💭 DB's Newsletter #three
New platform, names, links, listens, flick, and another unfinished project.
🍁🍁 I told you we’d be peepin’! 🍁🍁
Don’t let this green fool you, we’ve PEAKED 🍂
👋Hello friends, happy autumn. Hope you’re out there enjoying it.
I think there’s a solid lineup in store for you here, with some thought provoking links and different viewpoints I enjoyed and hope you will too. Also, we have a fresh batch brewing on another unfinished project.
I’ll start you with these words from James Clear’s newsletter that I’ve been reflecting on the past few weeks…
“Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth.” —Machiavelli
Mistakes of ambition:
-failing on a big goal
-creating something nobody wants
Mistakes of sloth:
-not attempting a big goal
-consuming instead of creating
Mistakes of ambition teach. Mistakes of sloth comfort.
———
Here’s a nice lil tune for your 👂as we dive in…
💭 💭 💭 💭 💭 💭 💭
New(sletter) platform
This month I’ve been testing out Substack (the content platform you’re reading this on that lets me send emails), and so far enjoying the transition from Mailchimp.
I wanted something that feels personal, yet still provides the structure to break up topics, embed links, pics, vids, etc. (I started with just an email and bcc’ing a list). For a simple newsletter framework that also provides a central place for all previous posts, I think it serves those needs quite well.
The primary goal isn’t to build some massive email list, but rather create a more effective communication channel that keeps me accountable to myself and helps shape the ideas I find most meaningful.
On a related note
Pretty crazy how telling people about something new you’re doing suddenly creates an imaginary benchmark accompanied by the inevitable thoughts of comparison and doubt.
I’m at the self imposed deadline of sending, and instinctively pushing back a little bit to make it more polished. Worried of losing that audience I took a chance and shared this with, and now feel a greater responsibility to produce something of value.
I can I say I knew this time would come, but doesn’t make it any less difficult to wrestle with. But that’s exactly the point — I’m reminded again of what got me here in the first place: commitment to consistent action in creating something, giving myself permission to create junk, and knowing this isn’t a finished product, rather an ongoing and evolving piece of a much bigger picture.
When I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in my mouth.
—Kurt Vonnegut
Someday, the incomplete thoughts will come to form and become greater than the sum of its parts.
So again, thank you for joining on the journey, I greatly appreciate it. I certainly don’t plan to talk about this every time, and there’s no hard feelings if the oversharing makes you want to jump ship 😉
🛥️ 🛥️ 🛥️ 🛥️ 🛥️ 🛥️ 🛥️
What’s in a Name?
The channel to open waters in Holland, MI where many trips were taken (image source)
Two ideas floating around this month, both inspired by my roots on the pristine waters of Lake Michigan:
Shipshape
Keep it shipshape… “based on the obligation of a sailor to keep his/her quarters arranged neatly and securely against the inevitable turbulence at sea” (source).
It’s about the the daily work. The discipline. The maintenance. To make the bed and do it right. To master the fundamentals. Everything in its place and ready to go, prepared for whatever is thrown our way.
Shout out to my brothers and Captains KVZ and CP Jr. that inspired this through their endless lessons that live on to this day. RIP. #shammyshowers
No Wake Zone
Or simply “No Wake” - I had this one tucked away in an old journal when I was riffing names for a mobile coffee trike.
The need to slow down, pay attention to detail. The more difficult technical waters require more careful attention.
💻 🎧 📺 💻 🎧 📺 💻 🎧 📺
4 Links, 2 Listens, 1 Watch
💻 Links
1️⃣ Three Big Things: The Most Important Forces Shaping the World by Morgan Housel | 19 min
#longread. It’s the historical context that makes this piece so compelling. I’ve seen this mentioned in several places. If you haven’t yet read it, definitely worth carving out the time. A couple teasers…
People like to talk about new technologies and innovations, because that’s fun. Demographics aren’t fun. But they’re going to be as important, if not more, to overall economic growth than most innovations over the coming decades.
…
This is a good point that highlights something easy to overlook: 1) everyone belongs to a tribe, 2) those tribes sometimes fundamentally disagree with one another, 3) that’s fine if those tribes keep their distance, 4) the internet increasingly assures that they don’t. Opening your mind to different perspectives is good and necessary. But when fundamental, unshakable views that used to be contained within tribes expose themselves to different tribes, people become shocked to learn that what’s sacred to them isn’t always a universal truth. The range of political opinions has always been extreme, but what we’ve seen over the last decade is what happens when the warm blanket of ideological ignorance is removed.
2️⃣ Being basic as a virtue by Nadia Ehgbal | 7 min
Incredible. This candidly introspective piece captures that internal conflict in searching for the balance between ambition, contentment, and burnout.
When most people think about doing creative work for a living, they picture all the fun stuff that comes with it: the flash of inspiration in the shower, the scribbling of notes in the middle of the night. But when you’re working in a system that thrives on the extracting and refining and trading and transacting of ideas, the daily practice of toiling in the mines can feel more mundane than serendipitous.
…
Lately though, as I’ve come to realize that working the idea mines is more endemic than personal, I’ve wondered (or perhaps, vainly begun to wish) whether being basic might become a status symbol in itself, similarly to how being tan evolved from signaling a life of manual labor to signaling a life of leisure. When most people had to work outside for a living, being tan was undesirable. As their work moved indoors, the signals reversed: a pale complexion became associated with having to do work, while a tan suggested freedom to frolick in the sun all day.
3️⃣ Not a Newsletter (Archives) by Dan Oshinsky | ♾️min?
If you work with email and/or newsletters, here’s a very helpful resource to return to in the future. I’ve linked the archived edition, but you can view and sign up for the current edition at notanewsletter.com.
My highlight comes from last month’s post in the section titled “How to Build Relationships via Email”
A successful relationship is one built on a foundation of healthy communication. When Email is that form of communication, it is important to remember Email is a one-to-one direct line to a person. Inundating a person with too much information, providing a person with something they don’t want, or using the person’s time in a way that does not suit them, can cause the relationship to become strained. If a strain happens, it is time for awareness, acceptance, and time to put effort into adjusting communication methods to build a healthier relationship.
4️⃣ The Fundamental Problem with Silicon Valley’s Favorite Growth Strategy by Tim O'Reilly | 40 min
#longread. Another older post that’s been widely shared, but one I’ve revisited and is worth another highlight. Especially relevant now, and instead of spending hours trying to keep up with the latest headlines of the WeWork drama, give this a read or reread.
🎧 Listens
1️⃣ Philosophize This! - Episode 135 ... Leo Strauss - Ancients vs. Moderns
If I’ve ever talked to you about podcasts, I’ve definitely mentioned this. Stephen West is incredible, and over the past several years has eloquently interpreted and analyzed the most influential (and also the overlooked) philosophical thinkers since the beginning of time.
I featured his most recent episode here, though I strongly recommend starting at ep 1 if you’re interested in philosophy.
The most important question we need to answer at the beginning of the 20th century is what do we base the values of our political system upon? What Leo Strauss is ultimately saying is: when you pay attention to the answers Modernity is ACTUALLY giving us to this question, the silence is deafening. We may have made tons of progress in Agricultural science so that far fewer people need to go hungry but we shouldn’t stand by satisfied with scientific progress while the entire western world lives through the greatest famine to date when it comes to meaning and values.
2️⃣Joe Rogan Experience #1309 - Naval Ravikant
Naval is a Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur with outspoken contrarian views to many of his peers, and he and Joe carry on an insightful conversation covering various hot topics around jobs, tech, politics, and life in general.
Featuring a Rogan podcast will likely be met with preconceptions, but that highlights an important point made in the episode. We’re usually talking about two completely different things, yet the topics or the source themselves create a polarizing dialogue from the get go.
Skip ahead to 6:15 to skip the ads.
📺 Watch
Captain Fantastic (available on Amazon)
A friend and soon-to-be dad recommended this because I’m a parent and I’m glad he did. It’s an interesting flick. Ironically, the word all but describes it.
Realizing how easy it is to use “interesting” as a substitute for critical thinking and articulating your point of view was one of the simple, yet key takeaways for me.
I think it’s clear that today’s society needs to find better ways to encourage thoughtful discourse and open-mindedness, and developing those skills starts at an early age.
I’m not saying the film provides the solution, but it’ll certainly make you think.
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Land of Unfinished Projects
Boom. Amaro.
In here we have a mix of herbs, botanicals, spices, citrus, roots, barks, and even pine needles from the backyard.
I have a thing for liquids. Particularly the obscure, mysterious liquids with a rich history and tradition. When I discovered the vast world of amaro years ago, my curiosity was piqued, and soon had ambitions of my own amaro brand in the future.
What I love is that each style offers a unique and distinct sense of place through its ingredients. For example, amari from Northern Italy, with its abundance of alpine herbs, will have a markedly different flavor profile than those from the citrus driven South.
Sometime last year before our trip to Italy I read Brad Thomas Parson’s wonderful book on the subject (Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas). Soon after the trip came the holidays and new year, and while consuming my haul from abroad, the excitement and intrigue faded to critique and skepticism, and I never got around to testing my own batch.
While there aren't a lot of American made amari (opportunity) on the market, a few have made their way onto bar shelves and seem to have a viable business. But is there demand for something else, beyond the novelty, or are we already crowded enough as is?
Anyway, this project is now off the back-burner and into (small batch) production. In just 5 short weeks I’ll get to give this hooch a taste, and maybe think a lil deeper on the biz model in the meantime. Cheers!
👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋
That’s all folks. If you have comments or questions or feedback from anything you read, I’d love to hear from you! And feel free to share this email if you think someone might be interested :)
Otherwise, I’ll see you again in November around the greatest holiday of all time. I’m going head to head in a turkey cook-off this year and realllll excited about it.
Thanks again for reading and have a great month!
🙌PEAK🙌
