PicoBlog

Hello! Apologies on the REPLY ALT lag lately but folks… I have gotten myself in way over my head here. You’d think the hardest part about writing a book would be… you know, writing the book. But no. It’s actually the thousand and one things you have to worry about after that—the jacket copy, the audiobook, press, merch, events, etc. And on top of that, I thought to myself hmmmm you know what I should do in the middle of all this is release a second book.

I feel like paint is one of the most exciting parts of a renovation as finally your shell of a house is starting to resemble a home personal to you. I remember plastering being very exciting (I have actual walls!) but it was only when the blue paint started going up in our snug that really felt that ‘I’m actually going to live here’ buzz. I remember our builders saying we used the most amount of different paint colours they’d ever done… the irony is, I look back through this list and actually think I was quite restrained!

What is your purpose? Is it too late to re-invent yourself? What happens when you come to a fork in the road? How do you motivate a team? What does it mean to care and to have high personal standards? A perspective on all these topics is shared in 30 minutes of some of the finest television you will ever see. It is the 7th episode of the Second Season of The Bear.

Generally speaking, I hate the St. Louis Blues. I’m a Nashville Predators fan, the Blues are division rivals — you get it. But this season I have to give those Blue Notes some love because they have inadvertently reignited my adoration for Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit “Gloria.” It’s a pretty cute story, actually — the team declared the tune their victory song after a few Blues players heard it while watching football in a bar.

I. Throughout my entire life, I have only ever had one true ambition: From the age of five, I told anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a teacher. For several years of my childhood, I was the kid who came home from “real” school only to play “pretend” school—essentially regurgitating everything I learned that day, with the aid of a small chalkboard, to my invisible students. Teaching always felt like an important job to me, and even as a child, I always felt like I should be doing important work.

I had just started a new job. This always involves a steep learning curve, self-imposed pressure and expectations, extracurricular work such as signing up for benefits, and new relationships to manage. However, in my second week at my new company, I was hit with something much more difficult: I heard the devastating news that my close friend Spencer Murdoch had passed away. A little bit about Spencer: He is my wife’s cousin and we just always clicked.

Welcome to the Everyone's Invited newsletter, where we'll give a round-up of news and updates at our organisation, as we seek to expose and eradicate rape culture with empathy, compassion, and understanding. By Senior Team · Launched 9 months agoNo thanksncG1vNJzZmidppq%2FurvNnqqipqaewaawjaysm6uklrCsesKopGg%3D

Hi! We’re headed to our favorite place on earth during cherry blossom season (more from ) in a few weeks, and among many other things, I can’t wait to shop. Shopping in Japan is a dizzying delight: More often than not, you’ll find quality craftsmanship, impeccable service, and thoughtfully designed retail experiences. I’d started writing up a Tokyo shopping list for my girlfriend, and seeing as this newsletter is basically a series of emails to my internet gfs, I figured I’d share the tea here.

Note: This post got so long I had to split it into 2 parts as it went over the Substack email length limits. Here’s Part 2. A poster in a recent Volleytalk thread asked: I remember seeing a stat diagram about SO% based on where the server stands behind the end line.  I remember down the line being the lowest S/O% for the receiving team and a player serving out of the middle was super high SO%.