May 7th 2026 - Reading Summary
The Hobbit
Chapter 7 - Queer lodgings
- Flying to the rock
Bilbo wakes up hoping he's at home but remembers he's with the eagles and the group. He climbs on the back of an eagle and closes his eyes as they start soaring into the sky.
Eventually, they come to a rock surrounded by a river where they are dropped off. The eagles give a specific phrase farewell which Gandalf returns with the correct wording and the group make their way down and across the river into a cave filled with with pebbles.
- The bear man
They learn that they are going to visit a man who lives at The Carrock. This man can turn into a bear and shift into other forms. We learn that Gandalf will soon leave them as he has other pressing matters to attend to.
We learn that this man is quite particular about not eating meat, he can talk to animals, and he gets upset easily.
Atomic Habits
The dopamine cycle
When we first experience a rewarding event dopamine spikes when we get the reward. The next time dopamine spikes when we are exposed to the cue but not at the time of reward. If the reward is never experienced then we have a sharp dopamine drop. If the reward is experienced late we have a dopamine spike when the reward is finally achieved.
Desire is what drives behavior.