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​Friday Inspiration 530​
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I think I know probably a dozen people who will be VERY excited reading the words “Hey, there’s a documentary about Mary Oliver coming out soon,” and I hope I am the one to deliver this news to them (video)

As I understand it, this guy was replacing the stairs in his multi-floor townhouse, took out the spiral staircase, and then realized that his passport was on the top floor, which was bad because he was leaving the next weekend for a cruise. So he put an ad on Craigslist in search of a couple rock climbers to retrieve it for him (with a very detailed ad that makes me think he's done some climbing himself). Which seems like one of those “only in New York” things, but also enjoyable for everyone. (Thanks, Beth!)

I share a lot of links to the r/cassettefuturism subreddit in this newsletter because it’s a thing I like—which I have always assumed is because of a sort of nostalgia for the time when computers seemed to hold a lot of promise and potential, but before I hated the fact that “checking my phone” was near the top of my list of “Things I Do Right Away After I Wake Up.” So when someone writes a piece titled “A love letter to cassette futurism,” I of course click on it hoping to understand why, and this one delivered for me. Basically, if you’ve noticed the aesthetic in movies like Blade Runner, Alien, the original Star Wars, or Andor, you might enjoy reading more about it. (Also if you think a 6-minute YouTube video titled “Alien but just the tech” sounds fun, that’s in the article too)

Blake Boles has one of the most unique lives of anyone I know, bouncing around the globe doing cool stuff while pursuing his passion for educating kids in non-classroom environments. Also, I have to admit that the title of his new book, “Dirtbag Rich,” is one of those “I wish I’d thought of that” titles. Anyway, it came out last week, and it’s a really thoughtful read on different ways of looking at the idea of being “rich.” I know this because I read the whole thing a few months ago when Blake asked me to create a handful of illustrations for it. Here’s a link to check it out on Bookshop, or if you prefer audiobooks, on Audible.

I know nothing about this website, but it makes me happy that someone compiled a list titled "A list of chain restaurants whose names contain unusual structures, presented in decreasing order of how appealing it would be to eat in such a structure" (via Kottke)

Last week, if I can believe the statistics, the My Favorite Things podcast passed 10,000 downloads. I have no idea if that’s impressive or not but I am psyched that some people are listening to it. For the most recent episode, I chatted with my friend Jonathan Ellsworth, who you might recognize as the founder of Blister Review, which, among other things, puts together insanely detailed reviews of skis and other gear. Jonathan also has a Ph.D in philosophy, and is always an interesting conversation, so I was excited to see what he had on his list of favorite creative works (which included Pulp Fiction, Old Man and the Sea, Picasso's Don Quixote, a later-era Bob Dylan song, and a philosophy book that retails at $58).

I resisted buying a Defector subscription until I found out I could use gift links to send people to Defector articles, and I’m so happy I did, not necessarily because I read a lot of stories about sports, but because of stories like this one, titled “We Asked The Mayor Of Ottawa Why He Keeps Posting Such Grim Photos,” which you can enjoy without any prior knowledge of Ottawa, Ottawa’s mayor, or the grim photos referenced in the headline. [GIFT LINK]

If you want to geek out about music production for a few minutes, specifically how small but noticeable recording mistakes made it into final versions of songs (such as the phone ringing during the Beatles "A Day in the Life," or Bill Withers repeating "I know" 26 times during "Ain't No Sunshine," or the fake crowd noise in Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets," etc.), this video is a fun watch/listen.

Finally: Last weekend I wrote + illustrated a piece breaking down where my “creative income” comes from with a detailed pie chart, because a) I thought it might be interesting for folks to see the mix of stuff I juggle to make it work each year and b) it’s tax season in the U.S., so I had the spreadsheets handy anyway. If you’re a Patreon supporter you can see it here, and if you’re a paid Substack subscriber you can see it here. (and if you're not a paid supporter and would like to change that, you can do so via either of those links)

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