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​Friday Inspiration 550​

NOTE: A couple months ago, we made refrigerator magnets of my “Did You Have A Good Adventure?” chart, and sold out of them in a few hours. We just made another batch of 100, and also printed 100 posters (8.5” x 11”), and if you’d like to grab one before they’re gone, here’s a link to check them out.

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I can’t believe I just discovered that Randall Munroe of XKCD fame has been making these “What If?” videos for two years now, but this one, “What if you dropped a bowling ball in the Mariana Trench?” was incredibly entertaining and interesting for its sub-3-minute runtime. (video)

Boy do I have some nostalgia for the Columbia House CD catalogs of the 1990s—and a funny story about a collection agency that is way too long for the Friday version of this newsletter, but maybe I’ll write it up some Thursday. But if you knew about Columbia House, and you didn’t know the company was still around, well, it’s finally shutting down next month. (via Kottke)

I’m not saying I had anything to do with this essay being hilarious and absolutely spot-on with some of my own experiences trying to get my kid to sleep in his own bed over the past couple years, but Jeanette did attend this year’s Running to Stand Still writing workshop, during which we all encouraged her to write more, which she did, and after reading her piece, “We Ride at Dawn,” I think you might encourage her to do the same.

This past Tuesday, I finished reading The Size of Your Joy, Elise Powers’ book of poems that I've had in this newsletter for a while, and in the final pages of the book I (finally!) found the poem that led me to buy the book a couple months ago: Small Inconveniences, which you can read on her Substack.​

This is not a long article, but I appreciated the concept, “A brief consideration of some fictional big boys,” inspired by the newest season of Reacher, and this bit: “While Reacher may be our current moment's most beloved answer to the question ‘What if a guy was really big?’ he is by no means the only one. Plenty of authors have explored the possibilities inherent in hugeness.” [GIFT LINK]

I just found out about this website, Beautiful Public Data, and was delighted by this presentation of more than 50,000 boat names culled from NOAA vessel traffic data, and the ability to browse by category (puns!).

Books I’m Currently Reading:

• ​Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men's Lives by Darby Saxbe PhD

My friend Sally recommended this brand-new book to us, and I of course was interested because of the big change in my life that has caused a thousand other little changes (including, presumably, how my brain works). I’m only one chapter into it so far but I am already impressed and grateful for Saxby’s engaging writing style.

• ​How to Wash the Dishes by Peter Miller

I picked up this meditative book on, you guessed it, how to wash dishes, at our local bookstore, noting that the “Staff Picks” card inside it was from the owner, Garth, with the simple note “this should settle some arguments.” I’m only about halfway through it, and we don’t have any arguments about dishwashing at our house, but I’m enjoying it so far.

• ​Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gabriel

Hilary was reading this for months and absolutely gushing over it, and there’s only so much you can hear about one book before you just say “I’ll go ahead and borrow that whenever you’re finished.” And I am happy to say it’s as good as she said it was (although I would be terrified of taking on the challenge of writing about five different [famous] artists all in the same book like Mary Gabriel did).

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Some images of the aforementioned "Did You Have A Good Adventure?" poster and magnet:

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