Squirrel power; Affable priests; Do I dress better than a Muppet?

3 Things this week and a poem

May 19, 2024

Happy long weekend, Canadian friends. In southwestern Ontario we're enjoying summer-like weather. And I am happy with that.

My kids were chasing toads in the yard and we continue to marvel how, as if with the snap of a finger, the stripped branches burst to life and we’re suddenly surrounded by a canopy of green.

Thanks for spending some of your day with Things I Wrote Down. I hope there's some sunshine and BBQ in your weekend.

1. Squirrel power

A squirrel, racoon and a penguin walk up to a power line….

These are the kind of headlines you live for:

Forget cyber attacks or electromagnetic pulses. The rodents in Canada’s biggest city are the threat. A few months ago a series of outages were caused by racoons.

But it's not just a local problem. Key submarine internet cables were cut this week severely disrupting internet connections in Eastern Africa.

The Internet is filled with rumors that a shark and even a penguin were the culprits (but it appears to be a cargo ship that took out the cables). Here's a fascinating article about how underwater cables connect the world.

2. Affable priests

Father Mike Schmidt, Bishop Robert Barron, and Jordan Peterson, walk onto a stage…

I've been enjoying the social media posts of Father Mike Schmidt, the affable Catholic priest who looks like John Hamm in a collar. He has the Bible in a Year podcast, which is one of the top podcasts in the world.

As I've been doing a deep dive into faith-focused influencers and platforms at work to better understand this part of the media landscape, I came across the above conversation with these three deep thinkers (who I don't watch closely, but upon listening to this convo, understand why people do).

Fr. Schmidt talks about the spiritual inheritance left by Boomers and Gen-X to their kids—a deistic, therapeutic moralism— and what that means when people approach scripture informed by that lens.

It's wonderful to witness people with such command of their disciplines and of language grapple with deep concepts in a live setting.

If you’re interested in unpacking concepts like beauty, truth, and the good, this wide-ranging discussion will engage you.

And Bishop Barron sort of steals the show. If you read my article this week - When will AI replace my pastor - watch this and you'll realize why it never could.

3. Do I dress better than a Muppet?

@dieworkwear on X talks about menswear, encourages men to be more aware of what they're wearing, and highlights the culture and history of various styles.

He also does hilarious takes, comparing media personalities with famous stuffed animals. Summary: The Muppets are faring better.

His recent style takes of Piers Morgan (comparing him to the style icon Kermit the Frog) and Ben Shapiro (comparing him to Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bear) are funny and educational.

A poem

All the talk about beauty and the way it can lure people to truth reminded me of this short poem I wrote when studying ancient texts in Malaysia.

I hope you enjoy it.

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hook my gills like a fish

hook my gills like a fish
on a thin, invisible string
throw me onto dry ground
to thrash and gulp for air
catch me at your whim, gut
and cut me

lure me with your glory

Things I Wrote Down