Hey there. Below you’ll find my fave newsletters I wrote in 2021 and some new Quickies, vids, 5-spotted, and more. But first let’s talk about, well, y’know…

The (Omi)Cronic

If Covid was a board game, it’d look like this:

This annual surge is making Covid feel like an ex from high school. You’re totally over it, yet every holiday season it reaches out to see if you wanna hook up again.

It also feels like a TV show that’s been renewed for another season. At this point, it needs to add in a cute little kid to boost ratings. Maybe a sassy toddler named Lil' Rona? And speaking of TV, the next variant should be called Omarosa. Perfect alignment.

I had to fly this week so I double masked the whole way. While texting a pal about that, I started to think this 🎭 emoji feels like proof of a conspiracy/the emoji people knew this was coming. How else did they know to create a double mask emoji!?

And phew, there’s plenty of hysteria to go around. It’s the golden era of listening to people who wear athleisure talk about T cells. But I’ve had enough with these "I'm vaxxed, boosted, I wear masks, I haven’t left my basement or seen another human in months yet I still got Covid" posts. We get it, you're like a superhero of getting sick. Well done, Avenger of illness.

I got boosted because I live in NYC and I’ve yet to hear from an anti-vaxxer who doesn't also believe in aliens, angels, and/or Trump. Honestly, I wish these right wing anti-vaxxers would decide once and for all if the government is 1) incompetent fools incapable of doing anything right or 2) wizard-like puppet masters who coordinate secret Machiavellian plots on the down low. Pick a lane!

Related idea: Hospitals for the unvaxxed. They can be treated by doctors who don't believe in vaccines, get all the ivermectin they want, and go maskless in the hallways. Have a blast/leave the regular hospitals for the rest of us. Viva personal accountability, right?

Anyway, happy holidays and don't even think of coming to my holiday party unless you've got 1) a negative COVID test, 2) a negative STD test, and 3) a positive pregnancy test (‘cuz I forgot to buy booze).

rubymatt

A post shared by Matt Ruby (@rubymatt)

My fave 2021 Rubesletters

You can’t possibly have read all of these, right??? Save a few for later. They’re perfect reading for when you’re hiding in the bathroom in order to escape your family.

Tech

Early adopter? Nah, I'm enjoying my laggard lifestyle.
I don’t want to test out v1, be in the beta, or provide feedback. And I refuse to wait in line for sneakers, video games, or phones. I'm a laggard and proud of it.

The tech world is sci-fi dorks who completely miss the point of sci-fi
Just when you thought it couldn't get Metaworse: Facebook pistol whips itself.

Why are tech elites embracing a philosophy meant for slaves?
Stoicism is all the rage among technology titans. But can someone who private jets to SF/Austin/Miami/Burning Man really adopt a philosophy meant for the suffering?

I was employee #1 at Basecamp. Here's my take on the recent blowup there.
Talking politics was banned leading to 1/3rd of the company leaving. A look at what happens when partisanship, remote work, and the Pyramid of Hate collide.

Just how evil is Amazon? And am I awful for being a Prime addict?
I am wearing Amazon Essentials pajamas, watching Prime Video, eating hummus from (Amazon's) Whole Foods, and paying for it all with an Amazon credit card. What happened to me?

Comedy

Norm Macdonald: The eyes of a child, the words of an adult
An examination of the beginner’s mind approach of Norm Macdonald.

The inside scoop on the Jon Stewart packet & how to get hired as a comedy writer
Every comedian alive applied to the new Jon Stewart project. Here’s some expert advice on submitting packets.

Wild Patrice O'Neal interview about the battle of the sexes unearthed
Eight months before he died, I interviewed the legendary comedian about dating, threeways, pimping, keeping relationships fresh, and tons more.

Why “the creator economy” sucks for creators
Everyone hates “the industry.” But at least it used to be made up of human beings. Now, the industry is an algorithm.

Music

More Me in the Monitor
I spent eight years as singer/guitarist/songwriter in an indie rock band in Chicago. Looking back, I realize it was about way more than music.

15 lessons on creativity (and life) from The Beatles
"Get Back" shows what the creative process really looks like.

Politics

My mom was a liberal hippie and my dad was a Reagan Republican. Here's how they made it work.
They were political archenemies yet their marriage survived for 40+ years. Their approach offers some helpful lessons for these tribal times. Also: The Grammys, cancel culture, Prince William, & more.

The age of the unforgiven
We need more forgiveness and less retribution for both convicts and the cancelled.

The 10 underlying conditions of the mob that attacked the Capitol
Lost masculinity, mental illness, victimhood as currency, etc.

Language

Attacking the "woke mob" is getting tiresome. Here's a better way.
On Aaron Rodgers, the anti-woke brigade, and how to discuss cancel culture and young people in a way that offers aspiration instead of condemnation.

How therapy-speak turned victimhood into currency
The language of trauma cracked the code of the attention economy and turned mental health into the new luxury item.

What woke folks can learn from standup comedy
The bitter left constantly attacks straight white men and it offends me (as a comedian).

Wellness

The #1 question I get asked about ayahuasca
“Do you throw up?” The answer is yes (sometimes) and it's actually pretty great. Here's why.

Heading towards the light
What’s my secret to managing anxiety? Surround yourself with death and suffering. It puts things in perspective.

Misc

The worse the road, the better the destination: 10 travel secrets I've learned from backpacking around the world
Learn about the power of ferries, sculpture gardens, shoulder season, and why agendas are for suckers.

The Greek Freak, General Hospital, and the common man
How basketball offers a version of masculinity way more noble than what we get from our supposed leaders.

Erasing a masterpiece
When subtracting is the solution; lessons from Robert Rauschenberg, Dr. Dre, Phil Spector, Brian Eno, Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Johnny Ive, and Raymond Carver.

Quickies

🌀 One upon a time you needed social skills to survive. You had to learn how to make eye contact, have conversations, and act normal. Now we spend our lives on screens playing a video game where we pretend to be human. No wonder dating’s so hard nowadays.

🌀 Idea: GoFundMe for a reality show where Republican senators have to live in a house with the people who voted for them.

🅼🅰🆃🆃 💎 🆁🆄🅱🆈 @mattruby

Wait, you mean the guy who owns a coal mining business and reps the state with all the coal mines isn't gonna vote for the climate change package?

December 20th 2021

1 Retweet2 Likes

🌀 I find this to be true of a lot of cultural conversations these days: "That's just 3% of our society, but we act like it's 30%."

🌀 The way politicians negotiate now is absurd. "No" is not a counteroffer and punting for months is not a timeline.

🌀 So the future of the art world is in the hands of a bunch of crypto bros who have crap taste in art, think everything should look like a video game, and keep prattling on about fungibility? Sweet, this is sure to be great for our culture!

Me-dia

Joke: I joked about the President being so old…

Show (NYC): JAN 22 Misguided Meditation with Matt Ruby: A comedy show about mindfulness.

Misguided Meditation is a comedy show about the mindfulness journey of comedian Matt Ruby. It's about death, therapy, psychedelics, meditation, and way more. Plus, there's a live ambient soundscape and visuals.

Along the way, Matt offers hard-earned wisdom, discusses the thorniness of the mindful life, pokes fun at woo woo wackos, and discusses his own failures/successes on the path to wellness.

$5 off tickets with code “breathe” here.

Interview (audio): Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t - DLG284 Comedian Matt Ruby does a LOT of thinking and he can open up your head too. This was a great/deep radio interview with a fake therapist and you can now stream it.

I saw Matt do a super interesting comedy show at a yoga studio last month called Misguided Meditation…He's a really great comedian where you walk out thinking about what you were just laughing about. This episode stuck around in my head for a while—like a good acid trip. Matt really shared a lot of personal stuff.

He’s has a very successful career as a comedian performing regularly at The Comedy Cellar. His comedy is hilarious! Plus exceptionally smart, thoughtful and his work has some great messages about toxic masculinity, which was refreshing to hear from a straight dude. I harassed him to share more specifically about the points he is making, why those issues speak to him and where they come from (a prosecutor dad and artist mom). Matt understand his feelings and is very articulate, There’s a lot to draw you in.

Joke: Pretty sure this makes me a Miranda…

🅼🅰🆃🆃 💎 🆁🆄🅱🆈 @mattruby

One line that summarizes all of Sex and the City...

December 20th 2021

2 Likes

5-spotted

1) Ben Affleck told Howard Stern that his divorce allowed him to quit drinking. Jennifer Garner’s line here is the perfect response though.

And of a large tattoo of a phoenix Affleck got on his back after the split, she said, “You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart.’ A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.”

2) Inside Jeffrey Epstein's bond with Leslie Wexner, his biggest client features a cameo from Trump at his Trumpiest.

As shopping malls spread across the country, The Limited boomed. Wexner went on an acquisition spree in the 1980s. He took over the Lane Bryant and Lerner chains, the department store Henri Bendel and a struggling Palo Alto lingerie store called Victoria’s Secret. At the time he met Epstein, The Limited had an annual revenue of $3 billion. Despite the success, Wexner remained little known outside Ohio. Meister recalled a party in Aspen when Donald Trump walked up to Wexner and said, “Nice to meet you, now how did you get so fucking rich?”

3) A Marine veteran says the contradictions of war can make you feel insane. War seems like nonstop FUBAR.

ACKERMAN: (Reading) From his exposed position on the roof, he worked the tank section like an extension of himself, directing main gun and heavy-caliber rounds into the enemy formations and positions from as close as 20 meters. The enemy continued to try and close with and flank his position, and it was repeatedly cut down by his fires. And what I'm thinking is, when I come home, more often than you might expect, a stranger will ask me if I ever killed anyone. And the citation reads, his actions that morning dealt a tremendous blow to the enemy in both the sheer number of enemy personnel killed, as well as demonstrating to them that massing for an attack would prove deadly. But what I'm thinking is, for a long time, I didn't know how to answer the question if I ever killed anyone. A friend of mine took to saying, if I did, you paid me to, which eventually I also took to saying. But the first person who asks me is my cousin, and she is 6 years old.

GROSS: What did you say to your cousin?

ACKERMAN: I think I told her it was complicated and that I loved her.

Oof. It's odd how supporting the troops means constantly trying to send them to fight wars. If you ever want to support me, tell me I don't have to leave my apartment.

4) One Thing We Can Agree On Is That We’re Becoming a Different Country. White guilt is real. Jonathan Haidt, a professor at NYU, on how a small constituency on the far left is playing an outsize role in our society:

Progressive activists make up 8 percent of the U.S. population, and they are the ones who frequently use terms like “white supremacy culture” and “power structures.” This group is the second whitest of all the groups (after the far right), yet they give the coldest “feeling thermometer” ratings to whites and the warmest to Blacks. In this group there does seem to be some true feelings of guilt and shame about being white.

5) Creative acts require a decision to terminate. Revisions come with diminishing returns.

Each post takes me hours to write, over days.  I revise constantly, and still the result is-- well, this. However, at some point I have to overcome my strong wish to revise again (and again and again) and hit submit.  First, even though every revision takes the same amount of time, the improvement from subsequent revisions quickly plateaus.  Second, unless I hit submit, none of the revisions do anyone any good at all. I have to decide that it's finished. Read again: it isn't actually finished, I have to decide it's finished. Creative acts require a decision to terminate.”

And that’s why I’m hitting Send.

Thanks for reading. Truly appreciate it. Have a great holiday and see ya in 2022!

-Matt