Matt Levine, how does he do it? Seriously, there must be a team of people that are “Matt Levine.” There’s no way it’s just him, right? Every day with things like this, a graf from today’s newsletter about Dogecoin.

Just imagine traveling 10 years back in time and trying to explain this to someone; just imagine what an idiot you’d feel like. “There’s going to be this online currency that people think is a form of digital gold, and then there’s going to be a different online currency that is a parody of the first one based on a meme…

I love this story from Betty Ray so much: How I Met My Foul-Mouthed Celebrity Spirit Guide: A True Story. Keywords: pilgimage, Robert Downey Jr., Mary Magdalene, projection, gnostic gospels, communion, Italy, wonder. Just go with it.

Via rands, Maximilian Schramm: The complete list of all Oreo flavors, c. 2019, with short commentary on each one.

The list includes Nabisco Oreo Original Cookies, Nabisco Oreo Chocolate Creme, Nabisco Oreo Golden, Mondelez Oreo Strawberry Cheesecake, Mondelez Milk Chocolate Coated, Mondelez White Chocolate Coated, Oreo Red Velvet Cream, Oreo Birthday Cake, Nabisco Oreo Peanut Butter, Nabisco Oreo Mint, Nabisco Oreo Lemon Cream, Nabisco Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Sandwich, Nabisco Carrot Cake, Nabisco Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Nabisco Oreo Cookie Butter Creme…and 70 more.

I love this list. Try saying them all out loud. And then see also Sam Jordison…

My neck is sore from reading Yamauchi №10 Family Office’s statement, but while you’re distracted by the amazing soundtrack and the floating clouds and the space shuttle and the trees and the flowers and the everything, don’t sleep on the copy:

Seeking stability only clouds your soul. Fear of failing only kills seeds of innovation. We must create a more exciting future where people feel free to dream and leap into a world of possibilities. We must create a freer future where people are eager to truly live.

Justin Murphy, The Time to Withdraw:

One hour of truly focused attention is significantly more valuable than 25 hours of scatter-brained Twitter posting. One hour of focused attention is sometimes sufficient to conceive one original idea, write it down clearly, and do something purposeful with it, such as post it to your blog. The quality of the idea, the quality of the decision about what to do with the idea, and the basic follow-through — all of these are more valuable, and harder than we appreciate.

And…

When you’re in the rhythm of bouncing around between podcasts, Youtube videos, Twitter, and all the rest, the decision to stop in favor of reading and writing is more devilishly difficult than any educated person wants to admit. It is perhaps the most underestimated social harm afflicting the literate classes today, in part because it’s embarrassing to admit it.

Can relate.

Susan Orlean, Overdrawn at the Psychic Bank Account:

This year has been a constant state of withdrawal. We have withdrawn from all the things that we usually do. We have withdrawn from friends. … That’s because there’s been no inflow. Life always requires effort, always takes a chunk out of you, but in ordinary times, it also returns on the investment. You venture forth. You see things, talk to people, have experiences, hear stories, discover someone, eat something delicious, wander into a new place. Each one of these things gives you something — new information to process and sort through…

It’s Time to Rethink “Professionalism” from Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey.

Professionalism in 2021 isn’t about what time you show up for work or whether your interpretation of “business casual” is consistent with your company’s policy. None of that matters. None of it ever actually mattered; we just collectively convinced ourselves over the years that it did.

And…

Professionalism implies a certain degree of respect, and what could be more respectful than recognizing our employees and colleagues as whole adult human beings who have lives outside of the office — lives that may sometimes affect the their work?

Perfectly timed as folks start thinking about what a return to the office could / should look like. (And file under compartmentalization.)

Via Kottke, the poet David Whyte on Friendship:

All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die. In the course of the years a close friendship will always reveal the shadow in the other as much as ourselves, to remain friends we must know the other and their difficulties and even their sins and encourage the best in them, not through critique but through addressing the better part of them, the leading creative edge of their incarnation, thus subtly discouraging what makes them smaller, less generous, less of themselves.