Cal Newport’s years of experience as a blogger shine through in this wonderfully cogent, clear, minimalist and well-structured blog post that lies at the heart of the book. It’s a powerful argument against the perma-connected, perma-distracted state of the world. Needlessly fattened by (occasionally breathless Tom Friedman-esque) name-dropping and anecdotes that suggest a minimal page count required by the book contract, it left me with the thought “Shoulda been a blog post.” To this I add, now, “Woulda been unforgettable as a blog post or pamphlet.”

At the end of October, we headed to London to take in the late-fall experience there. It was a wonderful visit. Here are some of the highlights.