> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://makoism.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Everlong - URL: https://makoism.com/everlong/ - Published: 2021-03-27T13:33:19.000Z - Updated: 2021-03-27T13:33:19.000Z - Description: "And I wonder when I sing along with you, If everything could ever feel this real forever, If anything could ever be this good again." - Author: Steve Makofsky - Tags: makoism, #newsletter-makoism, #substack ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/8f/618f2076-e6a0-40dc-8037-06080661dee7/content/images/public/images/d8245353-dd68-404f-a46d-67560b8ac378_7776x4374.jpeg) rocks This week I stumbled on an amazingly powerful 2011 graduation speech from actor [Denzel Washington](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000243/) in which he advises to "**fail big**". His powerful life advice asks a simple question: > *"do you have the guts to fail?"* He goes on… > *"if you don’t fail... you’re not even trying... and to get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”* I've re-watched this one 5 or 6 times this week, and if you're going through one of **those** weeks where you need a kick in the pants to get you progressing forward with **life**, spend 15 minutes and watch this one. You won't regret it. Remember… > "*if you hang around a barbershop long enough — sooner or later you will get a haircut*" If you're interested in more of my daily ramblings, follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/smakofsky) or [my posts on this blog](https://makoism.com/). ## **Forward Thinking** [Tim Urban](https://waitbutwhy.com/) has been an incredible source of humor and thought-provoking inspiration for me over the years from his amazing writing and stick-figure illustrations. This weeks 'forward thinking' is his TED Talk from 2016: **Inside The Mind of a Master Procrastinator**. In it, he discusses his habitual procrastination, the process he went through (which includes MRIs) to understand more about the brain of a procrastinator and non-procrastinator and the mercilessness of the '*Instant Gratification Monkey*'. Another worthy watch. Oddly enough, I came across a [tweet from Tim](https://twitter.com/waitbutwhy/status/1374474602177462279) this week that provides humor and truthful insight into the world of technology[1](#footnote-1): > [](https://twitter.com/waitbutwhy/status/1374474602177462279) ## **Latest obsession** I **love** paper journals; I have **way too many** of them, but there's something magical about the feeling of writing on paper versus electronic ink. My favorite one by far is Lochby's [Pocket Journal](https://www.lochby.com/collections/notebooks/products/pocket-journal); I picked up the black waxed canvas version with a 3.5" x 5.5" Dot Grid Refill. (For completeness, I use a [Fisher Space Pen](https://www.spacepen.com/) as my writing utensil of choice) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/8f/618f2076-e6a0-40dc-8037-06080661dee7/content/images/public/images/f0d39fba-d2af-47c9-bb76-b5f12ae06ba1_800x800.jpeg) It's lightweight and can be taken anywhere for thoughtful commentary or mindless doodling. ## **This weeks "Deep Links"** Here's a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week: - Love watching these ‘**Behind the Magic: The Visual Effects of The Mandalorian Season 2’** videos. Season 2 had almost 5,000 visual effects shots, and this look at how they did it is equally as impressive. This is the way - [Watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb6Aww3LIDE) - When I'm ready (and truth be told, I'm not yet ready), I plan on writing more about my out-of-nowhere heart attack; but this article hit home for me: ‘**How To (Almost) Kill Yourself (Really) On a Smart Trainer’**. "*Athletes may be the last to realize they have heart disease or recognize their symptoms*" sounds awfully familiar - [More](https://zwiftinsider.com/how-to-almost-kill-yourself-on-a-smart-trainer/) - Quitting is equated to failure, but it **can** be a smart strategy. ‘**If There’s No Light At The End Of The Tunnel: QUIT’** explores this (which reminds me of [Seth Godin](https://seths.blog/)'s fantastic book, [The Dip](https://www.amazon.com/Dip-Little-Book-Teaches-Stick/dp/1591841666)) - [More](https://dariusforoux.com/quit/) - **‘The Invention of a New Pasta Shape’** is a wonderful look at [cascatelli pasta](https://www.sfoglini.com/products/sporkful), which has been *specifically engineered* to maximize the amount of sauce that sticks to it - [More](https://kottke.org/21/03/the-invention-of-a-new-pasta-shape) - **‘To Become Who You Want to Be, You Have to Face the Gap’** is my pick of the week. A look at the [Ira Glass Gap](https://vimeo.com/85040589) where the "*you have to try being bad at something before you can get good at it*". - [More](https://forge.medium.com/to-become-who-you-want-to-be-you-have-to-face-the-gap-b7437a8212be) - I hadn't heart of [micromorts](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/well/live/putting-the-risk-of-covid-19-in-perspective.html) prior to this article on ‘**How Much Risk Should You Take Now?’** A Miromort is *measurement used by scientists (and insurance companies) to calculate risk and is equivalent to a one-in-a-million chance of dying* \- [More](https://gen.medium.com/the-return-of-the-micromort-28a61d1bd3c7) - The internet is constantly disappearing; it’s a world of broken links and missing files. A look at [Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine](https://archive.org/web/) in ‘**You Probably Don’t Remember the Internet’** \- [More](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/03/remember-the-internet/618350/) - "The reverse meeting" is ‘**Combating Zoom Overload’** \- [More](https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2021/03/18/combating-zoom-overload-with-reverse-meetings/) - As you know (from above), I'm a huge fan of the benefits of journals. So you can count on seeing articles that explain how awesome they are. In ‘**Why Successful People Keep Journals’** a look at using them as a way to document experiences in life on getting things done. - [More](https://www.writepads.com/blogs/news/why-successful-people-keep-journals) - A sad look at the ‘**Six Things Millennials Have in Common with Dr. Frasier Crane (No. 5 Will Drive You Into a Deep Depression)’** \- [More](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/six-things-millennials-have-in-common-with-dr-frasier-crane-no-5-will-drive-you-into-a-deep-depression) - The infamous story of Trader Joe's "Two Buck Chuck" in ‘**How Trader Joe's $2 wine became a best-seller’** \- [More](https://thehustle.co/how-two-buck-chuck-changed-the-wine-industry/) ## **Fin** I've listened to the [Foo Fighters](https://www.foofighters.com/) for a long time, but they elevated in epic-ness this year the more I learned about [Dave Grohl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave%5FGrohl) and the bands history. This week, at [Oates Song Fest 7908](https://johnoates.com/oates-song-fest-7908/), comes the story of how their hit song '[Everlong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y)' was created (and includes an amazing acoustic version). --- 1. The 'tweet of the week' may now become a new ongoing item in this newsletter experiment. [↩](#footnote-anchor-1 "Jump back to footnote NaN in the text.")