Espresso Shots 11-09-25

It's that time again for my weekly update, which includes a short collection of noteworthy finds, posts that inspire, as well as a few reflections from the past week or two. I'll aim to land these in your inbox by the weekend, in time to pair with your morning coffee (or your preferred cup of inspiration).

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• Are We Having Fun Yet?. It's been a spell since my last thought piece, and given the week I've had, I wanted to take a step back and look at the idea of child-like fun. 'Maybe the point is to laugh, even when it feels like you shouldn't. To play, even when it feels like you can't. To remember that fun isn't the opposite of serious, it's how we survive it.'
• Full Days and the Long Walk. Read of the week! I've always been impressed with Craig Mod and his relentless habit of walking incredible distances coupled with beautiful photography. This latest essay, on the fullness quotient and how 'the silence and energy required to produce work is lost in the socializing', is really something special. There are so many moments in this post that no summary could do it justice; just read it. 'Here’s a secret: The most successful (and certainly most prolific) creative people are pros at protecting and amplifying the number of full days in their lives. Owning your days is a superpower.'
• It Hurts the Face. 'I was able to identify three things that consistently make any day a good day: good people, good food, and good work.' I really like implementing a simple 'diagnostic tool' like this to use as a compass when I'm checking in on my mood.
• Archive or Delete?. I have been down the road of being a digital packrat, to implementing the nuclear annihilation option on how to manage my inbox and notes. I'm always curious about how others manage the chaos.
• Generative Engine Optimization. I didn't know that the 'practice of optimizing content for AI-powered search engines and answer engines, which use large language models to deliver conversational, context-rich results' was called Generative Engine Optimization. But, this article rings more true: 'it's just nebulous enough to justify a monthly retainer filled with AI-readiness assessments and content retraining packages. And most of it, truthfully, adds no real value to the business or the user.'
• Machines Should Work. People Should Think. Given the recent AI craze, this dive into where the famous IBM phrase, 'Machines should work. People should think.' originated was super interesting.
• Receipts: A Brief List of Prominent Articles Proclaiming the Death of the Web.. A long, and humorous, post at various moments from the last 20 or so years when media has said 'the web is dead.' Does anyone else remember when Pointcast was going to be the next big thing? :)
• Say Hello to DJ BeeBot. Not sure what I think of this AI-generated audio content: 'When you have your headphones on, it’ll push you snippets of audio about the people, places, and events that are nearby. It’s meant to feel like a cross between old-school Twitter and old-school Foursquare, emceed by an AI-powered radio personality named DJ BeeBot.' On one hand, I kinda like people playing around with new, creative ideas. On the other hand, look at the post on fullness above: 'The smartphone eradicates space in the mind. With that psychic loss of space, grace becomes impossible.'
• Gary Oldman and His Scarf. A wonderful story from Gary Oldman about one of his famous scarves. Hat to top drwave for the link.
• Anthony Hopkins Remembers Why He Stopped Reading The Silence of the Lambs Script. Anyone up for some fava beans and a nice chianti? An interesting piece that may surprise some fans of the film, explaining why he stopped reading the script after only the first 15 pages.
• Washington is the UFO Capital of the US. Is it because we have the best coffee? In Washington, there is one UFO sighting for every 1021 people! And, I had no idea that the whole UFO craze started here in 1947. 'On that date, while searching for a downed plane between Chehalis and Yakima, Washington, private pilot Kenneth Arnold saw a group of nine disklike objects flying in the vicinity of Mount Rainier. He estimated their speed to be approximately 1,700 miles per hour, twice the air speed record for a jet plane at the time.' Turns out, they were lenticular clouds created by Mount Rainier.. :)
• Misery Map Shows US Airport Flight Delays and Cancellations. A valuable tool given the current FAA situation in the US, but a generally interesting guide into which airports are the most painful at any given time. Direct link to the misery map is here.
• The Midlife Unraveling. An older post from the incredible Brené Brown (who just posted this podcast which I'd also recommend), on midlife 'unraveling'. 'the midlife unraveling is a series of painful nudges strung together by low-grade anxiety and depression, quiet desperation, and an insidious loss of control. By low-grade, quiet, and insidious, I mean it’s enough to make you crazy, but seldom enough for people on the outside to validate the struggle or offer you help and respite. It’s the dangerous kind of suffering—the kind that allows you to pretend that everything is OK.' Powerful stuff.

Amor Fati ✌🏻