Friday Inspiration, Vol. 191

I can’t make you watch this great film about the best slice of pizza in Colorado and the mountain bikers who created it, but I can tell you that you will be poorer if you don’t watch it (video):

Ann Patchett shares her primary inspiration to become a writer: Snoopy

I’ve said this before, but I love these long pieces on Eater.com about lifelong personal relationships with restaurants. This one’s about Ivar’s in Seattle (and Ivar).

Writer Shawnté Salabert on why she picks up other people’s trash while hiking.

My favorite of these 135 Amazing Facts For People Who Love Amazing Facts: “Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt once sneaked out of a White House event, commandeered an airplane, and went on a joyride to Baltimore.”

The life-changing magic of making do

One writer’s experiment to give up TV for a month and see what happened to her brain.

If you’re in Denver or the Front Range: the folks at Feral Mountain Co. are hosting a launch party for my new book, Bears Don’t Care About Your Problems, at 7 p.m. on August 1. I’ll be telling the story of how starting a website to write funny stuff for zero readers eventually turned into a career, and then sign books and chat afterward. Here’s the Facebook link for more info. Also helpful: three of my favorite restaurants in Denver are within three blocks of Feral.

From the Semi-Rad archives this week: Dear New Guy At The Climbing Gym:

—Brendan