What is one trait that you've inherited from your parents, and when did it you first notice it?
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Previous Question:
What is one trait that you've inherited from your parents, and when did it you first notice it?
Trent answers: Inefficient grocery shopping. I haven't owned a car for much of my life. So when I go to the supermarket, I'm frequently piggybacking on someone else's trip (a friend, roommate, significant other, etc.) Throughout the years, my shopping buddies have commented on my in-store procedures and habits. Apparently I have a tendency to serpentine through each aisle religiously—carefully surveying each shelf until I find something that I need (semi-regardless of how long my grocery list actually is).
I also default to a patient stroll and apparently end up focusing less on groceries than most other grocery shoppers do. All of this amounts to me taking much longer to shop than whoever actually drove me to the store, which I feel bad about. With extreme focus, I can break these habits. However, I inevitably revert my old ways over time.
I didn't realize that all of this was hereditary until the age of 23, when my mother and I went to the supermarket to pick up a few extra ingredients for dinner and ended up leaving the store nearly two hours later.
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Trent’s Ask:
What is something that you really enjoy doing, despite being objectively poor at doing it?
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Bits and Pieces
From time to time, I’ll throw some updates, links, and other notes at the bottom of the newsletter.
I announced this week that I’m leaving the FiveThirtyEight podcast. Just seeing the news path ahead (eg the Mueller investigation and the 2020 election) it was clear that trying to balance 538 and my other work wasn’t going to be fair to either side. I’m very bummed to be leaving, but I’m already really excited to throw myself into 30 for 30, some other new efforts at ESPN, and a few new side projects (this newsletter has a bit to do with one of them). I’ve gotten a ton of really lovely notes over the last week; makes me think I should leave a job every six months, if only for the ego boost! But seriously, thanks for all your support, and shoutout to the team at 538, who are the best and funnest in the news business.
Hey, it’s the end of the year and, unlike anyone else, I’ve decided to catalog some of my favorite things. I’ll be tweeting about them over the next week, but for now here’s a playlist of Songs From 2018 I Loved. And I wrote about my three favorite podcasts for the Sunday Long Read.
One other thing that I truly loved from 2018: seeing David Byrne live. His “American Utopia” tour is over, but turns out there are a ton of videos on youtube of it. Put it on sometime.
Here’s a very good farro recipe to have in your pocket this holiday season.
The Moonlight Sonata but the bass is a bar late and the melody is a bar early.