The hope & possibility of summer, shell mania, summer reading, GOODBYE TIL SEPT... 🐚🦐🦪🍋🌀

I believe deeply in “summer” as an agent of change and I wholeheartedly embrace its ability to “transform” anything and anyone.

It’s that time of year— every May or June I start to get a little bajiggity about certain things, faces, people, platforms. Essentially, I become crotchety. I exceed my quota of tolerance for the year.

It’s begun already, even earlier this year than usual. It usually looks something like:

• I get increasingly fed up with people’s self promotion: relentlessly cross-posting their Beehiiv or Substack on Twitter or LinkedIn, announcing their fifth podcast, posting TikTok reaction videos of the newest non-alcoholic beverage (soda…) or meandering reflection on their own personal brand… I get it, I participate in many of these platforms and can appreciate that their success has impact on one’s livelihood, immediate or not, but when everyone becomes a creator, peace and fucking quiet is hard to come by…

• Even less tolerance than usual for “DTC bros” or the oft-celebrated male thought leaders of the industry I work in (commerce), a relentless yearning to tell them that no one cares.

• When someone want…