Hi friends,

Dearest apologies for the delay in our regularly scheduled programming – it’s been a wild few weeks involving my first laptop-free vacation in about 10 years, a death in my family, and the world generally erupting into chaos.

My week offline paired with a still-developing series of revelations which arose amidst a quaint funeral ceremony left me with (1) little time to scour the internet for interesting things, and (2) a deep feeling that I’m not quite living my life the way I should be, or could be. Have you ever thought about writing your own obituary? Not as if you’re dying now, but lets say in 40 years… how might you want it to read? And what would you need to change in your life today to become that person? Do I want to be remembered as a startup guy who toiled over his laptop trying to reach inbox zero for the majority of his life? Or as a stand-up family man, who spent his time in nature, known for his legendary dinner parties and charitable deeds? You can understand the kind of thoughts occupying my mind this week…

I’ll keep you in the loop as I begin to take action on these contemplations. If you have any relevant books, links, stories or ideas, I’d love to hear about them & share them in next week’s newsletter.

Onto the links…

Love always,
Marty

Hot Hyperlinks

☼ How to be happier in 5 steps with zero weird tricks from Yale professor Laurie Santos. I highly recommend Laurie’s podcast The Science of Happiness if you’re into this. Over 4.5 million people(!) have enrolled in Laurie’s free 19-hour online course on wellbeing, making it the most popular class in Yale history.

☼ The ‘90s laptop with a built in baby mouse. Iconic.

☼ How painter Carmen Cicero kept life romantic for 93 years: “When Carmen walks down the street in New York and sees the sunlight glinting off the windows of a building, or hears a busker playing beautiful music, he’ll think about that moment for the rest of the day. At 93 years of age, you might not expect him to have such a romantic outlook but, an eternal optimist, this has always been his way”

☼ I’m currently reading the book “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone” by Lori Gottlieb. My friend Rianne recommended it when I mentioned that I'd been contemplating starting therapy. I want to explore who I truly am beyond the "internet guy" persona, what I aim to accomplish in life, and how to deal with a mild sense of burnout after 12 years of consecutively starting high-stress businesses. Rianne told me the book made her feel excited about the idea of going to therapy. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the life of a therapist, detailing her various breakthroughs with clients and her personal journey with her own therapist. The book is funny, enlightening, and extremely intriguing when observing how different people are influenced by their childhood or past traumatic events. Moreover, it highlights how therapy helped them evolve into better versions of themselves. I firmly believe that therapy gives you a kind of superpower, and it's worth pursuing even if you don't necessarily feel like you need it. It's possibly one of the most valuable gifts you can offer your partner and/or children. If you’re single, Hinge surveyed their users in ‘21 and found that 91% of singles would prefer to date someone who goes to therapy.

☼ In love with Ukranian furniture company Woo’s new UMI armchair.

Hotter Hyperlinks

Reserved with utmost care for the most discerning followers of leisure...

☼ Meet Infinite Machine P1, a beautifully designed retro-futuristic electric scooter. I think you may need to wear a Matrix-inspired trench coat & wraparound sunglasses to truly get the most out of this thing.

☼ An interview with Janvier Wete, founder of short film streaming platform Minute Shorts - “A great idea born from rejection”

☼ Places to swim before you die: Discover the world’s largest floating infinity pool by Herzog & de Meuron, which happens to be in one of the best places on earth, Lake Como

☼ Leica just released a new hybrid instant & digital camera, which lets you instant-print Polaroid style, or just shoot digitally. It offers 10 analog-inspired film styles, and lets you print photos from your phone’s camera roll too. While we’re talking analog/digital combinations, I recently discovered & ordered the Keks digital light meter for my ‘70s Bronica so I don’t have to pull out my phone & light meter app every time I want to check my settings.

☼ Weird web: It’s as if you were doing work by Pippin Barr

☼ Bottega Veneta has opened a school for artisanal craft to continue the house’s commitment to preserving traditional technique

☼ Meet the collector of tiny things, Jane Housham. I’m very into collecting things recently, especially when it comes to hunting down design references for building brands. I tend to heavily deep-dive into the brand worlds I’m building, and recently that has me spending much more time digging in antique shops around Europe and buying vintage stamps, books & ephemera on eBay vs. scrolling through internet references that 1,000 creatives have seen before me. To find original ideas, find original references.

☼ Intrigued by the concept of Pleasure Activism

☼ Sofia Coppola talks through her new book & her rich archive of movies with W Magazine. Catch our previous issue on Sofia here and her book here.

☼ If you happen to have $10k to spend on a lamp, you may want to purchase the Sanremo palm tree floor lamp. OR import a vintage Murano Palm directly from Italy…

Until next time!

See you online ☼

Marty