Regular Communication 023

From Jason Rodriguez

I don't know what to say with everything that's happened since Trump took office and gave the reins to Elon Musk. We're in a new, terrifying world.

All I can offer is encouragement to take care of yourselves, find joy where you can, stay informed but don't be a slave to social media and the 24/7 news cycle, and do what good you can where you are. Continue to push your elected officials to fight the shitstorm that's been unleashed in DC, I'm a big fan of using Resistbot for that.

The only other thing I can offer right now are distractions. So here you go...

Interesting Things

Seriously, get the fuck off of Substack. They're citing Musk and Zuck as great defenders of free speech now. 🤮

Louie Mantia makes a good case for RSS and the web for being the best social media platform, we just have to fully embrace it: "It doesn't have to be this way. It never did."

Ruben Schade put together a great list of things that make him (and me) avoid certain blogs. AI slop and techbro vibes are the worst—I immediately close tabs when I see either.

Well, I’ve never had the desire to build a synth from scratch until reading about the Shmøergh Hog from Peter Zimon and Flame. They designed and built their own synth, with a small batch for friends. You can’t buy them, but you can build them yourself using their plans. I know I don’t have the electronics prowess to build it successfully, but damn is it tempting. 

Simon Willison is fighting a Sisyphean battle in trying to convince people that our devices aren’t actually listening to us all the time to feed us ads… at least not in the way you think. His three points at the end of the post are worth remembering, even if they likely won’t convince most people.

Texas Monthly ranked all 153 (!) Willie Nelson albums, which makes it easy to find a good introduction into his extensive catalogue. Just start at #1 and work your way down. Personally, I have a nostalgic affinity for the Daniel Lanois-produced Teatro as well as VH1 Storytellers with Johnny Cash.

For you email geeks out there, Dan Oshinsky published a great roundup of lessons learned about email newsletters in 2024. I've always struggled with the "don't beat yourself up about mistakes" one, but something I'm working on moving forward. Great tips all around, though.

Finally, another article and another reason why Joan Westenberg is my favorite writer on the internet these days.

Some Music

I finally got to see David Gray live the other night (quick review here). He was fantastic. Naturally, I have a fondness for his older stuff that I grew up with, but his new album is very good. After hearing it live, my favorite off the album has to be Leave Taking. Fortunately, there's a great version of him doing it here.

Listen to all my newsletter music recommendations on Apple Music or Spotify.

Take care,
Jason

Thanks for signing up for Regular Communication. If you get sick of me, you can always unsubscribe from this list. No hard feelings. And, if you need to, you can view this online.

Send your condolences, unused musical instruments, and favorite books to:
16914 Shrewsbury, Livonia, MI 48154