Archive

There was a recent interview on The Verge where the president of Spotify announced a TikTok-like UI¹ is coming to their app.

It reminded me of Meta’s similar decision last year (after investor pressure) to shift its product feature set (on both Facebook and Instagram) to mirror that of its new rival, one driven purely by algorithmic distraction.

At the same time TikTok blew past the billion user mark (faster than any social platform before it had) there were reports that Meta’s user growth had stalled, and its value plummeted $200 billion in a single day. Perhaps unironically, the subtitle of that same article said, “Shares of streaming giant Spotify also fall after disappointing subscriber outlook.”

With the 95th Oscars right around the corner, and Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO) breaking records at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, I was reminded of a couple recent interviews where the actors discussed what it was about the atmosphere that their directors created that encouraged the cast and crew to do their best work.

Particularly in EEAAO’s case — how a low-budget, surrealist sci-fi (and it’s cast) have become the front-runner for several of the top Oscar prizes.

It made me think about the delicate nature of creativity, but more importantly, what can be accomplished collectively and individually in a safe environment where experimentation and vulnerability are encouraged.

Two separate but related posts caught my eye this past week. The first was from David Cain who opines that most phone use is a tragic loss of life. The second was from Jonathan Haidt, where he puts forth evidence that social media is a major cause of the mental illness epidemic in teen girls.

Both talk about the consequences of unchecked smartphone usage, unregulated access to developing minds, and the unrelenting exploitation of their animal instincts. I posit that smartphones might eventually come with their own version of the surgeon general’s warning.

Social Media & Mental Health

Hi Friends!

I’m really excited to share my most recent essay, How to Make Friends on the Internet.

Over the course of a month, I worked with fellow prose-wrangler, Michael Dean (recently anointed head of content at Write of Passage) to develop a piece to be featured on the newly launched Write of Passage site.

A Stand-up Guy

This past week, I was watching Jon Stewart accepting his 2022 Mark Twain Prize. He was discussing how he got his start in comedy at the Comedy Cellar, and I couldn’t help but compare the platform that comedy club provided and the platform (and opportunity) that the Internet provides:

I walked into a basement in Greenwich Village called the Comedy Cellar.

And when you’re a comic, you look in a room, and 200 seats are facing one way.

And there’s one stool, and it has a light shining on it.

And you walk into that room, and go, “That’s gonna be my chair. I’m gonna sit in that one.”

And you spend the rest of your career trying to earn that stool.

And some nights, man, you don’t even belong in the club, you don’t even belong on the street.

But you get back at it, because there isn’t any fixed point in comedy where you make it or you don’t make it.

It’s the journey, with the greatest friends I could ever possibly have made.

Hi Friends!

Welcome to a Saturday edition of my newsletter. Does anyone have any exciting plans for the extended holiday weekend? I was thinking about breaking out the ol’ bicycle and going on a ride down at the beach.

Shoutout to my dad, one of my biggest heroes, who officially retired this week. Congratulations! Enjoy your extended holiday. Well earned.

Hi Friends!

Summer is here in full force in Los Angeles (I know this because my 1920s apartment doesn’t have central air!). I just got back from an extended vacation on the East Coast which was preceded by an intense month-long sprint at work where I delivered a pretty complicated build-a-box feature for one of our clients (you can check it out here, I’m very proud of it).

Following Nate Kadlac’s advice on including illustrations to spruce up my newsletters, I’ve included (below) a recent drawing I did of Pier 3 in Philadelphia (one of the stops on my trip). This ended up taking me more time than I would have liked, and I realized that doing “landscapes” is a slippery slope because I can fall into the trap of trying to include too much detail. But I’m pretty happy with how it turned out regardless.

Hi Friends!

It almost April! Who’s got any fun summer plans? I’ve got trips planned for the East Coast, Hawaii, and (maybe even) Europe later this year.

The theme for this week’s newsletter is aptly, travel. Specifically traveling the world wide web. I’ll also be talking about:

Hi Friends,

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Here‘s to paying grown men obscene amounts of money to give each other concussions. 🍻

I think Joseph Campbell once said something along the lines of: you can tell what a society values by what their tallest buildings are dedicated to.

Some food for thought. 😉

Hi Friends,
Welcome to a new edition…of new addition 😉 I can’t believe its already February.

On this week’s episode:

• Updates
  • Upcoming Interintellect salons (on addiction, social technologies)
  • Strengths Finder
• Curation
  • Coffee (the wonder-drug)
  • Some actionable life advice from Matt D’Avella
  • Reframing and destigmatizing mental health struggles
  • Visualizations of the week (featuring a guest appearance from climate change)
• Parting Thoughts

Hi Friends!

Happy New Year to you, and welcome to the fourth edition of my newsletter! One of my goals for this year is to write and share more often — including getting on a more regular cadence of publishing my newsletter.

So let’s jump right in. On this week’s docket:

• Personal Updates
  • My 2021 Annual Review + 2022 Roadmap
  • My last published article from 2021
  • Other updates, plans
• Curation (Some of the best stuff I’ve come across recently)
• Parting Thoughts

Hi Friends!

Welcome to the third issue of my newsletter.

This week I’ll be sharing some of the wonderful communities and platforms that have become a part of my life since the start of 2021:

Hi Friend!

Welcome to the second issue of my newsletter!

Write of Passage officially ended last week, but with some newfound writing buddies we are trying to carry the momentum and accountability forward by having a 6-days-a-week morning writing group.

For this week’s newsletter I’ll be giving you a sneak peak at a couple of the essays I’m currently working on.

Hi Friend!

Welcome to my first newsletter — I appreciate you signing up.