Good morning, fam!
This past week was a doozy.
We’re getting ready to travel abroad for our friends’ wedding which means a crap ton of work, laundry, and packing…which I obviously won’t finish until tomorrow night (we leave on Monday).
But enough about me (sorry, I’m a Leo). Let’s get to the fun part!
Wake up your Tamagotchi, scarf down some Fruity Pebbles, and let’s get into it.
Here’s what I have for you this morning:
Welp, it finally happened. I started a book…and put it down before finishing it. I took on the behemoth that is Infinite Jest and it kicked my butt. Maybe it’s the fact we’re getting ready to travel and I can’t imagine lugging this 1,000+ page book around in my backpack, but I’m going to shelf it and come back to it later.1
Looking for a goofy cartoon about an average 15-year-old boy who has an overactive imagination? (I can relate). I started watching Duncanville as my 20-minute lunchtime show at home and just caught up with the third season.2
Anyone wonder why Hulu put out another movie based on Fire Fest? That’s what I initially thought going into Fire Island, but was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t. As someone who is both a huge fan of rom coms and a book nerd, Joel Kim Booster’s queer take on Pride and Prejudice was the feel-good movie we all need right now.
Thanks to a co-worker’s question about our favorite nostalgic video games, I took to the internet to answer a decades-long mystery: what was the name of the old computer game I used to play in my dad’s office as a kid? Thanks to the most niche subreddit online,3 I found the answer.
After hitting up a local Italian place with few friends, I found my drink of the summer for 2022. I give you the Onesto Cello: honey whiskey, fresh mint and lemon, Limoncello, and ginger beer. It was wayyy better than the limoncello my dad used to make: Smirnoff plus lemons. Sorry, Dad!
You’ve seen his movies and you’ve (probably) seen his ads. A few days ago, Ryan Reynolds announced a new non-profit he co-founded called Creative Ladder, a group making the creative industry more diverse and inclusive. Score one for the privileged white guys doing some good!
Speaking of using privilege for good, I finally made some progress on the new project I started where I interview people who also made the leap into tech. I decided to jump right in, pick up a Blue Yeti Nano mic, and record my first interview. Lucky for me, it was idiot-proof. You literally plug it in via USB and that’s it. If only not cringing at the sound of my own voice was this easy…
During a “bathroom conference call,” I stumbled across this video you have to watch. It reinforced the fact that I am a city boy who will never come close to being this resourceful. Just make sure you watch it on 2x speed - it should take you 10 minutes (i.e. An average “bathroom conference call”).
During the pandemic (still happening), almost every Hollywood A-lister jumped on the podcasting bandwagon. After listening to a lot of noise, there are podcasts giving us some signal. One of them is Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend. In it, the famous host and comedian interviews people with his trusty sidekicks Sona Movsesian (his assistant) and Matt Gourley (his punching bag).
Tired of working from home? I published 10 reasons why you should work out of a coworking center on BuiltIn, a platform focused on helping people get into tech (that’s kind of my jam). Spoiler alert: it’s not just about the #vibez.
You made it to the end! Here’s a little somethin’ somethin’.
Cheers,
Billy
He foolishly promised himself.
You’ll probably recognize one of the co-creators and most of the voice actors ;)