I don’t know what rabbit hole led me to this, but a film about Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor, goes on a quest to play table tennis every day for 365 days, in order to engage his entire brain on a daily basis (from 2016)(video)
A headline: Cow cuddling has become a thing for lonely hearts in the pandemic
This short clip reminds me a little bit of my childhood riding bikes with friends, except a) these kids are about 1000% better at riding wheelies b) it’s in the middle of a city and c) I never owned a bike I could ghostride for more than about 10 feet
These make-your-own Bayeaux Tapestries are hilarious
Ultrarunner Mike Foote talks about his experiences struggling with mental health and disordered eating, around the time he was trying to set the world record for most vertical feet skied in 24 hours (podcast)
Nico Walker’s book Cherry, which was one of the more mind-blowing books I read last year (thanks, Devin), is a movie as of this week, and I really hope it’s good—but this story about how it came to be is pretty amazing on its own
I know the Venn diagram of people who a) read this newsletter and b) are baseball enthusiasts is probably pretty small, but I was lucky* to get to read Andrew Forbes’ second book of baseball essays, The Only Way Is the Steady Way: Essays on Baseball, Ichiro, and How We Watch the Game, and if you have any sort of relationship with baseball, I highly recommend it. (*because I sent him a gushing fan email after reading his first book of baseball essays, The Utility of Boredom, which was also wonderful)
And hey:
These Friday Inspiration posts are able to continue thanks to the handful of wonderful people who support Semi-Rad on Patreon for as little as $2 a month. If you’d like to join them, click here for more info—you’ll also get access to Patreon-only posts (and now video updates!), as well as discounts to my shop and other free stuff.
—Brendan
