Alice Bradley's Weekly Newsletter: It's August?!
Does anyone else feel like it can't possibly be summer because they haven't done a single summery thing? While my son's running around at camp, gathering ticks, we remain in the city, doing exactly what we do the rest of the year. Like suckers!
That said, I did recently eat corn on the cob. It was good, too. Good corn.
STUFF I DID
I talked about my course, which I already told you about. I wrote my son a letter that I am sure amused me more than it will ever amuse him, so I had to share it with Facebook. Then I came across this picture of him as a toddler. Dear sweet fancy lord.
STUFF I'M GOING TO DO
I’ll be in this Tinder Live show tomorrow night! Even if you’re not sure what a Tinder is, come, we’ll figure it out. We’ll solve this puzzle together.
STUFF OTHER PEOPLE DID
Across from me sat a young mother with her baby boy. Both of them were laughing and clapping along with a Muslim, Uzbek woman who had arrived late the night before, setting foot in the West for the very first time. They spoke not a word in common — this young American, Black mother and her son, and this sixty-something Uzbek lady — but their connection was instantaneous.
This might be my favorite story this year.
The moment the lid was off, we reached for each other. She had already oozed from the far corner of her lair, where she had been hiding, to the top of the tank to investigate her visitor. Her eight arms boiled up, twisting, slippery, to meet mine.
I read this article when it came out a few years ago and I think about it all the time and I often re-read it and I love it. Also this:
Note to Self: Is My Phone Listening In On Me?
I asked this question to Scott the other day after I recommended a product to him (in person, not using my phone) and that very product showed up a minute later as an ad on my Facebook newsfeed. His answer was “Yes. Duh.” The answer here is also “yes,” only without the “duh,” which is far more helpful, Scott. Anyway this is fascinating.
Never mind that! Sure, Facebook steals our privacy and also our souls, but look at what it gives us. Here's a stray dog imploring an ultramarathon runner to come to his senses—and then, finally, adopting him because he obviously needs her help!
Everything is Terrible So Let's Call the Hall & Oates Hotline
There are hundreds of times the sweet, soulful melodies of Hall & Oates could provide a laugh and a breather. We just need to use this gift that the universe has sent to us.
Use this gift in peace, my friends.
Private eyes are watching you,
Alice