Happy Friday! ☀️
My week was a blend of moments of feeling very present and connected and moments of overwhelm and scatter. A week before closing shop, there are dozens of smaller to dos left and right still open, personal or work-related, and I’ve closed off every day this week by simply surrendering.
What I’m reading 📖
When time is scarce for reading, I am glad to have smart friends who write thought-provoking and insightful things. My buddy Igor Schwarzmann is a strategic designer at Edenspiekermann and in his Substack, he shares his thinking about the intersections of the future, design, and the media. Igor coined the term Denial of Future Attack, derived from the Denial of Service Attack which targets digital infrastructure. A Denial of Future Attack targets the human mind’s capacity to process information and make decisions. In this updated essay about DoFA, Igor shares his deep thinking about the current state and evolution of the media. Read more.
What I’m listening to 🎧
On March 2nd of this year I attended the very last live show of Pale, the band I used to tour manage 20+ years ago. The evening was special for several reasons. A celebration of Christian’s life, Pale’s guitar player who passed away in 2021, the final live show for the final album of the band, and a reunion of those who have been on the journey with the band for over 30 years. Last Friday, the limited edition triple LP was released of the final show of the band Pale. I received it this week and it brought back memories from that one night in Cologne in March and it brought back memories about years of driving across Europe in a small van with these four guys. One gift of 2023 I cherish a lot is the reconnection with Holger, the singer of the band who I hadn’t spoken to in over 15 years. Listen.
What I’m watching 📺
A series I enjoyed watching this week is the period drama miniseries Lessons in Chemistry. Brie Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, a chemistry genius whose fulfilment of her potential has been thwarted at every turn by the entrenched sexism of her era, the late 1950s. I found it highly watchable and the visuals reminded me of Mad Men. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
The term monkey mind or mind monkey originates from Chinese xīnyuán or Sino-Japanese shin'en, a word that literally means "heart-mind monkey." It is a Buddhist concept that describes a state of restlessness, capriciousness, and lack of control in one's thoughts.
What else?! 💯
My friend Katharina and I used to be colleagues in the early days of SoundCloud when we were just under ten people in a rickety office in Berlin’s Mitte district in 2009. Katharina is a gifted designer and adventurer. She took some time off from work to bike across Europe. This week, she started sharing learnings, stories, and tips from biking over 10.000km on her bike across the continent. Visit Staunchy.com.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
Instagram | Website | 2021 Playlist | Company
Excited to jump into the Pale record, David! What's your favorite song and why?