1. It was Bob Dylan’s 79th birthday this week; Austin Kleon had a nice post (with lots of Dylan quotes) about the guy’s creative process.

2. It’s a Twitter thread, so it’s not ideal to read, but the thesis is fascinating: “in the history of disney animated movies there have been exactly 18 types of songs, and i’m going to tell you about each of them.”

3. This is really, really accurate, especially on week 12 of working from home as sewing reaches a fever pitch. (The irony is, of course, that 90% of what I’m making isn’t WFH wear.)

(via)

1. It’s the end of week 10 working from home for me. I think. What is time? I’m just glad I can go to the gym again, bros.

2. I had no idea people were still doing the [illegal] Cannonball coast-to-coast speed drive, but they are and someone just set a new record of 26 hours. Road and Track does NOT approve but honestly this sounds bonkers and amazing:

All we know about this new set of scofflaws is that there were three, maybe four of them, and that they were driving a white 2019 Audi A8 sedan with a pair of red plastic marine fuel tanks ratchet-strapped into its trunk. They started at the Red Ball Garage in New York City at 11:15 pm on April 4, and ended less than 27 hours later at the Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, California, the traditional start and end points of a Cannonball attempt.

3. Put this in the dictionary under “joy”. Might as well put it under all the other words too because it’s such a delight:

PUDDLES !!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/TXjpJGW0Jl

— 🎸𝐆𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 🤘 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧🎸 (@ScotsmanGrumpy) May 17, 2020

1. It is day 64 of the plague here today, but maybe it’s time to reset the counter to “new normal”: I’ve made a couple of quick trips back to the office, my gym is open again (very safely)–I’ve even been to Home Depot!

2. From Kottke, a couple of articles on how quickly language is adapting to the pandemic, including a list of new slang:

• Infits – outfits worn in conditions of confinement
• Covid waltz – manoeuvring to avoid close contact with passers-by while distance restrictions are in place

3.This blew my mind:

Okay, hear me out.

– Family moves for dad’s new job
– You go to a new school where you don’t understand how anything works
– You meet a beautiful girl
– You do some drugs that the girl gives you
– The girl cheers you on as you taking your driving test

Dune is an 80’s teen movie

— Catie @ beautiful 🍑 Redaire 🍑 (@catiemonster) February 26, 2020

1. It’s the end of Pandemic Week 8. Here in Utah, we went from a threat level of red to orange (just like after 9/11! fun!) which is something different and therefore exciting. No matter what, you’re doing a great job of coping.

2. This opinion piece by Dave Eggers is just…<chef’s kiss>. Magnifique.

1. Friends, we’ve reached the end of the seventh week of isolation here in Utah. Remember when we were preparing ourselves for two weeks? Truly, humans can get used to anything.

2. It’s May Day for workers (who are striking at Amazon, Target, Instacart, and Whole Foods today; don’t break the line!) and it’s Beltane for all the neo-pagans out there. For people obsessed with counting days now, that means we’re midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.

3. I…did not expect Austin Kleon to be tweeting about Beavis and Butthead, yet here we are. It is wise advice:

Sage wisdom from Beavis:

“You cannot run from your own bunghole.” pic.twitter.com/Xp0dRsqvwU

— Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) April 28, 2020

1. Hey, another week has passed! April has felt like the longest year but we are doing it, every day. I’m proud of us.

2. This is accurate: Man Not Sure Why He Thought Most Psychologically Taxing Situation Of His Life Would Be The Thing To Make Him Productive

3. Also accurate (yes, I’m still making masks):

4. This probably explains my eating habits lately, too:

1. This week in particular felt iffy, but yet here we are. It has passed. Like a kidney stone. But it’s still Friday.

2. There’s a lot to think about in this piece: In Times Of War (And Coronavirus) We’ve Always Relied On Women To Sew.

3. Not gonna, the coping level varies from day-to-day here. What about you?

1. We did it–another week. We are so good at this now. I’m proud of all of us.

2. From NPR, Tips From Someone With Nearly 50 Years Of Social Distancing Experience.

3. From Austin Kleon, books you can finish in an afternoon if you’re having trouble concentrating.

4. Related to the question of “what world do you want to return to?” yesterday, this opinion piece makes some excellent points.

…it’s also worth asking if we are willing to allow governments and corporations to return to business as usual. When everything’s back to normal, will we accept cities cutting off their poorest residents’ water, or evicting the sick, or throwing someone in jail because they can’t afford to pay a fine?

1. Another week! We did it! We are doing great. YOU are doing great. I think we all deserve a Churchill wartime quote:

“Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

2. This article from the Harvard Business Review is the most helpful thing I’ve read about emotions during a pandemic. I honestly wanted to pull-quote the whole thing: That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief.

There is something powerful about naming this as grief. It helps us feel what’s inside of us. So many have told me in the past week, “I’m telling my coworkers I’m having a hard time,” or “I cried last night.” When you name it, you feel it and it moves through you. Emotions need motion.

3. When I said yesterday I was staying off Twitter, I made an exception for this collection of very round animals and I did not regret it.

1. We made it through the second week of uncertainty and disruption and fear and we all did a great job. We can do this. We ARE doing it!

2. This is accurate:

(source)

3. And finally, David Hockney wants to tell us something: “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring.”