This is probably not for everyone, but damn if it isn’t touching, extremely entertaining, and incredibly creative. And also kind of about collecting salt and pepper shakers. (video)
Every time I talk to Scott Kummer for his Ten Junk Miles podcast, it just feels like catching up with a buddy. I remembered why during the last session we recorded, in which he called me on the phone and as we started chatting, I asked, “are you already recording?” and he said yes, which I love because there’s absolutely no pretense. Which you can hear in this episode, in which we talk a little bit about running, but mostly about other stuff.
I never thought of this until I saw this thread of Bluesky posts via Kottke.org, but the perspective of someone who works as an indie bookseller is both fascinating and refreshing nowadays—they get to see what people are actually willing to invest in, (i.e. spend hard-earned money for physical books), as opposed to what people “like,” or re-share, or search for in the privacy/pseudo-privacy of their own search engine boxes. Anyway, it gave me a little bit of hope.
Precision Fuel & Hydration has been sponsoring this newsletter for the past three months, and one reason it’s worked so well (in my opinion) is that their website has so much great content on it, which I’ve been reading and linking to for the past 12 weeks. Rarely have I had to explicitly say, “I love Product X, and maybe you will too.” Until today, when I am actually going to say I love their new PF 60 Chew Bar. It is kind of the simplest thing ever—instead of two energy chews, it’s just one big one—but that’s what I want. Throughout my entire trail running career, I have just squeezed several blocks of whatever energy chews I was carrying into my mouth, and then mouth-breathed while chewing them for a few steps/bites. Well, now I can just bit off one big chunk of this chew bar and go about the rest of my day. I don’t know if they’re the first company to do this, but I’m into it. Here’s a link (which will give you 15% off your first order).
“The items on Facebook Marketplace are jumbled together so haphazardly that they remind me of the lawless tumble of images that graced GeoCities’ pages. As a millennial who recalls how fun the nascent internet could be, it’s a relief to find something that feels reminiscent of that time.”
—Paula Mejía, The One Place on Social Media That Still Feels Human [GIFT LINK]
Sometimes I just open up the Substack Explore page (which I believe there was a button for a while back, but I can’t figure out how to find it again, so I made this bookmark for myself with this link: https://substack.com/browse/), and yesterday it delivered me this gem of an essay about a life of watching baseball, or as the author puts it, “having a full-time BDSM relationship with the Mets.”
You have probably by now seen the memes, or the original video of the super-jacked guy chronicling his SIX-HOUR “morning routine,” but even if you haven’t, this article is a wonderful exploration of it, and also of influencer culture. It’s full of interesting thoughts and clever passages, including this one: “Ultimately, the fact that the entire internet—I mean, my mom saw these memes—watched a random online fitness coach go viral has hopefully highlighted the absurdity, and often falsity, of an entire influencer economy that swaps the part for the whole. If you just drink this expensive water that I drink, you can make the money it takes to buy it. If you just use this one serum I use, you can have the clear skin I get from it—never mind my team of estheticians and the genetic lottery I won. If you run really fast behind enough cars and eat enough steak lunches and block out enough noise, then you TOO can make millions telling people that they’ve just gotta pull themselves up by their Chelsea boots, get that bag, rise and grind, and LOCK IN.”
I have been going through my notes for my writing workshop in the Grand Canyon next month, and on one page is an excerpt from the excellent book Humor, Seriously by Jenifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, titled “Principle #2: All Humor Contains Surprise and Misdirection.” The guy in this video knows that, and even though the joke takes a few awkwards second to land on its intended audience, they eventually get it.
Speaking of writing workshops, we have now had 130 people complete my How To Tell One Story online writing workshop (many of those who signed up during the busy holiday season!), and I’ve been really enjoying reading the feed from everyone who filled out the post-course survey. Here’s one testimonial, from Sandra M.: “I really loved this course. Brendan makes you feel like you can do it. Writing about an experience opens up other stories just waiting to be written. I had a really narrow interpretation of what writing should be like and I could feel myself becoming more flexible and getting out of my own view of the world and how I should spend my time.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the course, all the info is here (including the FREE first lesson): https://semi-rad.com/courses/
—
