Songs You Love, Spanish Landscapes, the Transatlantic Accent, etc.
In which I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, but especially mine.
❤️ Happy Mother’s Day!
🎼 I asked you to share “a song with me that you love. And not just really like or think is great, but love, to your core.” Wasn’t looking for “correct” or “cool” answers, just honest ones. Everyone more than delivered: here is a playlist of over three hours worth of answers.
🌞 If you are in my neck of the woods this summer, swing by Albert EL Fresco in downtown East Lansing, which I had the honor of ceremoniously opening this week along with the mayor and city staff.
✍️ I am glad I read Raymond Chandler’s 1950s-penned essay to his assistant Juanita Messick this week. “Assert your personal rights at all times. You are a human being. You will not always feel well. You will be tired and want to lie down. Say so. Do it. You will get nervous; you will want to go out for a while. Say so, and do it. If you get to work late, don’t apologize. Just give a simple explanation of why, even if it is a silly explanation. You may have had a flat tire. You may have overslept. You may have been drunk. We are both just people.”
🫒 Just about the only thing I don’t like to eat are olives, but I do like Tom Hegen’s aerial photos of Spanish landscapes, highlighting nearly six-million acres of Spanish countryside olive farms.
📍 Luke Skywalker’s home in the original Star Wars still stands in Nefta, Tunisia.
♟ Another link from Atlas Obscura: How did chess pieces get their names? “One player’s pawn is another’s farmer. And at one time, the queen was the virgin, and rather powerless.” Also: charming video of a New York park player explain the game… to a grandmaster.
🍪 I love the Cookie Monster, but dude’s gotta problem. A much bigger problem, actually.
🍔 Wendy’s is automating its drive-thrus “using an artificial-intelligence chatbot powered by natural-language software developed by Google and trained to understand the myriad ways customers order off the menu.” It will launch this June at a company-owned restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
🗣 A primer on the Transatlantic (or Mid-Atlantic) accent as heard in countless movies from the 1940s that I adore.
⛵️ Last week, off the coast of France, a sailboat was rescued… by a massive, 18th century ship.
👋 Go call your mother, and remember to keep the Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
