Artist Olympiads, The Zipper Merge, $1.50 Hot Dogs, etc.
In which I try my best not to be mid.
🇲🇽 ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
🎡 20 years ago I was at Coachella with Brian J. Bowe and the late, great Bob Matheu.
✍️ A few days ago we lost Paul Auster, the Bard of Brooklyn, a talented writer I discovered from a folk song by Fionn Regan. “For the lonliness you foster, I suggest Paul Auster, a book called Timbuktu.” A book, incidentally, that I sought out and cherished immediately. Hear the master of the post-modern page turners discuss why he became a writer.
🥇 From 1912 to 1952, in addition to athletics, there were events dedicated to the arts, with medals given out for graphic design, orchestral composition, and epic literature. “The founder of the modern Games thought they should honor both body and mind. But the tradition died years ago, and the winning artworks are largely forgotten.”
📚 “How teens benefit from being able to read ‘disturbing’ books that some want to ban.” A new study shows them to be more empathetic, thoughtful, happier and better readers.
📋 A list of Gen Z slang, including gaged, Mother, ate, mid, rizz and both sending, and giving, life.
🗞️ Food for thought: news is bad for you. “News is bad for your health. It leads to fear and aggression, and hinders your creativity and ability to think deeply. The solution? Stop consuming it altogether.” (Pulled from a list of the 75 “Best articles from the Guardian.”)
🚘 I’m sorry, but you don’t know how to merge, and you should.
🛒 Amazon is ditching its “Just Walk Out” tech, which seemed automated, but actually relied on “1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts.”
👎 Not sure I like Trader Joe’s practices, which apparently “outsources inspiration for new products by targeting emerging brands under the guise of recruiting them to manufacture private-label items.”
🌭 Costco hot dogs and soda has been $1.50 forever. Here’s why.
😋 This is too good. British high schoolers try American biscuits and gravy for the first time. “It looks like a chopped-up ferret.”
✌️I’ll leave you with words from the aforementioned Timbuktu, in which a homeless man speaks to his beloved dog, Mr. Bones.
“That's all I've ever dreamed of, Mr. Bones. To make the world a better place. To bring some beauty to the drab humdrum corners of the soul. You can do it with a toaster, you can do it with a poem, you can do it by reaching out your hand to a stranger. It doesn't matter what form it takes. To leave the world a little better than you found it. That's the best a man can ever do.”
Remember to keep the Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
