Tim Ferriss - 5-Bullet Friday — June 11, 2021

5-Bullet Friday

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Friday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.

I’ve been reading a lot and also working on fiction (short stories), so this edition will be full of books and articles. Next week will be an eclectic mix of goodies.

Autobiography I’m reading for the first time —
The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss by Dennis McKenna, PhD (@dennismckenna4). This has been on my to-read list for years. It’s a blast to finally dig into Dennis’s stories of family, experimentation, revelation, and life lessons.

Sci-fi and fantasy I’m revisiting —
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang. I’ve previously recommended Ted’s incredible collection of short stories titled Stories of Your Life and Others. Despite the fact that Ted started off as a part-time science-fiction writer with a full-time technical writing job, he is the equivalent of Martin Scorsese or Wayne Gretzky in the sci-fi world—he has won four Hugo, four Nebula, and four Locus Awards, among others. The hit film Arrival (94% on Rotten Tomatoes), one of my favorite recent movies, is based on one of Ted’s short stories. Gizmodo has written that “the arrival of a new piece of short fiction by Ted Chiang is always cause for celebration and parades and wild dancing.” Exhalation, his newest collection, may be even better than his last. It’s just ridiculously good.

Article I’m rereading —
The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist (The New Yorker). After my previous mention of the Sour Grapes doc in 5BF, my brother, who’d also read Billionaire’s Vinegar, said, “Oh, if you like that, I have something you’ll really like.” He sent me this New Yorker piece. It blends theft and art in more ways than one.

Shop I’m excited to visit once again —
Fountain Pen Hospital. Now that I’m fully vaccinated, I’m excited to get back to the Fountain Pen Hospital, which was “founded in 1946 by Phil Wiederlight and Al Wiederlight (the father and grandfather, respectively, of today’s proprietors – Terry and Steve Wiederlight). Terry and Steve have a combined 60 years experience in all phases of vintage and modern writing instruments.” Special thanks to Neil Gaiman for recommending it during our conversation together, in which he described how and why he does so much writing by hand.

Quote I’m pondering —
“Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.”
— Anton Chekhov

And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Much love to you and yours,

Tim

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