Friday Inspiration 435

brendan

June 7

I don't know how many people click on the featured videos that I put in this newsletter every week, but if you have four minutes and want to laugh multiple times within those four minutes, this is a fantastic speech about the absurdity of writing for a living, by writer Fredrik Backman (who wrote A Man Called Ove). (video)

Tobin Mitnick has had enough of the ridiculous "hail the size of ______" descriptions. I think he definitely has a point—especially "DVD-sized hail" and "melon-sized hail." But I also think we can get even more ridiculous and obscure in our references, don't you?

A few people have told me that I need to mention this more often, so here: You can support this newsletter here, on Patreon. Yes, it takes about 60 seconds to sign up, but it keeps this newsletter going, AND in this month's Patreon-only update, I'm making a video answering Patron questions about the writing + publishing of my new book, Ultra-Something. If you join this week, you can still submit a question for me to answer. Here's where you can do that.

I listened to this set of instrumental covers of 90s hip hop songs twice in a row yesterday, and I can't objectively say that you have to be familiar with the original songs to enjoy the covers—but I think that might be true.

This is not one of those "I scammed the scammers" stories, but it is pretty interesting to see what phone thieves will do to try to get you to unlock your phone after they've stolen it from you (and to see how quickly it travels halfway around the world). (via Kottke.org)

I Am The Only Person On The Fury Road Who Still Drives A Sensible Car

Is this a second link in a row this week about Furiosa? Yes, it is. I went to see it last Sunday night. The one thing that makes me happier than watching George Miller's Mad Max films is when smart people like those same films, and write about them in an insightful way.

This story is three years old, but I clicked on it knowing that whoever got to write the headline and sub-headline had a blast doing it:
Meet the Death Metal Baron Giving His Irish Estate Back to Nature | The carnivore-turned-vegan lord has rewilded hundreds of acres, boosting biodiversity—and drawing criticism.