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​Friday Inspiration 560

I discovered late yesterday afternoon that my Thursday newsletter somehow did not get sent to about 10,000 people, so please forgive the repetition for some folks, but this was the video I sent out, adapted from my original post from a while back about having a favorite tree (video).

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Today we are launching a new t-shirt (!) in my shop—it’s called “The $150 Running T-shirt.” I am not sure how much I need to explain it, but it’s a 100% cotton t-shirt with the words “$150 Running T-shirt” written on the front (upper left chest). It’s $32, and if you are doing some early holiday shopping for a runner/runners in your life (or for yourself), here’s the link. It will not help anyone run faster, but I hope it will build community by making people laugh.

Both of these sites will show you Wikipedia topics near you (or near whatever location you enter), and I found out about both of them this week. One’s called “Local Wikipedia,” and the other is Walkipedia. Simple enough idea, but actually led me to learn some new stuff about my neighborhood (that building downtown was constructed to be a brothel in 1893?).

This week I’ve been working on a very unserious project for newsletter sponsor Precision Fuel & Hydration, but it’s led me down some rabbit holes of serious information, including this piece on their website about how to start a long run/race/training day hydrated, why that’s important, and why it should include sodium. (Reminder that this link will give you 15% off your first 2026 purchase of PFH stuff, including my favorite drink mix, PH 1000)

Years ago my friend Ace gave me the best photography tip I think I’ve received, which was something about 95 percent of photos being taken with the camera at about 5 feet 7 inches above the ground, so if you just moved around a bit and changed the perspective, you’d be able to take better photos. This guy makes a not dissimilar point in this video, along with a bunch of other tips: How to Take Better Photos of Your Everyday Life​

My friend Jason Chatfield and his friend Scott Dooley have a new book out called You’re Not A Real Parent Until … and I have been laughing and nodding while flipping through it this week. For the book launch, Jason and Scott are selling signed copies for $30, and for an additional $20, Jason, who is a cartoonist for the New Yorker, will draw a sketch of your kid (or two kids for an additional $30, or three kids for an additional $40). I don’t know how he has time to do all this, but I will say that we have a framed Jason Chatfield sketch of Jay on our kitchen wall because back in 2023, in a somewhat relevant email, I asked Jason if he would like me to send him a video of Jay pooping his pants while eating a tortilla and listening to jazz, and he said yes. (This is me recommending the bonus sketch, I guess.) This link will take you to the page where you can purchase signed copies and sketches of your kid(s), and this link will take you to Jason's post about the book.

A few weeks ago, I designed a series of 12 weekly writing prompts and soft-launched them to people who had taken my online writing course. Forty-six people signed up for the prompts, and I have not heard how it’s going for anyone until Julie Edwards shared this blog post she wrote, written for the Week 2 writing prompt, titled “Let Me Tell You About My Friend.” Anyway, if you’re interested in receiving some writing prompts in your email on Monday mornings for 12 weeks, you can sign up for the low, low price of $11.99 here (I’m obviously not going to get rich doing this but I thought having some sort of payment would help people take them a little more seriously than if they were free?).

Karl Bushby has been walking around the world for 28 years, and he’s almost back to his mother’s house in Hull, England, for the first time since he started his walk in 1998. Many adjectives come to mind when trying to describe this level of commitment, but, just, wow. The New York Times wrote a piece about him this week [GIFT LINK] but I think the story about him from a couple weeks ago in The Guardian is more detailed.

This story came up while I was browsing the “Running” category on Substack, and it is kind of about running, but to me, the whole story is the final few paragraphs, which I believe will make you feel better about human beings.

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Books I’m Currently Reading:

• ​What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

I heard about this book earlier this year but hadn't ordered it until recently, and I'm only through the introduction so far, a but I'm optimistic that it's going to be as good as people say it is (Smithsonian Best Book of the Year, NYTimes Bestseller, etc.) Author Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab, and podcaster, who curated this collection of essays, interviews, poetry, and art, which I'm hopeful about.

• ​Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry

I don't remember where I heard about this book, or where I bought it, but I do know I have a paperback copy of it, and I'm into it so far: A 1981 minor league baseball game that went into the wee hours of the morning, and that included future MLB superstars Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr.

• ​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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