Hiya! I feel like I’ve lived a full month in the last two weeks. I’ve been sitting on such a backlog of stories, but even more pressing is the borderline ridiculous buildup I have of links that I’ve cached over the last two weeks.

This is me releasing the proverbial floodgates—partially to clear out my archive, partially to treat you—so buckle up. We’re approaching the pre-fall season where ski brands start releasing trailers for their crem de la crem ski films, so this can only be described as a solid mix of art and ski news, with random stories interspersed.

Click on whatever tickles your pickle.

💙 I’ve been having a full blown love affair with the color blue this summer; it happened slowly, then all at once. One day I found myself reading about the history of International Klein Blue—next thing I know, my entire kitchen is painted Pale Turquoise blue. So when I saw a copy of The Secret Lives of Color at an art shop in Buena Vista I knew I had to take it home. So far, it’s been my favorite read all year.

🎨 You had to know I was gonna sneak a Bella McGoldrick video in here. She just released her latest YouTube video where she compares one of her drawings that took 85+ hours against a photo of the image she drew and it’s a wild ride. Also, maybe I’m biased but there’s truly nothing cooler than seeing an artist’s process and she gives an up-close view of her entire process.

⛷️ Time for some ski news: did you see someone ran a marathon in Tecnica Cochise 130s? My feet hurt just watching this. Also, can we talk about how much the back of their calves must’ve chaffed? And while we’re on the subject, they could have gone with a lower flex rating, but that’s just my two cents.

⛰️ Are you in the market for a private ski resort? You’re in luck! Lolo ranch in Montana (1,981 acres and 20 ski runs) can be yours for only $24M.

🎿 Speaking of ski runs, The North Face produced and relased A Skier’s Way: a feature on Mike Arnold. He grew up ski racing in Maine, discovered backcountry skiing in Colorado, and now works as a professional mountain guide in Italy (how does it feel to live my dream?). The film highlights the tight knit community, life as a guide, and the risks they face daily.

🖼️ A new exhibit is up at London’s Design Museum called ‘More Than Human’. The exhibit focuses on design that de-centers the needs of humans and explores what happens when we design for animals, plants, and other living things. Just really, really beautiful stuff.

🚰 I went down a rabbit hole about the Great Salt Lake last week, and man, it’s spooky what’s happening over there. If you have 15 minutes to spare, this article is well worth your time.

🍿 The trailer for Eternity came up on my YouTube algorithm and I have to say I’m intrigued. Regardless of whether or not it turns out to be anything good (and my suspicions say yes, since A24 has been on a bit of a heater the last few years), it’s so refreshing to see somewhat novel concepts hit theaters.

🏔️ Cody Townsend is out here dropping some of my favorite work ever on the FIFTY+. In one of his most recent articles he talks about the MAMIL phenomenon and it’s so well written, I’ll give you a block quote instead of my own summation:

🖌️ If you think you don’t know who the artist Jean Cacteau is, you probably do in some capacity. Here’s a little history lesson on the man, the myth, the legend.

🍀 This Substack article about putting yourself in the position to experience luck put feelings I’ve had about life into such eloquent words. I’m a firm believer that your perception is your reality—and if your perception is that life sucks and being single sucks, then it probably will. In short? Go outside. Talk to people.

🎂 This Oldster piece about turning 60 was such an unbelievably endearing read. I was struck by how much of it mirrors what I felt turning 30 and what I’ve heard so many people say and write about turning 30. It hammered home for me that we’re all, at the end of the day, just our 12 year old selves trying to find the perfect outfit for the first day of school.

👖 This is my first and only time I’ll include an article dissecting the worlds-most-beaten-dead-horse: The Sydney Sweeney Great Jeans campaign, and the only reason I’m plugging it is because it asks such meaningful questions about marketing’s relationship to the cultural temperature. What does it mean to build, to write, to design, to lead, when the dominant tone is fury? Who does it serve? What does it replace? And how do you not get pulled into the gravity of it all? Not everything needs to be a fight. But that’s not a very shareable take.

🪩 This Cut article about a Sober Weekday Rave might be the spookiest shit I’ve ever read in my life. May this type of person and party scene never, ever find me. Amen.

🚠 I’m definitely biased, but anything with the footer “Produced by Salomon TV” is almost guaranteed to be a surefire banger in my eyes. Stepping Out is their latest production that follows three women who set out to ski in the Alaska Range for their first time ever (Now class, pop quiz! Alaska has what kind of snow climate? Trick question! Alaska is fucking huge. Check out this map of all the different snow climates.) They act as their own guides and were quickly humbled by the complex structure of the terrain. Check it out.

🧠 Is there anything better than an op-ed that makes you feel like you have to go for an hour long walk after reading it just to digest it? That’s how I felt about this article “Is Thinking A Luxury Good?” the short answer? Yes. The long answer? I’m doubling down on my stance that we need to start bullying people for using ChatGPT. I am begging you to take the scenic route around your own brain.

💔 The “Both Sides of a Breakup” series from The Cut is one of the more entertaining series I’ve come across lately. It’s exactly what it sounds like: asking couples who broke up about the breakup from their own POV’s. Think Normal Gossip meets journalism.

If this isn’t the most relatable cartoon I’ve ever seen….

“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” -Robert Henri

See you next time.

- McCall 🌻

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