The Mixed Bag: May '25
reinvention in flannel? midlife crisis in Dolby? and other things worth binging.
The world is full of little portals. These are a few I fell through this month.
đŸ previously, on WAGOâŠ
A tour of WAGOâs new lay of the land
In Profile: Seth Werkheiser
On the podcast: An Invitation to Delight with Alex Lovell
đ other peopleâs brilliance
âIf youâve been feeling distracted or scattered, overstimulated or a little hollow around the edges, try trading your screen for something slower. Something that brings you back to yourself.â â caitlyn in her piece âi want to get off the screen too.â
âWhatâs the most courageous thing youâve ever done? Write them all down in your Bravery Resume. I wrote at the top of my list, âIâm so brave that IâŠâ â Regina Brett in âBravery Takes Practiceâ
âAll of us encounter turning points in life [âŠ] In either case, you are often pushed to move too quickly. Life demands you keep going â to return the emails, make the appointments, plan the next thing. What gets lost is the chance to feel the transition. To sit with it and let it shape you.â â The Culturistâs âWhy You Need to Slow Downâ
âTo choose a different path and to actually do things differently, you have to unlearn nearly everything youâve ever been taught. Thatâs a full-scale internal renovation. Itâs disorienting and lonely and, honestly, a little brutal.â â Iwana Johannsen in âUnlearning Lifeâ
âSo let me get this straight â AI is wonderful, except for the fact that itâs destroying media, education, the environment, music, the arts, public trust, thinking skills, and everybodyâs job.â â Ted Gioia in âA Major Newspaper Publishes a Summer Reading Listâbut the Books Don't Existâ
Iâm a
littlelot behind on this, but Matthew Long has been doing a deep reading of Homerâs The Illiad since the beginning of the year. Iâm just catching up on his wonderful series. If you want to deepen your knowledge of this epic poem, check Matthewâs series. Youâll find all of it, in chronological order, here.
đ dog-eared
Re-read Atwoodâs The Handmaidâs Tale and phew. When I first picked this up in the 90s, it felt like dystopian fiction. This time around, it felt eerily plausible. Turns out, context really is everything.
Finally picked up Matt Haigâs The Midnight Library. A proper philosophy-in-a-denim-jacket book. Easy to read, quietly existential. Had me spiralling (in a good way) about all the lives I couldâve lived and the ones I still could â and want to!
đș couch report
Discovered Virgin River on Netflix and, well, send me some tea and emotional support. Itâs small-town drama, scenic wilderness, and just enough reinvention angst to count as research. đ Everyoneâs healing from something, falling in love with someone, or running from whatever happened in LA. It's like Greyâs Anatomy moved to the mountains, but with more flannel and less surgical trauma.
No judgement, but Iâm in the middle of a full Mission: Impossible rewatch, prepping for the (supposedly final?) Final Reckoning. The whole franchise feels like an empowerment binge for anyone north of 40. Tomâs still jumping off buildings, Ving Rhames is still the definition of chill, and somehow it all works. Itâs either deeply inspiring or a midlife crisis in Dolby surround.
đ echo chamber
Okay, I promise I wonât always be talking about our shiny new Town Center⊠but today I am. Because a few lovely folks have already stopped by to say hello, and you should absolutely go meet them. Come wave back to Cathy, Paolo, Nicole, Nancy, Leo, Dawna, and so many more. Introduce yourself if you havenât yet. Weâre a good great crowd. Come see for yourself.
đŹ last word
Not saying I used to dance around in my pajamas to this⊠but Iâm also not not saying it. đ«ą
Everything is fine,
Lou Blaser
(Vice Deputy of Whatever This Is)





That Rick Astley song plays in my brain more times a week than I care to admit !
LOVED Midnight Library!