Heavy Rotation
Spotify's Stranger Things Playlist
In honor of the second season of Stranger Things dropping last week, I wanted to share this fantastic playlist Spotify put together. Shoutout to JP for the link.
Current Things
One person’s history of Twitter, from beginning to end
I followed Mike Monteiro for years on Twitter; he's generally an ass but he's right on in this article. If language bothers you then skip it.
To summarize, I'd say his point is that Twitter has become a "pretty hate machine", and the people behind the platform aren't sticking to their principles. They're in a tough spot, but I do think Twitter has a responsibility to its users to address the problem of harassment and hate.
They also have the option to ban abusive users (which they've done in the past), and they should use that power regardless of how many clicks and views the offending user bring to Twitter. For example, they should ban Donald Trump. And since his handlers seem incapable of taking away his favorite toy, maybe they would be doing everyone a favor. Mike even goes so far as to write a sample press release that Twitter could have issued in regards to Trump's tweets regarding North Korea. But alas, Twitter did not respond that way and that idiot continues to shame the office of president in 140 characters or less.
Timeless Things
Tolerance is not a moral precept
I've been reading several articles by Yonatan Zunger on Medium lately. I like his posts because they make me think, but don't think that just because I'm sharing them means I agree with everything in them. In fact, I tend to share things that go directly against what I think or believe because it made me reconsider/re-evaluate why I think or believe those things in the first place.
Aaaannnddd back to the article at hand. This one proposes that "Tolerance is not a moral absolute; it is a peace treaty." Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Random Things
The upcoming Flash movie will be called Flashpoint — and that’s a bad idea
Going to assume that you care just a little bit about DC. Maybe you at least like Batman. Everybody likes Batman, don't they? Are there any Batman haters out there? Show yourselves.
If you haven't at least watched the Flashpoint Paradox animated movie on Netflix, you should do that. Basically, some writers got together and decided to use Barry Allen to re-write the entire DC universe. If you don't know, Flash can run really fast. Sometimes he runs so fast he can go back in time using the Speed Force. Sometimes Barry gets a little sad and wants to go back in time and undo something tragic that happened. Sometimes that means that Barry gets a little sloppy and accidentally creates an alternate timeline where Bruce Wayne is the one that gets killed and Thomas Wayne becomes an alcoholic murder-y Batman and Martha Wayne is so overcome with grief that she becomes The Joker. I KNOW RIGHT?!?
So yeah there's no way they can work all that into a live-action movie.
Food
Black Bean Burgers Recipe
I made this last night and it's the best veggie burger I've tried so far. This recipe makes it seem like quite the process, though, so here are my edits:
- Just buy canned beans. Ain't nobody got time to soak beans for 4 hours. Drain and rinse them though.
- Buy the farro you can cook in 10 minutes. Ain't nobody got time to babysit farro for a half hour.
- Sub panko for coarse bread crumbs.
- Sauce is important. You can get fancy and make the Smoky Red Pepper Spread or you can just use Red Pepper Jelly. Or just use mustard. By the way, here's the link to the red pepper spread because for some reason Food & Wine wants you to go find that yourself. You're welcome.
I like serving this with sweet potatoes and guacamole. And whaddaya know, I just sent out a link to a really good guacamole recipe just last week.
Business Time
Robinhood - Free Stock Trading
Has anyone tried this? I really want to play with it but I don't understand how stocks work. Also, this app is pretty.
Related: if anyone has a killer article about how to get started with stock trading or how it works (like stocks for dummies but not a whole book) I'd love to read that. Send it my way.
Work / Productivity
The 10/10/10 Method: Make Decisions Like Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio
Another article about prioritization. I like little short articles like this sometimes, even though they're a dime a dozen on Medium.
I can knock down this 5 minute read to 30 seconds with a quote:
The idea is fairly simple. Any time I feel a slight conflict about a decision or an action, I take a moment to ask myself the following three questions:
How will I feel about it in 10 minutes? How will I feel about it in 10 months? How will I feel about it in 10 years?
Read the full article for some examples, but that's the gist.
Sports (Disc Golf)
The Mississippi State Fan Who Took His Revenge On Ole Miss And The Football Press
Thanks to Kerry for this one. What a fun little story. If you like Mississippi State, or if you just really don't like Ole Miss, or if you missed the whole controversy surrounding Hugh Freeze and want to catch up, check out this story. And if you're on campus for a State game this season and see this man, buy him a beer for doing hard work.
Also I think this is the first sports story I've shared that isn't about basketball. "A whole new wooorrrlllddd..."
Further Reading
Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta
Dis one's from my momma. She has good taste, and I'm excited to read this book.
Side note: reading for fun is hard when you're super tired at 8:45pm and your baby falls asleep and you're listening to relaxing music and there's a sound machine and the lights are low and it's warm in here and pillows are soft and so are beds and
Summary from Amazon:
Dispatches from Pluto is a book as unique as the Delta itself. It’s lively, entertaining, and funny, containing a travel writer’s flair for in-depth reporting alongside insightful reflections on poverty, community, and race. It’s also a love story, as the nomadic Grant learns to settle down. He falls not just for his girlfriend but for the beguiling place they now call home. Mississippi, Grant concludes, is the best-kept secret in America.
Outro
Some exciting news (assuming that you would also get excited about news related to a newsletter): You may have noticed that basically every week I have a link in here that says "thanks to Brian F. for the link". Well Brian and I decided that he's going to be a contributor to the newsletter, so you'll start seeing a mix of links and commentary from me and Brian going forward. See? Exciting.
Hope your weekend is wonderful. Eat somewhere good tonight.