Two. Friction is the feature Notice … | Hunter Gatherer 21C
A perfectly frictionless life is subtly deadening, because it leaves you nothing to push against.
This series on the benefits of analog is Nicholas Bate at his best.
I know it’s weeks away but…
I’m ready for flannel shirts and broken-in jeans. I’m ready for Bean Boots and shirt jackets. I’m ready for chunky wool sweaters and corduroy. I’m ready for more pockets and layers. I’m ready for fall.
Our daughter, who turned 18 this year, voted for the first time today. The world will begin slowly changing in the right direction now.
I’ve really been enjoying this new YouTube show, One Question with TK. I don’t know many of the guests but the premise is so interesting and the conversation so fascinating it doesn’t matter. Highly recommended.
Dense Discovery #401: Your call is important to us
Technology has stopped being the thing that connects us to people and became the thing standing in for them.
Nailed it.
Black Hat USA 2026: The ‘Breaking’ News: The OpenAI–Hugging Face Incident
I’m not scared of AI. I’m scared of the humans behind it.
Very dangerous things are often very cool.
“What we didn’t realize…” is the warning phrase that should cause one to notice the danger. Instead, these people seem to only notice the cool.
Finishing Our Routine
One of the running conceits in the most recent summer show at Circus Juventas, Whimsy! involves Lady Licorice, played by Beatrix, becoming more and more annoyed that she and The Candy Sisters never get to finish their routine. Whenever someone enters Candyland, they have a welcome routine and it always seems to get cut off, interrupted, or the visitor doesn’t stay long enough to see it. It’s one of my favorite elements in the show.
For sixteen years now, our family has had a routine around Beatrix’s circus schedule. Weeks were largely structured around when she had circus classes after school. When we ate dinner together as a whole family and how were built around it. If I had to plan dinner for just Bethany and I and something else for Beatrix to eat between classes. When both Beatrix and I were at Circus in rehearsal for a show so Bethany was on her own. Pretty much everything in our lives was a complex scheduling Tetris around Beatrix needing to be at Circus. It was a routine that we never fully thought would ever be finished.
In the show, towards the end, Lady Licorice and The Candy Sisters do get to finish their routine and it’s beautiful.
This afternoon, Beatrix took her final bow at Circus Juventas. She got to finish her routine for the last time and it was even more beautiful than the first.
And, with that, we as a family have finished ours.
A perfect late summer salad: Small cubes of watermelon. Small cubes of cucumber. Crumbled feta. Chopped mint. Toss together in a bowl. Enjoy.
On Sunday, Beatrix will walk out of the arena at Circus Juventas for the last time, and that thought has me up early this morning. It’s not like I did not know it before, but it’s hitting especially hard.
Same.
Performing circus can teach kids about hard work, dedication, teamwork, performance, etc. Most importantly, it teaches kids how to fail in front of a crowd, get back up, and try it again. “Smile and Style” as they say. The crowd, for their part, will cheer even louder when you get it the next time.