Way back when, I published weekly link roundups here which I coined “The Sunday Edition”. It was fun, but tiresome — there’s simply no way I could have ever kept up the pace with the way life has been over the last few years.

Nothing worthwhile comes easy — The Sunday Edition was always the most read piece on The Newsprint. It was the business avenue I would have taken with The Newsprint if push came to shove.

I think I’ve actively tried to revive The Sunday Edition multiple times since its heyday. I lasted maybe two or three weeks and then peetered off.

Which is to say, I’d be surprised if this became a thing again.

Here are a couple things that have been on my mind this week, which may drum up some conversation around your family coffee table this afternoon and evening.

Toddlers and iPads

We have tons of kids books in the house for our oldest (now two-and-a-half) to churn through, and she indeed churns through them — she’s not reading, of course, but letter recognition and number recognition is growing by the day. It’s the most amazing thing, watching young children learn.

However, if our oldest isn’t looking through books, drawing, or sticking number magnets on the fridge, she’s asking for the iPad. I spend a lot of time in front of a screen — who am I to look at her and tell her she shouldn’t be in front of a screen?

That said, the iPad has so much going for it as a learning device. It’s the best device in the world for high school and university students — I’ve tried to hammer this home as often as possible on The Sweet Setup. And I don’t believe it’s impossible for it to be a revolutionary learning device for toddlers.

But how to manage it?

I’m going to reach out to others with children a few years older to see how they’ve managed it. Mike Schmitz put it bluntly: The goal should be to create, not to consume.

I love this.

Right now, it’s my leading approach.

I’m thinking we’re going to pick up Apple’s cheapest iPad (the 10.2-inch iPad) for her in the coming weeks.

“I’ve Heard Now is a Good Time to Invest.”

That’s been stated at least a dozen times in the last couple days at the office. The answer to which is just as obvious:

“Who knows where it’s going to go.”

I won’t pretend to have a clue what’s going to happen in the stock market, but I will be observant to the way the world has reacted in this time of crisis.

People have flocked to Netflix and Disney+ to pass the time. Remote workers are spending even more time on Slack, while new companies are signing up for Slack on a daily basis. Amazon is looking to hire 100,000 workers.

And here in Canada, Western Canadian Select oil is down to $7.200 a barrel. It costs more to ship that barrel of oil than it does to purchase that barrel of oil.

So where’s the world going? How is it going to react? Will the market return to former highs in a relatively quick period?

No clue.

But! I have my eyes on a few super duper cheap stocks right now and my fingertips are getting itchy.

If this article from the Financial Post is to be believed, it’s better to be approximately correct than to sit out and wait for things to come to complete certainty. By that point, you’re too late.

On Philippians 4:13

This verse seems to be written everywhere — tattooed on arms, printed on goalie helmets, and eating up character counts in Twitter bios. It’s pretty inspirational, to be sure:

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

(When I grew up, I always thought that should have been “Him”, not “him”.)

You can! I’ve always believed that, as we should. But I always believed it meant something like this:

It wasn’t until this week that I paid more attention to the two preceding verses, which help give context to Philippians 4:13. They read:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I think those two verses from Paul have stuck with me for a few reasons this week. First, because the immature point of view of Philippians 4:13 is represented in the graph above. A more mature point of view, in my opinion, looks something like this:

And second, because we really are in a time of need. We’ve had utter abundance over the last 15 to 20 years. So much extra. So much superfluous stuff. The absolutely sudden shift from having it all to having nothing is terrifying. Yet, we’re called to be as content as before.

Thanks for reading. If anything, I hope there’s a conversation starter in here for your afternoon coffee. We’ve changed our coffee tastes up around here because the grocer we’ve purchased from is 115 kilometres away. Instead, we’re trying more local producers. It’s been a great chance to get to know the local market.

Here’s one of my favourite photos, which hopefully acts as a reminder that the world is a beautiful place and that we’ll be able to get back out there and explore in no time.

Hope everyone has a safe and blessed week ahead.

My friend Marius has tons of product connections, likely because he’s talented, rational, and fair in his reviews. He spent a couple weeks with the venerable Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L lens recently and had a few words to say:

Studio, wedding, and other fair weather photographers have less to gain, but that won’t stop them from buying this lens anyway. It’s desirable, and sometimes we buy things not because we need them but because we want them. I think that’s perfectly fine if you can make the purchase responsibly, especially if it brings you satisfaction and inspiration.

For those photographers, buying this lens represents the epitome of chasing that last ten percent of sparkle, of polish, of specialness in their output—even though it’s almost certain that only they will notice and appreciate it.

…

There is nothing conservative about this lens. It is a marvel of photographic technology and I’m grateful to have had the chance to shoot with it.

Knowing that this kind of talent is being poured into Canon’s new products really builds confidence in the future of the RF mount, particularly since all of these advancements will trickle down to the lenses that the rest of us can afford.

This is, of course, all correct — I’m not sure the analysis could be more spot on.

When I purchased the Canon EOS R at the beginning of January, I planned to initially purchase the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro STM and then save for a few months to buy the RF 50mm f/1.2L. After some additional deliberation, I convinced myself to put the 50mm aspirations aside and save up for the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L instead.

Thanks to Marius, I’m back to where I started.

There are three specific reasons I want the RF 50mm f/1.2L:

1. I prefer the 50mm focal length to the 85mm focal length for portraits. I tend to prefer portraits with additional background context. I also prefer full-body portraits, and the 50mm focal length means I don’t have to step back as far to nab the full-body photograph.
2. The f/1.2 aperture is big, wide, razor thin, and fast. Too fast, for all intents and purposes — I doubt that thin depth of field would throw more eyes out of focus than it would keep in focus. But subject separation at a distance matters a lot to me (again, think of full-body portraits) and the fast aperture allows for even faster shutter speeds when shooting indoors. My two little girls seem to move faster and faster each day, so the faster shutter speeds are tremendously helpful to snag more indoor keepers.
3. I tend to prefer 50mm-85mm focal lengths when shooting product photos for The Sweet Setup. These focal lengths feel more immersive, in my opinion. My small bedroom office has walls that hit quickly when using an 85mm focal length. A 50mm focal length is perfect for my little home office and for getting the angles I prefer to shoot.

So, clearly, preference is king here.

I’m not sure which lens is next on my list at this point. I’d like to stick it out and see how Canon releases new lenses with all the shipping delays in the world, but there’s not a single day that goes by where I’m not clamouring for additional focal lengths for my EOS R.

The RF 50mm f/1.2L just snuck back up to the top of the list thanks to Marius.