Debauchery Week continues, a story about Dead Week, another name for Debauchery Week, helps to motivate a slowdown. Newsletters can fall into that category; we will select fewer stories this week to highlight, and the highlights that make a list will be top shelf.

We are going to put this story through the Gen X lens.

The Morning Brew has a good piece on phrases of the year. Quiet Quitting was on top, and we've discussed it before; the term needs a rebrand, and the quitting part seems out of place. We could research this more next year, and our Gen X sensibilities will scramble this one in many ways. We looked at showing up and working more than expected, which would get us noticed, help us grow our own experiences, and put us in the position for bigger and better things in the future. We admit the process was different; when we reached for more, 24/7 communication with any work-related person wasn't considered typical. Twenty years ago, answering emails at 8:00 PM was the equivalent of staying at the office late.

One of the downsides of removing all the gatekeepers from media while the transition from print, television, and radio moves into a variety of new platforms is the amount of crazy you have to sift through now to get to what you want to read, see or hear. The Gen X lens is skeptical of everything, and skeptics ask way too many questions for Snake Oil Sales Loyalists. The last few years have been a war against the persistence and tenacity of liars going up against people overwhelmed by constantly asking, "is that true?" Gaslighting is when we are finally choked out by lies shoved down our throats. In 2023, our hope lies with the truth in our finest hour, and the roaches start fearing the light once more. Let's roll up our sleeves and do the hard work this year.

A story about gamma rays points out that a few seconds from a gamma-ray burst blasts the same amount of energy as a sun will in its lifetime. It is different from reading another story that makes you feel unqualified to read the story. Gamma rays, supernovas, and black holes, we have heard the terms before, never put together in a way that didn't involve aliens or superheroes.

According to The Conversation article, a large star dies, and the star's destruction is called a supernova; the explosion creates a black hole that consumes the leftover debris, and the black hole emits a stream of high energy called a gamma ray. First question, do we have to call it a giant star? What's a tiny star look like? Second, does Dyson know about this self-vacuuming star explosion process? Talk about suction? Finally, if gamma rays are deep in space after stars battle each other and blow up, how did Bruce Banner turn into a Hulk? By the way, if Stan Lee and his buddies were dreaming this stuff up in the 60s, it's confirmed - they are all aliens.

The article talks about how when stars marry each other and produce black hole children; there is leftover dust used to create heavy metals like gold, platinum, and uranium. The article makes it sound more scientific, and ours is more fun to read. Finally, the piece has a section called "What still isn't known," and that's funny! Watch it here - YouTube.

Southwest Airlines has been at the top of airline lists for on-time departures and least canceled flights for years. Anyone who has ever tried to pick up a college GPA after a semester below 1.0 will tell you it could take years. The NYT reports on Southwest Airlines, let's look at the cancellations from the past week:

Friday, December 23rd 34% 22.5%

Saturday, December 24th 39% 13.3%

Sunday, December 25th 46% 9.7%

Monday, December 26th 74% 5.7%

Tuesday December 27th 64% --

One explanation for the issues is the Point-to-Point structure Southwest Airlines uses. In the simplest terms, Southwest flies point-to-point versus the Hub-and-Spoke system most other airlines use. Point-to-point you could fly more places with fewer planes, but this model can strand both aircraft and crews in specific destinations, causing a more significant issue when a major storm shuts down a large area of the country. Hub-and-spoke can centralize both planes and crews to make adjustments, and based on the above numbers, that has helped airlines use this model.

Southwest has admitted that this situation is unacceptable and has started to investigate. The Department of Transportation has said the same thing and started an investigation. Storms and weather are part of the transportation business; it is hard to see how one of the most successful airlines in the industry was thrown off this far from a large storm. As one of those customers who was supposed to be on one of those planes today, I'm afraid the grade is an F.

Austin Kleon now calls it Dead Week, a term he recently read from writer Helena Fitzgerald, who wrote a piece for The Atlantic last year at this time.

We call it Debauchery Week, but the lighter version could be Dead Week. Especially if you are working in any business with staff, clients, or anyone you would normally communicate with regularly. The best thing about a Dead Week is you are not "haunted by the calls or callers." Two weeks out of every year are like this; the first is the week after the 4th of July holidays in the U.S. July is a popular vacation month, another "slow phone month" if you are in the business. The second is the week between Christmas and New Year.

The last week of the calendar year is another week we like to remind ourselves there is always tomorrow. In this case, there is always New Year's Day, when the future is so bright (you have to wear shades), and the energy level matches the inspiration level for a change. It's also not a full vacation week either; for some of us, it's a "Working Recovery." In a term we stole from the gym, you are still moving, thinking, working on strategy, and not going as hard as you usually do. You are rebuilding for the next exercise, project, or activity.

Here is a quick list of things you can do during the week:

Here is a list of things not to do:

Words | Music | Art | Unknown

Sound System.

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With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.