📚 Not Important #3

It's hot out there. My lord. Relevant: I've only had 1-2 proper drinks in the past couple of years, and so was delighted to try these mixers, served cold (they stand on their own without alcohol).

A reminder: this is not our typical newsletter, but in fact the inverse: a bi-monthly collection of things that make me feel good, that I find helpful, and/or turn off my brain from the world. They will eventually be exclusive to Members and readers with 3+ referrals. Your regular "save the world" INI newsletter returns Friday.

-- Quinn

2 books

My book recommendation links are via Bookshop (print), Libro (audio), and Libby (free from a US public library).

1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Bookshop, Libro) I love fantasy and have fond, vivid memories of my belated uncle reading Grimm's Fairy Tales to me when I was a kid. I'm a little late to Gaiman's stuff and this is one of the last ones I had to check off -- I loved it.

2. A Perfect Spy by John le Carré (Bookshop, Libro) Le Carre is a tremendous writer but I'd somehow missed this one along the way (there's a theme here). Thanks to my brother Shane for the rec. Grief is a hell of a thing and what it does to our main character here -- a perfect spy -- is masterfully compelling.

You can find all the rest of my all-time books at Bookshop here.

2 articles

1. Maria Popova in The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) on my fave Ursula K. Le Guin, science, and poetry.

2. Delia Cai in Vanity Fair on the incomparable Ed Yong and his wonderful, overdue new book, An Immense World (out next week)

2 tweets

1. My friend Emma Holly Jones has been working for years to make her feature film, Mr. Malcolm's List. It's out next month and the trailer does not disappoint.

2. The man:

Follow me here for more.

2 tools

1. Brain.fm. There's lots of tools/services out there to supply music/noise for working but I've mostly stuck with this one. A nice way to tune it all out and get shit done (or just read).

2. Miro. Willow and I started using Miro as a surface-level overview of INI projects and it's so...fun? How is that possible.

2 mistakes

1. I need a new heat pump and I've been putting it off for months and now it's 95 degrees out, supply chains are still borked, and installers are slammed -- so I spend most nights hoping it doesn't die.

2. I swam through 10 minutes of a thunderstorm this week and while not officially a mistake, definitely could have become one rather quickly!

2 things I'm grateful for

1. My ancient heat pump that is for the moment still working

2. My kids' swim coach who is impossibly level-headed and just churns out good teammates

Stay cool, drink water, get sleep, and keep your chin up. 

Best,

-- Quinn