Happy Friday,
Though tomorrow is the official start of Spring, she’s really been upon us for the past week, or so our fragrant crepe myrtles would have us believe. As I type this I occasionally pause to grab my mug of Earl Grey and watch (and listen) to the cardinals perform their silvery song. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, bees are buzzing. I must say, spring and enjoying the warm sun are working wonders in the optimism department.
Speaking of the wonders of nature, let’s get to this week’s links.
This nature photographer’s experience traveling to Antarctica and photographing an astonishingly rare yellow King penguin.
A newsletter by the subcommittee-chair of Unicode documenting the process of creating and releasing the tiny emotive icons we know and love. Start with this edition on the 2021 emoji that nearly weren’t.
Did you know? John Steinbeck wrote a horror story about a boy chewing gum and discovering his gum is chewing him. “I’m not chewing it, sir. It’s chewing me!” A delightful – and terrifying – reversal of expectations, making an otherwise mundane activity suddenly very disturbing.
An Ode to Low Expectations. Sometimes, oftentimes, less truly is more.
How McDonald’s Really Makes Money. it turns out, the burger chain is the fifth largest real estate company in the world. The top commenter on this video sums it up perfectly, “Burger is their side business, charging rent is their cash cow.” I also recommend the underrated Michael Keaton movie, The Founder, to see how this property/food model works for the company.
Currently reading: 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Have a beautiful weekend.
