The Tug is the Drug, Borderless Ideas, Pat Riley's Reign, and More
Friday, June 2, 2023
Happy Friday everyone!
Here are 10 things I found interesting from the last week or so.
The Tug is the Drug
I met with my friend Josh to fish at Mission Bay in San Diego this week. Josh is an avid fisherman. He's gone fishing all over and has caught hundreds, maybe thousands of fish—eh, maybe not thousands, but you get the point. Oddly enough, the last time I ever caught a fish was with Josh over a decade ago (Note: that would be Fish #1). So, after all these years, I was curious, and I asked Josh, "Outside of survival, why does man fish?" He replied, "The tug is the drug." It's the excitement. The wonder. The not-knowing if you actually got something. For example, on that day, we got what appeared to be a nibble, so I frantically started reeling—the wrong way first and then the right way second—until the handle eventually snapped off. By the time we got the handle back on, we lost it. Fish #2—gone. It made me think of what Henry David Thoreau said, "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." He knew then what Josh knows now: the tug is the drug.
Rejection is the Direction
A thought I had while walking this week: Rejection is direction. It’s not a “no.” It’s a “go.” Go try something new. Go look at something from a new angle. Go talk to someone new. Rejection is not the end—it's just a change in direction.
Borderless Ideas
More movies this week. Super Mario Bros, The Gray Man, and Tetris. If you have yet to see the new Tetris movie, please do. It's awesome. My favorite quote from the movie is when the Russian Inventor Alexey Pajitnov, played by Nikita Efremov, says to Henk Rogers, the Dutch video game designer played by Taron Egerton, "Good ideas have no borders." The duo went on to co-found The Tetris Company, and Tetris the game is still one of the highest-selling video games to this day.
It Won't Be Pretty and It's Not Supposed to Be
Speaking of movies, in the spirit of mentioning Air in last week's newsletter, check out Nike's manifesto from 1970 mentioned throughout the film. I like #9. The creative process is never pretty. You're not going to like what you do all of the time. And that is OK.
Good ol' San Diego
I'll tell you what it is pretty: good ol' San Diego. Family time. Walks by the beach. Bonfires at sunset. Bomb breakfast burritos and breweries. A bit too much fun at times, but nonetheless happy to be down here for a while.
Plot Maps and World Builders
Nathan Baugh wrote a Twitter thread breaking down Christopher Nolan's plot map he used for his film, Inception. Nolan fit the entire concept for the movie on a single piece of paper. It’s really cool. Baugh also has a newsletter on storytelling worth checking out: World Builders.ai.
You're Not Late or Early
I was going back through my notes from journalism school, and I found a conversation with one of my first professors, Joel Marino. It was the first month of school, and I already felt behind, so I reached out during office hours. He gave me some of the best advice I received in the entire program—if you think you’re behind, you’ll start to act like your behind. You’ll panic and you’ll rush things. If you think you’re right where you need to be, you’ll act like you’re right where you need to be. You’ll stay calm and you won't rush. It was a good reminder: you’re not late or early. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Always.
A24 Has Taken Over and Vox Has Explained How
Leave it to Vox to read my mind and answer a question I've been trying to wrap my head around for a while now, "How A24 Took Over Hollywood." In the video, Nate Jones, senior writer at Vulture and A24 superfan, explains how a small independent film distributor plays differently and what A24 really means.
Physical Outlets
A thought I had while driving down from San Francisco to San Diego about the idea of escapism: It seems like if you're in a more thought-heavy vs labor-intensive job/role, a physical outlet would be a positive form of escapism—something to get you away from your desk and not necessarily turn your brain off but turn it in a different direction so that you can leave and return to your work feeling refreshed with new ideas and solutions. For example, Rockafeller would garden. Einstein played violin. Proust, along with many writers, would go for long walks. Others turn to pottery or cooking. Perhaps the same is true in the inverse.
Pat Riley's Reign
After Miami's win over Boston in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final the other night, Pat Riley will advance to his 19th NBA Final Appearance, appearing either as a player, coach, or executive. As David Aldridge tweeted, he's been in 24.7 percent of all the finals in NBA history. Wild. That said, Miami now faces off against Denver for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Jimmy and the Heat have been playing well, but I'm not betting against the Joker this year. My prediction: Nuggets in 6.
Enjoy the weekend and see you next Friday.
—Garrett