Today was a good day for news and wonder.

In an age where noise dominates the media and fake strong men never admit mistakes or apologize, a story about a real strong person doing that should float to the top. We don’t go to the movies to see the good guys lose. There is no satisfaction in watching a thief, cheat, or bully run away with a victory.

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison sent an email this week to his employees to announce upcoming layoffs. In the letter, Collison discussed the business boom during the pandemic and admitted to overhiring during the crash. The current and future economic environment has forced Stripe to make these difficult decisions moving forward. Collison lays out some of the details around the layoff and the things the company will do to help those being laid off. Everything from severance packages to healthcare.

Business is complex, and as you grow and take on more risk, manage larger organizations and make decisions that can have consequences, some will prove wrong. What makes an organization more robust, the ability to admit mistakes, apologize and move forward, or one that blames circumstances and other people for problems, never admitting fault or apologizing? It is becoming harder to see these days.

We have used Stripe for several years, solidifying that relationship even more. We want to continue to support companies who try to do the right thing and own their mistakes.

In other news, a little bird told us that someone else locked the doors to an office and told people to check emails to determine employment status.

A friend of the work, Austin Kleon, shared a post and a video from Ray Bradbury that talks about reading; one short story, one poem, and one essay every night for the next thousand nights. The idea is that with a quick 30-minute read every night, you will fill your head (and your heart) with so much content you could burst!

Professional Readers, which most writers are, read that and more. We assume that a correlation between being well-read and success is vital. The contrary point helps to prove this same assumption. With the enormous amount of information being fed today, fewer people read, have conversations about topics they read, and have ideas they may build on from reading. Instead, we are being fed information by a few powerful institutions whose goal is to keep us listening for as long as they can at all costs.

Reading provides active brain work. That work is a partnership between the reader and the writer. The reader takes the material, adds story and character development, and brings all kinds of elements to their reading. This collaboration can be more rewarding than watching or listening to something to which you won’t have to add anything. We love movies, music, and new media; as professional readers, that will always be our number one source of information, ideas, and inspiration.

We also recommend Austin Kleon’s newsletter; sign up for that here.

Symmetry rules, but the exceptions are so cool. Check out this video from Aeon if you want to stretch your curiosity and wonder.

[Music Notes]

Always looking for something fun to read on a Friday, Loudwire gave us a list of bands who changed their names after an album release. Here are our top three from Loudwire’s list:

Originally Named: Duck Tape (1992)

Changed To: Figure 8 (1992)

Changed Again To Blink (1992)

Finalized As: Blink-182 (1995)

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Originally Named: Xero (1996 -1999)

Changed To: Hybrid Theory (1999)

Finalized As: Linkin Park (1999 or 2000 - sources differ)

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Originally Named: Sweet Children (1987 - 1989)

Finalized As: Green Day (1989)

[More New Stuff]

Words | Music | Art | Unknown

Cause I’m free!

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!

With A Shout Team