SLOW DOWN IN THE HEAT

Some wise words from Coach Bennett from Nike Run about running in the hot weather:

“You don’t get fit by getting heat stroke. You don’t get stronger by being dehydrated. You don’t build endurance by getting sun burned. You don’t get faster by getting hyperthermia. And you don’t earn my respect by putting yourself in dangerous conditions that you are unprepared for. You lose it. Maybe that doesn’t matter to you. But I hope you know that you’ll never run as well as you can by hurting yourself. And that’s what prolonged exercise in extreme temperatures does. It hurts you. It doesn’t make you better. It doesn’t make you stronger. Be smart. be safe. Take care of yourself like you’d take care of someone you care about. Remember that sometimes the best run is no run. If you can do all those things then you’ll be one day closer to running that best run of yours.”

BRITTANY O’NEAL BIKING IN BROOKLYN

Brittany O’Neal with the smooth lines, speed, and power, slicing through Brooklyn streets and making it look easy (it’s not).

I lived in Brooklyn for about five years, and biked a lot of miles, so a few of those streets brought back a lot of memories. I didn’t cover those miles like Brittany does, but hey, that’s okay.

IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT DOESN’T TRANSLATE

Trying to catalog more of the things I come across on the internet, so I don’t forget about them. I could add to albums to my Bandcamp wishlist, or tuck away links in my notes app, but I think putting them here in the open is much more enjoyable.

“During lockdown I started playing a lot more games and becoming more interested in them as an art form, each song is its own little role-playing game. In my head, at least! It doesn’t matter if that doesn’t translate.”

From The Wire Magazine interview with Jayne Dent, talking about her latest album RPG.

HEAVY METAL EMAIL HITS 500 SUBSCRIBERS

I started my HEAVY METAL EMAIL newsletter in late 2021, writing all about email marketing in the magical music world, in a very niche sort of way. It’s not for everybody, and that’s just fine.

But it’s for 500 people right now, apparently.

This happened mostly without social media. I deleted Twitter, stopped posting on Instagram, and Facebook? My goodness, I never log in, really.

All that time saved creating “assets” for social media platforms, and “engaging,” now I just spend that time on writing. Hell, I moved to a summer schedule, posting just once a week, down from three times per week.

Most of the subscribers come from Substack, and recommendations from other people who also have Substack newsletters. And I picked up two new clients from writing the newsletter.

Maybe this “not being on social media” thing will work out fine.

I AM AN AMATEUR

Oh, this is heavy:

“Being an artist within an economic system that favors private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, a price system, and competitive markets belittles my practice into a hobby. I am an amateur with no artist statement, thesis show, or MFA. The money I invest in creating art is a temporary loan to myself that I feel pressured to repay quickly by attempting to exhibit wherever the crowds are.”

From ‘A soft manifesto‘ over at The Creative Independent, via Naive Weekly.

SATISFIED, CALM, COOL, COLLECTED

I’ve known Sarah Saturday for well over a decade or more, dating back to my very first music blog. We finally got to meet in 2013 in Nashville for coffee, and have chatted on and off over the years.

Sarah recently released ‘Like You,’ and the opening line caught me off guard, in a good way:

Satisfied, calm, cool, collected

My mom used to say she was “calm, cool, and collected,” which made me and my sister laugh out loud, because she was definitely not calm, cool, and collected.

This is a sweet little reminder to put everything and anything you want out into the world because you just never know where it will land, or how it’ll be received.

SEVEN YEARS OF RUNNING

Today is my seven year “run-iversary.”

Seven years ago today a good friend texted me from a party, saying someone there challenged him to run a mile in eight minutes (this was seven years ago, so details might be fuzzy). He ran it, though it took longer than eight minutes. I tried it, and it took me 13 minutes, and I had problems walking down stairs for the next week.

According to Strava, since I started in 2016 I’ve gone on 1,419 runs, for 5,160 miles, in 1,006 hours, and climbed 229,692′ in elevation.

Biggest thing I learned? Slow down. Savor every fucking footstep, because one day each place you run will be the last time you ever run it.

Here’s some photos I took from runs over the years: