Intro / Preface / Extra Words
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.
Heavy Rotation
Lately I've been listening to copious amounts of Jack Johnson. You may have literally LOL'd at that. But do you realize how soothing that dude's voice is? There's nothing that seems to calm my cranky daughter better than some melodic acoustic guitar and the voice of a Hawaiian, apparently.
I haven't listened to much of his new stuff, but to me you can't beat Sleep Through The Static. Try it out if you haven't before.
Current Things
Thoughts on Vegas, and Why Men Keep Doing This
This article has been making it's way through my social media bubble lately, and it's really good. If you click nothing else in this newsletter, click this.
Take a knee or not, Grizzlies, NBA leaders had something to say
Most of this article talks about the Grizz and a few other NBA coaches who have spoken up about the whole anthem kerfuffle (there's some other random stuff about sports or something at the bottom). I love that Fizdale is such a social warrior. I think I'll do some more research on the different programs he's passionate about and see if there's a way to get involved. What a boss.
Timeless Things
How Difficult Is It To Find An Aristotelian Friend?
The term 'Aristotelian' is new to me, but it's fun to say. Almost as fun to say as "Francisco."
I was unfamiliar with his definition of friendship, and I hope to read more about it later directly from the source. Friendship has been a frequent conversation topic for me recently, largely concerning the third type mentioned here, "friendship based on virtue". Give this a read and let's discuss.
Random Things
Darth Vader’s Castle In ‘Rogue One’: Your Questions Answered
I know you had questions. Didn't you? Good. Here are your answers, then. You're welcome.
This genius photo experiment shows we are all just sheeple in the consumer matrix
Unfortunately this post doesn't explain to me why men are wearing little leather purse necklaces. Someone clue me in.
Food
Drink These 25 Bottles and Become a Wine Master
An excellent guide from Steph. I've tried most of the styles on this list, but let's get together and you and I can help me check off the following styles from my list:
- Burgundy Pinot Noir
- Barolo
- Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc
- Australian Cabernet - so skeptical
- French Chenin Blanc
- California Mourvèdre
- Natural Wine - wut?
I've also been wanting to try Beaujolais; it's super trendy but still, I'm interested.
Sports (Disc Golf)
The Kyrie Irving–Isaiah Thomas Trade Is Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen - The Ringer
More quality content from The Ringer. This one's from Gerry; he and I were recently discussing why we keep coming back to Ringer posts. I think we decided it's because they age better than your standard breaking sports news or posts about that crazy play that happened last week; I wouldn't say they're evergreen, but something close to that. Like the Kobe post I shared in Issue 14 - that's going to be one I go back to just because it was fun to read.
Anyway, if anyone has some kind of summary I should read of all the bonkers action we've seen this NBA offseason, please send it my way.
I love technology (and science)
The Coming Software Apocalypse
I would probably label myself as anti-regulation because I think regulation slows progress and limits creativity. And the word is gross; makes me feel un-American. But we really really really need to start regulating software development in the automotive industry the same way we do aviation.
This article is very dense, but it made me think about how much of life is dependent on lines of code that were largely hand-written, by a human for a computer, and humans and computers are very different. What if humans did the part humans are good at (creatively designing a solution to a problem) and then computers wrote the code?
Outro
That's it for this week. I've gotten a couple of Further Reading recommendations but haven't taken the time to write anything up about them (you'll notice that section is still missing in this issue). Should you have a recommendation for a book you'd like me to share, please send it my way.
Have a wonderful weekend. I hope it's sunny, restful, and long.