I try not to dwell when a day or week doesn’t feel good. In particular, I try not to obsess over setbacks or bad luck. I feel like that sort of vibe can hold a person back, so I avoid it whenever possible.

In an odd turn of circumstances, I ended up needing to recall a noteworthy bad day in an improv show. The show my class is doing right now starts with storytelling based on some idea from the audience. On Sunday, the idea was “a bad day”.

I was a bit flabbergasted to come up with a good story. I didn’t need to, luckily, but I was struck by my inability to do so. Either I’m pretty good at not dwelling on bad days, or I’m just extraordinarily lucky at not having absolutely awful days. Good problem to have, I suppose.

Last week’s edition felt impossibly long, so I’m trying to get in under five hundred words this week. Don’t blink.

How an economist came to work at a game studio

It all began with a strange email is the story of how Valve Software’s resident economist came to be the person who thinks about Valve’s in-game markets. That games like “World of Warcraft”, “Diablo”, and “EVE Online” benefit from designing with market interactions in mind intrigues and delights me.

How to make “Momma Said Knock You Out”

Legendary old-school hip-hop produder/DJ Marley Marl in a video on how the beat for “Momma Said Knock You Out” came to be. This is exactly the sort of thing I want to see more of in the world: taking music apart and then putting it back together again. Turns out, you can take a Sly and the Family Stone sample, run the “Funky Drummer” break under it, turn the sample inside out and get a really great beat.

Joy of missing out

Anil Dash on the fear of missing out and how missing out is actually pretty delightful. I completely disconnected when my wife and I went on a cruise in May. This was a great decision. Building on that habit, I returned more in the moment, focused, and able to just dip my toe in the social pool only when I feel like it. Highly recommended.

Getting passion, business, and life in the right order

Former Gowalleague Brad Fults on combating the perception that long hours and personal sacrifice yield business success. Insane hours aren’t success. Building good lives is success.

Seven whiskeys out of eight

“There’s a story in your voice” is a raucously great duet between Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams. Some day I will rank all of Williams’ songs by how many shots of whiskey it sounds like she had before writing and performing the song. Sufficient to say, this one is a seven out of eight; I’m assuming that any reasonable person passes out after eight drinks.

So that’s that. Five-hundred, nine words. So close! Let me know if you liked the shorter form, or if you have any other feedback.