a pile of uneven bricks

aloha ants¹ ,

I took last weekend off to chill. After many moons, I spent some time by myself and it was wonderful. I haven’t watched anything episodic in a while and decided to pick an anime to restart. I like anime, I can’t multitask while I watch it.

I’m started watching Haikyuu again! It’s a story of intense kids who love volleyball. It made me want to play volleyball. So… I’m playing volleyball this Wednesday!

I also lived my business nerds dream by watching my favorite podcasters live at Radio City Music Hall. Honorable mentions to the always-straightforward Jamie Dimon, the CEO of the New York Times (reminding me of how NYT has transformed over our lifetimes), and the man behind many curtains, Barry Diller. Thank you BP for the company and RS for the debrief. Always fun nerding out with you two.

I’ve also started a new hyper fixation that I’ll talk about a little later!

comments 💬 

Comments are collected in person, via text, and through replies to these emails. Get featured and enjoy the smallest amount of internet celebrity possible. Without further ado some comments from human I love (hils).

• re: Acquired Live: “A random European man at the pie store asked if me and Abi were ‘gays.’ This was arguably the highlight of my night.” -BP

• re: me begging for a comment: “Been working on it for a while, but reinspired by watching The Empire Strikes Back (‘do or do not, there is no try’). I’m just gonna say that I’m doing it, and if I fail I fail. I don’t need to preempt failure by saying ‘I’m trying’” -BF

break ice ⚒️ 

Call me the opposite of the Titanic, because no ice is stopping me.

• icebreaker: “Do you know any good icebreakers?”

I’m keeping it meta today.

words 🗣️

We were walking around Jordan Pond before we left Acadia and saw this:

‘nuff said.

read 📖: If you ever got obsessed with how you smell

I’ll be honest, sometimes when I’m lazy I look through the top posts from Hacker News to find one. I guess what I’m saying is this section makes me read every week.

I chose this one, because I did the same. exact. thing. I ordered so many cologne samples, to find my signature scent, that my ex considered a Scentbird subscription for my birthday.

I like the origin story, the takes, and soft personable writing style.

➡️ Perfume Reviews, by Gwern

listen 🎧️: I have become a huge KAMAUU fan this year

write 🖋️ 

I want to build a wall

If you talked to me this week, you’ve heard about my MALA affiliation.

I want to build a wall.
It’s important for America.
Let’s Make America Lego Again (MALA)!

Let me explain!

I live in a studio apartment. I currently use 3 tension rods and some curtains to split it up. It works, but it could be cooler. I explored some options: room dividers, drywall installation, etc. Then I had a thought.

What if I built a wall?
What if I built a wall out of Legos?

When I told my friends and coworkers… they were concerned.

People brought up the costs. Legos aren’t cheap.

Some worried about the structural integrity, specifically my coworkers that trust me to decide what we’re building and how we build it…

They thought I was building a 1 brick wide tower to my ceiling… I promise there’s more thought behind this.

Step 1: Design

There are two curtains in my room. One is 52” x 90”. I’ll be replacing this one first.

The wall will be built of creating modular Lego bricks utilizing:

• baseplates

• 2×4’s

• some other pieces that will serve as beams

This will allow me to build a strong units that are:

• visually distinct

• made up of the same pieces, so they can be ordered in bulk

• easy to assemble

Estimate: ~350-400 modular bricks and ~10,500-12,000 Legos.

Step 2: Social Media

Build a Wall content will be posted on TikTok and Instagram daily. I’ll be putting together 2 modular bricks with a guest.

I’ll be seeking support and rewarding members of the MALA journey. Names on bricks, Lego figurines on the wall, requests for a certain brick to have a custom design in it. The possibilities are endless.

Maybe if I’m lucky, Lego will sponsor me!

Step 3: Enjoy the Awesome

Sometimes in life we do useless things. Useless awesome things. I’m excited and hope you enjoy following along.

stay tuned,

1  Ants are in a hil. The hil in question? The humans I love category ❣️