The Breads Is Back Baby!!!

A long overdue check in

Jan 24, 2025

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Hello Lost Disciples,

Wow wow wow. Ain’t that some shit. I just logged into Substack for the first time in many moons and learned the last newsletter I sent was on October 6, 2022. It does not feel like that long ago but that’s almost two-and-a-half years since I last graced your inbox. I missed y’all. I wanted to revive this little project because I really enjoyed doing it (until I didn’t). I don’t know the exact form this is going to take going forward but it will go forward. It will probably be less frequent and less robust, but it will still come to you with articles to read to help you make non-political conversation throughout your life. Plus some other fun things in between.

Here is a little story from an experience I had recently.

Last week Chelsea surprised me with tickets to the Knicks game. They lost, but something amazing happened. A man hit a half-court shot to win a Kia. Chelsea was on her phone as he was attempting the short shots (layup, midrange, three) that he needed to hit in 30 seconds to be able to attempt the half court shot. I told her to get off her phone just in case he made the heave.

“Watch this. If he makes it the place will go crazy.”

He released the shot and to me it initially looked promising. My eyes got wide. Then I realized so did everyone else’s. It’s an interesting experience, being present for 20k people collectively realizing something unlikely might take place. A distinct din emerged as thousands of people began to take heavier, staccato breaths all at once. As the ball got closer to the rim you could feel the energy rise. A small percentage of fans made preemptive noise, but the vast majority held out yelling too early in an attempt to avoid a jinx presumably.

As the ball went through the net absolute bedlam broke loose.

I’ve been in the arena for game winning shots. When a game winning heave occurs fans go crazy in relief just as much as ecstasy. It is a feeling that your emotions have been saved by the athlete… by someone who is regularly capable of super human feats.

This was different.

Everyone in the audience recognized this was a normal person, like them, doing something extraordinary. Everyone could see a bit of themselves in the man and naturally, thanks to our investment in our own self interests, wanted him to succeed. However, unlike in the normal world not a single person in the audience was upset that he made this shot, that he won. It felt like a victory for the people. A collective success that we could all revel in. It was the opposite of schadenfreude. He even got to hug Ben Stiller afterwards.

I don’t know if there is necessarily a lesson to be learned from this. I don’t want to make your re-introduction to this newsletter something corny and saccharine. But it got me thinking about collective and unadulterated joy and how infectious it is. How powerful it can be. (Yes I know he probably has to pay a lot in taxes on for the free car, but no one was thinking about that in the moment ok).

There is a lot of collective hate in the world right now. It feels like that is often our default and it is a vortex that can easily suck in even the most upbeat and resilient. So do your best to hold on to those moments where you can escape the bad. Where you can feel joy and excitement with another person in your life, or better yet with a stranger. Sports are great places to do that, I’m still thinking about that shot and the experience a week later. But if you put your mind to it you can find those moments all across your life, you just may have to look a little harder.

Ok enough with the cheesiness, here are some linkies.

The Easiest Way to Keep Your Friends

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
A very simple, if not slightly nerdy and anal, solution for seeing friends on a consistent basis: setting a recurring calendar date (e.g., the third thursday of every month) to do something with a friend or a group of friends. The idea is that scheduling things as an adult is hard, which it is, so if you can bake something in every month (or whatever cadence you want) it will mitigate a lot of planning rigamarole (which we need because honestly we’re all just looking for an excuse to bail). This will also probably save you time in the long run so you don't have to go back and forth 30 times on what works and what doesn’t. It honestly makes a lot of sense.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

Setting a friend routine is not a new concept. Whether they do poker or bingo nights, tailgates or Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, Americans have long found ways to regularly socialize. What I’m proposing, however, is more casual, more intimate. Parties have their place, as do bar trivia and other big group activities. The problem is, those events will almost inevitably involve people whom you find annoying, which means that—if you’re like me—you’ll still be left craving time with the people you do like.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
I don't know about you but as I get older it gets harder and harder to see friends. People are at varying stages of life development (marriage, kids, jobs, parents) and as they begin to slow down and they become more insular and more lazy about maintaining a social network. Letting friendships fizzle is easy, it just takes slight apathy from either side and will almost always gradually snowball into full on estrangement. An idea like this will help you fend off lonely old man syndrome that much longer. Loneliness is an epidemic, don’t fall victim. You can also probably do this idea with phone calls/face times too in case you want to stay in touch with someone far away.

Mel Brooks Writes It All Down

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
This is an interview in The New Yorker from when Mel Brooks was publishing his memoir back in 2021, so it is a little bit dated. But the man has such a deep wealth of knowledge I thought it was worth sharing. It has a few novel ideas and observations I think are really valuable.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

I’d learned one very simple trick: say yes. Simply say yes. Like Joseph E. Levine, on “The Producers,” said, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” He wanted me to fire Gene Wilder. And I said, “Yes, he’s gone. I’m firing him.” I never did. But he forgot.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
The above quote, which he expands on in the piece, is one of the most important pieces of advice I’ve heard from an interview in years. I've found this to be a simple trick to use in the workplace (but also in life). I call it Mel Brooksing a situation. Don't do this in all scenarios. Use it strategically. We've all dealt with people who give input on something just because they think they need to have input on it, rather than actually feeling strongly about what they are saying. That is when you Mel Brooks them, they won't remember their opinion down the road because they don't actually feel strongly about it. This is not to say don't take constructive criticism or input from others, because you absolutely should, this is more about knowing when to fight for a decision – creative, strategic, operational, etc – and when to just say ok and then not change shit.

Her Dad, the 10,000 Records He Left Behind and a Viral Lesson in Grief

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
I've seen this account here and there. It's an interesting concept. A 25 year old woman listens to an album from her late father's 10k deep record collection every day. She discovers new artists and gives her opinion on the music, creating her own artistic videos. She’s become highly followed in the process. Turns out people like discovering shit together.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

Review series such as Jula’s are far from monolithic in 2025. Nor are vinyl records, which now outsell CDs. But Jula views her page as a grieving project above all — a welcome detour amid our doomscrolling, where music buffs, casual browsers and the bereaved connect over loss, memory and the role of music in emotional healing.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
It's a sign of the times how we gravitate towards grieving in public ways. How everything is an opportunity for content. This is not a criticism of those who do it, meerly an observance. Why I do think it is important though is to show that there are still wholesome and well-meaning communities abound in our horrific internet world. This one as an example has people coming together to discuss music, grieve together and see the joy in others discovering something for the first time. These are the communities we need to build in the latter half of the decade and this gets back to my intro story about collective joy being a powerful tool.

Other Interesting Things You May Or May Not Care About

1 of Every 5 Job Postings Is Actually Fake, Study Says
As an unemployed person looking for a job this is not surprising at all. I don't have the most impressive resume, but anecdotally I'd say I have not heard back from 99.9% of jobs I apply to on LinkedIn. Some of that is probably my fault but a lot of that is almost certainly that the jobs I'm applying to don't actually exist. Much of it is all about appearance and vanity – wanting to look like you're growing as a business. Some of it downright mindfuckery – to keep employees on their toes. Either way, nowadays if you want a job it is far more than ever about knowing someone.
Blimps in the Heavens Over Akron
We were so very close to having blimps in the sky as abundant as yachts in the ocean. There probably wouldn't have been that many honestly, but there would have been a lot more had the US Government not restricted the accessibility of Helium early on which really kind of killed the blimp dream. That and then, you know, the whole Hindenberg thing. But it makes you think what else may have become a huge thing had it not been for a bump in the road, or conversely, what prevalent thing today avoided an early major disaster to become what it is today. Imagine if the government had restricted whatever material was needed for internet cables to function, that important invention probably would have died on the vine. Thank god it didn't because I love looking up pictures of blimps on the internet.
New Start-Ups Are Hyping the Loneliness Epidemic and Are, of Course, Happy to Offer Solutions
I really liked this article. It addressed a new company that definitely has a cultish feel without lampooning it. Leaving readers to make their own decision. But also if you’re lonely just reach out to your friends that you have become estranged from. Like we talked about earlier.
The Tickling of the Bulls: A Rodeo at Madison Square Garden
Cowboys in Madison Square Garden. THE city of city slickers played host to a genuine rodeo. The surprising, or maybe not so surprising, part of it all is that the arena was sold out three straight days. Packed to the gills. It's not all fashion week and finance bros here. And that's the beauty of big cities like New York, despite what connotations they may carry they are some of the most diverse places on earth. To me this popularity has nothing to do with the interests of the country swinging back towards the right and everything to do with the fact that New Yorkers just want to see some interesting shit. Something different than they're used to. Or, for the hundreds of thousands of Gothamites from the south and west, something that reminds them of home. This piece is also just very well written, worth a read.
NBA Greats Think This D-II Coach Is a Basketball Genius. So Why Don’t You Know Who He Is?
This guy is apparently a basketball savant who plays a style of the game that is too high-octane and risky for the big leagues. But it has led him to unprecedented success. He wins a lot.

Let’s Just Looks At Art Because Reading Sucks

Some Recent Internet Drops

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