Boom... just when you think it's safe to do something healthy on your Saturday like go to the gym or spend time with F&F we hit you with another chockablock list of philological gems to otherwise delight and entertain your brain. What you do with your body during the interim is up to you I guess.
How time flies, it's been 20 days since our last issue. I (Calvin) was admittedly the bottleneck on getting this one out, sorry bout it. I'm heading to the beach today, and if you are already on a beach somewhere I hope you don't see this newsletter because you're avoiding email and all other technologies.
If you're not on a beach, I hope you do see this email and click all the links.
Enjoy.
If you're scrolling through your email this morning and looking for something to read, we've got you covered for the whole weekend with the second edition of our Trash Fire series.
No need to hunt around Facebook or Twitter and wade through the inane political banter and clickbait. We've got top-quality trash right here for you to click.
Enjoy.
Goodness gracious last week's food issue performed poorly in the clicks department, y'all. I guess everyone was happy with one or two food links per issue.
Well lucky for you, this week we're back to our freewheelin', theme-free ways with a bunch of interesting reads for you to check out during your (hopefully) long holiday weekend. Grab a cold beverage and a chair, and get to clicking (or tapping or swiping or scrolling or however you consume content).
Enjoy.
Special Food Edition
Welcome to Issue 30, another milestone for Mark as Read. This weekend we're assuaging the onslaught of summer temperatures with a special food edition, hot off the presses.
Enjoy. Er, Bon Appétit?
It's been awhile! To be exact, it's been forty days since we last published. In that timespan, Brian had to traverse basically all of Asia or something and I elected to take my sabbatical. In light of both of us finally being back at home–and not going anywhere for quite awhile–we've cobbled together some of our favorite reads on travel. Hopefully these articles inspire you as you're likely planning your summer vacation.
Enjoy.
Take that boring inbox, Mark As Read is here! Against all odds we have chuffed out another issue full of the most interesting things we've run across out here in these streets. Or in other words: newsletters, uh, find a way.
-Brian
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A long time ago in a newsletter far far away... well at least several weeks (months?) ago when we started building this issue, a Star Wars movie was a freshly minted thing and you probably had just seen The Last Jedi or were at least consciously abstaining from seeing it as beneath you. But in the way of these things (i.e. people motivated by the purity of passion and not for crass monetary remuneration) we find ourselves in February and you've probably moved onto newer and shinier things. But that doesn't mean there isn't a special place in your heart for wars in the stars and hopefully this themed issue will help you survive until the upcoming launch of Calvin and I's new skin care line Force+Sith...
Reports of the death of fiat currency have been greatly exaggerated.
In this special-edition trash-fire issue I'm going to try to give you a 360 degree view of cryptocurrency, a category which includes the famous bitcoin.
The hypothesis I currently am testing in my own head is that the existing cryptocurrencies have value only as proofs of concept and buying in is more or less gambling. They do not have any actual underlying value unlike a stock which represents partial ownership in a business or a bond which represents a claim on future interest payments. Buying something without inherent value that can only rise in price if more and more people decide they want some is commonly called a pyramid scheme or a craze. Cryptocurrencies are basically beanie babies but without the actual beanie babies. Buying in is gambling that you aren't too late and won't be caught the one holding the bag when the market collapses. It isn't investing; it is speculating.
I do think the underlying tech aka blockchain is very interesting and may change our lives in (hopefully) good ways over the next couple decades. So check out a couple of these topics as we explore together and hopefully come away more enlightened than confused.
Heyyy there, hope you had a wonderful holiday and that any resolutions you made after 3-4 adult beverages on NYE are still on track.
In honor of this being Issue 25 of Mark as Read and the first of 2018, we have attempted to make this issue a little more cohesive than usual. You could even say it has a theme. If I had to name the theme I think it would be "get back to work" (but not until you finish reading all of our words about articles we didn't write).
Enjoy!