Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

My Completely Unreasonable Rules for Life

This is basically another life advice article, which you know I love.

It's a great list of rules the author lives by, some of which aren't my style, others of which I'll be adding to my repertoire. These were a few of my favorites:

• If you think something nice about someone, tell them.

• Always introduce people properly.

• Never make someone feel stupid for being enthusiastic.

• Always have something in the house you could offer an unexpected guest.

Having Kids

Before having kids, I appreciated this piece from Paul Graham about having kids. After being a dad for a few years now, it resonates even more.

A few lines that stood out to me:

"[My mother] said that one reason she liked having us was that we'd been interesting to talk to. That took me by surprise when I had kids. You don't just love them. They become your friends too. They're really interesting."

"Some of my worries about having kids were right, though. They definitely make you less productive. I know having kids makes some people get their act together, but if your act was already together, you're going to have less time to do it in."

The American Spirit

I was browsing Barnes and Noble the other night and found a David McCullough book I'd never seen before. It's called The American Spirit, and it's a collection of McCullough's speeches that he compiled, "to articulate the essential principles and characteristics that form the foundation of our country."

The book is only 170 pages, and it's broken into bite sized pieces—speeches you can read while waiting for the doctor, riding the train to work, or winding down for bed.

It pairs well with McCullough's book History Matters, a collection of his essays I recommended last year.

If you love McCullough or American history, you'll enjoy this book.

Workout of the Week

I absolutely love this song from Chris Stapleton and Mumford and Sons. I can listen to this one on repeat more times than anyone would find reasonable.

Hope you enjoy it once, or a dozen times.

Quote of the Week

"When else in history would you find 'educated' people who know more about sports than about the history of their country, or uneducated people who do not know the stories of their families and communities?" - Wendell Berry via Clayton Dorge

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Talk soon,

Joe