Since March of last year, my sister Wendy has been posting a creative cocktail recipe on her Instagram channel, The Quarantini. Even if you don’t drink alcohol it’s fun to see the unusual drinks she has concocted, like The Cure, which pays homage to the Covid-19 vaccine. Bottoms up! — MF

I’ve long been a huge fan of The Great Courses. These are the best university courses on all manner of diverse subjects, taught by the best university professors, recorded for home consumption. Years ago the courses started out as very expensive audio sets on cassette tape (I audited many courses while commuting), then migrated to CDs, then to audible files, and now are on video. All along, they were premium priced, if not a bit over-priced, but I found them to be worth it without exception. There’s a lot of history and science. I have enjoyed and benefited from too many courses to list, including a memorable one of 48 lectures on Ancient Egypt by Bob Brier, and another on appreciating classical music by Robert Greenberg. Now, yeah!, select courses are available free on Amazon Prime video. A search on Amazon will bring up all the current Great Courses. But to my frustration, courses will be free for limited times and then revert to paid episodes. For instance the really tremendous course on the Ancient Civilizations of North America is free now. It methodically describes the vast and sophisticated civilizations that existed in my backyard, which I was not taught about. But it will only be available until January 31, 2021, so watch now. (Or I could subscribe to the new Great Courses channel on Amazon for $8/month.) So far I’ve happy to watch the excellent ones that come up free each month. — KK

I was coveting this Swedish anchor bookmark ($40) back when it was just a Kickstarter and this year I finally bought one for myself. The Page Anchor is made from 316L stainless steel and weighs about 8 ounces and has only one purpose — to hold a book open perfectly flat. The craftsmanship is so beautiful that it feels like owning a piece a jewelry. — CD

I’ve been subscribing to Plan to Eat for about a year, and have found it useful for storing recipes and generating shopping lists. When I’m at a website that has a recipe I like, I just click on the Plan to Eat bookmarklet in my browser bar to automatically import the recipe to my collection. I can add recipes to a calendar, and print a shopping list with everything I need. — MF

There is a lot going on in Pixar’s new movie Soul. It’s definitely worth watching (Disney+), and is best watched more than once to appreciate its many insights. The categories Soul covers — imagining the afterlife in detail, including beings of light, celestial birthing rings, tunnels to the beyond, astral travel, and short circuiting the system — are also the topics of a very long graphic novel I co-produced and published in book form, called The Silver Cord. Fans of Soul, the movie, will probably be fans of The Silver Cord, the book. — KK

This slim and portable mirror ($15) always comes in handy on trips, especially when only one bathroom is available for everyone or when I am getting ready and relegated to a room with no mirror. It has an adjustable stand and folds into its own protective cover so it won’t get crushed. It’s so slim and weighs only one pound which makes it easy to always pack it. — CD

I was inspired, surprised, and entertained by Tom Whitwell’s list of 52 things he learned in 2019. He now has a similar list for 2020. Here are some of my favorites. — MF

• All of the ten best-selling books of the last decade had female protagonists. [Tyler Cowen]

• When Ibn Battuta visited China in 1345, facial recognition was already in use. All visiting foreigners had their portraits discretely painted and posted on the walls of the bazaar. “If a stranger commits any offence… they send his portrait far and wide.” [Ibn Battuta]

• Money makes people happier than psychotherapy. [Johannes Haushofer & co]

• In just eight years, the British National Grid went from being 40% coal powered to 2% coal powered. [Simon Evans]

• Developing and launching the iPod in 2001 took just 41 weeks, from the very first meeting (no team, no prototype, no design) to iPods shipping to customers. [Patrick Collison]

• In Warsaw’s Gruba Kaśka water plant there are eight clams with sensors attached to their shells. If the clams close because they don’t like the taste of the water, the city’s supply is automatically shut off. [Judita K]

• A micromort is a one-in-a-million chance of death. Just being alive is about 24 micromorts per day, skydiving is 8 micromorts per jump. [Matt Webb]

This past year I collected a set of quotes I like to ponder. — KK

• If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. — Robin Jones Gunn

• A foreign accent is a sign of bravery. — Amy Chua

• To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing. — Picasso

• The reward for good work is more work. — Tom Sachs

• The invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck. — Paul Virilio

• If all I’d ever wanted to do was make money, I’d probably be really poor by now. — Brian Eno

• Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. — Rumi

• On average, bad things happen fast and good things happen slow. — Stewart Brand

• What I cannot create, I do not understand. — Richard Feynman

• Find out who you are and do it on purpose. — Dolly Parton

This “YouShouldKnow” shared by u/the-lah on reddit outlines the best way to convey what is essential when writing an email. I’ve pasted it below in its entirety. — CD

Dear Person I am Writing To,

This is an optional sentence introducing who I am and work for, included if the addressee has never corresponded with me before. The second optional sentence reminds the person where we met, if relevant. This sentence states the purpose of the email.

This optional paragraph describes in more detail what’s needed. This sentence discusses relevant information like how soon an answer is needed, what kind of answer is needed, and any information that the other person might find useful. If there’s a lot of information, it’s a good idea to separate this paragraph into two or three paragraphs to avoid having a Wall of Text.

If a description paragraph was used, close with a restatement of the initial request, in case the addressee ignored the opening paragraph.

This sentence is just a platitude (usually thanking them for their time) because people think I am standoffish, unreasonably demanding, or cold if it’s not included.

Closing salutation, Signature

Illustrator Kim Lam shared a phrase worth knowing in Dense Discovery that deserves to be reshared. “Question your tea spoons” is an expression coined by french writer Georges Perec that challenges you to question the habitual and to give “tongues” to the ordinary things. — CD

Amazon has an insanely good return system. You can return most items (under 50 pounds) you bought on Amazon by simply bringing the item alone — without a box, without a label, without a print out — to a local UPS pickup counter, and they handle the rest. All you need is an Amazon supplied QR code on your phone. To get the code, look up the item on your orders page and when you ask for a return; returning it “naked” should be an option. — KK

I launched my subscriber-supported newsletter, The Magnet, in August of this year, and I’ve been amazed by the response so far. Until December 31, I’m offering subscriptions for $25 a year forever. That’s 50% off the regular subscription price, and you’ll get the same deal every year you resubscribe. — MF

I follow jekiyoo on Instagram. Jeki Yoo is a close-up magician of astounding talent, clever innovation, and immense entertainment. He is prolific, posting often, and a lot of fun, playing around with delightful ways to do magic online. Oh my! — KK

After reading my recommendation for getting cheap 3rd party Lightning cables instead of Apple’s shoddy ones, Martim Weinstein said “buy some good cables instead” He recommends the Belkin Mixit DuraTek Lightning cables: “Have a pair of these on my car and another on my motorbike. The ones in the car constantly get stepped on by wet and dry shoes, charge my kids iPads and iPhones, charges guest iPhones, are left out and about with zero looking after. They’ve lasted 2 years so far with zero sign of wear. The one on the motorbike is in rain, blazing sun and constantly exposed to the all elements with zero signs of wear. It’s on there almost a year and works just like it did on day one. I’m never buying another Apple cable if I can help it.” — MF

I’ve learned through trial and error that dark green washes me out and makes me look sickly. But after uploading a selfie to Colorwise.me, I was able to play around with seasonal color pallet wheels to discover the most flattering colors for my skin tone, hair color and eye color. — CD

This free tool/test from Clearer Thinking helps you learn what beliefs and principles are most valuable to you. These “intrinsic values” are things you would still value even if you got nothing back from it. I learned my values align more with Libertarian philosophy, and compared to the United States, my values are somewhat more like those of people in Sweden. — CD

My friend Brad recommended a 2011 episode of This American Life, titled “The Invention of Money.” It’s a crash history about money as a useful fiction, beginning with the giant limestone discs used as money on the island of Yap. — Mark

It’s criminal that Apple doesn’t use USB-C or Micro-USB for charging. Its Lightning cables are shoddy and suddenly stop working with no visible signs of wear. I’m almost ready to switch to an Android phone, but until I do, I’m going to buy bags of cheap third-party Lightning cables, like this 5-pack. I’ve used them for a month so far with no issues. — MF

I volunteered to join a covid vaccine trial near me by using this site, Covid Dash. Points me where to go so I can sign up. There are currently 70 other vaccines still in development around the world. By volunteering, I help science and all people, and I may get a vaccine earlier. — KK

I’m thinking about what stuff — if any — I want to save after I die. My blog? Instagram? My 200,000 photos on a hard disk and in the cloud? My bank account? And for the living, where are my passwords? Today is the best day to figure this out. This WSJ article on digital legacies, “What to Do Before You Die: A Tech Checklist”, is a wonderfully comprehensive outline of what I should be asking myself, and you too, no matter your age. — KK