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1 day ago • 1 min read
Friday Inspiration 497 I had a lot of fun figuring out how to make this 2-minute YouTube video about "the creative process," which involved a) digging an actual hole, b) rigging a ring light in our shower just to shoot 10-seconds of GoPro footage of my feet, and c) spending way too long hand-writing all the subtitles. But I hope it hits home. (video) I was talking to a friend the other day about writers who can create great writing out of the smallest events. I was thinking of Bill Bryson, in...
7 days ago • 3 min read
Friday Inspiration 496 Today is the last day to sign up for my How To Tell One Story online writing course! As of my typing this (Thursday afternoon), we still had eight spots available. Since I kind of messed up a funny video promotion I did for it on Instagram that had a discount code on it (long story), it’s $199 for everyone instead of $249. But, again, today is the last day to sign up, and the spots are filling. Here’s the link for more info. (We’ll open up another 25 spots the week of...
14 days ago • 3 min read
When We Finish This photo of me, running to the finish line of a race with my toddler, Jay, was about 45 seconds away from not happening at all: Hilary had woken Jay up from his nap, driven an hour and a half from Lake Hawea to the finish line parking area, scooped Jay out of the car, hustled him and his strider bike to the finishing corral, and gotten there just in time to see me about 150 feet away, jogging toward the finish alongside a guy named Kyle, scanning the fence line for her and...
15 days ago • 3 min read
Friday Inspiration 495 NEWS FROM ME: As of today, August 1, we are opening up 25 more spots for the next session of my How To Tell One Story online writing course. So far, 180+ people have taken the course, and I’ve gotten tons of positive feedback from them. It’s six weeks, two emails per week (Mondays and Thursdays), each email containing a lesson, short video, and writing exercise that takes between five and 30 minutes. You complete the lessons at your own pace, and you have access to the...
21 days ago • 3 min read
Friday Inspiration 494 Wow did I love this 15-minute film about three L.A. cyclists who come from diverse cycling backgrounds and found each other to enjoy, as Dante Young puts it, “riding around in tight-ass clothes all day.” (video) (thanks, Brody) This one-minute video was simply titled “Researchers react to first-ever photos” on the youseeingthisshit subreddit, and I watched it three or four times before I poked around to try to find more info on why these guys were so excited about this...
28 days ago • 3 min read
Take It Away, Stranger Rich seemed like a nice guy, and although we only interacted for a few minutes, I remain forever grateful to him for the psychic load he unburdened me from, and took on himself, despite not knowing me at all. Rich is a hero, but he’s not unique. He’s one of many heroes around the world who act probably on a daily basis, visiting strangers they meet via Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, coming to their homes and agreeing to adopt a piece of neglected exercise...
29 days ago • 3 min read
Friday Inspiration 493 I got quite a few responses to my post “A Regular Person’s Guide To Surviving An Ultramarathon” a few weeks back, so I decided to try to turn it into a YouTube video—which I just published yesterday. (video) I might be a little late to the party here, but I finally finished Orbital by Samantha Harvey, and I was just telling a friend I regretted listening to the audiobook because it was so beautifully written that I wanted to spend more time with the sentences (which is...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Friday Inspiration 492 I am a big fan of Luke Nelson, who is a dad, husband, physician’s assistant, sponsored trail runner, ski patroller, race director, and just a swell guy in general. I remember seeing his “Pocatello Round” come through my Strava feed in the summer of 2024, and thinking, “Well, of course he did that.” Luke dreamed up a 72-mile route around his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, and ran it with friends, and this short film documents the effort and people that made it possible....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
