Semi-Rad

Friday Inspiration 459 Today is a big day: For the past couple months, I have been working to create an online writing course, and it’s finally live. It’s called How To Tell One Story, and it’s designed to take you through the process of writing one 1,200-word narrative nonfiction essay, through 12 lessons in six weeks. If you’re at all curious about writing—and to me, this means anything from dreaming of writing for a literary magazine, to writing down some stories about your grandmother for...

Friday Inspiration 458 If you click on this video, make sure you have 14 minutes to watch it uninterrupted. It’s slow, but I think it needs to be slow to help you feel what it’s really like to live in Forrest, Australia, population 2. I absolutely love the shot of the bicycles on the runway. (via Kottke.org)(video) NOTE: I have a bunch of new stuff I’ve made for the holidays this year, and I’ll be sharing it at the bottom of the next few Friday newsletters so this doesn’t turn into *yet...

Somebody Should Do Something About This It was a couple years ago, probably eightish miles up the Stuart Peak trail, when I first started thinking about it. A small tree had fallen perpendicular across the trail, no more than four inches in diameter. I had to slow my already-not-that-fast uphill running trot to almost a complete stop to step over the tree. Of course I thought for a half-second, like you always do, that my day would be a tiny bit more pleasant if that tree had not fallen...

Friday Inspiration 457 This film takes its time letting this guy Beneke de Wet drop some bits of wisdom, but it’s worth the wait (video)(thanks, Nate) I’m pretty sure I shared an article a couple years ago about the special secret mud that gets rubbed on every ball used in a Major League Baseball game, but this is kind of a summary of that same story with a new twist: University of Pennsylvania researchers conducted a study to figure out that yes, the mud has unique properties that can’t be...

Friday Inspiration 456 This is an 11-year-old TED Talk, and I have to say, it’s still a hell of story, and I think kind of underrated (video)(thanks, Kaitlin) BIG NEWS FROM ME: Ultra-Something is now available as an audiobook! Narrated by the author (me!). After enough people said they would like to listen to the book while running, I finally caved and spent 30+ hours recording, editing, googling audio settings, and very nearly tearing my hair out (but not quite). Audible Amazon Apple Books...

I Just Like Standing On Summits My wife, Hilary, was essentially handing me a gift, and I didn’t know what to do with it: She was taking our toddler, Jay, to the Oregon coast for a week, and I was invited to not join them. Meaning: I had a full week to do anything I wanted, for the first time since Jay was born 14 months prior. No toddler wrangling, no constant vigilance to make sure he didn’t fall off something, or stick his finger in something, or eat something indigestible. I could stay up...

Friday Inspiration 455 This is the kind of stuff that YouTube doesn’t usually put in my feed, probably because it’s a very chill, short video about deciding to not take tent stakes when you go backpacking, but I love it (video) (thanks, Liesl) Note: I don’t accept many sponsor offers for this newsletter, but this week I was approached by AAA and it seemed like a good fit—I’ve been a AAA member since 2010. So midway through this edition of the newsletter, you’ll see their sponsorship message...

Friday Inspiration 454 I don’t know how to explain this video, but I saw a few people sharing it on social media last week and it is one hell of a story about a mural a guy saw in an old McDonald’s restaurant. Also his energy is amazing. (video) I HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK: If you read my book Ultra-Something, would you be so kind as to write a quick review (or even just rate the book) on Amazon? You don’t have to write a positive review, or a long review, just a review. It would help me out a ton....

How To Stay In Touch Kurt thinks of me when he thinks about baseball Hall-of-Famer George Brett pooping his pants. He told me so a few weeks ago because that video of George Brett was going around again. Maybe you don’t know it, but you might: George Brett, at the time a part-time coach for the Kansas City Royals, telling a few increasingly uncomfortable players the story of a very abrupt bout of diarrhea he had in the lobby of the Bellagio in Las Vegas a few years before, and how he...