As pungent as a merrily burning dumpster outside an incense factory.
We hope this rapid fire issue of spicy chorizo sausage links fills your stocking with holiday cheer and gives you plenty of material to survive awkward holiday gatherings by silently sitting in a corner glued to your smartphone. Or even better, ignore all this awesomeness and go give Aunt Cordelia an extra hug just from us. My how you've grown this year!
Hello all. I wish the circumstances were different, but unfortunately right now the Grizzlies are terrible and I think it's time to consider tanking for draft picks.
But no matter. The Christmas season is upon us and even a 9-20 Grizzlies team won't get us down.
I hope you're able to use up all your remaining vacation days and spend copious amounts of time on your couch rewatching classic Christmas movies. And that you're able to wear pajamas all day. May your days be merry and cozy.
Enjoy.
Usually Calvin puts some dry and witty welcoming words here. However recently he and I had a conversation about the different stages of parenting we currently exist in. My life consists of managing (and dare I say, mentoring) my six and nine year old kids via frequent dad-jokes (ask me about cashews) and occasional stern lecturing. Calvin's consists of trying to keep at bay the no-knock haz-mat raid squad of child protective services through timely management of various excretions from his months-old progeny. As a result, this issue (and future ones from time to time) will find me gladly opening the front door and welcoming you into this snug little abode of thoughtfulness and eclectic levity. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Hello hello, and happy Friday. We try to make sure it's always a surprise when you actually receive an issue of Mark as Read. Didn't think you'd hear from us today, did ya?
Enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving! This is the twentieth issue of Mark as Read, so I'm kinda proud of that.
We've got quite the issue this week, even featuring a "discussion" between Brian and I about Net Neutrality. Remember when your parents would be arguing loudly – some may call it yelling – and then you'd ask why they were fighting and they would say "we're not fighting, we're having a discussion"? Like that.
I hope you have a wonderful day (or two) of relaxing and spending time with family. In fact, if you happen to be reading this when you could be hanging out with your family, stop reading this and go hang out with your family. Then when they all fall asleep after eating too much you can keep reading.
Enjoy.
Hi Brian!
This is the first issue featuring additional commentary by the incomparable Brian F. I couldn't figure out a good way to differentiate which links were his and which were mine, so I've added our names after the comment to show who wrote it. That's lame, and I wish I knew who ran this software so I could ask them to make this easier...
Anyway, I think all of Brian's links and words are excellent. A strong start that I'm sure he'll continue into next issue (the twentieth!). In fact it was so strong that I kind of phoned this one in. Thanks for carrying the team, B.
Enjoy.
And the streak ends at two.
But lots to read this week, since it took two weeks to put this one together there was more time for me to ramble about each link.
Let's get to it. Enjoy.
Boom! See, I told you I was going to be more consistent and two weeks in a row is basically the definition of consistency.
I hope wherever you are the weather has shifted to Fall. In Memphis we've had a solid week of "Pretend Fall" so I'm hopeful some leaves will actually change color soon.
A new thing for this week is that I'm including a recipe. In case I hadn't mentioned it before, I cook a lot and I use Pinterest to store all my recipes. I thought I'd start sharing some go-tos in this newsletter, so I hope that's interesting to you.
Also my daughter is getting pretty good at laughing now. It's the best.
Enjoy.
Whoops...
Turns out that it's really tough to do "extracurriculars" like writing a newsletter when you come home every night and it's all hands on deck to get a baby ready for bed. I do not understand how people handle multiple children.
It's been a month since I last published an issue. Amanda and I have done some pretty creative work with our schedules lately and I'll be publishing more consistently now (said all the writers, everywhere).
In case you're new to Mark as Read: first, welcome! Second, a quick note on why I send this newsletter: I wanted a way to share enjoyable reads that make their way to me via myriad channels, so here we are. Facebook and Twitter are just a mess, so I tend to avoid sharing articles there. If you have an article you think I'd enjoy, please don't hesitate to text or email it to me. You can even reply directly back to this issue and I'll get it.
Enjoy.
It's time for another edition of my slightly inconsistent weekly newsletter. This one starts off with a ton of words, so I'm keeping it short up here at the top. I hope you all are able to take a long holiday weekend and that if you're still able to find a pool or take the boat out one last time before we all start pretending it's fall (even though it'll still be 90 degrees outside).
Enjoy.