken and Veggie Skewers
4
The Goings-On of Boston
What’s Happening in Boston This Month?
SPRING-THEMED EVENTS April is a time of spring traditions, from Easter to the Boston Marathon and Earth Day. These events usher in spring and signal warmer weather ahead. In addition to plenty of music festivals, many events are geared toward shaking off winter. Did you know there is a sheepshearing festival at Gore Place in Waltham? I didn’t either, but the 31st annual event is taking place April 28. What says spring more than shearing off your winter coat? The event also has live music, historic re- enactments, fiber goods, and crafts. JAPANESE FESTIVAL This festival started in 2012 as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Kyoto, Boston’s sister city, giving Washington D. C. cherry blossom trees. This year will mark its seventh year running and will be held for two days, April 28–29. Hosted at the Boston Common, you can enjoy traditional and modern Japanese music, open booths for Japanese-themed items and food, and the revelry at large. There will be various activities you can either watch or participate in, such as a cosplay contest and a raffle. If you’re someone who wants to get out of the house after the long winter months, now is your chance. With local events such as these, it’ll be easy to pick and choose!
Planning on being in the Boston area this spring? Being bored will be the least of your worries. There are several great events going on that are sure to grab your attention.
PATRIOTS DAY If you like history, especially the Civil War, then you won’t want to miss out on this annual event. From April 14–16, Patriots Day will take Lexington by storm. The festivities will include re-enactments, historical walk-throughs, plays, and other entertainment hosted by the Lexington Historical Society. Patriots day became an official holiday in 1894 when Massachusetts Legislature was persuaded by the Lexington Historical Society. Ever since, the Lexington Historical Society strives to present the history and heritage of Lexington to the public.
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