Saturday, I biked to downtown Austin, sat around at a coffee shop, caught a sidewalk parade, read on the pedestrian bridge over the river, and did some writing at a neighborhood park. Before that I played with the awesomest Border Collie I know.

In the parlance of our times: so many achievements unlocked.

CODA

I think, perhaps, now's a good a time as ever to put a bow on this.

I'd originally thought I should do a big finale to close out this iteration of this newsletter, but all my best ideas felt like "clip shows", so I'll save you from that. I'm getting to the point where I, more often than not, have to double check myself, wondering if I've already written about an idea before. My gut feeling is that's a good indicator I should find the next thing that this publication is about.

THE FORMAT

There are two ideas underpinning the current shape of this newsletter. The first is the conversation over coffee or beer with an interesting friend. What are the things we'd talk about, what are the things I'd mention, what are the things I'd make a point to share? Granted, writing a newsletter is a fraction of the goodness and enjoyment of seeing and talking with a friend face-to-face. On the other hand, sharing these ideas and nifty things I've found is a great addition to my routine.

The other idea is that of a late-night variety show. I started with something like Conan or Jimmy Fallon's show: monologue, setup comedy bit, setup comedy bit, interview, interview, musical/standup/chef performance. As I found that a bit ambitious, I later scaled it down to something more like The Daily Show or Colbert Report: monologue, opening subject, follow-up subject, musical thing. If I could choose a second career, one working on one of these shows is high on the list. Adapting that form to "play in their shoes", even a little bit, has been intriguing. I really like the form and will likely continue to use it.

THE NEXT FORM

The next incarnation of this thing is going to have a different subject, a different through-line. I'm not sure what it is yet. I'm betting there will still be a musical discovery aspect, because that's one of my favorite things. Monologues and links to other articles will probably come up too.

I'd like to explore the things that intrigue me, but I'm not entirely sure I really know. Economics, finance, leadership, storytelling, the mechanics of comedy, the military-industrial complex, American football, pop culture; these are things that I think I'd have to write about in order to find out how much I know and how much I have yet to learn.

I'm going to take a few weeks off from writing to recharge my batteries and find the next theme. I'm thankful all of you out there on the other side of this newsletter will be there waiting for whatever the next form of this thing is.

See you on the other side,

~akk