Thoroughly Thursday - The Shouldn't This Be Fun Edition
This week, I make everything hard. Also, buying coffee to help the vulnerable, Annette Bening gets lost, and spending hours listening to enthusiasts discuss "Pulp Fiction."
Welcome back to Thoroughly Thursday, the Shouldn't This Be Fun Edition. As you might have heard me discuss in the past, there are a few types of fun:
Type 1 Fun is something that is fun when you do it (i.e., bouncing on a trampoline).
Type 2 Fun is something that is hard when you are doing it but is rewarding at the end (i.e., finishing a marathon or nailing a big presentation at work).
Type 3 Fun is something you think might be fun but really isn't (i.e., a kids' birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese).
Type 4 Fun is something that is fun at the time but turns out to be a terrible idea later (i.e., anything involving "bottomless margaritas" usually qualifies here).
I have a terrible tendency to turn things that should be Type 1 Fun into Type 2 Fun. I went to a Paint and Sip event, and two months later, I tried to convince K to let me invest in a canvas stretcher. I did a sprint triathlon in February, and by June, I've completely turned my schedule around to get more mileage on the bike.
Unfortunately, I do this all the time. It usually goes like this:
I try something new. Most often, I'm terrible at it.
But, if I enjoyed the experience, I'll do more of it. Soon, I get a tiny bit better (not necessarily good)
With increased ability, suddenly, my ambitions grow. I think to myself, what if I did more of these tie-dyed elbow macaroni necklaces? I could create a little shop on Etsy and make a few bucks.
Soon, I'm spending hours every evening with a curved, threaded needle and arguing with pasta vendors in Italy over import fees.
As you might notice, I tend to go to extremes. I can't stop myself. I go for a 20min swim at the fitness center pool, and before you know it, I'm looking up open water swim races. Luckily, my family tolerates me in my various "phases," if only because they know that by November I will be discussing buying a commercial oven for a start-up bakery business1 and by January I will be knitting beanies for our neighbors.
To tell the truth, I don't know if I necessarily want to change things. There is something inherently satisfying about Type 2 fun and the feeling of accomplishment when you do something challenging. And I revel in the joy of being excited by something new.
That is also why I'm so happy to have certain things that will always be Type 1 Fun, if only because I will never be any good at them. I am abysmally bad at video games, my clueless enjoyment of sports would get me laughed out of any fantasy football league, and my salsa moves will make most dance instructors start giggling uncontrollably.
Now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to a pottery and bottomless mimosas class. Wish me luck.
Take care, my friends, and may the world always present more wonders for you to enjoy.
A few cool things I have seen/read or have been sent from readers this week, in no particular order:
VIDEO: It never fails. Whenever I worry that I’m sinking into some nameless pit of despair, I turn on a Vlog Brothers video that motivates and inspires me. The video they released this week is a fascinating story of how infectious disease specialists were able to innoculate native Alaskans from tuberculosis in the 1950s. At the time, the disease infected or killed 35% of the local population, and proper treatment reduced it to nearly 0%. In 2024, the same effort is now underway to innoculate the population of Lethoso, one of the poorest countries in the world. In support of that effort, Vlog Brothers have created Keats & Co,2 a coffee and tea company whose proceeds go to support the effort.
TV: K and I have been catching up with our TV viewing and recently finished Apples Never Fall, an excellent ensemble cast about the sudden disappearance of the matriarch of a star tennis family. Annette Bening and Sam Neil bookend the story as former professional athletes fitfully trying to find their balance after years of running a tennis academy, whose uneasy relationships extend to their grown children. Bening is outstanding, whose character is most often seen in flashbacks as the kids try to piece together the mystery of her vanishing. Props to Jake Lacy (The White Lotus), who plays the rich finance bro who, surprisingly, has a soul.
PODCAST: One of my not-so-secret guilty pleasures is listening to film podcasts. I’ve been a big fan of Beyond the Screenplay, a podcast off-shoot of Michael Tucker’s YouTube channel Lessons from the Screenplay. But, on a recent trip to visit my sister, she introduced me to The Rewatchables, whose love of moviemaking extends into hours-long dissections of all the films that they love. I just finished a two-part episode on their devotion to Pulp Fiction, which was both hilarious and informative.
What I'm Thinking About - Yeah, But You Still Need Both
“People confuse the fun of a thing with the joy of it, and that’s not the same thing. The fun is what you get to do. The joy is what comes out of it.”
— Neil Gaiman, The View from the Cheap Seats.
All the best, and remember, tomorrow is Friday. :)
Scott
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P.P.S. Because of my youngest, I became a fan of the USC Women’s Basketball team last year. However, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I learned about the remarkable story of sophomore Aaliyah Gayles, whose athletic career appeared doomed by gun violence but instead became an inspirational story of resilience.
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Scoats Oats - I have the logo and everything
John Keats died when he was 27 years old from tuberculosis.